Are websites worth the hassle?

[SquamishSerpents]

i certainly think they're worth it!

i had a lot of fun building mine (and a lot of headaches, but i digress)

it's a great tool to supplement forum postings, classified listings, etc. when i post a for sale ad on a forum i will throw up a couple photos, and also include the link to see the rest of the available animals.

squamishserpents.ca/available

i'm not sure my "available" page is as professional as it could be, but if you click on any one photo, it will give you ALL the information pertaining to that exact snake, as well as a link where you can make an email inquiry about the particular snake you're interested in. that way customers don't have to be involved with my complicated ID #'s, they can see what is available and what has already sold, and the website has a lot of other things.

some pages are not done yet, but i also have a spot showing off racks and enclosures:

squamishserpents.ca/snakery/facility

the rodent-breeding side of things:

squamishserpents.ca/snakery/rodents

and my blog. the News section is a place where i can update what's going on with pairings and clutches, or just post random thoughts: squamishserpents.ca/news

i think if you have an eye-catching and easy to use website, it will for sure bring you more business. especially if you also have some educational stuff on there.

i just recently added this page: Can I Keep Multiple Snakes in One Enclosure?. and whenever somebody asks me about co-habbing, i can point them there!

building a website isn't for everyone though. as easy as Wordpress is, my website did take a LOT of frustration and fine-tuning. it's been about a year in the making and it's still not done. (though mostly because i'm lazy...)

so in my opinion yes, a website is essential if you're a big-time breeder. if you just have a couple clutches then perhaps it's not worth the hassle. and definitely not worth the money to pay somebody else to do it!

[piedplus]

I don't know what its like in the states but here in Canada your supposed to claim all of your earnings on your income taxes including assets that you sell (this includes garage sales!!). People don't - but thats the reason why I don't recommend that hobby breeders advertise themselves LOL. Unless you want to register as a breeder/ obtain a small business licence and be upfront about it - and give the government all of your money (boo!)..

Just my two cents - I also don't know the laws in your region so don't quote me

One has to claim income on earnings here in the US too, not on used stuff though. There are tax advantages for starting a small business. I have my business licence, but I don't know anything about registering as a breeder. If anyone knows anything about registering as a breeder, please let me know. I'm very careful to follow all laws and pay my fair share of taxes.

[piedplus]

Well I finally took the plunge! My website's at: http://piedplusballpythons.yolasite.com/

It's just a freebie for now, but at least I have something to work with and later down the road I can upgrade to a paid website. So far, building a website has been way more easy than I thought it would be. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

[AaronP]

Most of what I would say has already been said. The only thing i'd like to add is that you get back what you put into it. If you put almost no effort into it then you'll likely not get anything back from it. The nicest most professional looking website with the easiest user setup is completely worthless if you don't properly market it and keep it up to date.

I have the statistics to prove that.

[SquamishSerpents]

regarding claiming your earnings, most breeders don't make a lot of earnings from selling snakes. i'd even go out on a limb and say the majority of breeders are actually investing more into their hobby than they are getting back.

i know WE ARE anyways! the startup costs, and ongoing costs for that matter, are astronomical.

supplies, racks, initially buying your animals, all the food you're feeding them in order to get them up to breeding size, buying substrates to house the snakes in, costs associated with breeding rodents, extra hydro you pay for heating, travel expenses to get to and from shows, show table fees, incubation supplies/media, containers to send your hatchlings off in, vet bills when your 3 year old 1500g breeder female gets an RI (for example), printer ink to print out labels, paying for web hosting...

NEED I GO ON!?

i say *the majority* because there are many many many breeders now. it's so easy to do. most people only have a couple clutches a year, but still. obviously there are also a lot of big-wigs that DO make a living and a huge profit off of their snake breeding businesses.

but i think when you're at the stage where i'm at, you don't have to claim any "earnings" as you're not making a profit.

in Canada, at least. here is the definition of Small Business:

1.1 Definition of Small Business

business is carried on in Canada, with a place of business in Canada, and assets held in Canada for the purpose of operating the business;
its purpose is for profit, and;
for an existing business: during the fiscal year in which the CSBF loan is approved, its estimated gross revenues will not exceed $5,000,000, or;
for a new business: at the time the CSBF loan is approved, its estimated gross annual revenues during the first 52 weeks of operation will not exceed $5,000,000.

i know i don't breed snakes to get rich, i do it because i love them and i love learning about them. if i make a bit of money off some hatchlings, i'm probably just going to buy a different snake, anyways!

