April & May Only - FREE FLASH masthead for any new website design or redesign including those below!  Up to a $500 value! If you've ever dreamed of having a "Flash Site" now's the time....Snooze you lose! Can be included in the packages below!

Package Offers for April - June 2008

Baby Bear ....Our entry level website.  Includes everything a website should have.  You provide the content, relevant graphics and photos and you get a website that will help your business grow. $750.00

• custom professional design & layout up to 5 hours of work
• email form for easy customer correspondence
• location map utilizing Google Maps API

Mama Bear....dynamic coded Content Management System website which allows the owner to manage their own site.  Saves time and money.  Includes all of the following features for $1,500.00:

• Custom professional design & layout 
• Add or delete pages instantly
• Add or change content
• Upload & add photos to your content
• Upload and add PDF files
• Built-in Editor that's easy to use
• Sort site navigation order

Papa Bear...A robust ecommerce solution for an online store of any size. We'll get you started with a few products and categories and you add the rest.  For $2,500 you'll be able to:

• Custom professionally designed masthead
• Add or delete products from your web store
• Manage your products, including changing price & availability
• View customer orders
• Utilizes Paypal for payment processing
• Includes hosting & domain name for 1 year

Get on the web quickly and with style.  Expand your business to a global market.  We require a retainer & signed contract to begin, then bill monthly at the hourly rate until the project is complete. Hosting must be with an approved provider and may not be included.

Salvation from the blue screen of death
For the less tech-savvy among us, it might come as a shock that people are willing to give sound technical support and advice out of the goodness of their hearts. I know, I was amazed to discover Protonic (http://help.protonic.com/?page=frontpage), an online community where anyone can ask technical questions, and the community answers. You can register for free, ask questions, and scan the archive of already-answered queries.

Spend nothing to help the less fortunate (and learn while you're at it)
A sad fact is that when we're slashing our spending, we often forget those even worse off than we are. Now you don't have to choose between paying your rent and lending a hand. And, odd as it may sound, you'll get smarter as you give.  FreeRice (http://www.freerice.com/index.php) houses a challenging vocabulary quiz that anyone can play for free. As you succeed in defining words, you're asked tougher questions. For every word you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to the U.N.'s World Food Program. And with the cost of rice rising, it will help even more.

De-stress your work day...

• Create a morning routine. And make it a relaxing one. 
• Prepare the night before. An evening routine is essential to starting your day right. 
• Start the day with a relaxing shower or bath.
• Get in some morning exercise. 
• Work when it's quiet. 
• Create a clutter-free environment. 
• Turn off the distractions. That means phones, email notification, instant messaging, anything that will break into your focus and make you jump from one thing to another.
• Cut back on your commitments. Evaluate all the things you've got going on in your life, and see what isn't essential. 
• Pet the Dog Animals are great de-stressers.
• Cut out meetings. Avoiding meetings could free up a lot of time and make your workday more relaxed.
• Single-task. Focus on one task at a time.
• Take breaks and stretch.  Get up, stretch, get a glass of water. Massage your shoulders, neck and head. 
• Go for a walk. Get your blood circulating.
• Eat lunch in quiet. 
• Do mini-meditations. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing -- on your breath as it comes into your body, and then goes out. 
• Learn to focus on the present. Quit worrying about what you have to do in the future, and instead of reliving things you did in the past, focus on what you're doing right now. 
• Roll with the punches. There will always be things that go wrong. Accept what has happened, and make a calm decision to get some perspective, and realize that in a few months, none of this will really matter.
• Do less. Learn to reduce what you do, but choose the most impactful tasks and projects -- the ones that will mean the most over the long term.

We offer hosting from basic no-frills linux hosting to Virtual Dedicated Servers at very reasonable rates.

