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First_Impressions__Do It Yourself
| First Impressions : Do-It-Yourself?
There are some truly gifted artists providing unique internet
experiences now. There are also some truly boring templates that
many web “designers” are assaulting the webscape with right now.
If uniformity or invisibility is in your business plan, then I
recommend picking one of these. Of course, most web design firms
simply won’t allow a solid online price quote, or even a firm up
front bid, so consider the risks when facing those scenarios.
Web design software has made it feasible for small businesses to
design their own sites. However, this also creates the need to
pay someone else to manage a site that they didn’t create, nor
received payment for its design. On the other hand, using a
pre-screened professional web design service has several
significant benefits that are easily overlooked if focused upon
the prospect of a fat price quote on custom work. First of all,
if your business is relatively new, you MUST consider how
stretched your time already is, and realize the true value of
that time. Squeeze in the learning process of new web design
software and multiply that time element by the number of late
night hours troubleshooting a new server (just to begin with);
and you're likely to wish very quickly you had just trusted your
brother who claimed to know exactly how to publish a website.
(That's a whole other story.)
Web design firms have the latest software, have bagfuls of
tricks, and will usually deal with any glitches along the way,
unbeknownst to yourself: THE CUSTOMER!
Save yourself lots of headaches by previewing whatever samplings
of work you can before further considering who will be your
VanGogh.com. Clearly communicate the intent of your site-to-be,
get quotes and deadlines in writing, and don't settle for
anything less than your vision.
About the author:
Chairman, Georgia New Business Association; Co-Founder
SouthernSites.net
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