The following information will either answer questions you may have or provide you with further information to help you better understand everything that A&CNet can do for you. We'll be adding to our FAQ in the months ahead...

FAQ INDEX     POLICIES INDEX

Some Commonly Requested A&CNet Website Instructions

• What do I do if I've lost or forgotten my password?

• How do I update my information?

• I'm a new computer and internet user... How do I use the search interfaces?

Membership

• Do I have to be a member to purchase a listing, get a website, post any advertising , or buy any marketing kits, or partake of A&CNet's consulting services?

• How soon can I sign up as a new member and expect to start receiving benefits?

• If I'm not a member, can I still use your Arts & Crafts Information Resources search engines?

• I'm already a member of an Arts & Crafts association, why would I want to belong to another?

• What makes A&CNet different? What's in it for me?

Payment Processing

• What payment methods to you accept?

• What currency do you accept?

• What are your payment terms?

• What is your return policy?

• What are your office hours for customer service and order placement?

• Is ordering online secure?

• Are there any taxes?

• When will my credit card be billed?

Web Design

• What is a Web Address, or URL, or domain name? Are they all the same?

• What is a server?

• What is web hosting?

• Will I be able to see my site before it gets published to the Internet?

• How long will it take to build my site?

• How can I be sure my site will be unique?

• What if I want to change my website content after it's been published?

• What if I want to change my website design or upgrade it, after its been published to the Internet?

Other Important Questions

• What is a Juried Show versus the other kinds of shows?

Consulting Questions

• We're very busy in our day-to-day operations... If you come in with some consulting help, now, aren't you going to disrupt our business?

• Our Arts & Crafts business is unique and not necessarily like others. How can you possibly know how we operate to be able to help us

• Do you have experts in every type of business there is?

• Are you going to tell me how to run my own business?

• Can you provide us with some references of other companies you've worked for?

• We're not a new company; we've been in business for some years already and we know all about our business. How can A&CNet help us?

• Our bottom-line is actually quite good - why should I hire your services when I'm satisfied with our business revenues?

• How can you help my business when our prices are essentially based on what our competition is charging, and there's nothing much we can do about it?

• If exposure is our major problem, can you help us find more customers?

• My Arts & Crafts business is very small compared to even many of my peers and competitors. Are you able to help someone of my size?

• I see that you provide some in depth computer services, too. My company has its own in-house experts and trouble-shooting computer gurus. How might you provide us with anything of greater value?

• How is your approach to consulting any different than all the other consultants' out there?

• I've been considering hiring a consultant for quite a while now. I'm just not sure if now is the right time to do it?

Privacy & Information Protection Policy

• Privacy & Information Protection Policy

• Future Changes

• External Links

Security Policy

• Security Measures

• Routine Data Backups

Customer Satisfaction Policy

Membership Policies

Terms & Conditions

Stats Monitoring Policy

Website Outtage Monitoring Policy

Opting-Out Policy

What do I do if I've lost or forgotten my password?

All you do is login again without your password. You will receive an error message about your missing password. At this point, simply re-enter your confidential Login User Name in the field provided and we'll immediately email you a Temporary Password. Upon receiving this, Login again with your Temporary Password. You may then click on Account Profile, and then Change Password, where you may create a new one to use from then on. If you don't have email, phone us and we'll look after you.

How do I update my information?

Any account holder may update their information at any time by simply logging in to our website and clicking on either Account Profile for their personal info, or Main Services for their Directory Listing information. Any changes or additions they make are immediately updated once they click the submit button.

I'm a new computer and internet user... How do I use the your Directory search engine interfaces?

You're precisely the users we had in mind when we designed our Directories and search interfaces. We've not only created a mega-database for you to search within, but the challenge was also to make it not only powerful, but also very intuitive and easy for anyone to use no matter what their level of computer or internet experience.

Here's what you do... These are the same step 1, 2, and 3 instructions that are on each of the search interface pages to the right of the search interface. After you've done a few initial searches for whatever you're looking for, it will be obvious how to search thereafter...

Depending upon the kind of search you are wanting to do, you will see any number of the following search methods within the search interface. Use whatever best suits your search needs.

• Search by Province
• Search by Region (and its related Regions or Regions Map)
• Search by Name (alpha-numerically)
• Search by Keyword
• Search by Category

Additionally, in the case of our Show & Events Directory or the This Month's Events search you'll also have these search methods:

• Search by Type
• Search by Year
• Search by Month

Use can any of these 8 methods individually or in any cumulative combination for powerful filtering capability.

PLEASE NOTE: We're just getting started, so we're apt to have less listings in our database than within a months from now... We might suggest you initially do an unfiltered search to see how many listings do come up. Then once you know what you're dealing with, or if it's a huge list, you can be more selective and narrow down your choices accordingly.

3 Easy Steps:

1. This is very easy! Select any combination of search criteria, minus the Province and Region selections, and then click on the Submit button to display your results for all of Canada.

   
   

   * If you're wanting to restrict your search to certain provinces, or regions within a province, you MUST firstly click on Select Province. Then choose your province or territory from the list.




2. Now you may click on Select Region. You will be automatically presented with a choice between the Regions Map and the individual regions of that province. Click on one of these.

   
   

   * If you click on Regions Map, a map of your chosen province will display. This will enable you to see the Region boundaries more clearly. This is particularly beneficial if you're not familiar with where certain cities or towns may be, within any given region. Any colored map region you now click on will preselect all the Artisans & Crafters within that particular region. It will now automatically change the Regions choice to the one you selected on your map.




3. You may now continue by clicking on any or all of the other search methods to further, “selectively filter” your choices. Then click on the Submit button to display your search results alpha-numerically. It's that simple!

• Please Note: Businesses that have paid for the “Preferred Placement” enhancement will be displayed alpha-numerically, at the top of the list, before all the others. The rest of the search results will immediately follow these highlighted Preferred Placement listings, in apha-numeric order.

• Use the vertical scroll bar to find your desired listing.

• Click on the Reset button to refine your search. This will reset your filtering selection to the last submitted query. Then you can re-select whatever search criteria you desire.

• Click on the Clear button to clear your search selection and start over.

• Please Note: If you click on a listing's “web-link”, you will be taken directly to that business's web brochure or website for further details.

* If you want to see the Regions Map again, after you've displayed your search results, to help you find a particular business's city or town location, re-click on the Select Region, and then Regions Map. It will re-display the map associated with your last province search.

Do I have to be a member to purchase a listing, get a website, post any advertising , or buy any marketing kits, or partake of A&CNet's consulting services?

No. You do not. You can become a member at anytime. However, the advantages in doing so with your first business dealings with A&CNet are many. The cost savings, alone, are quite substantial if you are a registered member. Plus you will have access to additional services and benefits offered only to members. Your comparatively low annual membership fees, will be quickly, more than offset by any other services you may partake of, and other benefits you will have. Before you purchase any of our services, we encourage you to visit our Membership page for all the details. We want you to save money!

How Soon Can I Sign Up as a New Member and Expect To Start Receiving Benefits?

As soon as you've filled out and submitted your online Membership Application, and your payment has been processed via either credit card, (or in the case of cheque or money order, we've received and processed it), you are immediately eligible for any Membership Benefits. For credit card purchasers, upon submitting your payment, you're immediately eligible to take advantage of discounted Membership pricing for any of our diverse services. (i.e. There's no need to wait weeks for your application to get manually processed... It's all done online automatically and you're ready to go!)

If I'm not a member, can I still use your Arts & Crafts Information Resources search engines?

Yes. Most definitely. It is our pleasure to first and foremost provide our mega-database of information resources and links for the entire Industry to use, both Industry participants, and patrons, visitors to our site, and information seekers. Any non-member visitors to our site will still have access to all of our resources.

I'm already a member of an Arts & Crafts association, why would I want to belong to another?

We'll answer that by first asking you a few questions...

• Are you getting “enough” or “everything you hoped to get” out of your membership or affiliation with that association or organization... at the very least, your money's worth...so to speak?

• And... Is your Arts & Crafts business directly and measurably benefiting from your relationship with that association...are you growing because of it?