Need video hosting? Want to Podcast? Want a web cam? Put your video production on the web.  Video or Podcasting requires more bandwith (transfer of files) than a typical website and requires hosting that can handle the extra bandwith. We can set you up with your own webcam, traffic cam, or puppycam quite reasonably and can get you a good deal on hosting. A webcam for home or business security. A password protected webcam can be a great draw for daycare centers caring for kids or pets.  Nannycams have become quite popular as well, so parents can log in over the Internet and see that all is well at home.  Don't worry - watch!

12 Ways to Save Money on Your New Website

1. Have it done by someone that understands your language and values. Yes, it may seem to be cheaper initially to go offshore, but revisions and language problems can end up costing more in the long run. You might get a site nothing like you imagined.

2. Same for having the nephew build it - it will cost more to repair or update your site when he's bored with the project than it would have been to build it professionally in the first place. 

3. Know your site log in and ftp information.  When a new designer has to attempt to track this down or contact the previous designer, it costs you money.

4. Optimize your photos before they are sent to the designer.  It takes more time to put a huge picture on the page than one close to the size it will be. Set your camera at it's lowest resolution - that's best.

5. Communicate by email.  Then you'll both have a list of what needs doing and the designer will be less likely to miss something. Also, personal meetings  and phone calls are often a chargeable expense.

6. Understand comparing proposals is never "apples to apples" but will be estimated based on scripts, hosting and techniques each designer has used before.  Using stock scripts rather than custom scripts can save you a bundle with the same results. Scripts and web programs are the behind the scenes workhorses of your site that make it interactive.

7. On the other hand, stock design templates are not always a good way to save.  Often they end up being just as expensive as a custom site because it takes time to get familiar with the template's code and adapt it to the content. (with a custom site, it's built around the content).

8. Get a designer that programs rather than a programmer that designs.  It's less expensive to have a designer sub the coding work if you like their style. Programmers also tend to create sites that are complex and overloaded with programming so that only they will know how to edit or update them  which may require total redesign should they ever disappear or lose interest.

9. Have a Content Management System installed into your site.  This allows you to make simple changes to your site (photos or text) easily and without paying  maintenance costs for simple revisions.

10. Piggyback multiple sites.  If you have more than one website, they can often both be on the same hosting account. Each can still have its own unique URL too. 

11. Make sure you understand what you're getting.  Most developers keep copyright to the code that makes the site work, custom graphics, and design.  If you need these items to belong to you, ask.  But be prepared to pay additional for work up files and a broader license. On the other hand, why pay for these items if you don't need them.

12. Know what you want.  Changing your mind is time consuming and adds charges you don't need.  If you're not sure what you want, a good web designer can always help you decide what's important and what can wait until it fits in your budget.

I also show and breed dogs as a hobby.  We just had a new litter of 11 adorable Alaskan Malamute puppies.  Talk about the ULTIMATE time waster - puppy breath!  I just had to share this photo of Mom & the babies... 

Visit O'Mal Alaskan Malamutes for information on the upcoming litter and to view the live webcam.

Tiny URL cuts down the hard, long, and annoying URL's of a website. Say you won't have access to your computer and need a Url for a certain page and can't right down this at the moment: http://mapquest.com/ma/map.adp?ovi=1&mkhgffdd   Then go to TINY URL and put that in the box, and you get this http://tinyurl.com/6.  Much easier to remember!

Curious if a site is down for everyone - or is it just me?  Monitor your favorite sites and get an email when they go down or come back up.  http://www.montastic.com/  and it's free too.

Literally - where does your money go? What if you could track it and see where it's been?  A site called www.wheresgeorge.com can do that! It describes itself as a United States Currency Tracking Project.  Sign in to enter the serial number of US or Canadian currency and see where it's been.  You can also add where your bills have been. 

Don't forget - even if you don't need a website yourself, you can refer a friend! Earn up to $100 cash for each referral that becomes a new customer.  Register Here 

It doesn't matter where you or your friend is located, we can work with clients wherever they are -  by email, phone and fax. We are in Michigan, and have satisfied customers worldwide.  Visit our website at http://c-omalley.com.