My husband and I are at least 6 months behind with our plans to set up a chambre d'hote due to banks, builders etc etc. We need to get our business up and running soon but are bogged down with restoring our French house which is needed for the business.
We have no time at all to sit in front of dreamweaver to sort out a web site. We have all the text, photos, artwork almost ready to go.
Is there a professional out there who would be willing to do our site in exchange for a long weekend break (when the house is finished)!?
Thanks in advance,
Catherine
Web site designer wanted
From a designer's perspective, I agree with Paolo -- unless you want an extremely simple, single-page website, a full week would probably be more reasonable.
I'd love to take you up on it, but alas, right now I just don't have the time! Good luck, though -- there are some great designers on these forums!
I'd love to take you up on it, but alas, right now I just don't have the time! Good luck, though -- there are some great designers on these forums!
Brooke
Hi guys,
Thanks for the response. Actually, hubby has been in art and graphics etc for most of his career and mainly self employed so I do realise the cost of things. However, what one would like to charge and what one gets is another kettle of fish! Before you exclaim, "what a hard woman she sounds" ponder upon a nice long break either painting, wine tasting or searching for that hidden antique which may very well be here.
We have an 18th century Bressanne farmhouse which is very beautiful on the outside but is being redone on the interior by husband and I plus the odd builder.Very hard work.Hence no time for the man to sit and think! (Nor the woman)
We plan to offer week long art hols plus long themed weekends-all being very relaxed and low key. We're in the east of Burgundy on the very border of the Jura. Few tourists and very friendly. Very differnt to Province.
Our house although quite large will offer one double room and we shall use other chambre d'hote for our visitors- most having Gites de France status.
Anyone interested?
Catherine.
ps art hols =6 days
weekends 4 days
Thanks for the response. Actually, hubby has been in art and graphics etc for most of his career and mainly self employed so I do realise the cost of things. However, what one would like to charge and what one gets is another kettle of fish! Before you exclaim, "what a hard woman she sounds" ponder upon a nice long break either painting, wine tasting or searching for that hidden antique which may very well be here.
We have an 18th century Bressanne farmhouse which is very beautiful on the outside but is being redone on the interior by husband and I plus the odd builder.Very hard work.Hence no time for the man to sit and think! (Nor the woman)
We plan to offer week long art hols plus long themed weekends-all being very relaxed and low key. We're in the east of Burgundy on the very border of the Jura. Few tourists and very friendly. Very differnt to Province.
Our house although quite large will offer one double room and we shall use other chambre d'hote for our visitors- most having Gites de France status.
Anyone interested?
Catherine.
ps art hols =6 days
weekends 4 days
Hm... maybe it would help your potential designers if you posted exactly what you want from your webpage. If you have the text and photos and such ready to go, does that mean that you also know generally what you want the site to look like?
If you have a site all planned, laid out, with all the text written and the photos pre-optimized, this could be a long-weekend-type job for a good web programmer.
I've never bartered for a design job, but I have found that agreeing to a set price in advance (which is essentially what this is) can often end up putting the designer/programmer at a disadvantage if the job is not well-envisioned right from the start.
Cheers!
If you have a site all planned, laid out, with all the text written and the photos pre-optimized, this could be a long-weekend-type job for a good web programmer.
I've never bartered for a design job, but I have found that agreeing to a set price in advance (which is essentially what this is) can often end up putting the designer/programmer at a disadvantage if the job is not well-envisioned right from the start.
Cheers!
Brooke
I totally agree with you Brooke about the amount of work which is often hard to judge.
Since having posted this plea my husband took yesterday off from knocking down walls etc and had a look at dreamweaver. To my simple mind it looked very complex and we want a six to eight page website with text, illustration and photos.
We are going to have a go at producing our own but are still open to bartering! At least we are not offering wooden beads
Regards,
Catherine
Since having posted this plea my husband took yesterday off from knocking down walls etc and had a look at dreamweaver. To my simple mind it looked very complex and we want a six to eight page website with text, illustration and photos.
