Re: Anyone in the mood to be cut-throat and opinionated?

If ever there was a waving of the red flag...

(AT NO TIME IS THIS INTENDED TO BE A FLAME FEST!!!)

1) Opening Splash page - loose the "wavy animation".  Although "cute" it
hurts my eyes. Graphics: None of your text images have been anti-aliased.
This is particularly noticeable in the main logo, especially in the word
Crafters. Rhetorical question; how can you be the AK Valleys "newest" _and_
"premier Internet designer" simultaneously? You can be one or the other, but
both?  Do tell...
Finally, compliments of WebTechs:
Validation Errors

line 30: there is no attribute "FACE"
line 107: document type does not allow element "HR" here
line 109: document type does not allow element "P" here
line 184: "DOCTYPE" declaration not allowed in instance
line 186: document type does not allow element "HTML" here
line 199: character "%" is not allowed in the value of attribute "WIDTH"
line 219: character "%" is not allowed in the value of attribute "WIDTH"
line 246: character "%" is not allowed in the value of attribute "WIDTH"
line 251: character "%" is not allowed in the value of attribute "WIDTH"
line 257: character "%" is not allowed in the value of attribute "WIDTH"

2) Balance of site:  well, I checked, and it seems that the other pages were
passing validation, so OK to that.  Content was kinda skimpy, but what
really is there to say eh?  You can do a web page, and now you hope to do
them for pay.

What I was hoping to see was compelling reasons why I (the potential client)
should look to you to do the work, as opposed to the two million other folks
out here who also can author up web pages. (Using GENERATOR "(Win95; I)
[Internet Explorer 4.0]" no less...Urgh!!)  Unfortunately, that need was not
filled by your site.  I do not see any "cutting edge" authoring here, as a
matter of fact it is pretty vanilla.  You want me to fork out anywhere from
$100.00 to $800.00 for a site...tell me, can you point me to any other sites
you've done so I can judge whether or not I'm spending my money in the right
place? I really don't mean to rain on your parade, but so far the only
example of your work is this here 7 page homepage, and it honestly compares
to the average work seen on GeoCities...not bad, but far from spectacular.

Now in my opinion, this isn't a bad thing in it's self, but it points out
the fact that you are just a beginner...something that you can't avoid, I
know, but certainly not something to advertise either...it does little to
instill consumer confidence. Might I suggest that you shelve the "company"
page for a bit and concentrate on getting some "real" work?  You need a
portfolio, not a homepage, if you really want to start making some coin at
this.  Surely there is an independent business person  near you that you can
build a site for...in this early stage, don't worry about making any
cash...heck do it for free if you can afford to (that's what I did).  What
you're really going for here is an opportunity down the road to point to
this site as a "true" example of your doing work for a business, and one
that is not your own.  You surely don't have to give them all away for free,
but you need to look at investing for the future.  So go see that skateboard
shop / local artisan / garage-band-recording-their -first-indie-CD /
whatever and strike a deal.  Get in the practice, build up the site, BE SURE
TO INCLUDE YOUR "LOGO" ON THEIR SITE, and then add the work to your
portfolio.  Once you have two or three of these under your belt, then you
can show potential clients you real worth and experience, and the customer
will KNOW that you know what you're doing...

Finally, once you DO get a paying site, (or better yet, if you can afford to
now) invest the first hundred bucks into getting a virtual domain of your
own.  It is my experience, that the simple fact that you have your own
www.yourname.com somehow elevates you that extra notch...that you are "pro",
and act and advertise that way.  It's weird, but it works.

Good luck in your future endeavors.

John Foliot
Another 4:00 AM Web Thing
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

www.fouram.com
fouram(at)sympatico.ca

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