Your work sells itself in photos. Let people see it, then ask.
A ring, a dining table, a restored chair. People fall for your work in a photo, then want to ask about a commission. Penguina keeps your gallery fast on phones, tests your commission form regularly, and names your enquiries in a short Monday note, so your bench time stays bench time.
of people will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher, up from 17% a year earlier
are more likely to use a business after reading positive reviews
Commissions start with an enquiry. The portfolio does the selling.
Custom work is high value and personal. Nobody orders a bespoke table or an engagement ring without looking at your past work, reading reviews and asking a few questions first. If your gallery is slow or your form is broken, they never get as far as asking.
- One commission is worth a lot. Losing one enquiry a month costs far more than our fee.
- Photos do the talking. But big photo files make pages crawl on phones.
- You're at the bench. Every hour on the website is an hour away from the work.
Four steps. Each one can quietly break.
This is how most commissions start online, and what we check at each step.
They see a piece
On Google, a search or a friend's link. We keep your gallery fast on mobile data and your listing photos current.
Protect + CaptureThey look for a rough idea
Price range, lead time, how it works. If the site doesn't say, many people assume "too expensive" and leave.
CaptureThey send an enquiry
With photos, sketches or measurements. We test uploads regularly with real phone-sized files.
ProtectYou reply
Your Monday note names each enquiry and flags anyone still waiting, so fewer commissions go cold.
Every planIn one sentence: maker websites usually look lovely and work badly, because they were built to show off the work, and nobody has since checked how they behave on a phone over mobile data.
Where do maker websites lose commissions?
- Galleries that take ten seconds to load. Full-size camera photos straight onto the site. Gorgeous on a studio laptop, painful on a phone in a queue.
- Contact forms that can't take a photo. People want to send a picture of grandmother's chair or the ring they have in mind. If the upload fails, the enquiry dies.
- "By appointment" that reads as "closed". Your Google listing shows no hours, or "closed" on days you'd happily see someone by arrangement.
- No sense of lead time or price. "Every piece is unique" is true, but "most dining tables take 10 to 14 weeks, from around..." helps people decide to ask.
- Old work only. The gallery stops in 2019. Visitors wonder if you're still working.
- Repair drop-off details missing. Watch, bike and piano repair customers need to know how to drop off, post or book a visit. If it's unclear, they phone, and you're mid-job.
Protect, Capture and Compound, for a workshop.
Protect
Your site and gallery watched and backed up regularly, and we check the copies work, so years of portfolio photos are kept safe. Commission and repair forms tested regularly, uploads included. Your domain in your name.
Capture
Your enquiries named in your note. On Grow: gallery photos resized so pages load fast, "by appointment" hours shown properly on Google, review replies, and fixes where visitors give up.
Compound
On Full Care: a page for each kind of commission you want more of, review requests after finished pieces, and past clients invited back, like for a matching chair or a ring resize.
Monday, 8:00
Hi Callum, 7 commission enquiries. Your gallery is fast now.
- Online all week. Commission form tested with a 6 MB photo
- 7 enquiries: 3 dining tables, 2 benches, 2 repairs
- Needs you: Helen (oak table, 8 seats), waiting since Thursday
- Gallery now shows on a phone in about 2 seconds, down from 9
- Add "typical lead times" to the commissions page, with your OK
What a furniture maker reads before opening the workshop.
Who asked, what for, who is still waiting, and one fix we made. When the same question keeps coming up, like lead times, we suggest answering it on the site, so you spend less time on email and more at the bench.
- Enquiries grouped by kind of work
- Fixes shown with before and after
- Nothing changed without your OK
See the weekly note and monthly page
Names and numbers changed for illustration.
Grow for most makers. Keep if you work alone and keep it simple.
A fast gallery and right listing hours are Grow work, and they're usually the biggest fixes for makers. A solo piano tuner or tailor with a simple site may only need Keep.
Keep
$100 / month
For a solo specialist with a small, simple site.
- Form tested regularly
- Your enquiries by name
- Portfolio backed up regularly
Grow Recommended
$250 / month
For makers whose work sells from the gallery.
- Everything in Keep
- Fast gallery on phones
- Listing hours and photos right
- Review replies drafted for you
Full Care
$500 / month
For studios with a wide range and a long client list.
- Everything in Grow
- A page per kind of commission
- Review requests after each piece
- Past clients invited back
Makers and specialists we look after.
There are no separate pages for these crafts yet. If you make, mend or tune things to order, this page is for you.
Details that matter for makers.
Seasonal cut-off dates
Framing and engraving before the holidays, rings before a planned proposal, alterations before wedding season. If you have a last-order date, it should be on your site and Google listing well before it passes. We remind you, then put it up.
Commission stories are private
Enquiries often carry personal details: a surprise proposal, a late parent's watch. We keep forms secure and free of ad trackers, and never share or sell data.
Client photos need permission
Finished pieces in clients' homes make the best gallery. We only add photos you've confirmed you're allowed to use.
Selling online too?
We look after the shop, you run it. We keep the checkout, forms and pages working; you keep the products, stock and prices.
Questions from makers and specialists.
Something else? Ask in the chat, email hello@penguina.website or WhatsApp us.
Will resizing my photos make them look worse?
Not to the eye. We keep a full-quality original of every photo and show visitors a version sized for their screen. Your work looks just as sharp; it just arrives far faster.
Can you add new pieces to my gallery?
Ask us. Small updates are often quick, and we tell you up front if something falls outside your plan. On Full Care we also build new pages for the kinds of commission you want more of. A full redesign isn't part of any monthly plan.
Should I put prices on my site?
That's your call. Many makers find a "from" price or a typical range brings better enquiries and fewer time-wasters. We'll show you what people ask about most, so you can decide with real information.
I sell on Etsy too. Do you look after that?
No. We look after your own website, forms, listings and reviews. Marketplace shops are run by the marketplace. We can check that your website links to your shop correctly.
Do you do Instagram for makers?
No. We don't post on social media. Many people find you on Instagram, then check your website before they enquire. We help that check go well.
What do I own if I leave?
Everything: your domain, hosting, logins and every photo. We hand it all back, free. Read owning your website.
Something wrong with your website right now?
Sources for the figures on this page
Not sure where to start? Send us your website.
We look at it the way a customer would, find up to 3 real problems, and fix one of them free. No call needed.