• Or... is it only being under “the banner of a group” and a bit of shared identity by affilation?

Whatever the value you are receiving from your membership elsewhere, we invite you to consider what we're all about. There's far more to A&CNet than meets the eye. We'd also submit the following for your consideration... “Oftentimes, if we have nothing to compare to, we don't know what MAY be better out there...”

Our desire is in, no way, to compete with our peers in the Industry. We did almost a year of market research before we birthed A&CNet. We came into being because of what we discovered was “a clarion call” on the part of both Industry participants and the Arts & Crafts patrons and enthusiasts, visitors, etc. to address what was lacking and desperately needed improvement. We hope we are offering some of what's been missing, or perhaps needed to be done a little more completely, or made easier for the public to access...

There's nothing at all wrong with belonging to more than one association or affiliation. In fact, anyone committed to growing their business and maximizing their online and offline exposure and presence, should want to be in more than just one place. However, if you choose to only be affiliated with one association, make absolutely sure it's doing everything for you that you want it to. And then, do check us out, too. See what we have to offer. See how we're different.

We are not “reinventing the wheel” with our diverse services. But we are definitely providing a refreshing “new means and method to provide vital services” as well as “much easier access to better information resources”.

We are facilitators, educators, marketers, web developers, and consultants, all in one small but passionate team. Our focus is helping you take advantage of the internet as a highly effective medium and tool for the advertising and sales & marketing needs of your Arts & Crafts business. We could go on and on to discuss what we're doing, why, and how it IS different than what our peers are doing, but we encourage you to browse through our site and see what we may have to offer you. Compare our services' features, our member benefits, and our resources, and website's navigational ease of use. We believe we've created a new online meeting place and portal. We're offering a new online marketing & advertising point of reference and webhome for Canadian Artisans & Crafters and all Industry participants, that are not yet taking advantage of the the Internet's inherent sales & marketing power.

What makes A&CNet different? What's in it for me?

How about more exposure, more visitors, more customers... how bout' services that can directly improve your business success!

• Common-sense crucial services and a common-sense online means to obtain them.

• Ease of access and much better access to more pertinent information

• An incredibly user-friendly and search-engine friendly website homebase

• 12 powerful yet very easy-to-use Arts & Crafts Industry search interfaces that access our national Artisans and Crafters, and Shows and Events Directories, and Industry database (one of the largest in all of Canada). And you'll have not only the search power but the filtering capability to narrow down your search results to exactly what you're looking for.

• A huge database of related Arts and Crafts Information Resources of one kind or another

• Apart from Directory Listings, Websites, and Internet advertising, we also offer comprehensive Small Business Consulting services to help your business grow.

We've endeavoured to “redefine value” for the Arts and Crafts Industry by offering “irresistably affordable” services pricing.

Our mandate is to give EVERY participant in our Canadian Arts and Crafts Industry the opportunity to have some kind of cost-effective or even FREE web presence, if they don't already have one, or a truly effective one. And with any webpresence we create for them, we'll ensure that it is high-profile and high-traffic as well as search-engine friendly so that the public can find the vendors, otherwise, what's the point of it?

Everything we do on our site on your behalf is so that more of the public can know about you and reach you! Everything we do is with the purpose of providing measurably better traffic and exposure for the purpose of increasing your business revenues.

What payment methods do you accept?

A&CNet accepts payment through VISA and MasterCard, as well as cheque or money order via mail (made payable to A&CNet Inc.). Payment is required before any services are performed or activated. Confirmation of your payment will occur upon receipt of your online payment. If paying by cheque or money order, and you have email, a confirmation will be emailed to you upon reciept of your payment.

What currency do you accept?

Currently, it's only Canadian currency only, as we're primarily offering services for Canadians.

However, we do have plan to expand our services into the U.S. market down the road, at which time we will then accommodate U.S. currency, too.

What are your Payment Terms?

Most of what we sell is services, not products. We have no inventory from which we're selling tangible products or non-database driven merchandise. For obvious reasons, the various services we provide are not performed until payment is received. Remember also, that most of our services are essentially automatically rendered as soon as the customer fills in their online submisssion form and clicks the submit button. The service is directly provided. And understandably in the case of websites, if we didn't charge till later, and went ahead spending days creating a website, and then the customer for whatever reason changed their mind, we'd have worked for nothing. For some of our services we do however, offer monthly payment terms as well as annual.

What is your return policy?

Given that we do not have tangible products that are being shipped out, we have no need of a return policy. Customer satisfaction is self-determined by the customer as soon as they submit their online listing form. Websites are given the go ahead to go “Live” only once the customer has signed off on the results of our collaboration. Our marketing kits have the customer involved in the final decision making, too. So, no... the nature of our business has no need for refunds. As mentioned, almost all of our services are automatically rendered by customers who know what they will be getting, as it's their determination on their online submission forms. Refer to our Customer Satisfaction Policy for further details.

What are your office hours for customer service and order placement?

Most of the ordering of our services may be done online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our website, marketing and consulting services will necessitate you phoning us to discuss your particular needs. We are available to take your call from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST, Monday through Friday. If you have any questions or customer service inquiries you may reach us at (403) 251-4333 during business hours or if you prefer, anytime.

Is ordering online secure?

Yes. The page wherein you provide your confidential credit card information is encrypted using the latest in secure SSL technology. The information is not left online. Please refer to our Security Policy for details.

Are there any taxes?

Only 6% GST for all Canadians.

When will my credit card be billed?

As soon as you've submitted your payment information, you are billed. If you have any questions about Confidentiality of Information or Security, please refer to our Security Policy.

What is a Web Address, or URL, or domain name? Are they all the same?

Simply speaking, your website address is your internet “identity” and your online “brand”. Your customers are apt to remember this name. They will use it to find your website and your products or services. Typically this is, or is related to, your business name or your primary service you provide, or whatever you desire it to be, that your customer base would identify with and easily remember as your business (eg.] artsandcraftsnet.ca). Given that no two businesses can ever hold the exact same web address simultaneously, your internet identity is uniquely yours.

Your URL (universal resource locator) is your web address that you type into a browser address field, before you hit your enter key or click on the GO button (eg.]www.artsandcraftsnet.ca).

Without getting too technical, a web address is an addressing format used for identifying and locating computers on the internet. While computers use Internet Protocol (IP) numbers to locate each other on the internet, people find them hard to remember a numerical address. Web addresses were essentially developed to permit the use of easily remembered words or phrases to identify Internet addresses. For example, our own web address, artsandcraftsnet.ca represents the A&CNet Inc. website. When you type www.artsandcraftsnet.ca into a web browser or send e-mail to someone at artsandcraftsnet.ca, the Domain Name System (DNS) translates artsandcraftsnet.ca into a numeric IP address used by the internet, and connects you to A&CNet Inc.

What is web hosting?

A company that provides web hosting services is called a web host. Web hosting is the business of providing the necessary computer and network equipment, and services, required to host, store, and maintain files for websites, and to provide continuously running fast internet connections, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to those sites. These files could contain everything that the webpages for a website are comprised of and more. Most web hosting is “shared,” which means that websites of multiple companies are on the same server in order to share costs.

Virtual hosting is more affordable for individual people's websites and small businesses because this technology allows many sites to share the same server (there could be hundreds or thousands of them). However, services will be transparent so that each site can have its own unique domain name and e-mail addresses, and of course, no one else has access to your website directories. However, unlike dedicated hosting, virtual hosting tends to have more traffic (from the co-located sites) and therefore less bandwidth per site and slower downloads.

Dedicated hosting is provided by a hosting company to businesses that wish to have their Web site on a stand-alone or “dedicated” computer. It can be costly, and therefore is usually only utilized by large companies that have a lot of traffic on their Web sites and an in-house technology team that provides 24/7 monitoring and assumes all of the responsibility for technical support and maintenance of a Web site.

What is a server?

