Template or No Template? What You Need to Know About Web Design

Your site is your handshake. It’s the first impression many of your clients will have of your company. If your site looks sloppy, amateurish, or unprofessional, people assume your business is sloppy, amateurish, and unprofessional. For most entrepreneurs, this is not big news. We know the importance of our web presence. What many may not know is how to have a great site without spending a fortune with designers and developers. If your website’s functionality is your business – like with membership or gaming sites – you might not have much choice. On the other hand, if you use your website as a way to present your business, products, and services to the world and don’t require advanced development, you might want to consider web templates.

It used to be that a template site could be spotted a mile away. These days, templates are more sophisticated, and the sheer number of template designs available makes it possible for you to create a site that’s unique, individual, and far from cookie-cutter. In fact, for as little as $50.00, you can even get a full flash site, at template sites like FlashMint.com. Another template provider, Allwebco Design, has some of the coolest non-flash site designs out there for around $120, as well as some good information for the newbie website creator.

Words of Wisdom

The design of your website is not something to be taken lightly, and there are some things to look out for when choosing a template provider. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Free is a relative term. If you’re really bootstrapping it and looking for a free template design, there are plenty of sites where you can find good looking templates at no cost. Just be sure the site you choose isn’t more trouble than it’s worth. Open Source Web Design (OSWD.org) boasts 2,080 free template designs. Take some time in choosing one though. OSWD has three important features to look at. First, users give designs star ratings; secondly, people are able to comment on the designs; and last, they show the number of times a template has been downloaded. Look through the comments. You’ll find that many are just commenting on the look of the design, which is less helpful than those commenting on its functionality. The comments you want to look for are those, for example, telling you that the design looks great in IE7 but not so good in Firefox, or that the tables only line up at certain screen resolutions. You’ll want to be sure your chosen design hasn’t been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times too. You might still be unique within your industry, but the fewer downloads, the less chance you have of looking just like someone else.

• Expect to support yourself. Don’t expect any technical support when choosing a free template. For the most part, they aren’t difficult to implement, but you’ll want to have at least a basic understanding of HTML, or know someone who does and can help you if you get stuck. Even sites where you pay for a template are notorious for a lack of customer support, so do your homework. Most sites, like Template Kingdom, will tell you the format of the source files being provided with your download. If the source files are in Dreamweaver or Photoshop, you’ll of course want to have those programs and know how to use them before choosing that template. Or you can use the template, knowing you’ll be limited in the amount of customization you can implement. One bit of advice, regardless of your level of expertise: Always keep your originally downloaded files in a safe place, and create a separate copy you can work to perfect. That way, no matter how badly you mess something up, you can always start from square one if you have to!

• Memberships, buyouts, and template tweakers. Some template sites offer a membership price for unlimited downloads. Unless you are designing sites for a living, it is unnecessary to join them. Many of the customer complaints out there have to do with memberships not being cancelled upon request and other issues surrounding recurring billing, so again, do your homework. You will also find several sites, like Template Monster, offering quality designs for download, but also offering templates with a “buyout” option. This option will cost you as little as $800, up to over $5,000, and it only ensures they will remove the template from their site going forward. It does not guarantee the design hasn’t been used before or even downloaded thousands of times. For that kind of investment, you can find a designer to build a comparable site and provide one-on-one support. The same goes for sites offering to customize or “tune-up” an existing template. With the number of designers hungry for work right now, browsing Craigslist, Guru, or Elance might just render you a better deal.

So the bottom line is that you don’t have to spend all your startup capital to have a cool site. Templates are a great alternative to costly custom sites, as long as you take the time to make sure you’re getting what you need. If you’ve used a template site, join the conversation, and let others know about your experience – good, bad, or ugly!

The Top 3 Artistic Entrepreneur Sites

As the Internet evolves, it continues to bring an added dimension into areas that aren’t often thought of as translating to an online medium. Take art for example. Art lovers have embraced virtual art galleries for years, but now that interest has led to the creation of online art networks. There are three websites in particular where their creativity in creating a web presence should be applauded.

While many art groups struggle with limited resources and financial limitations, the Internet is becoming their canvas to a stage full of opportunities. The creative side is thinking in business terms and the end result is global art networks that serve the needs of the local art community while attracting new supporters and artists.

There are many art related sites, but the ones that bring a comprehensive approach to the art world promote interactive contributions from around the world. These 3 artistic entrepreneur websites are masterpieces in opening the art world to a whole new generation, while at the same time gaining many more supporters than ever thought possible.

1. Artslant.com

Fairly new to the scene having been established in 2006, Artslant.com has quickly become the leading site for the contemporary art community. Founded by artists Georgia Fee and Catherine Ruggles, the art portal provides art happenings in cities around the world. The searchable calendar features openings, exhibits and art events by date, while the list of galleries gives visitors a handy guide to art museums and galleries in the cities they will be visiting.

