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Does it really
matter how well the site design appears? Just as long as we
have a web presence, that's all that matters, right? Perhaps at
a later date when we can afford it we'll hire a professional to
redesign it...in the meantime this site that my nephew designed will
do."
Unfortunately, I have seen far too many sites whose
owners have expressed this attitude to their own detriment. The
saying is quite true! "You only get one chance to make a first
impression." Large and successful companies spend millions on
their image and guard it with a fervor. You can benefit from the
millions they spend on market research by seeing what they do and
simply copying their strategy...no need to re-invent the wheel. Their
public relations material is always very professionally designed...so
should yours be!
You can read between the lines...
A well designed sites says to its viewer, "We are a
professional organization that you can rely on. We take pride in all
that we do and it shows in our appearance."
A poorly designed site says, "We are not concerned
with professionalism and if you turn to us...maybe we will be here
tomorrow...maybe not."
Take a moment to think about it...recall some of the
sites that you have visited and what your internal reaction was. I am
sure that it was very similar to the examples above. I know something
that market researchers know...people do judge a book by its cover!
Many page designers and hosting services are staffed
with programmers who have no graphic design experience. They
understand code, but are clueless when it comes to concepts such as
color scheme, layout, balance and typography. I have spent my entire
career as a graphic designer. My specialty is not programming
code...it is design! I strive to create websites that balance
aesthetics and information. Sites which are visually inviting without
appearing gaudy. Sites that from a visual standpoint will command
respect and put you on an equal footing with the large and successful
organizations.
If you take a look, then you will see that my work
speaks for itself, and I invite you to ask my clients as well. Let me
design a site for you!
At the top of this page you see the thumbnail
images. If you click on the thumbnails they will allow you to see some
of the various sites that I have worked on. They represent differing
styles and differing design tasks. Some are original designs which I
created. Often, clients already have a site but they are not happy
with it. They come to me for a redesign or a "makeover". Other times,
clients only want some of their web pages redesigned and not the
entire site. Whatever the intended goal, I can help. So please, spend
some time browsing the sites I have designed and if you like, drop
them an email note asking them what they think of Mike Bennett
Graphics
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"I don't know a thing about web
design
and I don't know if I can afford a professionally designed
website...and besides, how will I find a designer that
I can trust !? They could tell me almost anything
and I wouldn't know whether they are telling the truth or just
selling me!"
Is this how you secretly feel
as you browse the web in search of someone to design your
site? I fully understand! I get the same feeling
every time I need work done on my car. But please, have no
fear, I do not use the "doubletalk" that you might receive
from some companies whose only goal is to close the
sale...even at the expense of "stretching" the truth.
"In everything do to others
as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the
prophets."
(Matthew
7:12 NRS)
These words of Jesus are how I
strive to live my life each and every day, especially in how I
conduct business. I cannot promise perfection, but I do
promise to treat you in my business dealings just as I would
like to be treated and I know that my clients will attest to
this as I invite you to contact any of them to see for
yourself.
Let me let you in on an
industry secret...many web design companies will "lowball"
their design prices fully intending to recover the money with
hidden costs that surprise you later such as site maintenance,
inflated domain registration costs and so on. I make every
effort to explain all costs in advance and to let you know of
ways that you can save money without adding a "service charge"
for the information. For example, one way I offer to save my
clients money is by showing them how they can make simple,
routine changes to their site without having to pay me or some
other professional. After all, if I need the transmission
changed on my car I want the services of a
professional mechanic. On the other hand, there is no
need for me to pay a professional to add air to my
tires! Likewise there are design related tasks on your website
that need the expertise of a professional, but there
are simple tasks that you can do yourself and save yourself
the unneeded expense. In fact, I
include
up to one hour of one-on-one, over-the-phone training in site
maintenance basics so that you will not have to pay me or
anyone else for these basic site changes. If this is the
way that you like to be treated in your business dealings then
please contact me so that we can discuss your design needs. |
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Please call or
email me if you
have any questions. |
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WEB DESIGN RATES 
FULL PACKAGE CUSTOM SITE DESIGN
$400 for the first page. $50 for each additional text and graphic page*,
$30 for each "text only" page*.