A server is a host computer on a network. It houses information and responds to requests for information (for example, web hosting companies use servers to house websites and executes their connection to other websites). The term "server" also refers to the software that makes the act of "serving information" possible. E-commerce servers, for example, use software to run the main functions of an e-commerce website, such as product display, online ordering, and inventory management (you'll also hear this described as shopping cart technology). A server is the control computer on a LAN, meaning it controls the software, access to printers, and other parts of the network (usually accompanied by workstations that "share the load"). A server may be dedicated (where its sole purpose is to be the server) or non-dedicated (where in addition to being the server, it can be used for basic computing purposes).

Will I be able to see my website before it gets published to the Internet?

Yes. For our Website Template Solutions, our web developers will begin creating your website and will email or phone you within 3 – 5 business days from purchase, to advise you when your web site is ready for previewing. At that point, you may contact us with any comments and changes you may like to make. We will then perform these final changes and upon your approval publish your website.

Yes. In the case of our Custom Websites, we will of course, collaborate with you even more so during the overall process, as some of the design requirements may be more complex, etc.

How long will it take to build my site?

For our Website Template Solutions, your website will typically be created and “go Live” within 5 – 7 business days.

For our Custom Websites, it will be entirely dependant upon your exact design requirements, etc.

How can I be sure my site will be unique?

Each of our Website Template Solutions, is in fact, a family of template designs. There are various unique features and design elements, “looks” and “extras”, that can be incorporated to meet your particular desires. Plus, we are always adding to our library of template designs. And if you've done any comparisons, you'll see that we don't “do it on the cheap”, in terms of designs that are out of date or limited by old technology or inflexible design. All of our Website Template Solutions are unique in themselves and via the many combinations that can be freshly created out of them, we're offering lots of choices. Never forget also that your own personalized textual content and images, whether photos or artwork, logos, etc., will all make the difference in creating a site that is uniquely yours. Just about everything can be changed apart from the basic structure and even that is quite flexible within the Package terms. Visit our Web Design & Hosting page for all the details.

What if I want to change my website content after it's been published?

Our Web sites are designed to be flexible and to grow with your business. We've created our templates with a mind for your future. They can be added to, modified, or just about anything you may want to do with them. With the Bronze templates' format we allow changes of textual content or images up to 2 times for 1 year; for the Silver, up to 3 times for 1½ years; for the Gold, up to 4 times for 2 years. If you desire to make any structural design changes to the template or changes more often than what the package includes, contact us and we'll work out something. It all depends upon what you want to do.

And of course, for Custom Websites, depending upon what you want us to create for you, either we, or you, can look after content changes on an ongoing basis. Phone us to discuss your needs further.

What if I want to change my website design or upgrade it, after its been published to the Internet?

Refer to the previous question for changes. Remember also, that any website can be enhanced or additional features added for a nominal cost depending upon what you're wanting to do.

As to upgrades, Refer to our Website Upgrade Credits for details on this exciting program.

What is a “Juried Show”, versus the other kinds of shows?

“Juried” as defined by Webster's Dictionary, means, “to select material as appropriate for exhibition”.

A Juried show can be different things to different people. It can have different rules, and terms &conditions, different judging criteria, etc. A juried show is essentially one in which you must send in slides or photos of your work to be viewed by a “jury”, or knowledgeable committee. Your work is accepted into the show based on technical skill, creativity, the medium, and/or other requirements as they may establish. The jury could be one or a few independent artists, gallery owners, etc, or just the promoter and their staff. They may be screening for quality or perhaps trying to block manufactured and/or imported items, or it could be any multitude of other criteria. Acceptance or rejection into this show is based on the submitted slides or photos.

Here's what usually happens with a juried show. You get the application and it says you need 3-5 slides or photos of your work. Some may even want a shot of your booth set-up. The purpose of the process is often to weed out inferior work, buy &sell work, and large product house work. Some Craft shows may want strictly high end crafts. Some may not want anything that looks like “country”, or whatever they predetermine. Some shows may also request a photo of you at work or creating your products. You then send the slides or photos, the application, and description page with a jury fee cheque (this has been debated for years by crafters) and then wait while they look at everyone's slides or photos. Then you get your notice. Remember that rejection notices will usually be sent out first. Take note of the notification dates, and expect a response after that date. If you are rejected, try again the following year. In some shows the jury changes every year. You may also consider changing your photos, too. It's not uncommon for some to be rejected from a show one year and accepted the next.

Craft or Fine Art shows are usually either “juried”, or “open”(non-juried). Some open shows have strict requirements, as do most juried shows, (e.g. the work must be hand-crafted by the artisan), and some do allow imported and manufactured items to be sold alongside hand-crafted work. Crafts people and artisans usually prefer to be with other creative people rather than mixed in with importers, resellers and manufacturers at an “open” show. Beginners or new Artisans &Crafters may prefer to try a few open shows first to fine-tune their display approach and to find out which items in their line sell well.

“Screened” shows are another variety, too, indicating necessary compliance with a standard or some particular criteria which has been set. These are typically a less formal process than a juried show and they're ususally just looking for attractive hand-crafted work or fine art, created by the exhibitor.

Another type are the true “invitational shows” which are rarer these days. Exhibitors are invited, and those who have not been invited may not apply. Most events that call themselves invitational are simply juried shows to which artists or artisans apply, and the normal jury process selects the participants.

Juried shows can be very beneficial to the emerging artist or crafter in that they provide the opportunity to exhibit your works and craftsmanship. They build up your portfolio without requiring you to be a full-time artist with a solid vision or a concrete style.

We're very busy in our day-to-day operations... If you come in with some consulting help, now, aren't you going to disrupt our business?

There's two answers for this. Creative people work when the creative juices flow, when the inspiration is happening... When is there a time you're not apt to be busy, or that you could know and say, “I won't be busy then...”? Small businesses seldom have “free” time or any length of time when they are not busy. It's surely no different in the Arts and Craft realm.

Secondly, when you are busy may be precisely the best time for us to work with you. This may also be the most likely time you are apt to notice your problems or things that do need changing or help. But, as is often the case with typical “growing pains” you are usually too busy to do much about them. During busy times, problems and their solutions are typically more readily identified, and can be the most revealing to you. This is likely when you handle the greatest part of your work load and make your biggest profits. It may also be the time when you experience your greatest losses in any areas of your business that are operating inefficiently or possibly losing money. The fact is, any problems or inefficiencies become more obvious and can be more advantageously corrected when you are operating at your busiest times.

Our Arts & Crafts business is unique and not necessarily like others. How can you possibly know how we operate to be able to help us?

To be sure, every business we help is different. All businesses are not created equal. They're all at various stages of growth and have some similar and some very different realities. They have different people and art or craft products and services, as well as different approaches to doing business. The fact that every business is different is what keeps us all in business and enables us all to have a piece of the respective “market pie”, in this case, the Arts & Craft sector.

We are not interested in the deepest inner-workings of your business operations, so as to become experts in what you are, before we might render any services to you. Essentially, you're in the Arts & Craft field because you love it. And you're in business to make a profit, unless you're fortunate enough to be able to do it only for the sheer love and enjoyment of it. We are interested in helping you with your invested dollar as it progresses through your business cycle, no matter how simple or complex that may be in your mind. All Arts & Craft businesses, though different, do share similar growing pains. There's not a lot that's particularly unique when it comes to the typical challenges of many evolving, and growing, micro and small businesses.

Do you have experts in every type of business there is?

NO, of course not. Nor are we afraid to tell you what we know or what we don't know. We'll never purport to be something we're not. We, at A&CNet, are ourselves, a purposely small marketing and consulting firm. And we're looking to help, likewise, smaller companies, whether they be new start-ups or evolving smaller Arts & Craft businesses. We are not 'business magicians', nor 'jacks of all trades', and thereby masters of none. However, our combined backgrounds can provide you with a substantial base of 'real-world' experience and as we like to call it, “common-sense consulting” expertise. In that regard, we don't believe there's a lot of magic to meeting needs, just some careful listening and collaborative planning, and doing what's required. We will carefully evaluate and then make recommendations regarding your business practices and procedures.

