Hi! We're going to make you a nice, simple, small, beautiful web site. This will help you by allowing potential or existing clients to remind themselves of your offerings, contact information, or ambiance without having to file away a flier. Together, we will make this easy! Here's what we'll do:
I'm going to divide your website up into a few sections
You will write or brainstorm most of the content, and I will put it together into a cohesive website.
Please see my note at the end regarding photographs and online shopping.
Finally, if all this seems overwhelming, don't worry. Let's just go one step at a time, and you'll have a website before you know it. And remember, nothing is set in stone.
First off, I would like you to write some free-association text starting from a couple of questions. I ask you for this to get a feel for the tone of the site - more than just list your services, your site should reflect something of the way you work. Answer all or none or just write; this isn't actual content to put up but rather to set the tone for me.
Ok. Now that we have the feeling of what we want, lets focus on a little bit about you. This is the you that you want to represent to your clientelle. Try to be concise. Include information which gives the reader insight into your work and talents. Write in the tone that conveys who you are. I will work with you to edit the text to help it fit on the web page in an aesthetically pleasing way. Please include a photo of yourself. You might also include :
If you have more to say about the origins of your work (especially regarding art work), we will include it in a separate page. In your bio, just give an introduction to you.
If you have a business card, please send me a photograph or computer file with the card.
The next page is a description of the tangible products your are offering. This page should consist of two parts: an overview of your work, and then descriptions of individual pieces. If you have a lengthly description of the origins and influences in your work, we will separate the product listing to a separate page. Don't worry about that part yet; just write what needs to be said. For each item you are selling, please include a photograph of the item and a description of the item. For audio and video recordings, please photograph the cover. Include cassete / CD / VHS / DVD and running time. For art work, pottery, paintings, etc., please photograph the items themselves.
If you are selling many unique pieces and wish to show them all, send me photos of each with a 2-8 word description of each piece and we will arrange them on pages showing approximately 15 items at a time. If you have longer descriptions of each piece, include them as well, but the short description is required.
Services are what you do for people or with people, as opposed to tangible items to sell to people. Services include counceling, therapy, advising, estate planning, classes. workshops, retreats, individual sessions, body work, and so on. If you offer just one service, please provide a 250 word (more or less) description of the service. For 3-5 services, please include a one to two paragraph description of each. If you offer more services, we will discuss aesthetically pleasing ways of presenting the information on a web site. If you have photos of yourself offering these services, please include them. For workshops and retreats, please include a description of the retreat center and photos, a link to the retreat center's web page, if one exists, and any other pertinent details.
Please send me the different methods by which you want your clientelle to reach you. This can include address (for ordering products), phone number, email address, directions to your house or place of business (especially for retreats or workshops). If you are offering products, please include the methods by which one may order your products.
If you have a logo, a particular style of writing your name, or some other form of branding, please send me a copy. For example, you might have a particular japanese or chinese character as part of your business card. You might have an animal that you put by your name, or something similar. I would like to include this on your website to create a cohesive public image between your printed material and your online material. If you always use a particular font in publications, I would like to see this as well; if possible, parts of your website should be in this font as well. Please include a good photograph of how you would like your name or a business name to appear on the top of the site.
If you have digital photos, you can either email them to me, or give me a CD. If not, you need to create them, or I can come and take them for you. We can discuss photos in more detail if necessary.
Regarding ecommerce, online shopping, etc.: I cannot create a secure online store for you, but I can help you to work with the Yahoo Store. They provide a very easy method to list a small number of goods online for sale.
Finally, please let me know any thoughts on things you feel should be represented on your website but don't necessarily fit into one of these categories.
My fee is $250 for one 3-6 page website. If I feel the amount of material you give me exceeds these bounds, we can trim the material or discuss a fee for the larger site.
In addition to my fee, you will have to pay a monthly or yearly hosting fee to a web site hosting company. This is the company that will actually put the website we've created on a server so people can reach it. My recommendation is a company called sandwich.net. I have had an email address with them (ben@sandwich.net) for many years now, and the system administrator has proven to be reliable. The cost is $5.95/mo (as of Feb. 2004). The address (URL) of your web site will be http://yourname.sandwich.net. If you would like a URL like http://www.yourname.com, you must also pay $20/year to register the URL.
Included in my fee is 6 small updates within the first year. Mostly these will be things like schedule changes in classes, new products added to the page, or removing sold out products. Making larger changes, such as additional pages, will be billed at $50 / page. If you need more regular updates, such as a constantly changing list of products (for example, individual art pieces), $20 / month will cover two updates per month.
I can be paid in cash, by paypal, or by check mailed to 768 Contra Costa Ave, Berkeley CA, 94707.
Thank you for your interest; I look forward to hearing from you.
-ben