Net experience by Thomas
Cole
31 May 2004
Jozan Magazine has asked Thomas Cole - California
dealer specializing
in collectible tribal rugs
and weavings and contributing
editor of HALI - to tell about his experiences on world wide web. Tom has
in a very short time created a really interesting web site.
A few years ago,
a friend who had no experience with the internet and
little inkling how the antique rug and textile business is conducted,
urged me to get involved with the net, build a website and deal in the
world economy on another level. Skeptical and intrinsically old fashioned,
as many rug dealers are, I dismissed the ideas with little consideration.
Then, a little more than one year before, a friend urged me to build one
and introduced me to someone who offered to do it for a reasonable price
and accept a rug as part payment.
How could I refuse, as the barter system
is very much like the rug business. I consented but was urged, at the same
time, to learn how to do it myself, how to add to my own site. Enrolled in
a junior college class in Adobe Go LIVE, I soon acquired the skills
necessary to add into my own site, and soon reformatted pages, including
the ARTICLES section of my site, and offered my services to other rug
dealers. To date, NO ONE has taken me up on that offer in spite of the
admiration for the design of the site. Business was slow at first, but
now, with recognition by search engines and word of mouth, visitors are
numerous and business does transpire on the site , often with new people
from countries as far flung as Sweden and Singapore.
Traffic on the site
is brisk, inquiries far outnumber actual sales but positive feedback flows
in every day via email. All in all, it has been a gratifying experience,
affording me the opportunity to exercise creativity within the medium of
the Adobe programs, and enjoy the fruits of my labors on screen.
Thomas Cole 31 May 2004
Thomas Cole
Antique Rugs and Textiles
