Getting Started
You may be planning a new business endeavor, you may have an established business without an existing website, or you may be looking at rebuilding the website you have. Whatever your starting point, this pre-design process will help you develop your vision and prepare yourself to talk to a web designer.
The basic principle here is that you will open your eyes to different sources of inspiration, figure out what makes them great, then apply these ideas to your own business.
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Spend some time thinking about who or what might be inspirational to you. Generally, your first source of inspiration will be the market leaders in your industry. Who is the biggest and best at what you do?
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Try to find the websites of these companies. Makes notes about the ones you feel are really effective. Note what content they have on there, what special features they offer, and anything else you like about them.
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From your notes, create a list of objectives for your own site.
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Once you have figured out what you want to achieve, create a list of materials you will need. Materials are things like text, pictures, music and videos that will end up on your website. It can help to refer back to your inspirational sites here.
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At this stage, you may call me for a chat. We will discuss your objectives and the materials list you have been working on. I may be able to offer suggestions on improving your strategy.
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Collect as many of these materials as you can. Your materials don't have to be complete; I can help later on if you need me to.
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Contact me and arrange a meeting. We will sit down together and review your strategy and the materials you have prepared. I may give you a list of additional materials to prepare, or offer to help you with copywriting, photography or preparation of video. I may be able to offer a quote for website development on the spot, or I may need to do a little more research and call you back.
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