After all is said and done, our desire is to be for you, or do for you, what you don't have the time to be, or do for yourself. We are flexible in accommodating the diverse needs of emerging smaller businesses. Any inner technicalities of your business are not our interest. You and your staff are already experts in that area, so our role is not to be that of another expert stating what you already know. Rather, we will provide you with an objective and fresh perspective on your company's operations. We will bring our business acumen and creative marketing talents to your table. We believe this is most beneficial for you. This objectivity and reflective viewpoint (taking time to sit back and review and analyze “where you're at”) is not something that many business owners and their employees find very easy to do with their own company.

Are you going to tell me how to run my own business?

We're not looking to “run” your business. Our mandate is to be for you what you need or could use at this stage in your business life. We can help you, and work with you, bringing out the best in your team, and ways and means, augmenting your own team's efforts in whatever capacity, we together determine, that best suits your desires and needs. We will “enhance” your business and will provide you with some means and tools to operate your business more effectively.

Can you provide us with some references of other companies you've worked for?

We, personally, would be pleased to do this for you. However, the services we provide for our clients are confidential and many clients prefer their anonymity, for whatever their reasons. In fact, where desired we do have a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement that both we and our clients sign and take seriously. Some business owners do not want it known that they've used a consulting firm to assist them. We respect their feelings. Others have no problem with this and have allowed us to describe our work with them (or in some cases, are available for you to contact them, should you so desire).

We're not a new company; we've been in business for some years already and we know all about our business. How can A&CNet help us?

And so you should know your business very well. And yes, it's true... our mandate if more geared toward helping the micro and smaller or newer businesses, but our experiences have shown that new start-up or mature “seasoned” businesses still have much in common, despite one having “been there and done that” already to whatever degree...

The reality is, ‘not enough’ business leaders take the time to proactively think about where their company is “really at” and wants to be in the future. Finding the time to “think about everything” is the first challenge. Upon doing that, it's often surprising to see what comes to mind that you may not have thought to articulate, or face before. While knowing your own day-to-day business so well, you may be “too close to the forest to see your trees”... and some of those trees may need some help to grow better. In other words, can you recognize all of your problems or those areas of inefficiency or in need of change? We can provide you with some outside objectivity and impartiality. We will look at your business's “bigger picture” and longer time-line, too. It is not uncommon to be viewing one's plans narrowly, but we can help you see what you might have been missing and may need to proactively address.

Our bottom-line is actually not too bad... So, why should I hire your services when I am satisfied with our business revenues?

We might ask you, “What is your measuring stick?” What is your time-line and frame of reference? If you have nothing to compare to (apart from yourself), is it possible that you may not know nor see what could be better? Upon careful examination, and reflection upon your original company vision and mission statement, only you know just how well your Arts and Crafts business is doing these days. Are you TOTALLY satisfied with every facet of it? Is your business doing everything you had planned for it to do? Or would it be beneficial to change or enhance anything to make your business even MORE successful?

Even in the Arts & Crafts Industry, the competition is ever increasing. Tastes are diversifying, creative peoples' works are becoming more readily accessible to all. Customers' expectations are way up as well as the increased demand for better value, more immediate and direct services, and more feature and info-laden yet simpler to use websites where they can directly see what you have to offer, or buy it online. It's a challenge, a never-ending competition with peers, often times vying for the same customers. It's perhaps a little more hidden or subtle within the Arts & Crafts Industry but nonetheless it's still there. The fact is, the market never waits for us to have the time or ideal resources to do “all” that we may need to. Seldom does anybody get time anymore nowadays for the market to ‘catch its breath’...

Nobody that wants to grow, these days, should be content with their past or current ‘status quo’... Everything is changing and Arts & Craft businesses that come to grips with that sooner than later, become the leaders and those to watch out for, those that are making money. The rest may be those struggling in the ranks... struggling for exposure. Where are you?

Complacency has stagnated and destroyed more potentially prosperous enterprises than any other business attitude. Very few people are ever truly satisfied with the money they are making or the level of their business's success. And they shouldn't be if they want to continue to maintain or exceed that success in the years ahead.

Is every part of your business making money and contributing to your overall success? Are all of your team members contributing effectively, or do you perhaps not really know for sure? Would your staff reject an increase in earnings? Or is it a case of when was it that you last gave yourself a raise? Do all those working for you have that same passion for your business as you do?... (or perhaps once did?) To maintain, and especially, grow your business and your piece of the Arts & Craft market pie in the days ahead, you and all your team will necessarily require that passion and drive to enable your business to keep ahead of the mainstream, and on the front lines of new trends and developments, capitalizing on today's new marketing and web strategies for increasing sales. Do you want to be just a safe follower from behind, or would you like to chart your own course? The concept of "starving artist" is only for those who don't do what it takes to make a great living with their creative talents, or one for those who don't know what to do to market themselves and increase their chances for greater ongoing success... in which case... there is help available. We can definitely help you.

How can you help my business when our prices are essentially based on what our competition is charging, and there's nothing much we can do about it?

If you're a well known artist, your reputation may preceed you and you can charge what the market will bear and they will pay you what you're wanting for your creative works. Not everyone is in that position. It takes something to get there... But there's also other types of businesses in the Arts & Craft sector that are more influenced by market forces and the competition.

Perhaps we can help you take a good close “re-look” at your pricing and your marketing. You may feel that your prices may be set by your competition, to whatever degree, but your costs are not. Your distinct “differences” may need to be re-emphasized, too. Your 'sales proposition' to the marketplace may have hidden value that can also be capitalized upon. Prices are not everything that will determine your success or failure. By improving upon some of your business practices, and services, you can have the opportunity to become the “thorn” in your competitors' sides. We can help you give them something to worry about. Perhaps with some business fine-tuning, better facilitation of staff and resources, some basic management help, or some creative marketing, you'll be the one establishing the prices or some “norms” within the Industry, instead of others.

Our experiences have always shown that businesses unduly focused on price or “what the other guy's doing”, as their means of survival, are usually missing out on realizing considerable inherent value in other aspects of their own business, people and products and services. Upon re-activating or enhancing some of these other areas, and making changes where applicable, life becomes suddenly less narrow and 'the same old, same old', and can quickly transform and rejuvenate the team and especially, the company's revenue picture.

If exposure is our major problem, can you help us find more customers?

We will work with you to help you get more customers and a greater market share in the market you're targeting. We will re-look at your marketing and help you re-position yourselves in situations where the long-term market forecast may be unfavorable, or the market is already crowded, or we'll help you target some new niche markets and new customers, and suggest some new approaches. Common-sense new business development and creative marketing is a passion of ours.

My Arts & Craft business is very small compared to even many of my peers and competitors. Are you able to help someone of my size?

You are exactly the size of company we prefer to help. We believe the needs represented by smaller companies and new start-ups are some of the greatest. It is this stage of business life that presents some of the most daunting challenges and ‘growing pains’. All businesses, no matter what their size, experience normal problems as they grow. It's ‘par for the course’.

In any size company, there can always be, and should be room for innovative, creative, and practical ideas that can improve things and make businesses better. Our mandate is to help your size of business grow bigger and better, and “more” successful, and to be more prepared for the future, and at a measured momentum that's just right for you.

I see that you provide some in depth computer services, too. My company has its own in-house experts and trouble-shooting computer gurus. How would A&CNet provide us with anything of greater value?

The answer to this is sometimes simple.... And it applies to the singular artisan or crafter working out of their home to the full-fledged larger business of many employees with many computers.

If you are still experiencing any degree of problems with your computer equipment, or anything that isn't giving you the full confidence and assurances you need that your company's computers are always TOTALLY safe and secure, and performing optimally, then you could use our help.

We do this for a living and necessarily keep abreast of the latest technology developments. We've also learned all the "tweaks" and short-cuts and don't necessarily "go by the book", which has proved to be a significant advantage to our clients. It's a fast-changing world and your own people may not be as aware of everything as may be assumed.

How is your approach to consulting any different than all the other consultants' out there?

Firstly, we're providing our services exclusively to the Arts & Craft Community. Yes, we used to provide the same to the Small Business Community at large before we created A&CNet. But our mandate is to focus on the smaller Arts & Craft businesses.

