AVOCET WEB DESIGN: Thoughts on websites for artists

Can artists and artisans make money selling their work on the web? Certainly. Good work, anyway. But it takes a little perserverance at first and some upkeep along the way. If nothing else a website can be your instantly update-able brochure but visitors will not get in the habit of returning if it stays static. On the other hand it is a great way for people to have a contact base for you. To make a website really fly, though, you need to have work that the visitor can see and know he/she can have in hand in a matter of days (unless it's a custom order of course). This would entail using a digital camera to take photos of the work and emailing them to me. The whole process, once you are used to it, can be done in an hour. You can also email shots immediately to your prospective customer from your house. Another option is to take regular photos and scan them on a flat bed scanner. Important note - learning to handle your own image creation and manipulation as the best way to lower the cost of a website - it's the scanning and color correction that takes time. These prices assume that I will be doing that work.

Once your site is functional, I will submit your site to search engines. I would need some things from you. I can help you on this. You can also take over the whole promotion if you wish to be more thorough. It's tedious work but very important and needs to be done right (time=$). There is a trend for search engines to charge for submissions and you will need to make that determination. I will submit to the main search engines but I charge $100 for submission to many engines and other promotional venues, using information you provide namely several descriptive paragraphs of varying lengths for various engines and a comprehensive list of keywords relevant to your work and interests. I highly recommend SelfPromotion.com for search engine promotion. Another way to empowerment.

If you are ambitious, I can set up a way for you to manage your site completely after the design is finished. This would cost around $150 (my cost) for the editing software and maybe a bit for tutoring if needed. To truly take it on you would need to become familiar with a graphics program like Adobe Elements or Paint Shop Pro to manipulate and optimize your images. The editing software will allow you to make many changes while the basic design code is protected from inadvertent messing-up! For maximum control, you might want to have your site hosted on it's own server space which can cost $10-$30/mo depending on services needed.

"STANDARD ARTIST'S SITE" - $1800

• Unique, individualized and consistent overall layout and design.
• "Gallery" with 20, 30, 40 or so thumbnail images linked to larger image pages. Price depends on the difficulty of getting your images into an acceptable digital format. Scanning slides is the msot expensive way. Having images simply emailed to me is much less. Larger images may have copyright information on the image if desired, along with title, date, size, price, materials purchasing info, etc. As much or as little information as you wish on the page. The "Gallery" will all be on one page - clicking on a thumbnail image will bring up the large image page to the right of thumbnails. Thumbnails of work are always visible - visitors won't get "lost" wandering around in separate pages.
• Biography/statement/philosophy page.
• Itinerary page.
• Retail outlets page (galleries, shops).
• Contact page with email link, phone, etc. As much or as little contact information as you wish.
• Email link (spam-protected) always accessable for quick communication.
• Search engine submission tutorial.
• Free text updates (itinerary, etc.)
• Domain registration for two years ($19/yr thereafter).
• Comprehensive web site statistics.
• Unlimited email addresses. (anything@yourdomain.com) Email is forwarded to you at your ISP or you may collect all your email at your domain mailboxes.
• And, of course, the initial technical setting up of your server space including registering your domain.
• Payment may be split.

OPTIONAL:

• Additional thumbnail/large image page including image editing/optimization - up to $75 (depending on image source.)
• Printable purchasing information page - $40
• Ecommerce: Setting up and then tutoring in how to maintain a system where you can take orders via credit cards automatically, go to a secure server to gather orders, and submit the charges with your own existing terminal. This, of course, does not work well for one-of-a-kind work as you might accidentally have two people order the same piece! - $400
• Custom error message rather than ugly default error page for missing (usually mistyped) pages - $45
• Pop-up printable discount coupon if desired - $40
• Comments page. Client/customer feedback is contained on this page - $70
• Techniques/methods page - $50
• Contact form, results emailed to you, thank you note emailed to the visitor - $75
• Pop-up detail window - $50 each occurrence.
• Tutoring on how to maintain a website (editing, uploading, etc.) - $100 plus $15-$30/mo hosting charge when you take it over. This is the most effective way to run a website - handling everything once you feel comfortable.
• There are many, many other things that can be done with a website! Fancy scripting, random images, slide shows, scrolling messages, etc. We can discuss these.

"THE BASIC" - $800

• Uses my "basic site" templates for the design:
  • Slideshow on home page.
  • Choose from many color/background combinations.
  • Choice of font for page headers.
  • Small "logo" or "header" derived from your work or closeup of your work as a design element on each page.
• Gallery:
  • 12 images linked to twelve pages (only first image in these samples.) Extra pages $75 each.
  • Choose from many color/background combinations.
  • Choice of font for page headers.
  • Small "logo" or "header" derived from your work or closeup of your work as a design element on each page.
• Three information pages. Extra pages $75 each. Pages can be anything subject, not just what I have defined (statement, itinerary, technique, retail, etc.)
• Domain registration for first two years. Thereafter, you will be billed for renewal by the domain registrar.
• Unlimited email addresses (anything@yourdomain.com)

"BROCHURE SITE"

The price for an even more basic site (a few pages, a few images) is even less. Any site can be upgraded and improved over time as funds allow. A brochure site at least allows you to get your name out on the Web and provides a way to contact you.

Michael Hamilton