I’ve tried and tried, my computer is littered with abandoned photoshop files.

The other day I was on the phone complaining about this to someone I know. We chatted about other things and then I exclaimed “I’ll put it in the footer!”.

This is how it happens sometimes. Out of the blue when you are doing or thinking about something else.

Summertime is coming and I do a lot of design work in my kayack.

Just so you know. . .

I have been warning clients away from utilizing Flash for years – definitely not for important content. Most understand that if search engines can’t see it site visitors won’t find you. Now that it’s likely that a lot of visitors won’t be able to see your content either Flash will be utilized only for those things that only Flash can do.

It should get easier now to make a convincing argument against Flash now that the drawbacks are less abstract.

Its not about being pretty.

It’s that ah. . . feeling when you arrive at your destination and everything is clear. Someone has thought about whether you tend toward edgy or conservative. They know what you want and they have placed a nice big link right there smack where you will find it. They probably know what browser you are most likely to have and have taken steps to ensure everything works properly. Care has been taken not to offend your culture if you are a likely visitor or user.

And continuing on. They know what else you are probably looked at – what other related sites you are apt to visit. Care has been taken to raise the bar and to offer a better experience than you probably had at the competitor’s web site.

Better yet – you found it. That’s probably not an accident.

And perhaps its really really beautiful too.

At rr.interactive I do one to two pro bono projects a year for non profits or charities and I may give a break here and there if there is nothing else going on but for the most part I have an hourly rate I have to charge in order to keep my business afloat. To charge less might have me working 24 hours a day. Considering the fact that clients are taking longer to pay and that some aren’t paying at all my work week has already extended to 7 days and my work days – well you don’t want to know about those – suffice it to say I start my day at a ridiculously early hour.

This back and forth about the cost of a website has gotten frequent enough that I have added a price range list to the contact form on my website. My feeling is that if a potential client sees that they have a choice anywhere between $500 and $20,000+ they might not be afraid to really choose the one they think is the closest. If I publish what they will usually get for that there is no question about whether they could have gotten more for less.

Here are a couple of additional thoughts:

Consider how much a client that you obtain through your website is worth? Several clients?

Compare the cost of print advertising that runs once and is usually discarded to a website that represents you 24 hours a day 7 days a week and has the capacity to represent you more fully than a print ad can. For instance a full-page ad on a local magazine costs $1500. A small business can often get a decent website for that.

Last – You really do get what you pay for. When you pay a little more for someone experienced you are paying someone who can explain and is familiar with the pros and cons of different options ranging from hosting providers to content management and shopping cart systems. We can anticipate your plan for growth and ensure you don’t have to start from the beginning when you do. We are not as likely to disappear down the road when you want changes or updates. You’ll receive regular support.

This site almost achieves the vision we all had for access of documents on the web. I especially find it useful for browsing through design publications.

Get your own – Open publication