Name of your website?John Reid Vintage Movie Memorabilia
Your name?
John Reid
Your Location (city, etc)
Palm Beach
Please give us a short summary of your website?
I sell Original Movie Posters Autographs and Memorabilia and also provide information and guides on the history of movie collectibles. I run exhibitions on various movie genres on the site and offer a monthly newsletter to subscribers.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I have been a dealer in movie memorabilia for many years and decided to launch my website as an adjunct to the many auctions that I also run. The site is also intended as a place for collectors of movie memorabilia to find technical information as well as items for sale.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
This is my first website and it was launched about 10 years ago.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
The name of the website pretty much describes exactly what I do.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Many other websites offer items for sale only. I run regular Exhibitions, Blogs and Guides that provide more than just a For Sale site.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My business is also my hobby so I plan to continue with it as a long term propostion and use it to pass on some of the knowledge I have obtained through years as a dealer.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
My hourly rate would not be high for the time spent running the business!
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would probably continue in the same way but employ more staff to handle sales while I concentrated on finding stock and adding content to the site.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I would possibly need to employ more staff but I could control growth without too many problems.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
1. The US dollar has fallen in value significantly in recent years and this has had a big impact on sales.
2. There are many more competitors now with more sophisticated sites and that makes things more difficult.
What has been your biggest challenge?
One challenge has been keeping up with changes to technology and this is always time consuming.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Word of mouth and reputation have had the most impact but I am working on other ways of improving promotion of the site.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has been pretty much as I expected.
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?
I am confident the site will continue to grow and I plan to keep it going as long as I am able to.
What is your website address?
John Reid Vintage Movie Memorabilia
