Up Close and Close Up: Skystone Trading

As quoted from page 391: "Turquoise is the "fallen skystone hidden in Mother Earth." On their site in Figure 13.9. They share their knowledge and love of turquoise and of Zuni fetishes. After 25 years selling Native American jewelry and crafts either wholesale or retail, they closed their retail storefront within three months of going online, confident their future was on the Web.

Like WalkingStickWorld.com, Skystonetrading.com has found eBay an excellent source of customers, as well as auction revenue. Like TheVictorianFireplace.com, they adopt a folksy, personal tone to let visitors know that there are 'real people' behind the website. Julia has added value to the site with detailed content about turquoise, heishe (shell beads), jewelry crafting and Zuni Fetishes, believing that education builds appreciation, which in turn leads to sales. And like the other model sites, they've learned to take addresses for an e-mail newsletter.

The site is particularly astute in providing multiple close-up images of their jewelry - an important feature when you're selling products for hundreds of dollars. Julia also made an intentional design effort to convey a sense of "a warm place ... that is both calming and soothing to the eyes and stimulating to the mind. We deal with things of spirit, so we wanted ... a friendly, yet professional feeling."

For more information on the book and it's contents, visit the detailed Marketing on the Internet, 6th Ed. Book Page at the website of the publisher, Maximum Press.

It's also available on Amazon which has 48 sample pages you can view online. Be sure you're getting the 6th Edition and not earlier ones.