Today Kristen and I hit the Moscow Farmers Market and tried to sell some CraftSites. Overall, it was a really positive experience. I met a lot of vendors and got ten or eleven leads on new customers.

As I had suspected, most of the vendors were at least interested in having a website. Some are intimidated by the technological knowledge needed to set up such a site. Others simply don’t have the time to make crafts and maintain an online presence.

This makes me think that CraftSites has chosen a great target market. If we can take the guesswork out of website design and management, the artists will have more time to devote to their products.

Now comes the hard part. We have to sit tight and wait for the new contacts to get back to us. Hopefully some of them will become customers!

I recently stumbled across this browser comparison chart published by Microsoft.

As you may know, most web developers share a common, deep hatred for Internet Explorer. Usually, tech geeks will refuse to use the browser, opting instead to go with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Why are tech people so against Microsoft’s browser? Internet Explorer has a history of ignoring web standards, and it just doesn’t play nice with the rest of the world. Sure, Microsoft has been trying to clean up its act over the last few years, but (in my opinion, at least) it still has a long way to go.

That’s why I found this comparison chart so utterly hysterical. Not only is Microsoft making dubious claims about its own browser’s capabilities, it’s also in denial of the features available in other browsers. For instance, the chart says that it IE ties Firefox and Chrome when it comes to being customizable. Since Firefox and Chrome are open source while IE is not, this cannot be true. Also, this comparison claims that Firefox and Chrome do not provide security, privacy, or ease of use. Anyone who’s tried these browsers knows otherwise.

I really hope that this example of Microsoft propaganda doesn’t fool too many people. For people who are really interested in browser comparisons, try looking at independent results. Actually, that might be good advice for Microsoft, too. Get the facts, but get the real facts.

A few months back, my mom, her sister, and a friend started selling handmade purses, earrings, and necklaces at small craft parties. After a few successful outings, my mom asked me to help her design a website that she could use to display her goods. Fabrications.me is still a work in progress, but it got me thinking.

I’ve been to a number of different farmers markets around the state of Washington, and I’ve noticed that most of the vendors don’t advertise any kind of website or email address. This means that the vendors have no opportunity to market or sell their products outside of their booth. During the farmers market off-season, their sales probably plummet.

There are websites out there that artists can use to promote their crafts, but these sites lack the personal touches that make handmade crafts so unique. A crafter could hire a professional web designer or a graphic design firm to create a custom website for them, but these services often cost between $2,000 and $3,000.

Considering these choices, I’ve decided to start a company that provides craft-making entrepreneurs with customized, professional, and affordable websites that allow them to promote and sell their products online. The company is named CraftSites, and it occupies the market void between generic sites like Etsy and multi-thousand dollar custom sites.

CraftSites provides complete, fully customized website solutions at unbelievable rates. Our prices range from $30 to $150, depending on the included features. Our websites allow farmers market vendors to sell year round. Customers are empowered with the ability to showcase their products and conduct sales transactions online.

Please take a moment to visit the CraftSites website and let me know what you think. At this point, there are still a lot of issues to be ironed out and I could really use the feedback. CraftSites also has a Twitter account and a Facebook page, for those who like that kind of stuff.

• Had Geoff and Jocelyn over last night. BBQ and dinner. Fun! Now, breakfast and church. #
• Washed the cars, now lunch and finances. #
• I washed the cars and then it rained. Of course! #
• Watching a big storm roll in #
• The power just went out. At SEL, that seems ironic. #
• Saw a great Bing commercial last night… very funny… but I'm still not switching from Google. #
• Worst allergies in recent memory. I actually had to go to the doctor's office. #
• Kristen's last day of school is today. She's no longer a rookie teacher, and now she has some well-deserved time off! #
• Going off-grid for the weekend. Camping in Idaho for our anniversary. See ya! #

Last weekend we went to the West Side to welcome my grandparents back from Papua New Guinea. It was really good to see them again, and we had a chance to see many other family members and friends, too. Jaron and his girlfriend, Madison, came with us.

The most memorable part of the trip was actually the drive back to Pullman. My previous post about car repairs was somehow prophetic, since the old Cadillac broke down in Snoqualmie! Right as we were about to get on I-90, the battery charge indicator started blinking and the car started to make some strange noises. Instead of taking the on-ramp to the freeway, we decided to stop by a gas station to figure out what was going on.

When I opened the hood, I immediately saw smoke pouring out of the alternator. Not good. This would have to be addressed before we make the 300 mile trip across the state. However, Kristen and I seem to have a habit of breaking down on Sundays, the one day of the week that mechanics close up their shop.

Fortunately, we were able to call our friends the Stovers and find one mechanic that was open for business. Also, Madison happened to have a AAA membership card we could use to get the Caddy towed to the shop. Things really fell into place, and we thank God for providing everything necessary to get us back on the rode.

All told, our breakdown only added three or four hours to our trip. It was a bit of a hassle, but it also makes a good story.