[piedplus]

regarding claiming your earnings, most breeders don't make a lot of earnings from selling snakes. i'd even go out on a limb and say the majority of breeders are actually investing more into their hobby than they are getting back.

i know WE ARE anyways! the startup costs, and ongoing costs for that matter, are astronomical.

supplies, racks, initially buying your animals, all the food you're feeding them in order to get them up to breeding size, buying substrates to house the snakes in, costs associated with breeding rodents, extra hydro you pay for heating, travel expenses to get to and from shows, show table fees, incubation supplies/media, containers to send your hatchlings off in, vet bills when your 3 year old 1500g breeder female gets an RI (for example), printer ink to print out labels, paying for web hosting...

NEED I GO ON!?

i say *the majority* because there are many many many breeders now. it's so easy to do. most people only have a couple clutches a year, but still. obviously there are also a lot of big-wigs that DO make a living and a huge profit off of their snake breeding businesses.

but i think when you're at the stage where i'm at, you don't have to claim any "earnings" as you're not making a profit.

in Canada, at least. here is the definition of Small Business:

1.1 Definition of Small Business

business is carried on in Canada, with a place of business in Canada, and assets held in Canada for the purpose of operating the business;
its purpose is for profit, and;
for an existing business: during the fiscal year in which the CSBF loan is approved, its estimated gross revenues will not exceed $5,000,000, or;
for a new business: at the time the CSBF loan is approved, its estimated gross annual revenues during the first 52 weeks of operation will not exceed $5,000,000.

i know i don't breed snakes to get rich, i do it because i love them and i love learning about them. if i make a bit of money off some hatchlings, i'm probably just going to buy a different snake, anyways!

As I understand US law, if you never make a profit you're a hobby, not a business. However, the law also allows three years of losses for a business start up. So for the trouble of saving all my receipts and adding them up at the end of the year, I'm getting a pretty good tax break. If there's no profit in my fourth year of opperation, I can either become a hobby or I can remain in business without any tax deductions until I can show a profit. That's the way I understood it when my tax man explained it anyways...

[piedplus]

Most of what I would say has already been said. The only thing i'd like to add is that you get back what you put into it. If you put almost no effort into it then you'll likely not get anything back from it. The nicest most professional looking website with the easiest user setup is completely worthless if you don't properly market it and keep it up to date.

I have the statistics to prove that.

I absolutely agree! I just hate going into a website only to find that the information's years out of date. That's why I wanted something easy to use, so it will be easy for me to keep up to date. I also wanted something that's free for now but that can be converted to a more professional looking site later. That gives me time to tinker with it at no cost.

I would be interested to see your statistics, especially about marketing.

[piedplus]

Just to finish off this thread, I have a website with Yola now. It's was much easier to work with than the first free trial I tried. Plus this free trial goes on as long as I want! When I'm ready, I can switch to a paid site which will remove the advertising and then I can get a shorter address. If you'd like to check out my site, it's at: http://piedplusballpythons.yolasite.com/
It's a little bare right now, but I've got plenty of time to work on it!

[SquamishSerpents]

if anybody is interested in setting up their own website, there is a really good deal going on right now with the company that hosts my site, [url=http://www.squamishserpents.ca]squamishserpents.ca[url].

it's only $9.95 for a whole year (as opposed to their regular price of $9.95 PER MONTH) of hosting and that includes domain name & registration, free sitebuilding tools, (Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, etc) UNLIMITED space & traffic, CPanel, 99.9% server uptime, emails & mailing lists, and 24/7 customer support.

if you're interested PM me and i will send you the link. you can only get this deal through my referral link, and it helps me out too because i get the chance of getting a Kindle!

[zeion97]

I just finished with a free trial website. What a pain! I don't know if it's worth the trouble for me. I'll only have about three clutches a year, and I'd rather sell them quickly to good homes at a good price rather that to hold out for top dollar. Is it possible to get by without a website? Can a person build a reputation as a good breeder without one?

I will say first, I just skimmed through this. Lol. Here's my opinion though.

Websites have both a downside and a upside, you yourself have very little.clutches, so a website could be more of a.loss for you then a gain, on the upside you would.most likely be able to.sell your snakes faster with a good website

I personally only buy from websites that are designed well and easy to navigate, this Is a general rule for me involving ANYTHING. I also always try to find reviews. In your case kingsnake could be a good place to Start, slowly build reputation And get reviews which will in turn make you look better.

But, this for me resides on a personal level, if you treat me, (your customer) with respect I will buy from you time and time again, even if you do have the occasional slip up.

In the end, the choice is yours, a website could be good, though Facebook could save you ALOT of time and energy, and may even work our better for you in the.long run. Whatever You choose I wish you luck!

~Zachary.