There is an over-abundance of consultants catering to the needs of larger businesses. And it's perhaps for one very good reason, too, amongst others to be sure. That being that though the micro and smaller businesses may have an abundance of needs, they typically don't have an abundance of wherewithal to pay for meeting those needs as they'd really like to. We obviously have to survive, too, but we do “have a heart for small businesses” and a passion for the Arts & Craft world, so that's the business crowd we are looking to serve. We very much see ourselves as "facilitators" and our consulting involves everything from fixing and maintaining, to enhancing and improving, to teaching and empowering. We want you to be able to do so much more yourself, after we have helped you. We'll arm you and help you to do what you do, better.

We differ from other consulting firms not only in what we believe is our “down to earth, common sense, passionate and creative approach” but also in our diversity of “real-world” experience we can bring to our clients. We also are willing to be and to “do for you what you may not have the time nor resources to do for yourselves”. We will don whatever 'hat' we can, that with our abilities, enables us to help you, in whatever way we may. We are accustomed to being “servants”. As I said, we're not just “fixers”, we're educators, and facilitators, too. We like to “give” to those we help, not just “take”. The business world has enough of that. We've all had our bad associative conditioning in life with such experiences.

A key difference with A&CNet is our flexibility. We will customize our approach for the Arts and Craft community where many others have their particular formula and criteria that YOU must fit into and then they'll come and help you. However, we'll work with you “on your terms” and in accordance with your particular level of need and stage of growth. We also will accept no engagements without first making a thorough evaluation of the needs of our potential Arts & Craft clients to determine the appropriateness of a potential consulting arrangement. This initial evaluation confirms, for both you and us, that your business has areas that will benefit from our services, and enables us to outline potential problem areas within your company. We take an active approach to help solve your business's problems. We'll assist your business in developing and implementing innovative and creative strategies and solutions for each individual problem, and stay through the process until those are in place. Every step of your custom-tailored “Critical Life Support Services for Business” program, will be documented, and your personnel will be advised and trained by our team. We don't “leave you in the lurch” upon the completion of our services, to go back to your own ways... We will ensure that your team is readied and able to carry on with the ongoing implementation and practice of any new ways and means or enhancements for your company. And once again, I must state, we'll do this for any size company, even if it's just 1 or 2 employees.

We are looking for the “right fit” between you and us - It goes both ways. We're also not afraid of our own limits. We'll only provide the highest quality of services we are able to do, to the best of our ability, and in keeping with Industry standards and practices. Occasionally, we will also draw upon the expertise and services of key alliance partners we sometimes utilize to assist us or to further the services we can offer you.

Our approach may be comparatively a-typical. We're flexible and highly motivated to action. We aren't the kind of consultants that employ endless meetings to “discuss and study” rather than “getting on with the job”. We won't give you endless lengthy reports and analyses telling you what's wrong but doing little about it. We are realistic and accurate in our time projections for tasks and we won't recommend you have to spend money for anything new, if in fact, your current equipment, software, facilities, or team, or “way”, may only need some re-configuring, fine-tuning, or more advanced utilization. We fully realize that our clients are willing to make an investment in their business's current and future growth or else they wouldn't be calling upon us. However, we also know they expect to see some good results and good value for any money they spend with us. We're pleased to humbly state that we have always satisfied our clients and usually exceeded their expectations.

I've been considering hiring a consultant for quite a while now. I'm just not sure if now is the right time to do it?

If you have needs, now is always the time. You may not have had the chance nor taken the time to regularly review your business realities and present or future needs. Maybe you stopped a good thing before you let it happen, before you had a chance to think it all through, thinking that you were too small of a business, just yet, to bother... But you probably have that sense of where you want to be and what kind of Art or Craft business you want to continue building. You see what others are doing, too. If yours isn't ‘THERE’ yet, then NOW is the right time. It's unlikely there will ever be a time when you'll have enough spare time to think about everything and plan it all out for yourself. All our clients have had that same desire but have never been able to really get a handle on it. Why? They've simply been too busy surviving from day to day. Many of you are Artisans and Craftspeople. You're busy creating works of art...your creative moments may consume you and... the business side of running your business as well as the marketing of your art may take second or third place at times... We understand that.

Also, if your business is too much “your baby” and you're afraid to change your ‘status quo', ‘rock your boat' (or whatever you want to call it) and grow, or do what it takes to manifest your dreams, you're not ready (though the time is maybe, past ready). Likewise, if you cannot accept sincere constructive criticism, you'll probably never find the right time, either. Or...if you are waiting for the market to become more favourable, or others to change before you may be willing to proactively face your future, you may be outstepped by your peers and your growing pains may increase unnecessarily. THE RIGHT TIME IS WHEN YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BAD ENOUGH. If you recognize any of the following and it sounds at all familiar to you, then IT IS THE RIGHT TIME...NOW.

“I'm swamped with just trying to survive from day to day to make ends meet... I'm always busy but can't seem to get away from this ‘starving artist' thing that's chasing me... My bottom line isn't showing me what I need.”

“There's never enough time nor resources to do what we want to, let alone, take time to think about the future...”

“There's more 'players' jumping into the market than ever before and unfortunately, MY niche market and MY customers – I've got to get my name out there more and just don't know the right way to do it...”

“We'd love to be more efficient and productive; we know we have some organizational problems which we need to get around to addressing...”

“Simply too much to do, too few to do it, and too little time...is where I'm currently at... I wish I could clone myself.”

“I've just started my new Craft business and I'm already finding myself overwhelmed with what needs to be done... I don't know if I was prepared enough for this...”

“We can't afford another employee just yet, but we sure could have used half of one for quite a while now...”

“What I need is a joe-boy, a manager, a consultant, a business counsellor, a mentor, and an objective friend, all in one. And one that understands what our Industry's all about... Do you know anybody who has someone like that for hire?”

The market never waits for us to have the time or ideal resources...

Any company that's been there, will tell you they've had their share of challenges and “learning from the marketplace”.

Is there some help you could use?

Few can dare claim to be crystal ball readers nor business Houdini's. You can't tell what's going to happen and you can't always escape it when it perhaps doesn't go like you planned or hoped for. So what do you do about it? That's the real question...

For some of you, you're just beginning and perhaps grappling with how to best get from Point Here to Point There... And for others, perhaps doing “the same old, same old” just isn't enough anymore and you know you have to do something about it, but just aren't sure what...

Is it the right time to finally get some help? If you've browsed our website you will have seen what A&CNet can do for you. We're not not only consultants, we're also marketers and web developers, too. Only you know just how well your business is doing TODAY and where you want it to be for TOMORROW.. Are you totally satisfied? Or is it time to make some changes, and make some things better?

Diverse real-world experience, objective common-sense and proactive foresight, mixed with some creative thinking and a tireless passion for what we do... is what we can offer you.

Give us a phone call. We're at your service.

Privacy

A&CNet is committed to protecting your privacy.

Our website utilizes various forms which requires prospective customers that desire any of our services, to provide us with contact information (like their name, email, and postal address), as well as other pertinent business information. Your information is used to advertise and market your business via the various means available on our website. It is also for the purpose of ensuring we are able to contact you regarding your account or the services we provide you, should we need to, and for order processing, etc.

We will not sell, share, trade, or rent any of our customers' and members' personal information to others in ways different from anything expressed in the following Information Protection Policy.

It’s not enough to issue some broad-sweeping general few statements as a business’s Privacy policy. In the day and age in which we live, such an approach is not apt to satisfy nor allay the legitimate concerns that customers have regarding the security and protection of their personal and business information. Some detail is warranted…

With the dramatic rise in internet “spam” and the intrusive and bothersome nature of some illegitimate email mass-marketing these days, as well as the increase in “theft identity” on and off the net, our federal and provincial governments have recently created better laws to ensure that one’s personal information is protected. With this in mind, A&CNet is committed to strong compliance with these new laws via our own Information Protection Policy.

Information Protection Policy

A&CNet Inc. is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by our acccount holders, members, clients, and subscribers [hereinafter called “client(s)”].

We manage your personal information in accordance with the Canadian federal government’s privacy laws, as well as Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA)(as of January 1, 2004), and other applicable laws of this, our home province. This policy outlines the principles and practices we follow in protecting your personal information.

This policy applies to A&CNet Inc. as well as any other person or associated or allied business providing services on our behalf.

