Ya Gotta Do Whatcha Gotta Do...(Sigh...)

The internet has opened up doors and connected people all over the globe. It's provided opportunities for rural residents and communities to preserve their way of life and still participate in something bigger. But at the same time, I also confess that when I started with telecommunications the internet didn't have pictures--it was all text. And it was expensive. I had grant money, but the going rate was $60/hour. When EcoNet came out and "only" charged $30/hour, or $0.05/minute I was ecstatic. Then came Prodigy and it's graphics. So cool! I was so jazzed when I bought an airline ticket over the internet. All my colleagues were so darned impressed! I was the "rock star!"

So when I got serious about making jewelry, I knew from the very beginning I needed a website. But purchasing airline tickets and writing email isn't the same as web design. I know nothing about it. But you gotta do what you gotta do...

So I did my resesarch; talked to lots and lots of people, researched groups that had websites; searched the internet and finally jumped in. I've always tended to lose patience with the tech folks at work because they would map out how everything was supposed to link. To me it's so intuitive it hurts. It's kind of like driving a car. I don't need to know HOW an internal combustion engine works in order to be able to drive a car.

This was 2006. It took time, but I yes, eventually I got a website up and running. Not many sales, but it was a very convenient on-line "catalog" if you will. I could tell people to visit my website and if they found something they liked I would bring it in for them to see and try on. Low tech, but it worked.

At the same time I was taking an online 2-hour course in web-accessibility. I was SO proud of how I got alternate text and page labels and the whole 9 yards incorporated into my website.

Fast forward to the end of 2008. Boy have I learned A LOT since then!! I knew absolutely nothing about tags. Quite honestly I thought they were the same thing as alternate text. Okay, so here I am with a website that by the time you go into all the various layers has about 1200 different pages to it. It's totally accessible but HAS NO TAGS OR SEARCH FUNCTION!

Along comes ArtFire. So of course I sign up, open two stores, stock them with my new stuff and just generally let my website slide.

April 2009. So now you're up to speed. I absolutely, positively MUST redo my website. No "ifs" "ands" or "buts" about it--it's gotta be updated. So do I "retro-fit" or do I dump and start over? I have decided given the quality (or lack therof) of so many of my photos that the best thing to do is dump and start over. I'm not looking forward to it in the least. But you do whatcha gotta do.

However, I'm not above doing a "remodeling sale" in order to have fewer pieces to re-photograph and (hopefully) make the new website up to speed.

So here's what I'm going to do: From NOW until midnight May 3 (the website says April 30, but it lies) I am offering (cringe) 55% off everything. Why 55%? Well because April 30 is my 55th birthday. So it's as good a number as any.

I started to go through the pages and break the links so the ability to purchase something that was already sold was removed, but that got pretty tedious and I gave up on it. So yeah, there's broken links. Don't worry about it, you know why they're there. Here's the web address: http://www.rockycreekgems.com.

Here's what you need to do get the 55% discount: Each item has a unique stock number. If you will email me your "shopping list" I will send you an invoice that reflects the 55%. You may email me at linda@rockycreekgems.com.

So again, from now until midnight May 3, everything on my website is 55% off. You will need to email your shopping list to me at linda@rockycreekgems.com. The the web address again, is http://www.rockycreekgems.com.

After May 3 I'm going to take down the entire site and just put up the usual "under construction" sign until l'm back up and running again.

I hope there's something you decide you can't live without, but regardless, thanks for looking! One other thing--I don't post over the weekend! --Linda