Along with art news, Artslant.com offers visitors a virtual exhibition of works by hundreds of contemporary artists. But what sets Artslant.com apart from other art-related sites is its functionality. Artists and others in the field can register and add their events and openings, or create their own gallery of works on the site.

2. HumbleVoice.com

Made for artists by artists, humblevoice.com is a community of artists, musicians, photographers, videographers, musicians, filmmakers, poets, writers, other artisans, art supporters and those who simply appreciate their works. Established in 2006, the website allows artists to create their own community of family and friends as well as share their works with a global audience.

Each artist has the ability to manage and update their own site, while visitors can easily browse current events, get artist insight by reading their blogs, and purchase or download art, photography, music, videos and more.

3. Virb.com

This social art network is one of the comprehensive around, connecting artists with those interested in their works. The range of art topics is far-reaching, from art and music to fashion and film. Any type of work can be posted, from a band’s latest release to a blogger’s recent thoughts. What’s exciting about virb.com is that it is entirely community created.

It’s exciting to see how the Internet has changed the way we view art. It has elevated the art world to a whole new level and has inspired collaboration between various mediums. With the creativity that artists bring to these sites, one can only image what will develop.

If you have a top artistic entrepreneurs website that you believe belongs on the top list, leave us a comment and tell us about it.

Matthew Toren

The New Era of Copyrighting

Copyrighting your original works is a good thing. It ensures that no one steals your intellectual property and profits from it. But the copyrighting process can be long, tedious and costly, with the original intent of protection often getting bogged down in the legal process. Now there is another choice that offers a streamlined process, yet ensures that the needs of all parties involved are being met.

Creative Commons allows people to promote and market their intellectual property in a less restricted manner while still enjoying copyright protections that are necessary for their particular work. Anything traditionally covered under copyright law, including books, songs, films, videos, photographs, audio and visual recordings, websites, blogs and software documentation, is protected under a Creative Commons license. While this approach gives you more freedom with creative opportunities, you might still want to copyright your work for complete legal protection.

Creative Commons is a nonprofit Massachusetts corporation that provides free licenses and legal tools so a creator of intellectual property can easily indicate how the work can be used. Creative Commons offers three different license formats: Commons Deed, which is a summary of how the intellectual property can be used; Legal Code, which displays the legal wording of the actual license in its entirety; and Metadata, which contains the important elements of the license in machine-readable coding so it can be found by search engines.

With a Creative Commons license, you have the option of offering your work with “Some Rights Reserved” or “No Rights Reserved.” For example, you can allow your work to be shared, distributed, copied, or remixed by others as long as credit is given to you; give permission for remixes or adaptations of it with certain distribution restrictions; grant or restrict commercial use in which someone profits from your work; or allow full use in the public domain as is.

For online works, an html code is designated for your work and a license button and statement appears on your piece. Anyone who comes in contact with your work will be obligated to follow the terms you set under the license agreement. For published works not on the Internet, you can include a statement on the work or include a graphic of the license button, licensed statement and URL link.

An important feature of a Creative Commons license is its non-exclusivity. You can protect your work from unauthorized use in the public sector while maintaining the right to enter a separate non-exclusive license agreement to sell your work to an individual or company, or receive royalties from it. You can also decide to stop distributing your work at any time under a Creative Commons license.

With the evolution of technology encouraging the sharing of words, music and pictures to create new and better creations, a Creative Commons license is a welcome format for offering blanket protection for proprietary rights. It opens up a world of opportunities for co-sharing while honoring the rights of the creator.

Have you been using Creative Commons to adapt your work? We would love to hear what you have been doing with these rights - leave us a comment!

Adam Toren

Push My Button! - 6 Ways to Share

Social Media Buttons help your visitors share the content of your blog or website with others. Not all of your visitors will use them, but a large percentage of them will, and this can potentially generate a significant amount of traffic to your site, not to mention another backlink to boot. No savvy internet entrepreneur is complete without a decent set of social media buttons for their blog, although be cautious when adding them, so as not to add too may as it may clutter your site. Whatever your style, there is an easily implementable set of buttons out there for you to include on your blog or website, with little or no fuss at all. We have found the perfect one’s for you right here.