What is Personal Information versus Business Information?

It is very important to understand the differences between personal and business information.

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This may include an individual’s name, home address and phone number, age, sex, marital or family status, an identifying number, financial information, educational history, etc.

Typically, the only personal information A&CNet may have from a client, would be restricted to an individual contact name, business address (which may be their home address if such is the case) and their business phone number (which may be their personal phone number if such is also the case). An exception to this would be additional personal information a client may desire to include within a Feature Artist Profile or Feature Art or Craft Event Profile, A&CNet Newsletter bio or contributed article, etc. where they may desire to “tell a little bit more about themselves”.

Any mention of “personal information” throughout the rest of this policy pertains to the above personal information. All other mention of “information” or “business information” pertains to business information as defined below.

Business information, with respect to how A&CNet might use or display this particular information would include such additional business information as to more details on your location or business hours, your business/organization or event description, other event or business details, etc.

The above business information is not typically “personal” in nature, and of course, all clients have the “choice” of whether to provide any such information at their sole discretion. Their consent is thereby provided when they enter it into any submission forms for any Directory listings, or any other A&CNet services, etc.

The information they provide can be edited and/or removed directly, at anytime, by the client, themselves, if they wish, or by contacting A&CNet to do it for them.

What Personal Information Do We Collect?

A&CNet collects that information which might be better classified as your “business information”. Some minor “personal information” may be collected, too, as may be required for contacting you or for handling any payment processing issues, etc.

Any such information and all information A&CNet may display from a client anywhere on our website, would only be displayed with the client’s consent and determination.

We reiterate that by nature of the “do-it-yourself” online submission forms for procuring most of our online services, a client may choose to provide ONLY that information they desire to. It’s entirely up to the client as to what information they want to have displayed on the A&CNet website. We may give some guidelines as to the kind of information that may be, but the client provides only that which they desire to.

We collect only the business information that we need for the purposes of providing services to our clients, including the previously mentioned personal information needed, to:

• open and manage an A&CNet account profile

• process a A&CNet Membership information

• process and/or deliver requested services and/or products

• process an A&CNet Newsletter subscription

• open and manage an A&CNet Classifed Ads account profiile

• open and manage an A&CNet Forum account profile

• create and manage any client Feature Profiles on our website

• contact clients about any payment processing issues

• contact clients about any issues related to our services or products

• contact clients for any other related A&CNet business or client issues

• follow up with clients to determine satisfaction with services and products

• notify clients of upcoming events of interest

• notify clients of any news or announcements related to new A&CNet services, or products

• notify clients of any A&CNet sales and/or marketing initiatives or joint initiatives with any of our “alliance partners”

• administer our Referral Reward Credits program

• grant any credits when applicable

• meet regulatory requirements

We normally collect client information directly from our clients. We may occasionally collect your information from other persons with your consent or as authorized by law.

We may also occasionally, albeit rarely, collect your business information from other public places or public resources where your business information already resides for public display.

We inform our clients, before or at the time of collecting any personal information, of the purposes for which we are collecting the information. The only time we don’t provide this notification is when a client volunteers information for an obvious purpose (for example, producing a credit card for an online purchase when the information will be used only to process the payment).

Consent

We ask for consent to collect and use client personal information, except in specific circumstances where collection and use without consent is authorized or required by law. We may assume your consent in cases where you volunteer information for an obvious purpose, as in the case of any of our “do-it-yourself” online submission forms.

In cases where we collected personal information before January 1, 2004, we assume your consent to our use and, if and where applicable, disclosure for the purpose for which the information was collected.

We ask for your express consent for some purposes and may not be able to provide certain services if you are unwilling to provide consent to the collection, use or disclosure of certain personal information. Where express consent is needed, we will normally ask clients to provide their consent orally (in person, by telephone), in writing (by signing a consent form, by checking a box on a form), or electronically (by clicking a button or by checking a box on an online form), or by signing/replying via an email consent & authorization form.

In cases that do not involve sensitive personal information, we may rely on “opt-out” consent. For example, we may disclose your contact information to other organizations that we believe may be of interest to you, only if you have given us prior consent to disclose your information. You can do this by checking the appropriate box on our online account creation application form or by contacting us and granting consent. Many of our A&CNet correspondence emails will also offer an opt-out clause and instructions or direct link at the end of the email, wherein a client may remove themselves from receiving any further emails or from inclusion in any mailing or emailing list, with respect to the purpose of the respective email.

A client may withdraw consent to the use and disclosure of personal information at any time, unless the personal information is necessary for us to fulfill our legal obligations. We will respect your decision, but we may not be able to provide you with certain services and products if we do not have the necessary personal information.

We may collect, use or disclose client personal information without consent only as authorized by law. For example, we may not request consent when the collection, use or disclosure is reasonable for an investigation or legal proceeding, to collect a debt owed to our organization, in an emergency that threatens life, health or safety, or when the personal information is from a public telephone directory or other publicly available source.

How Do We Use and Disclose Personal Information?

We use and disclose client personal information only for the purposes for which the information was collected, except as authorized by law. For example, we may use client contact information to contact you or deliver services or goods. The law also allows us to use that contact information for the purpose of collecting a debt owed to our organization, should that be necessary.

If we wish to use or disclose your personal information for any new business purpose, we will ask for your consent.

How Do We Safeguard Personal Information?

We make every reasonable effort to ensure that client information is accurate and complete. We rely on our clients to notify us if there is a change to their personal information that may affect their relationship with our organization. If you are aware of an error in our information about you, please let us know and we will correct it on request wherever possible.

Alternately, clients who have accounts with A&CNet may also login to our website, themselves, and make any such changes to their account profile information and any listing information, etc.

In Some Cases We May Ask For a Written Request For Correction.

We protect client business and personal information in a manner appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. We make every reasonable effort to prevent any loss, misuse, disclosure or modification of business or personal information, as well as any unauthorized access to such information.

We use appropriate security measures when destroying client information, including shredding any paper records and permanently deleting electronic records.

We retain client business and personal information only as long as is reasonable to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected or for legal or business purposes.

Access to Records Containing Personal Information

As already mentioned, clients of A&CNet have a “right of access” to their own personal information that is in our custody or under our control, subject to some exceptions. For example, organizations are required under the Personal Information Protection Act to refuse to provide access to information that would reveal personal information about another individual. Organizations are authorized under the Act to refuse access to personal information if disclosure would reveal confidential business information. Access may also be refused if the information is privileged or contained in mediation records.

If we refuse a request in whole or in part, we will provide the reasons for the refusal. In some cases where exceptions to access apply, we may withhold that specific information and provide you with the remainder of the information.

You may make a request for access to your personal information by contacting our Privacy Officer at A&CNet. He is the designated official within our company that ensures our compliance with PIPA and any other governing privacy laws and regulations. You must provide sufficient information in your request to allow us to identify the information you are seeking, as well as reasonable time to respond.

You may also request information about our use of your business and personal information and any disclosure of that information to persons outside our organization.

You may also request a correction of an error or omission in your personal information. We will respond to your request within 30 calendar days, unless an extension is granted, and likely considerably sooner. We may charge a reasonable fee to provide information, but not to make a correction. We will advise you of any fees that may apply before beginning to process your request.

Be mindful that any personal information that A&CNet may have from any client, is of such minor and minimal amount (as well as typically being already available via other public sources) so as to make all the above “access issues” an unlikely process to ever need to go through.

Questions and Complaints

If you have a question or concern about any collection, use, or disclosure of personal information by A&CNet Inc., or about a request for access to your own personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Daryl Stratichuk

President

A&CNet Inc.

Phone: (403) 251-4333

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you should contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta:

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta

Suite 500, 640 – 5th Avenue S.W.

Calgary, Alberta T2P 3G4

Phone: (403) 297-2728

Toll Free: 1-888-878-4044

Email:

Website: www.oipc.ab.ca

Future Changes

A&CNet reserves the right to amend or change all or part of this Privacy & Information Protection Policy at any time and without notice. If you have any questions about this policy, the privacy and information protection practices of this website, or your dealings with A&CNet, please do not hesitate to contact us via phone or

External Links

It is our pleasure to provide you with access to additional informative and educational resources. This website contains links to other sites owned and operated by third parties. A&CNet is not responsible for the content, accuracy, performance, availability, or privacy practices of these sites. However, to the best of our knowledge, any “links” presented herein, are to highly reputable companies, organizations, and institutions with reputable products and services.

