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Small business resources are surprisingly difficult to come by. I’ve searched high and low for comprehensive resources to give my clients, and have come up empty handed. So I did what every good small business owner would do: I created my own. Welcome to the Small Business Series, a mishmash of articles that will help you make decisions about growing your business on the web.

⊕ Why Do I Need a Website?

⊕  Why Hire a Professional?

⊕  Five Things Every Great Website Has

⊕  Getting Ready to Build Your Web Presence

⊕  WordPress KickStart Kit

⊕  Website Readiness Quiz 

Have a question you’d like answered? Submit it here!

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The post » SERIES MAIN « appeared first on Ruby Red Design Studio | Carrboro, NC.

If you haven’t taken the Website Readiness Quiz yet, go do that. It’s quick and painless and will prep you quickly on whether you are ready to contact me.

Then come back and read this. I promise the quiz is the faster, more fun way.

There is a lot of work to be done before deciding to commission a custom web presence. You must have a great business name and concept, and have done the research on where your business is going and how you’re going to get there. You might have only worked in a corporate setting, orq maybe you never have. In either case, you probably know more about the day to day than the startup operations of a business. There are several things that must happen straight away, and building a custom website is not number one on the list. It is on the list, however. There’re just a few things that need to be done first.

Here’s a list (another one!) of things you should have (or at least think about!) before commissioning a custom website:

Collecting all of this information and content will not be easy, nor will it be fast. The design process isn’t going to e easy or fast either. It’s a process, after all, with many decisions to be made. It will be hard, but enjoyable. That’s the aim, anyway: I want you to feel accomplished and delighted when you use your site., and proud to show it off to everyone you know.

Convinced? Let’s get started!

Contact Me

The post » Getting Ready to Build Your Web Presence « appeared first on Ruby Red Design Studio | Carrboro, NC.

I am a self-starter. I’m an Aries. I’ve started at least three Etsy businesses and have names for three others. I’ve made my own lip balm, my own fancy red satin party dress, and a great felt case for my ipad. My Pinterest holds the rest of the many projects I want to do at some point. So, believe me, I totally get DIY. I want to DIY everything. (Once I thought about making my own deoderant. Too personal? Oops. Sorry.)

But. There comes A Time when you’ve outgrown DIY. Because DIY always ends up taking more time, money, energy and sanity than you planned or bargained for. Because DIY never quite looks as professional as it did in your head. Because DIY is… well, it’s homespun. And while I advocate for all things homemade, if you’re clients aren’t looking for that, you shouldn’t be giving them that. You’re not helping them and you’re certainly not helping your bottom line.

There’s a time and a place for DIY and its not with the face of your business. Many design professionals even leave their identities to other designers because the outside perspective that comes with a newcomer is sometimes the perfect thing to breathe life into a brand. So, it’s okay. Take a deep breath in… and let one out. It’s time to hire a professional. But why?

Why hire a professional?

When you hire a professional, you pay for more than just the final product. You’re getting education on design and on using your site. You’re getting outside consultation, a person to bounce ideas of off and someone outside your own head to help yae and nay ideas. You’re getting expertise in the form of perfect execution.

Design professionals do more than make things look pretty. We take problems and find solutions. And then we make them pretty. If we don’t know the problem to begin with, we have to help you find the problem. And then we make it useful. And then we make it pretty. The pretty does come in quite often, but it’s not the entirety of the project. It’s just the icing on the cake. Too much pretty is like too much icing: too much and too sweet. And it can make your teeth hurt.

Hiring a professional does not make for a hands off approach. After all, you’re still the one that knows your business and your clients best. It’s a team effort, a true collaboration, and when we’re finished you’ll truly feel as if you’ve been in integral part every step of the way… Because you have been. We’ll work together, from concept to content, to prune your thoughts, ideas, and style (and those of your clients) to make your site pertinent,  functional, and beautiful.

Custom or Template?

Fair warning: Custom can mean many things. It’s kind of like foods labeled with NATURAL at the grocery store… You know that it’s all about the packaging.

But! Back to custom design. This can mean anything – from someone who fills out templates and overcharges people for copying and pasting, to, on the other end of the spectrum, over-designed smoke and mirrors that’s so specifically designed that it’s irrelevant within a year.

Ruby is nestled in between the two, where form meets function and beauty is the icing on the cake. (Yes, I really like cake…)

I know that it’s the content and the structure that drive clients to come back time and again, and that’s where I guide you through the design process to make sure you’re making the right decisions for you and for your clients.

So, how do you choose a professional designer? 

LOOK AT THEIR PORTFOLIO. I cannot say this loud and clearly enough. I cannot repeat myself enough. You must look at a designer’s portfolio before you hire them. Every designer has a style, and you need to find some resonance with that style, even if it is just one item from a project in which you like nothing else.

It is a little dangerous to judge a designer completely on their portfolio. Sometimes, clients make decisions that the designer recommended against, and the final piece in the portfolio is not exactly as they would have liked. But! It’s imperative that you do like something. If you find yourself thinking about hiring a designer because they were recommended to you, but you can’t ifnd anything in their portfolio that grabs you in the smallest of ways: keep looking.

If you like what you see, and you like how they come across on their site, shoot them an email.

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