1. Add This

Add This is definitely the fully loaded, corporate style option. They are reputedly the #1 bookmarking and sharing service. Their buttons are currently used 20 billion times per month! With this choice, you can customize your look with very little effort. They are the market leader and their service is absolutely free.

http://www.addthis.com/

2. Sociable

Sociable is a very versatile plugin for WordPress, and it has been totally revamped by Joost de Valk. With this selection you can choose from 99 already specified social bookmarking sites, change the location of the buttons so they do not necessarily appear at the end of your post, and add any specific site you want as a button.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sociable/

3. Share This

Share This is very much like Add This, but not quite as versitile (not installable on WordPress).

http://www.sharethis.com/

4. Add to Any

Out of all of them this one is perhaps the easiest widget to set up and add. It integrates fully with Google Analytics, and you can share to bookmark managers, social networks, instant messengers, browsers and E-mail addresses.

http://www.addtoany.com/

5. Social Marker

Social Marker does not really look all that nice, but it can help you spread a link on 49 of the best social bookmarking sites in under 15 minutes!

http://www.socialmarker.com/

6. Sociofluid

It speak for itself! very cool looking and does everything you need it to.

http://www.sociofluid.com/

And if you are just after a nice looking button for your blog, check these sites out:

My Social Buttons

My Social Buttons provides a range of different buttons and badges for social media. Their most useful page is their collections page, which provides overviews of 9 fully functional sets of buttons. They also provide a personalised Twitter ‘follow me’ button service.

http://mysocialbuttons.com/

Open Source Hunter

This site is another nice compilation of free sets from various different designers. There are 3 particular sets that stand out for me:

1. Function Icon Set, 128 Completely Free Icons which range from icons for the usual social media bookmarks to icons for various other utilities that you might want to put on your sites.
2. Social.me which is a set of 30 icons for the most popular social networks/web 2.0 sites out there.
3. The Leaves Fall: A Social Icon Set For Bloggers. This set contains 11 social icons, designed in an autumn-style (I know summer has just started, but what the heck!). This set includes icons for Twitter, Technorati, RSS, Reddit, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon and Digg.

http://www.opensourcehunter.com/2008/10/11/social-buttons/

If you have any Cool Social Button Sites you want to share - then we want to hear about them! Leave your recommendations in a comment.

Matthew Toren

Fifteen Artistic WordPress Themes

If your business is art, design, writing or any other creative endeavor, you want a blog that reflects your style and gives visitors to your site a whole different experience than they would have at a tech blog or a mommy blog.  That’s why I’ve picked out fifteen gorgeous (and free!) artistic Wordpress blogs templates that you can use to represent your independent or freelance business.

1. Mosaic:  http://www.freewpthemes.net/preview/mosaic

Lots of texture and muted colors give this blog template a unique look without overwhelming the eyes.  Freelance technical or architectural drawing would be at home on this site.

2. Imagination: http://wordpressthemesbase.com/view/?theme=Books%20and%20Imagination

Perfect for a novelist or writer, this blog is whimsical but can still be used for both men and women.  Features adorable mini-notepads for recent blog posts and recent comments.

3. Cool Star:  http://wordpressthemesbase.com/view/?theme=Cool%20Star

Asian influenced design that combines   modern design and strategically placed vibrant red alongside a neutral organic motif.  This might be a nice choice for interior designers.

4. Creativity Within:  http://wordpressthemesbase.com/view/?theme=08%20Rainbow%20Feather%20(v3)%20-%20English%20Version

Beautiful use of contrasting yellow and blue color and a gorgeous rainbow quill makes this theme a great choice for creative writers.

5. Lalaland: http://topwpthemes.com/lalaland/

Bright, funky, with an ultramodern tree design in the header, this theme can work for a multitude of businesses including graphic design.

6. Rainbow Garden Theme: http://topwpthemes.com/rainbow-garden-theme/

A stunningly gorgeous theme that combines elements of fantasy and nature with vivid color.

7. Trendy Theme:  http://topwpthemes.com/trendy-theme/

Features olive and khaki colored background with a provocative Rorscharch inspired header.

8. HuaHua:  http://test.nattywp.com/?preview_theme=HuaHua

Indie artists or crafters will love this charming 1970’s inspired theme.  Think:  Partridge Family meets Hobby Lobby.

9. Triplo: http://test.nattywp.com/?preview_theme=triplo

Perfect for a freelance artist, this simple, professional blog features a set of rainbow drawing pencils in the banner.

10. Whiteplus:  http://test.nattywp.com/?preview_theme=whiteplus

A simple blog design with a fabulous artistic multicolored banner.

11. Deep Green: http://amazingwordpressthemes.com/wordpress-themes/deep-green-10/

A deep, moody design that calls to mind dreaminess and the psyche.

12. Swan Melody 1.0:  http://amazingwordpressthemes.com/wordpress-themes/swan-melody-10/

Watercolor swan design on unfinished paper-colored background.   Very unique design.

13. Scruffy 1.1:  http://wordpressthemesforfree.com/detail/25.html

Show your blog to be what it really is:  A work in progress.  This ‘unfinished’ looking theme looks like a well-loved first draft.

14. Butterfly Trip:  http://wordpressthemesforfree.com/detail/495.html

Finally!  A butterfly motif that isn’t all girlie!  This theme is creative, strong and features ‘graph paper’ background and neutral colors.

15. Art: http://wordpressthemesforfree.com/detail/541.html

Appropriately titled, this blog theme is a work of art.  Features urban-style black and white design with vivid red and yellow accents.

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