Re: CHECK THIS OUT!

From: Steven (themissinglink@eznetinc.com)
Date: Tue Feb 16 1999 - 23:57:06 EET


This is getting far afield of RP but since no one is
complaining....:) On the other hand marketability of RP through
cyberspace is on topic. The problem with the internet global
village has always been what you just described. Access to 60
million new customers but lost within 100 million web pages. The
search directories are as if the phone company printed a single
large global phone book. Not so valuable.

So there are malls, artist co-ops, local villages, to pool together
similiar content. I just developed a regional website at
http://www.chicagonorthshore.com I hope to charge rent to my fellow
merchants. I made my own website at http://www.familyjeweler.com
and I started helping my retail neighbors by setting them up also.
When they got real excited about selling to 60 million new
customers, I thought to myself, good luck getting found. That is
how I came up with the idea for chicagonorthshore.com. By creating a
valuable local information resource, I will enhance their ability to
be found by local consumers.

Then I started to realize that I could also make $100/hour designing
websites also. I designed
http://www.familyjeweler.com/madeleine.htm , a six page website in
about 4 hours. Easily worth $500.

Thats better money than I am making doing one of a kind pieces of
jewelry with my own retail store, and an extensive inventory. Go
figure.

Steve

Brock Hinzmann wrote:

> Larry raises an interesting e-commerce point. What is the meaning
> of place in cyberspace? On the one hand, the ability of the artist
> to reach a wider audience than his/her local village is enhanced.
> On the other hand, as Larry points out, unless someone is able to
> search in some clever way for just that villager's art, the small
> local artist will still be missed.
>
> I think it may raise importance of the artist being even more
> sensitive to the physical and social world in that artist's
> environment. To the extent that the local environment is unique,
> it may imbue the artist's work with something that is also unique
> and sought after. If the artist exists only in a virtual
> environment, then the resulting art work may appeal to those
> virtual afficionados.
>
> Brock Hinzmann
>
> lblasch wrote:
> >
> > Dear Brock and list,
> >
> > Although I am entering this thread at a late date, I have had
> > discussions by way of the RP-ML concerning this in the past.
> >
> > You said:
> >
> > >I disagree that the Internet hasn't created 500,000 newspapers;
> we do
> > >have them. They're called Web sites. It's just that most of
> them are
> > >read by very few people.
> >
> > One reason that so many exist but so few are actively visited is
>
> > "Advertising" how do you find a web page unless it's by word of
> mouth
> > or e-mail? You see it scroll past on someone else's page...or on
> a
> > search engine. Do you actually visit all the pages you get hits
> on
> > when you search for something? If you did, you wouldn't get
> anything
> > done. So regrettably, 500,000 artists or fabber pages would
> result in
> > a few being visited by many, and most languishing in obscurity.
> >
> > I fear that the individual artists will be lost amid the
> onslaught of
> > commercialized "unique" products that will be marketed by the
> > conglomerates. There will always be the customer who shops the
> back
> > alley shops and web pages for the true unique.
> >
> > The real question is this: Will you be able to command a price
> > sufficient to make a living if there is no concept of "local
> artist"?
> > He's the one in your home town, who you can visit easily. In the
>
> > global village there is no local artist, but there is the
> potential
> > for many more global shoppers. How will they find your web
> gallery?
> >
> > The concept of "Starving Artist" has existed for centuries.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Larry Blasch
> > Systems Administrator for Engineering Services
> >
> > OPW Fueling Components E-Mail:lblasch@opw-fc.com
> > P.O. Box 405003 Voice: (513) 870-3356
> > Cincinnati, OH 45240-5003 USA Fax: (513) 870-3338

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