Name of your website?Americas Alpaca
Your name?
John Merrell
Your Location (city, etc)
Decatur
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Americas Alpaca offers alpaca yarn and apparel from the Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, Inc (AFCNA), a producer owned agricultural cooperative.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
AFCNA needed a way to market its products to both members and the general public, and the Internet seemed like a great way to do so.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
The Americas Alpaca website was launched in 2000. Later AFCNA added a site dedicated to the Cooperative itself (www.afcna.com).
How did you decide on a name for your website?
As the only alpaca fiber cooperative in the United States, the name came naturally.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
The Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, Inc. is unique in being able to offer high quality alpaca fiber products produced and manufactured in North America from North American alpacas.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
To take over the world!! AFCNA will form the backbone of a sustainable alpaca industry in the US.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
AmericasAlpaca.com represents the interest of over 1500 US and Canadian alpaca fiber producers.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
We would move to a dedicated server managed by in house staff running custom software that integrated all aspects of the Cooperative's activities.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
The great thing about the web is the ability to scale development to growth.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Original using hosted solutions, such as a Yahoo store, we discovered that we were giving up far too much of the profit for far too little service and flexibility. Moving things in-house was a difficult, but ultimately more successful strategy.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Technical expertise. AFCNA began as a bootstrap operation, undercapitalized and overstreched. Technical expertise does not come cheap.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Normal SEO work and a successful affiliate marketing program.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
Just because you build it does not mean they will come. Building an on-line business is no different than brick and mortar. It takes dedication and commitment... and a lot of hard work.
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?
The site has been on line for eight years. There is no reason to believe it will not increase in effectiveness
What is your website address?
Americas Alpaca
