Replies

1. 
   dboetb | Jan 26, 2010 09:27am | #1

   TWG
   I've been getting the
   TWG

   I’ve been getting the same emails. What are they asking, $192 per year? Just a few years ago custommade.com was asking something like $30 to $50 per year. I found it just as effective and a lot cheaper to use WordPress.com free blog services. It’s fairly easy to build a web blog to look like a web site. Their premium features offer a lot more then you get at custommade.com for a whole lot less. The premium features at Word Press that caught my eye are you can register for a domain name and Word Press will point it to your page on their servers and it’s your url! If you then decide to move your web site all you need to do is have your url moved to the new web host. Plus they even offer a video service.

   Don

1. 
   gatordoc | Feb 24, 2010 11:17am | #2

   I have my own website with pretty pictures etc and am working to get it to show up better in search engines (Google, yahoo, etc).   As a new buisness I'm making a big push to get my name out there, so I decided to give custommade.com a shot as well.  Regarding price, they use a tiered system so you can pay anywhere from $145 to $695.  More money = more examples of your work in your listing.  I did get a rude surprise when, after I had signed up and given my credit card number, THEN I found out that there is an additional fee to be listed in a particular location.  For example, if you go to custommade.com, you can ask to see furniture makers only in Arizona, or Rhode Island, Mississippi, etc.  If I want to show up in that type of search I pay a premium for each state I wish to appear in.  The price varies and probably depends on traffic, but it varies from about $18 to almost $100 for each location.  Big markets, California and Texas for example, are split so if you wanted to be listed in any California search it would cost almost $200 above what you already paid.

   I thought I'd give it a shot for a year and see what happens.  I'll try to remember to repost in a year and let you know how it works.

   Cheers,

   Steve

2. 
   JiminFla | Feb 24, 2010 11:41am | #3

   I have been listed on Custommade.com for several years.  I used to get quite a few inquiries from customers visiting their website, but it has fallen off to almost nothing in the past year.  I blame that on the economy.  If you're trying to advertise your own woodworking business, it's hard to find a venue that is both effective and reasonably priced.  I would gladly spend a couple of hundred bucks a year to be on a website that produced business for me, but it doesn't make sense to spend the money for just the exposure.  The new owners of Custommade.com seem to be making a real effort to bring in new customers.

   Jim