 Security Policy

Security Measures

Our website has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control.

In conjunction with our Merchant Processor Partner, Beanstream Internet Commerce, Inc., we also utilize the latest security technology for any payment processing or submission of confidential credit card information (SSL encryption through digital ID's from Verisign Inc.; a direct, secure digital line between Beanstream and the credit card processing company; Firewall protection for servers). (Beanstream is Canada's leading provider of authentication and electronic payment processing solutions, and is the first 3rd party processor in Canada to support Verified by Visa for processing live transactions.)

We are committed to providing the most advanced online security features. A&CNet is a registered merchant in the Verified by Visa enhanced security program. Verified by Visa gives our customers the confidence they need to shop online and to be securely protected from credit card fraud. Click on the Verified by Visa symbol to learn more.

Routine Data Backups

We also do regularly scheduled full backups of all data within our website and database. That being said, A&CNet makes no guarantees of any kind, either expressed or implied, as to the integrity of these backups. Backups are made for data restoration purposes only.

It is our Clients' responsibility to maintain their own local copy of their website content and information. If loss of data should ever occur on our website due to an error of A&CNet, A&CNet will attempt to recover the data at no charge to the Client.

As to the diverse marketing, web design & hosting, advertising, and small business consulting services we offer Clients, the caliber of our service is based upon our particular fields of expertise. It is from our perspective, what we believe is the best we know to provide for you, to meet your particular needs. We are also ever-learning and ever-improving our own knowledge base and the services we can offer you.

Our guarantee is that of providing you our “very best effort” with cost-effective exceptional value services and helpful information resources. Any consulting advice we offer is based on our opinions and is founded on our experiences and research within the related fields.

Any of the services we offer you are provided in keeping with the current professional practices of the Industry and needs of the marketplace. We are not selling tangible products in the typical sense, but we are selling unique advertising and marketing services which garner “real” results that will vary according to the needs of each Client, and variables beyond our influence or control, presented by the market. Apart from our services models, there are no identical results to always be obtained from the services we offer you.

That being said... we are firmly committed to our clients' satisfaction and have always provided a diversity and degree of services which have always met and typically exceeded our Clients' expectations. There is no further guarantee implied other than our own personal belief that you will be pleased and satisfied with A&CNet. We are pleased to serve you.

Eligibility:

The qualifications and rights of the members shall be as follows: Any bonafide business, individual, or other entity that is involved in the Arts and Crafts industry within Canada, shall be eligible for membership.

An exception to this may be those Arts & Crafts Suppliers, Wholesalers, Distributors, Magazines, or Education Providers that may be from the U.S. but catering to our Canadian market as well. Another exception, for example, may be an Artist from abroad that has a Canadian presence or his art works in a Canadian Gallery or Store, etc.

Acceptable Content - A&CNet is committed to providing a family-friendly environment on our website. A&CNet will not accept for membership, any business or vendor that promotes any degree of pornography, hate propaganda, or racism, or any other such material or art works that may be morally degrading, deemed offensive or objectionable to individuals, which A&CNet shall have complete discretion to define, notwithstanding reasonable “creative license” and “freedom of expression”, in keeping with our Canadian laws.

While A&CNet acknowledges a member's freedom of expression, A&CNet, additionally, reserves the right at its discretion and determination, to NOT display any of the above offensive material in any advertisements, printed material, or online material, of our members, even if it is “percieved as art” by the respective member. However, A&CNet cannot be held responsible for any such “percieved art” that may or may not be a part of a member's own “portfolio” displayed on their own premises.

Member Rights:

Members shall be entitled to participate in all A&CNet services according to their respective paid-for membership level.

Membership includes being a member on a one-year or two-year basis, with the benefits associated as indicated on our website.

Each membership is for an individual, business, or organization, as per the levels of Membership, and is non-transferable.

Membership Fees:

Annual dues are charged for a term of one year, or bi-annually for a two year term, beginning with the date of membership-made; are non-refundable; and renewed with the billing of dues on your ‘anniversary date’.

Membership “commences” when your application and full payment of your membership fees is received. Any increase in fees are subject to review and determination by A&CNet, and all members will be duly notified prior to their anniversary date, if such an increase is deemed appropriate.

Membership Termination:

A&CNet may suspend or terminate, at its sole discretion, membership of any member who shall be in default in the payment of dues.

A&CNet reserves the right to suspend or terminate, at its sole discretion, membership of any member who/which conducts themselves and/or their business dealings with A&CNet or the Arts & Crafts Community at large, in a manner deemed unethical or contrary to the values and purposes of A&CNet.

Member Services Suspension:

Further, A&CNet reserves the right to remove any Directory Listings, or Web sites, and any online advertising, for failure of a member to pay dues. Reinstatement of these privileges can be obtained by bringing dues to a current and paid-in-full status, but does not guarantee a member, exhibitor reservation that may have been previously made for the A&CNet Artisan Profile, or the upcoming A&CNet Online Exhibition, or for inclusion within the upcoming A&CNet Gallery Store Showcase.

While A&CNet acknowledges a member's freedom of expression, A&CNet reserves the right, at it sole discretion and determiination, to NOT display any racial, pornographic, or offensive material in any advertisements, printed material, or online material, whether it is “perceived as art” by the respective member or not. A&CNet cannot be held responsible for any such “perceived art” that may or may not be a part of a member's own “portfolio” which may or may not be displayed on their own premises. Our rights of suspension only pertain to that which may be viewed via our A&CNet website or any A&CNet-created web presence of any kind.

For any other questions pertaining to membership issues not addressed above, please contact us via phone or

For the purposes of this Agreement, A&CNet Inc., and their website, www.artsandcraftsnet.ca, and their employees, representatives, agents, directors, officers, and managers, shall be referred to as “A&CNet”. Any customer, user, account holder, member, advertiser, or client, shall be referred to as “the Client”. Any Directory Listing, Website, AdLinX or any other form of advertising may also be referred to as “advertisement”.

Acceptance of the following Terms and Conditions, is acknowledgement of a binding Agreement between A&CNet and the Client.

1) Right to Provide Services

A&CNet is hereby authorized to display any information specified by the Client, within the various submission forms and/or otherwise communicated to A&CNet, related to the content criteria and any restrictions for any respective Directory Listing, Website, AdLinX, and/or other advertising service provided by A&CNet. This may include A&CNet's design, modification, and creation of such, as well as the listing of such.

2) Right to Refuse Services

A&CNet is committed to providing a family-friendly environment on our website. A&CNet shall have final determination of the acceptability of all content submissions and any materials requested to be designed, for Directory Listings, Websites, AdLinX, and/or any other advertising within the A&CNet website, or pertaining to A&CNet. A&CNet reserves the right to refuse, cancel, or suspend any advertising content and service to any Client who offers any ad material or product judged distasteful, inappropriate, or unacceptable by A&CNet, which A&CNet shall have complete discretion to define. (For further details refer to Membership Terms & Policies).

3) Right to Make Changes

In order to keep pace with the evolving Internet and advertising standards, and to meet emerging needs and demands, A&CNet retains full right, at its discretion:

To make changes, additions, or deletions, without written notice, to any forms, prices, written content, etc. of the Directory Listings, Websites, and AdLinx, and/or any other A&CNet advertising services.

To make changes or updates to this Terms and Conditions Agreement.

It is encumbent upon the Client to be aware of the above mentioned changes. The Client's use of A&CNet services will constitute acceptance of any such changes.

Further to this, any and all Client materials submitted for inclusion and usage on A&CNet will be reviewed and if deemed necessary, edited to comply with previously mentioned submission criteria and these Terms and Conditions, not withstanding any other conditions that may be specified in the Membership Terms & Policies and FAQ & Policies sections of the A&CNet website.

