If you already have your own site:   Is it working the way you want it too?  Do you get the responses from people who visit it that you want?  Is your Website actually making the number of sales for you that you want it to?  Is it taking much too much time to do it yourself?  Is it costing too much?  Are you able to get it updated when you need that done?  Changing the content on a timely basis keeps visitors coming back to your site.

Your site will be more effective if it is attractively laid out, elegant, and 'pretty'. Photos look MUCH better with frames on them, than just 'splat' on the page with no edges.  Colors, fancy scripts, interesting graphic effects, and custom backgrounds, web buttons, and bars can be used to help create a 'mood' for the people who visit, and helps to motivate them to DO something - contact you, buy, come BACK to your site again, whatever.  There are MILLIONS of pages on the WWW - would someone remember YOURS?  Just as in dog showing in the ring, on the WWW - PRESENTATION counts.

Does your site WORK? Does it take forever for your photos to load? It takes skill and work to compress photos enough to give optimal load time, without losing too much quality.  If your photos take too long to load, many people are impatient and won't wait around. There is just too much else to go see on the web - and people are busy.  If they get lost trying to navigate around your site - they often won't be bothered again. If they get JAVA script errors, they won't be back.  If they can't easily contact you, you may lose out. My HitBox stats show that people RETURN to my (dog) pages again and again. Since I am NOT selling anything (at least for almost the past year), I think that is significant.  The stats also show that they SPEND TIME on the pages - many over an hour (the whole site), and often almost 1/2 stay at least a 1/2 hour. Must be something there they like to look at. : ) I can put HitBoxes on your pages. It is free, and provides a fantastic package of hourly and ongoing cumulative stats all about your traffic, and even who your visitors are and (in some cases) where they come from.  I will monitor that for you, and give you suggestions for promoting your site, and content changes that may improve the results you are getting from it.

If you are shopping for a Website - do you want it to work on the most systems world wide?  If so then avoid web designers who rush to use the newest flashy stuff.  A lot of the 'neatest' stuff (mouseovers, etc) use programming languages that are not as widely compatible as 'good old' plain .html.  People all over the world are using a huge assortment of different hardware (the computers) and software (programs).  HTML is designed to work on the widest possible range of platforms.  Much of the newer stuff is NOT COMPATIBLE with older platforms, and the whole world is NOT going to run right out and buy new stuff just so they can see your 'kewl' new Webpage.

Want to 'Do It Yourself'?  Already 'Do It Yourself'?  Most people can do their own cooking, yet most will still go out to restaurants even though it costs $. Sometimes it is just because they don't have time - so they will buy a meal. Someone else then messes up their kitchen, breaks the eggs, and cleans up the dishes. : )  Think how much time (if you are doing your own web pages) you are spending doing it.  How much is your time worth? How long does it take you to do a complete new page with all the things I've mentioned above?  To get it loaded to your server? Get it to WORK, get the bugs out of it?  If you needed a complete brand new page (with all the goodies mentioned above) RIGHT AWAY - could you have it up in a couple of hours?  AAAWWW CAN (usually).  The other reason people go to restaurants is to get something special they couldn't make at home - a special recipe, and fancy service. AAAWWW specializes in 'special'. I try to make most of my sites look 'different'. I am a pro, and have lots of creative ideas, and a whole range of graphic tools available to put them on the web.  If you have an interesting idea of what you want your pages to look like, WE can make it REAL on the WWW.   If you don't have any ideas what would work to achieve your goals, WE DO.
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I can do it much more efficiently than most people, because I have a BAS in CS, and knowledge and tools.  It took me MANY years to get my credentials and learn everything I know about computer systems and languages that I will use to publish your web page/site.  I can fix problems (or usually AVOID them in the first place) that eat up the computer novice's time.  It will cost you more to buy your own (even minimal) tools than to pay me to publish for you, and I can have an effective professional site THAT WORKS for you up faster than it will probably take you to unpack and start to figure out how to use your new tools.

If you are SHOPPING:  BEWARE of those who are offering web services.  DON'T GET RIPPED OFF.  Ask to see their QUALIFICATIONS or CREDENTIALS.  Here are some of ours.  Do not deal with anyone who has none, and especially if they are asking ridiculously high $/hour.  This field is still so new, there are very few controls.  In Web Design especially, the field is full of 'get rich quick - start your own web business with our 3 month (or 3 week!) course'.  There are serious challenges and issues that these people do not have a clue about.  The environment is changing very fast, and the most serious issue out there is compatibility.  At best, many will get Webpages up using 'canned' tools they purchased and do not understand, but then they will not know how to fix the problems that will crop up as new technology is continually being released.  At worst, they will take your money and give you nothing - or something that does not work.  And JAVA and some other tools have the potential to damage the computer systems of visitors to your Website.  People should not just willy-nilly cut and paste code they do not understand.  If they make a mistake, are they going to be responsible for the consequences?

Should you spend a lot of money for every new gadget?  That depends.  For instance, people are spending a LOT of $ on scanners, never thinking about the cost/benefit aspect.  AAAWWW will scan photos for $3.00 each, including editing them if desired, cropping, enhancing, and FRAMING.  How many photos did you plan to put up on the web?  Is it really worth while to spend $200 and up on a scanner? Maybe - but for some people it just isn't cost effective.  How about how long (how much IS YOUR time worth?) it will take you to learn to use the scanner effectively?  What if there is an interrupt conflict between your new scanner and another peripheral device you have on your system?  Do you have a 30 yr. retired IBM engineer living at your house (like I do : ) to help out?  When I'm talking about AAAWWW and saying 'we' - my husband, John Farley (retired IBM Engineer)  is who I'm referring to - my live in hardware/technical support : ), or are you going to have to go pay the Computer Dr.?  How much does that cost?  I wouldn't know - we are our own technical support here. I know that Computer Drs. are making BIG $ off novice mistakes.  I also know that some are in the habit of telling the customer 'it was a virus' when actually it was a screw up - incompatible software/hardware, and so on. These days, with many 'fly by night', and under qualified people getting into the business, at times the 'Computer Dr.' didn't really know either - just reinstalled/replaced stuff till it worked - and of course, charged the BIG $.

If you buy publishing software, know that it is NOT magic. You will spend $ to buy it, and then a lot of time learning how to use it. There are a lot of complex technical issues here too - after you've spent the time and $, you may then still find it just doesn't do what you wanted it to do.

If this letter has left you with questions, please take the time to look around our site.  Look at the sites we've already done.  We could do that for you - the way YOU want it done.


                                          Lynda R. Farley ~ AAAWWW