Name of your website?Hermit Crab Food Trials
Your name?
Jedi_sena
Your Location (city, etc)
Colorado
When did you start your website and why?
I have been a hermit crab enthusiast since 2005. I learned much about land hermit crabs including their need for a varied diet. Being on a tight budget and understanding that leaf litter makes up a large portion of their wild diet I began testing out items that could be easily picked in my own backyard. My fellow crabbers listened with interest and I posted my results on several hermit crab forums. But as more momentum built up, I found it exhausting to post the same information on multiple sites and decided that a blog would be a nice way to track my progress.
Please give us a short summary of your website, business model, etc
My site documents my own food trials conducted on non-human grade food sources with a concentrated effort on Colorado and Washington plant life as well as my notes for product development of Crabotanicals brand all-natural hermit crab food featuring wild, hand-harvested items.
What has been the most difficult part of creating and running your website?
I am not very computer literate and I only have access to the internet at work, which has meant that I have had to do late-night sessions posting information and submitting the site to search engines.
What has been the easist part of operating your website?
The subject matter is enthralling! I really love combining my love of hermit crabs and my interest in local flora.
What was your biggest mistake?
Not starting sooner. For a while I held back because my computer skills were weak, but I've learned to navigate through the site "dashboard" fairly well and feel less limited now.
Who maintains your website and why?
I do. I have a couple of ladies that have permission to post, but they've shown little interest in contributing to the blog at this point, but help out in many other ways.
Tell us how your business has benefitted from your website?
Well, the blog has given birth to the business. After sharing my findings with the hermit crab community, many expressed frustration because they felt unequal to the task of positively identifying specific plants or lived in areas that are too polluted to harvest safe specimens free of pesticides and commercial fertilizers. Many started requesting that I share items to which I had access. There were already established vendors selling preservative-free, human grade foods for hermit crabs, so I approached them with the idea for products which they embraced with much enthusiasm. So, I became a manufacturer!
What are your views on ecommerce and the future of the internet?
In Colorado, there is not a lot of enthusiasm for hermit crabs and starting this business without the internet would be ludicrous. There will always be a market for "bouquet" businesses as long as the internet exists.
What are your views on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Too computer illiterate to know what that is, but optimizing search features sounds win-win to me.
What are your views on Search Engines? Have they helped or hindered your website?
Definitely helped draw people interested in my nearly unknown industry.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
The hermit crab forums like HermitCrabAssociation, TheCrabStreetJournal, HermitCrabAddiction, & MyHermitCrab. I post advice often and my blog appears as part of my signature on each post. Also, because I was already an established member of the forums beforehand, the management there was very helpful (instead of resentful). They encouraged me and endorsed my products on the site.
What method has been least successful for promoting your website?
Having the blog as part of my everyday email signature. Hardly any of the people that I communicate regularly with via email care much about crabs or my business. If it were a more popular subject matter, this would be a better method.
What would you like to see change with respect to the internet?
More free hosting and feeds. And what happened to the days when you could get free internet access?!?!
What is your website address?
Hermit Crab Food Trials
