Originally Posted by
devert129
.... I created
www.QuiltersResources.net this past November in hopes of helping all quilting businesses. ....the bottom line is that most shops don't have a budget for advertising, so we, as quilters, only hear about them word of mouth.....
Hi. Welcome to the Quilt Board.
While I want to compliment you on your attempt to help shops get their name out without expensive advertising, I must say that there are a large number of these free-sign-up “directories” that have come and gone in past years, and all seem (in my opinion) to have two stumbling blocks that are hard to overcome. How do they keep the list current and accurate, and how do they get every shop to participate?
While new shops are usually eager to find any & all free lists and register themselves, shops that close seldom see the need to remove their listing (and probably don’t even think about it), and in some cases, couldn’t remove a listing even if they wanted to on some directories. Most are set up so new listings can be added quickly online, but existing listings can’t be removed without contacting the directory owner. That’s probably not high on the list of things to do when folks have to close their shop.
Ongoing shops that signed up years ago on various directories later discover that many are incomplete or contain errors, some haven’t been maintained or updated for years, and some have disappeared completely. Add to that the growing popularity of blogs, forums, and other social media where shop locations can be inquired about for more up-to-date information, include specific criteria of the shopper’s choice, and can even come with a recommendation from another quilter or quilters.
CD in Oklahoma