About Us

My name is Shawna Fennell and I am the founder and owner of 1 Choice 4 . 1 Choice offers training and solutions for Yahoo! Store owners.

9 Years ago I began building web pages. I had previously worked as a Cosmetologist but due to unfortunate circumstances could no longer work a position that required me to stand on my feet 8 – 12 hours a day.

The next logical step was web design. I could still use my creative side and be able to communicate with customers. I started classes at the local community college. Unfortunately I learned quite quickly that any high school graduate could make a web site (and usually did not charge much for their services)

I knew I wanted to be involved with computers. I could almost foresee the future that computers would become more and more involved in our daily lives. I studied for my Microsoft Certification and opened my first Yahoo! Store selling software (Microsoft, Adobe, Corel, etc).

As sales picked up I knew it was time to invest money back into my business and the first step was a new design. The basic Yahoo! Store was nice but it did not have the professional look and feel I wanted to portray to my customers. My store was also seriously lacking optimization for the search engines. I went to a very popular Yahoo! Store Design Company who told me it would cost over $4,000 to create and install a simple design ($6,000 if I wanted SOME optimization). You see, Yahoo! Stores use a special language called RTML. Yahoo! is the only company using this programming language called RTML, they do not have documentation on the RTML, and they do not support the RTML. There was only a handful of RTML programmers out there and they charged top dollar.

So I figured I can learn this language! I have the skills. I certainly could not afford that type of money being a single mother running my store out of my living room. It took me over 2 years to finally understand this interesting language known as RTML.

Once my first store was completed, I quickly designed and optimized a second store focusing on a totally different product. Then a third store. I spent time researching every tiny detail that went into running a Yahoo! store. Although there was good information out there, none of it was specific to the Yahoo! Store Owner. I often wondered how long it would have taken me to learn everything I now know if I was still working a day job.

That is when I was contacted by another work at home mother who asked me to work on her site as well. Which led to another and another and another. That is when it hit me – There are other Yahoo! Store Owners like me that needed specific answers to running their Yahoo! store. They needed one place to go for information on getting more traffic, making their site look more professional, merchant companies, affiliate programs, press releases, and so much more. Since you are already acting as Secretary, Customer Service, Bookkeeper, Shipping Manager, Marketing Director, and Complaint Department...you have your hands full. So I decided to share my experiences and skills to help other Yahoo! Store Owners and 1 Choice 4 YStore was born. The best part was offering these services at 1/3 the cost of the “other guys.”

Quickly business was booming. 70% of our business was coming in from referrals and return customers (that number is still the same today!) and it was time to hire help. I searched for like minded individuals who could provide a specialty to my customers. Graphic Design, SEO, Marketing, Writing, etc. Today I am thankful to have several work at home moms and dads across the US working with 1 Choice 4 Your Store and Yahoo! Store Owners (including my own mother who joined us in June of 2006). **Update** After 3 years in business 1 Choice opened a local office  as well so that we could offer our customers more support and even better training!! In 2007 we also opened 1 Choice 4 Training which offers over 2,000 online courses as well as workshops designed specifically for Yahoo Store Owners.

Since we started helping other Yahoo! Store Owners, we have had the pride and pleasure to watch their sales increase by 200% to upwards of 500%.

My goal is to consistently provide Yahoo! Store Owners with 2 options. The Do-It-Yourself (FREE) option or have us help you at a very low price.

I look forward to working with you and remember that you can contact me at any time with questions you may have!

Sincerely,

Shawna Fennell