4) Content Ownership & Copyright

Client-Created – A&CNet provides numerous internet-based services to Clients which they may use to display, design and sell arts and crafts products. The terms and conditions listed herein, and within our FAQ & Policies and our Membership Terms & Policies, prohibit our Clients from using our services to display or sell products that infringe third party intellectual property rights (such as copyright, trademark, trade dress and right of publicity). This means that all materials submitted by the Client for inclusion and usage on A&CNet will comply with all applicable laws relating to but not limited to copyrights and trademarks. This is the Client's sole legal responsibility and in no way shall A&CNet be held liable should it be found that the Client has infringed on copyright, and A&CNet in good faith, and unknowingly, may have displayed such materials on behalf of the Client.

A&CNet shall conduct their business in a manner that limits the instances where a Client displays or sells products that may infringe the intellectual property rights of others. However, because the Clients display, design and sell arts and crafts products through an automated online service, we cannot assure that the products sold may not, from time to time, infringe such rights. We encourage intellectual property rights owners to contact us if they believe that their rights have been infringed by the sale of a Client's products using the services of A&CNet. If any such parties inform us that their rights are being infringed by one of our Clients, A&CNet will, at their discretion, require the Client to cease selling the infringing products and, should the Client continue to infringe your rights, terminate the Client's access to our services. If any parties believe that their intellectual property rights have been infringed by a Client of our services, please contact A&CNet immediately.

A&CNet-Created – All programming, coding, creative design, scanned images used, or new graphics created, or textual content written by A&CNet, as well any images, photographs, animations, video, audio, music, and "applets" incorporated into listings, webpages, or advertisements, plus any related or accompanying printed materials, for the Client, are the sole property of A&CNet, unless otherwise authorized by A&CNet. As such they are protected by copyright and trademark laws and international treaty provisions.

No part or portion of any such materials may be copied in any form, or used in any other way or for any other purpose than intended as per any agreements with A&CNet; and are non-transferable to other websites, without the express written permission of A&CNet. Copyright laws shall be enforced.

5) Limits Of Liability

In no event shall A&CNet be liable, to the Client or any third party, whether based on breach of contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, for any consequential, incidental, indirect, punitive or special damages, whatsoever (including without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, loss of goodwill, or any other commercial or monetary loss) arising out of, or relating to, or connected with the use of A&CNet services, based on any cause of action, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. The same shall also apply to any failure of provision of services, whatsoever (including the unlikely event of any “down-time” of A&CNet's website or hosted Clients' websites, going “off-line” or being unavailable for any reason whatsoever, or for corruption or deletion of any Listings or websites or other Client data; nor for errors, inaccuracy, or interruption, or failure to provide any other services regarding the Client's Directory Listings, or Web Design & Hosting, AdLinX, and/or other advertisements.

Any Client that advertises on the A&CNet website via Directory Listings, Websites, AdLinX and/or any other forms of advertising, shall be solely responsible for any legal liability arising out of, or relating to their advertisement in any form, and/or relating to any material to which users can link to, through their advertisement.

Further to the above, the Client agrees to indemnify A&CNet, its employees, representatives, agents, directors, officers, and managers, and to compensate and hold A&CNet harmless from any and all liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including without limitation, any attorneys' or other legal fees and costs incurred in connection with any third-party claim, demand or action brought against A&CNet insofar as such claim alleges facts or circumstances that would constitute a breach of any provision of this Agreement by the Client. If you are obligated to provide indemnification hereunder, A&CNet may, in its sole and absolute discretion, control the disposition of any claim at your sole cost and expense. Without limitation of the foregoing, you will not settle, compromise or in any other manner dispose of any claim without the consent of A&CNet. The same applies to the use by others of the Client's Directory Listing, Web Design & Hosting, AdLinX, or other advertising services.

6) Assignment

The Client may not assign this agreement, in whole or in part, without A&CNet's written consent. Any attempt to assign this Agreement without such consent shall make it null and void.

7) Suspension or Termination of Services

A&CNet reserves the right to remove any Directory Listings, Websites, AdLinX, and/or other advertising, for failure of a Client to pay fees and/or dues. It is encumbent upon the Client to ensure that all annual or monthly fees are kept current.

A&CNet may suspend or terminate, at its sole discretion, membership of any member, and/or services of any account holder, who shall be in default in the payment of any fees or dues.

Reinstatement of suspended services may be obtained by bringing fees and/or dues to a current and paid-in-full status. However, this does not guarantee a Client, reservation that may have been previously made for the Feature Artisan Profile or Feature Arts & Crafts Event Profile, or for inclusion within the upcoming A&CNet Online Exhibition and A&CNet Gallery Store Showcase.

8) Client Termination of Agreement

In the event the Client desires to be removed from the A&CNet database and/or any Directory Listings, and to terminate this agreement, it is understood that they will have to notify A&CNet in writing. A&CNet will ensure they are removed within 48 hours.

9) No Refunds Policy

Services as specified are never begun until the required payment is processed. All services are deemed to “have already been done”, once you have your advertisement or Directory listing displayed, and that you have had the opportunity to take full advantage of the numerous A&CNet Member Benefits, there are no refunds for any services. The same applies to any Web Design & Hosting as soon as work has been inititated or commenced on any such services.

10) Client Satisfaction

In the event that a Client should be unsatisfied with any rendered service, A&CNet will discretionarily and reasonably do whatever it takes to ensure the Client's satisfaction, in keeping with the original terms of any services and sales.

“As to the diverse professional marketing, creative design, advertising, and small business consulting services we offer Clients, the caliber of our service is based upon our particular fields of expertise. It is, and will always be from our perspective, what we believe is the best we know to provide for you, to meet your particular needs. We are also ever-learning and ever-improving our own knowledge base and the services we can offer you.

Our guarantee is that of providing you our ‘very best effort’ with cost-effective exceptional value services and helpful information resources. Any consulting advice we offer is based on our opinions and is founded on our experiences and research within the related fields.

Any of the services we offer you are provided in keeping with the current professional practices of the Industry and needs of the marketplace. We are not selling tangible products in the typical sense, but we are selling unique advertising, marketing, and web development services which garner ‘real’ results that will vary according to the needs of each Client, and variables beyond our influence or control, presented by the market. Apart from our services models, there are no identical results to always be obtained from the services we offer you.

That being said... we are firmly committed to our clients' satisfaction and have always provided a diversity and degree of services which have always met and typically exceeded our Clients' expectations. There is no further guarantee implied other than our own personal belief that you will be pleased and satisfied with A&CNet. We are pleased to serve you.”

11) Agreement Acceptance

Your acceptance of the Submission Terms & Conditions constitutes the entire agreement between the parties. No other agreements are valid unless in writing.

A&CNet does not make nor implies any guarantee that click-through statistics and “traffic” will be equal to any suggested or published numbers at any given time. Any stated statistics are for reference only and are subject to numerous variables outside of the control or influence of A&CNet. A&CNet shall not be held liable for any claims as they may relate to said Stats Monitoring, Measurement, and overall click-through statistics.

We will also ensure that any A&CNet-created websites hosted on our website, are always 'running'. However, occasionally, beyond our control, or until we become aware of it, there may be links to vendor businesses which have their own website elsewhere, that may be 'down' or temporarily unavailable for whatever reason. We are always monitoring this and will, to the best of our ability, notify the respective website owners whenever this happens. There are many reasons why a website could experience some temporary problems or unavailability and while most only stay down for a short time, some may be inaccessible for days or even longer, depending upon their circumstances. If you do happen to come across a website from one of our A&CNetizens, that appears to be down for a long period of time, or is not functioning properly, please let us know immediately.

Our website provides users with the opportunity to choose whether they want to receive promotional/marketing information from A&CNet or any of our authorized Alliance Partners. With some of our various email correspondences that you may or may occasionally receive from us you may also be presented with an opt-out clause and instructions on removing yourself from further emails of that kind, or a link for removing yourself from any mailing list that we may have with respect to that email. Additionally, regarding our A&CNet Newsletter subscription, a clickable link is provide within any newsletter, where you may unsubscribe if you so desire.

* NOTE: The information contained within the FAQ & Policies may be subject to change at any time.