Florence Web Host Owner Tim James:
Glass Artist / Web Designer
By trade, Tim is a glass bead maker and instructor. Together with wife Lily, he owns and operates Beaded Lily Glass Works located in Florence, Italy, as well as its associated websites.

A decade ago, out of necessity, Tim dove head-first into the world of website design. Learning by doing, he built their first e-commerce site on a wing and a prayer. They were pleased that when they sold that website and the associated business a year later, the website was averaging over $1000 a month. He has come a long way since then in terms of technical knowledge, sense of structural design, proper use of color and imagery and effective online promotional skills.

The bulk of Tim's web creation and promotional know-how comes from hard-earned personal experience. As an owner of numerous small businesses over the years he has learned that the advertising and web design "trap" can do as much to put you out of business financially as help your business grow. Beginning with his first e-commerce web site in the late 1990's, he began to compile a working knowledge of the tools available online that can free the small business owner from those costly hazards, allowing for a more effective, efficient and economic online business. This led to his discovery of Open Source web development programs that are community created and maintained, and freely available online.

In 2006 he began creating his first Zen Cart (www.zen-cart.com) e-commerce shopping site, which is an open source program. That website (www.BeadedLily.com) is still today the cornerstone of the retail business he owns and operates with his wife Lily. He has since created scores of sites, both for their own business ventures as well as commercially.

A glass artist by trade, Tim uses his self-promotional program to take ideas from conception to sale all in one day.

Communication, Availability and Continuing Support. These are words we live by here at Florence Web Host. In addition to our online support system, if you have a question or some kind of issue, you are welcome to stop by and speak directly with owner Tim James at his studio located in the Oltrarno district of Florence.

You'll find him there Tuesday - Saturday mornings until 12:30. Of course you can also email or call, and can count on a response within 24 hours.