Name of your website?ReefLights.com
Your name?
Justin Baldwin
Your Location (city, etc)
Napoleon, home of the pirates
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Reeflights.com is an online store dedicated to providing the proper quality lighting to the hobby at the best prices possible.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
A love for the animals kept and the hobby itself. I have been involved in the trading of captive propagated corals for almost a decade.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
I actually had started and operated an online store for the hobby previously from 1999-2004. Events in my personal life forced me to take some time off from the online business for a little over 3 years. While I am glad to see that this original site, DIYReef, is still in operation today, I always missed the excitement and friendliness of getting to speak with others with similar interests on a daily basis.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
For corals that depend heavily on proper lighting, the name Reef Lights just seemed like a natural fit for a store focused on the same subject.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Most online stores, walk in stores, and mail order stores carrying the same type products basically just throw the products in a box and rely on the individual to figure out how to assemble their lights. I prefer to make them as plug-and-play as possible, after all improper installation of high voltage lighting can have dire consequences for both the person and the animals.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My main goal is to simply grow the business and enjoy myself while doing so. There are no dreams of getting rich quick or anything, just enjoying myself and adding something back to the reef aquarium hobby.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
I have found that as long as you are enjoying yourself any time put in means success in one way or another.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would make it more interactive and add a forum for people to gather.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Probably not, hiring a handful of employees would make it more like a "job".
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Having done this before I have not really ran into any major headaches this time around. Previously, major challenges included integrating the website with some type of accounting system to keep track of the business and just learning how to build a website.
What has been your biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge has been re-arranging my time schedule a bit to make the time to build and get a website going again.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
There are a few online forums where people in the hobby hang out online and learn from one another. Word of mouth between these individuals has been by far the most successful promotion methods without any intervention on my part at all, other than treating them how I would like to be treated.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has definitely been easier the second time around.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
This version of the site has only been up for a few weeks. I hope to keep it going indefinitely since income and popularity is really not a big deal at this point, it is more for personal enjoyment. If it ever gets to feeling like a job, I would probably sell it or find someone else to run it.
What is your website address?
ReefLights.com
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