stockboys10 2 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I am toying with the idea of making a camping related website. I have NO skill in web site building. Since this is going to be a camping related site I thought I would talk to the folks here first. The site I want to build will be somewhat involved so probably need more of a professional then a tinkerer. And of course this is a paying gig. If anyone can help, or knows of someone let me know. Adam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ependydad...Doug 176 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 For me and for simple, I went with Blogger and simply used a blogging platform. It's not everything that I want and I think to pull off my organizational vision, it needs to come off of it. But, it was a great start. I he a designer that I loved - but he flaked out of me this past time that I called him. I'm actually searching for a designer now. I have a programmer for a trip planning project, but I'm trying to decide on a good designer. Bear in mind, I don't know what your background is or what the project is- but you may need more than just a designer and may need someone for programming. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ependydad...Doug 176 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'm currently shopping my job on elance.com and UpWork.com. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stockboys10 2 Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'm currently shopping my job on elance.com and UpWork.com.Great links, I am definitely going to need a programmer to make my idea work and my skills in programming are nada. I thought I would work out the design of the site, see if it actually could do what I want and then spend the money on someone to make it functional. My vision for the site is grand, my skills are zip... Just need to see if i can make it happen as a hobby and not go broke doing it!. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ependydad...Doug 176 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Ha! Sadly, I have the skills to make things work- just not the time to do it. Now I'm trying to balance your last exact statement- make it happen as a hobby and not go broke doing it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 My husband owns a company that hosts websites... but that's all I got. If you need that, you can PM me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Ha! Sadly, I have the skills to make things work- just not the time to do it. Ditto! ... make it happen as a hobby and not go broke doing it! In my past life where I did a ton of freelance web design, I dealt with a lot of start-ups that struggled with this very thing. Best advice - come up with a solid plan before you spend a dime, and make sure that plan includes marketing. You can build the most awesomest thing in the universe, but it's pointless if no one knows it exists. And online marketing in particular is no small or cheap thing - although on the plus side, with some research, there are a lot of things that you can do on your own that will require more time than money. Also when it comes to website development... don't feel like you have to include all the bells and whistles up front. If your budget doesn't allow for soup-to-nuts, come up with phases. The good thing about the web is that nothing is set in stone and making updates and modifications as time and budget allow, are often a good way to go. In fact when it comes to marketing, rolling out new things periodically is a VERY good thing. As for web design - user experience is key! No matter how "pretty" it might be, sites that aren't easy-to-navigate and intuitive to the typical user just end up frustrating your viewers and sending them packing. As a graphic designer I'll never say that it doesn't matter what it looks like, but I will say that form should follow function when it comes to websites. If you hire someone to build this for you, make sure they understand how important usability is and bonus points if they have at least basic marketing knowledge (more is better!) Last bit of advice... test out your idea to make sure it's going to be worth spending. Make sure there's a market for what you have in mind and that, if you're jumping into a pool with a lot of competition, you've got something in mind that will make you different enough that you can say to people "come here because we do XYZ" better. Good luck!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stockboys10 2 Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Ditto! In my past life where I did a ton of freelance web design, I dealt with a lot of start-ups that struggled with this very thing. Best advice - come up with a solid plan before you spend a dime, and make sure that plan includes marketing. You can build the most awesomest thing in the universe, but it's pointless if no one knows it exists. And online marketing in particular is no small or cheap thing - although on the plus side, with some research, there are a lot of things that you can do on your own that will require more time than money. Also when it comes to website development... don't feel like you have to include all the bells and whistles up front. If your budget doesn't allow for soup-to-nuts, come up with phases. The good thing about the web is that nothing is set in stone and making updates and modifications as time and budget allow, are often a good way to go. In fact when it comes to marketing, rolling out new things periodically is a VERY good thing. As for web design - user experience is key! No matter how "pretty" it might be, sites that aren't easy-to-navigate and intuitive to the typical user just end up frustrating your viewers and sending them packing. As a graphic designer I'll never say that it doesn't matter what it looks like, but I will say that form should follow function when it comes to websites. If you hire someone to build this for you, make sure they understand how important usability is and bonus points if they have at least basic marketing knowledge (more is better!) Last bit of advice... test out your idea to make sure it's going to be worth spending. Make sure there's a market for what you have in mind and that, if you're jumping into a pool with a lot of competition, you've got something in mind that will make you different enough that you can say to people "come here because we do XYZ" better. Good luck!!Thanks for the advise, I dont have any delusion that this idea will generate any revenue, just need to see if I can bring my vision to life for a reasonable sum. Its more of a site that I have needed and not found online so someone needs to make it. Hopefully it works out. Could be great but going into it I know there is a limited pool of possible users. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ependydad...Doug 176 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 In my past life where I did a ton of freelance web design, I dealt with a lot of start-ups that struggled with this very thing. Best advice - come up with a solid plan before you spend a dime, and make sure that plan includes marketing. You can build the most awesomest thing in the universe, but it's pointless if no one knows it exists. And online marketing in particular is no small or cheap thing - although on the plus side, with some research, there are a lot of things that you can do on your own that will require more time than money. This is a great point. You can grow a site organically sometimes but it takes a long time. Having both a plan for marketing the site as well as monetizing the site is important. It's nice to say "I'm going to do this for a hobby", but you'd be amazed at how draining that "hobby" is when it is costing you regular money. :) (Says me who has been hosting free web services that I'd love to kill off but can't because people use it...) (AND says me, who doesn't actually have a marketing / monetizing plan for the site that I'm putting together just yet. I actually don't know how to approach the marketing side of things and hope that I can find someone good to help me (that I can also afford!).) Also when it comes to website development... don't feel like you have to include all the bells and whistles up front. If your budget doesn't allow for soup-to-nuts, come up with phases. The good thing about the web is that nothing is set in stone and making updates and modifications as time and budget allow, are often a good way to go. In fact when it comes to marketing, rolling out new things periodically is a VERY good thing. "MVP" is a new term to me and it stands for "Minimum Viable Product". Basically, launch the site with the bare minimum of features that make it useful and then plan for adding features afterwards. For us, we're trying to launch the site and then go into 3-week "sprints" to add a feature or two as we go. As for web design - user experience is key! No matter how "pretty" it might be, sites that aren't easy-to-navigate and intuitive to the typical user just end up frustrating your viewers and sending them packing. As a graphic designer I'll never say that it doesn't matter what it looks like, but I will say that form should follow function when it comes to websites. If you hire someone to build this for you, make sure they understand how important usability is and bonus points if they have at least basic marketing knowledge (more is better!) This, this, and more of this. No seriously, go re-read this. It can be pretty but if it isn't functional, then it's worthless. Sites have been made and felled by this concept alone. But, on the flipside- it can't be purely functional. I can tell you that a $500 redesign of a calendar dates web site had a 10x change in the amount of money that I made in Google Advertisements monthly (I went from making $100/month to $1,200 the next month and now it ranges from anywhere from $300-$1,000). Last bit of advice... test out your idea to make sure it's going to be worth spending. Make sure there's a market for what you have in mind and that, if you're jumping into a pool with a lot of competition, you've got something in mind that will make you different enough that you can say to people "come here because we do XYZ" better. I'm officially gushing on everything Mo said. Just because you want to do something doesn't mean it's worth the time and effort. Whatever you do has to fulfill a need. Good luck!! Top to bottom, fantastic post- Mo! BradyBzLyn...Mo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith_h 420 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 As for web design - user experience is key! No matter how "pretty" it might be, sites that aren't easy-to-navigate and intuitive to the typical user just end up frustrating your viewers and sending them packing. As a graphic designer I'll never say that it doesn't matter what it looks like, but I will say that form should follow function when it comes to websites. If you hire someone to build this for you, make sure they understand how important usability is and bonus points if they have at least basic marketing knowledge (more is better!) The UI is very important. Too many sites today worry more about fancy graphics when a "green screen" layout would be much more intuitive and efficient for the given task. To this end I would take a hard look about how to differentiate the marketing and advertising (if using) content from the working content such as order forms or search filters. One way to do this would be making a mock up or story board using a graphics editor to let you play around with the functional flow of your website. Not only will it let you see and think about how the various content lay out should look but can be used as part of your requests for estimates. Being able to provide clear and concise requirements will go a long way to getting a valid quote for the work and save you additional costs by having a frame work for the programmer to work from. For those too young to remember what a green screen is. It is a term used to refer to old dumb terminals that used a text format (and later simplistic graphics lie pie charts). BradyBzLyn...Mo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Top to bottom, fantastic post- Mo! Right back atcha, Doug! :) ...making a mock up or story board using a graphics editor to let you play around with the functional flow of your website. Not only will it let you see and think about how the various content lay out should look but can be used as part of your requests for estimates. Being able to provide clear and concise requirements will go a long way to getting a valid quote for the work and save you additional costs by having a frame work for the programmer to work from. Definitely this - excellent advice! Even if the site isn't going to have a lot (or any) snazzy functionality, even storyboarding out how the content will layout and be accessed before the actual work on the site begins is incredibly helpful - for you and whomever is building the site. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stockboys10 2 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks for all the wonderful advise, Trying to do this right so it actually works..... Only issue so far is "real" work is getting in the way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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