[honey415]

Hey guys I need your help again. I am looking to have my website professionally done, since I obviously cant do it myself...lol.

Anyway a friend told me about www.webmasters.com. I checked them out but the dont have a portfolio. I was wondering in any of you may have worked with them or know anything about them. Thanks in advance.

[UrbanCEO]

They offer templates and most likely some graphic design but it is probably at a substantial price. I do a lot of graphic design, motion graphics, etc. If you shoot my a PM with what you are looking for I can get back to you with some information and if I cannot suit your needs I will refer you to someone who could.
Regards,
Korion

[versas]

They are legit and reliable. However they lack personalization.

Brace yourself, your about to get numerous offers from here, however I would highly recommend hiring someone by you. Someone you can actually meet.

Designing a website, especially an ecommerce takes real work and service. This needs to be done with someone face to face. Not over email and PM's.

I guarantee you most of the offers you may get from here will not even know how to set up a shopping cart. Or have real experience.

Developing a website is no way like hiring someone to design a logo of which you can easily do over the net, but be careful.

So just look locally for a good designer, there should be plenty.

[jcoxy4]

Versas,people on this forum can set up ecommerce sites.Just because were young doesnt mean we cant create such sites.Im not making an offer but just want to let you know.

[Unreal030]

Originally Posted by versas

They are legit and reliable. However they lack personalization.

Brace yourself, your about to get numerous offers from here, however I would highly recommend hiring someone by you. Someone you can actually meet.

Designing a website, especially an ecommerce takes real work and service. This needs to be done with someone face to face. Not over email and PM's.

I guarantee you most of the offers you may get from here will not even know how to set up a shopping cart. Or have real experience.

Developing a website is no way like hiring someone to design a logo of which you can easily do over the net, but be careful.

So just look locally for a good designer, there should be plenty.

I agree with this statement.

[versas]

Originally Posted by jcoxy4

Versas,people on this forum can set up ecommerce sites.Just because were young doesnt mean we cant create such sites.Im not making an offer but just want to let you know.

Out of context.

Did I say that about young web designers? What are you talking about?

I said work with someone in her locale.

And besides, I have not seen a single professional level web designer here thus far.

Or to say the least, someone I would pay to design something that would be my bread and butter.

[Young Spark]

I have gotten better... Versas... your saying I'm not a good designer --- I'm appaulde

[versas]

Originally Posted by Young Spark

I have gotten better... Versas... your saying I'm not a good designer --- I'm appaulde

No not you.

You know me though, I have to make my point.

As far as I know, your one of the more reliable ones here.

But I'm sure you know what I was getting at.

Some of the advertised work here is @#$%$#!

[Young Spark]

^^Understandable... thank you for the compliment (although I won't say my work is the very best... it does give a good enough presentation to present in my opinion... hate to toot my own horn but... BEEP BEEP)

J/K... thanks again for the compliment. Also, Rejoice has seen my work (even though it was unfinished when it was halted because my Adobe Photoshop had started messing up, its cool though, everything is back on now.)

Oh yeah, Versas... I may need some business cards done soon could you me a favor and shoot me a PM with details on business card services that NexCards has and what other services you have... you seem reliable (so says Akula) and the prices are equally as good Thx.

B2T...

[silversurfer]

Versas,

there is a massive industry in website design and programming done off-site with remote project management for Fortune 500 clients down to template-driven quickies. I have at least a dozen old friends who do that work. The husband of a friend of mine averaged a blistering $12k per week billable last year doing top of the line programming out of his basement.

Where I live web design and programming starts at $75 per hour. In India, it starts at $15 per hour. Since I can write IEEE requirements, then I can communicate to anyone with an IT degree, whether they're local or outsourced.

My main programmer I work with is an old friend who currently lives in China. He's a friend and he'll do certain tasks for $500 or less.

What I believe you're saying is that without someone local you can get scammed or hoodwinked if you don't know any better. But for people with at least a middling sense of software design, outsourcing can reduce costs by 75%. And then take into account that most e-commerce programming is the repackaging of standard workflow processes? I mean, why reinvent that wheel?

SS

[Moxie]

Originally Posted by honey415

a friend told me about www.webmasters.com. I checked them out but the dont have a portfolio. I was wondering in any of you may have worked with them or know anything about them. Thanks in advance.

Never hire someone without a portfolio - it is pretty much the indicator of what they can do - and their quality.

A decent way to locate pricing is at craigslist.org - post an ad and just seeing what people are quoting you at. You might even find some designers that intrigue you.

Versas made a great point that if you want something more personal - you are better off looking for a designer in your area. Talking in person is better to get your ideas across. Communication can be ugly online - but at least with email, you at least have a written record of what has been said.

- - -
Quick tips before hiring someone (online or offline).

Never pay full amount before any work takes place. (especially online).
Set a (realistic deadline) - if you don't say anything about when it needs to be done by, you might lose priority to busy designers.
Prepare content - you may not be able to make a website, but you are most likely going to be supplying descriptions and some pictures - so know what you want and belp make the process smooth. Some designers will not work on your site without most or all of the conent.