We are going to have a go at producing our own but are still open to bartering! At least we are not offering wooden beads
Regards,
Catherine
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livinginitaly
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2004 4:46 pm
- Location: Italy (at last!)
- Contact:
Here's an option i've recently found that could be an alternative to the usual web design software.
http://www.cmsmadesimple.org
It's 'free' opensource software .... so a much cheaper option than dreamweaver, especially if you're only planning on developing the one website.
You can log in here and see how it all works, as i've been testing it myself (excuse the 'thrown' together layout and text!) ....
http://www.demonstr8.co.uk
username - admin, password - test
Obviously, this probably isn't suitable for you Catherine, as you already have dreamweaver and your problem is simply 'finding the time'. Using this won't save much time, seeing as though it still has a 'learning curve', but for use with a single site, I reckon it's a winner
http://www.cmsmadesimple.org
It's 'free' opensource software .... so a much cheaper option than dreamweaver, especially if you're only planning on developing the one website.
You can log in here and see how it all works, as i've been testing it myself (excuse the 'thrown' together layout and text!) ....
http://www.demonstr8.co.uk
username - admin, password - test
Obviously, this probably isn't suitable for you Catherine, as you already have dreamweaver and your problem is simply 'finding the time'. Using this won't save much time, seeing as though it still has a 'learning curve', but for use with a single site, I reckon it's a winner
web page
Hi
I have just joined this forum and saw your posting. My hubby has done a few pages for friends, If you are still struggling I will ask him to talk with you and see if he can help if you like.
I have just joined this forum and saw your posting. My hubby has done a few pages for friends, If you are still struggling I will ask him to talk with you and see if he can help if you like.
all that glitters is not gold
Re: Web site designer wanted
If you want to get a web site up a running quickly 1and1.co.uk if useful. With very little now how you can use there online software to build your site, they give you 8 pages. You can also register your site name through them and it only cost round £30.00 a year.
You will find that they have various templates you can chose from and it should take you no longer than 1 hour to have a site up and running.
You will find that they have various templates you can chose from and it should take you no longer than 1 hour to have a site up and running.
I have made it a bit of a personal quest to share my theory on websites ... Do it right or don't do it at all.
A professional website is especially necessary in the business market but I will admit that in the Vacation Rental website market you have a bit more wiggle room. Why??? Well its my theory that if you have a business and your website is not professional looking then your business is not professional looking (Simple huh?). For vacation rentals, users might consider the fact that you are a home owner and not a business person and not really expect a too much out of your website. This too could work against you by taking something away from the vacation rental business you have built.
I even have people contacting me through my website that think I AM the resort instead of just a house inside the resort because of the time I took with my website and the fact the resort's website is nothing to write home about. I also continue to work on the site to try and continue to improve our image.
Why do you care about my ramblings (hmm wondering if I care again )
... because when you make your website do the best job possible and don't skimp because that is your "storefront" and what people know about your rental directly comes from what they see in your site. If you ever catch yourself going for the lowest bidder just think if you want your renters to also be the lowest bidders.
A professional website is especially necessary in the business market but I will admit that in the Vacation Rental website market you have a bit more wiggle room. Why??? Well its my theory that if you have a business and your website is not professional looking then your business is not professional looking (Simple huh?). For vacation rentals, users might consider the fact that you are a home owner and not a business person and not really expect a too much out of your website. This too could work against you by taking something away from the vacation rental business you have built.
I even have people contacting me through my website that think I AM the resort instead of just a house inside the resort because of the time I took with my website and the fact the resort's website is nothing to write home about. I also continue to work on the site to try and continue to improve our image.
Why do you care about my ramblings (hmm wondering if I care again )
... because when you make your website do the best job possible and don't skimp because that is your "storefront" and what people know about your rental directly comes from what they see in your site. If you ever catch yourself going for the lowest bidder just think if you want your renters to also be the lowest bidders.