Today is the first day of autumn! Hard to believe that when I last wrote I was full of hope for a hot, hazy summer. The heat never really arrived (or if it did I was inside that day), but it was a busy season nonetheless. A half dozen new dealers were added to the site, and dozens more have contacted me and remain very interested in what we have to offer. As a bred antique dealer's kid I know that summer is the busy season for the antiques and collectibles trade. Shows happen almost every weekend, and shops are full of people out for summer drives. Now that the weather is getting cooler and the shows have slowed down, we anticipate more dealers looking to our site as a place to sell, as well as collectors looking for a new place to buy!

This summer we began our first foray into print advertisements. We placed two large ads in the Maine Antique Digest in July and September. The first ad was a "testimonial" type ad from founding dealer Phil Ross. The second ad was a large image of a Maud Lewis painting that sold directly from our website. I think both ads were successful in expressing the advantages of our site, and the quality of items you find here. Into the winter we will have ads in other print journals. You can find scans of all our print advertisements on our new Advertisements and Press page.

Word of mouth is also spreading, and for this we are extremely grateful. We are a grassroots sort of organization, and as such we depend on the communication and relationship we develop with our sellers and buyers. It has been a pleasure to personally talk to many of our new visitors, and I think it is always nice for them to know there is a "real person" on the other end of the phone or email. Comments and suggestions have been very helpful and we are always happy to hear what you think.

As we gear up for a busy fall and winter season, I am encouraged by the growth I see in all aspects of the site. Our hits exceeded 100,000 in the month of August and continues to rise. Our advertising budget has grown and we will continue to use this money in the most effective ways possible. We continue to make improvements to make the site attractive, easy to use, and effective for our visitors. There's a lot of work ahead and excitement at what may soon be possible. I'm looking forward to the coming months and I hope you are too. Thank you for your continued support and happy autumn!

Finally summer is here! It's time to go out, enjoy the sunshine, visit (or sell) at the antique shows, and otherwise make the most of the season. I hope you're all enjoying the summer so far.

Things have been quite busy here at Collectivator. This month we had a half page ad in the Maine Antique Digest. It was structured as a testimonial by dealer / founding partner Phil Ross, and hit on many of the strengths of the site. We may be running this ad next month in the Upper Canadian as well (or another ad) so keep watching.

Down at the bottom of the Collectivator site (under the logo), you will find a link to our brand new "Terms of Use" page. It is important that every dealer, new or already on the site, reads this agreement. The agreement may be updated from time to time, and it is your responsibility to know its contents. Most of the issues (legal responsibility, buyer beware etc) are standard for any business internet site, but one area is special to our field of antiques and collectibles. This area concerns mass produced new items and reproductions. Basically, we do not allow new mass produced items, but we do allow high quality reproductions as long as they are marked as such in both the title and description of the item. It is always a good idea to ask us first if you are unsure of an item's validity for the website. We do not "police" the stock dealers sell, but we will intercede if an item fails to comply with the general caliber and good reputation of the site.

Once you've read the Terms of Use (I feel like I'm assigning homework!) feel free to find us on our Facebook and Twitter pages. I'm not sure what I'm going to "tweet" about, but I'm ready to connect with anyone who wants to talk antiques (or anything really. Who knows a good recipe for blueberry scones?). Actually, these first two pages are just the start in developing the community aspect of Collectivator, and hopefully drawing more collectors to the site. We've already received various inquiries from visitors, and we want to implement new ways for them to connect with us and the dealers directly. We'll have more exciting news in this area in the coming months.

New links to the site, advertising, and the continuous submission of our pages to the search engines has meant we have a steady increase in site traffic. Since our move to the new server, we have been experiencing 80 to 90 thousand hits a month. Fingers crossed we'll be over the 100,000 mark by September!

So keep posting, keep giving us your feedback, and keep Collectivator growing!
Cheers,
Cassandra

We want to let everyone know that, in the wee hours of the morning today, we moved this site to a bigger, faster server. It features more capacity for growth, and we've also upgraded from 32-bit to 64-bit architecture (translation: faster and more memory). Hurray for everyone!