No "prefab" templates and graphics.
Everything is custom designed so that your site will be
unique, not a templated copycat site that came out of a box. This is
by far my most popular web design plan as it allows you to easily
maintain your own website without requiring you to know any
html. This plan uses Microsoft FrontPage. FrontPage is perhaps one of
the simplest web design programs to use. It is powerful enough for the
professional, and at the same time easy for the novice.
Most people
already know how to use Microsoft Word or Excel. If you already
possess these skills, you have all the skills needed to maintain your
own FrontPage site! The user interface is very similar to Microsoft
Word's interface making the learning curve a snap and this plan
includes a single, over-the-phone training session (up to one hour) in using FrontPage.
Once the site is built, I will get on the phone with you and walk you
through, step-by-step, all that you need to know to edit a page and
build a new page.
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This Plan Saves You Money! Because
you do not have to pay a design professional to make simple, routine
changes to your site, you save money from monthly "webmaster" and
"maintenance" fees.
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This Plan Gives You Control! Need
to make a quick change to your site? Instead of sending a request to
your webmaster and waiting for them to find the time tomorrow, next
week or next month in their schedule, you can make the change
yourself right away! No waiting! Make changes as freely and as often
as you like! |
WHAT THIS PLAN INCLUDES:
A Custom Designed FrontPage "Theme":
Microsoft has built into it's design
program what it calls a "theme". The theme consists of all of the
sites master navigation graphics such as the color scheme, vertical
and horizontal buttons, page title banners, formatted text etc..
This allows your site to be visually consistent from page to page,
giving your site a clean, consistent, professional look. It also
makes site maintenance a snap because it automatically generates new
buttons and page title banners for you. It then updates all of the
links on every page for you by placing the new button with the page
name on each page automatically. If you delete a page it
automatically updates all of the links on all of your pages and
removes the button for that page automatically. It gives you
complete control over your site with a minimum of effort.
A Custom Designed Template: I will
create a custom designed page template which will control each
page's layout and visual design. This will give your site a
consistent look on each page and allow you to create new pages with
simplicity.
Photo Editing: One of the most important
elements that sets apart a well designed site from a poorly designed
site are the photos. I have seen many sites that made awful mistakes
with the photos such as resizing images using html. This method
should never be used because it distorts the image. I am an expert
in Photoshop. Using Photoshop I will color and tone balance them, if
necessary, retouch them and then size them to the correct resolution
and dimensions. With this plan you can have up to ten photos/images
per page*.
Text Formatting: Using the text that you
supply, I will format it and lay it out to give it a clean,
professional look with consistency from page to page.
Basic Training: If you've never used
FrontPage before, no need to worry! Once the site is built, I will
get on the phone with you and walk you through, step-by-step, all
the basics that you need to know to edit a page, rename a page,
delete a page and create a new page.
SIMPLE SITE DESIGN
$150 for the first page and $30 for each additional page.
This plan, just as the name implies is a simple
design. No "theme" or custom designed navigation graphics. You will
get a simple page which consists of your logo (supplied by you, or if
you like you can
order a
custom logo design from me), an animated navigation bar (animated
button links), your text and up to two photos per page.
ADDITIONAL DESIGN
OPTIONS
Additional design options such as
Flash animation and
custom graphics for use on various pages of your site can be added to
your order at the rate of †$75
per hour for Flash and †$50
per hour for custom graphics
Please call or
email me if you
have any questions or if you would like to place an order. |
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* |
A page for the purposes of pricing is defined as the equivalent of
what will roughly fit within a 800 pixel wide by 1200 pixel depth
page. Page contents which extend beyond this limit will be billed
as an additional page for each incidence of going beyond the 800
pixel wide by 1200 pixel depth limit. A form page, with or without
graphics is $50 per page.
Customer is responsible for making backups of website for their
own archives. Customers may request a copy of their site on CD-ROM
for an additional fee. |
| † |
Half hour minimum. |
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