The change should have been transparent to everyone, and Anson and Cassandra went through most of the site to test that everything is working well, but if you notice anything different or missing, please do let us know.

Hello everyone,

I just ran a Google.ca search for "antiques" and our new Collectivator ad came up on the first page (not in the search results themselves, but in the "Sponsored Links")! We have a text ad in the right hand column of the search results page. I can't promise that the ad will always show when you search for "antiques", "collectibles", "folk art" or a variety of similar keywords, but I think it will pop up enough times to definitely help drive new traffic to the site. I will be analyzing the statistics closely over the next days and weeks, and will tweak the ad and budget to be as efficient as possible. If you do see the ad next time you're on Google, please do not actually click on it. I know it sounds funny, but Google ads charge on a "per click" basis, so we end up paying even if we click on the ads ourselves!

As our community grows we will be expanding the scope of the ads (right now it is targeted to the Canadian market) as well as adding new ads for more specific items. I've been doing a lot of research on the topic and I think we will be able to use Google ads into the future. It will probably have the added bonus of also helping our over all search engine optimization, so we will benefit in many ways.

Of course, other avenues of advertising (traditional print advertisements, links etc) are all in the works as well. We're always busy spreading the word about Collectivator! Drop us a line if you have any comments or suggestions about our advertising. Cheers!

- Cassandra

Hi everyone,

Cassandra here, posting her first blog entry. First of all, let me just say WELCOME to the five new users we added to the Collectivator community in the past week. It is wonderful to hear your feedback. Every time we add a new account, and go through the setup and listing process, we encounter new questions and requests. It is so important for us to know what areas work well, what areas need improvement, and what new features you want to see on the site. To answer some of the most frequently asked questions, we've begun an (appropriately enough) FAQ & Help page. This page will be updated regularly as common concerns are raised. I hope you will continue the discussion, and always feel free to contact us with your questions great or small.

I also just wanted to let you know about a little improvement we made based on your feedback. One client wanted to be able to list multiple prices for one listing. This client had a photo displaying multiple items, but she could only list one price. The solution is now available! When you create a listing you will now see two options; one is the old "Price" field, and the second is the new "Price (Detailed)" field. The first field is formatted to numbers only, and it will add the "$" and "CAN" to the price (for instance, if you type "1200" into the field, it will be formatted to say "$1200 CAN"). You can only have one listed price if you use the first option. The second "Price (Detailed)" field is an open field that will allow numbers and /or letters. You can use this field to say "$400 for the set of six chairs, $500 for the table" for instance, or "$250 American Dollars". You get the idea. Basically, you can use the "Price (Detailed)" field for any special or multiple prices.

Well, I should get back to work. One user noted that our listing directions used images from a Mac and not a PC. While I love my Mac, I must admit it was an oversight not to include PC directions and images as well. Looks like I have a little job for after lunch :)

Thanks for stopping by!
- Cassandra

I thought of something new to blog about already. How about I show an example of posting a blog entry to highlight one of your gallery items?

Using the "Attached Images" option when creating or editing a blog entry, I can either attach a new image or refer to an existing Collectivator image.

The image itself is of a Joe Lloyd piece that was a gift to Cassandra and I from Phil and Jeanine, some years ago. If you click on the image, you'll see that that Gallery Item is an example of how to attach different views of the same object to one gallery item.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a blog. For the uninitiated, a blog is simply a series of posts written from the perspective of one or more people, and arranged in reverse chronological order (newest posts at the top). The word "blog" comes from the phrase "web log" and is sometimes thought of, rather anachronistically, as a diary.

Any member of Collectivator can have their own blog, for free! Just ask for it! This feature can be used to talk about upcoming events, highlight your own new or interesting gallery items, or to just put random thoughts out into the universe.

This particular blog you are reading right now (by the mysterious "collectivator") is an example of a Collectivator blog. But "collectivator" is simply a front for us, the Collectivator super star team, which consists of Anson Chan, Cassandra Ross, and Phil Ross. So why don't we make this sample blog "real"? In other words, why not use this blog to talk about Collectivator growth, discuss expansion plans, demonstrate features, and communicate?

So that's what we'll do. Stay tuned.

Cheerfully,
ANSON