Website Design

Finding low cost graphics for blogs an websites can be easy if you have the right resources.

If you are doing things yourself:

My main source for royalty free graphics is Istockphoto.  Depending on the size of the image you are charged a certain number of credits to purchase an image.   Most small images for the web are just a dollar or two – and a large file for printing may cost you 10 to 15.  All in all – great value when you need to create an impact in your marketing material.

Another source is 123rf.com

123RF has a very large selection of free images they offer which are offered on a time-limited basis – definitely worth taking a look as the “just right” image may be right there waiting for you.

If you are looking to have someone help you with your graphic marketing materials there are a number of sources for which you can find economical help depending on what your needs are:

Try these folks:

99Designs.com

99designs connects clients needing design work such as logo designs, business cards or web sites to a thriving community of over 17,000 designers.

Elance.com

Elance is not just for graphic design – but also great to find writers here.

Guru.com – also has a very large freelancer data base

Outsourcing your design work can save you a lot of time and frustration if you are not an expert with graphic programs and up with best practices – and at the same time – it can also cost you some time and energy when working with outside suppliers.

A couple of quick tips:

Don’t just accept the 1st offer you get in response to your request – as some of the folks on these data bases – respond to everything – and sometime they don’t  read what they are responding to.  I often put a codeword in the post – and ask any reply to include the code word in the response – that way I know I am not getting just an auto-response.

So some smart best practices are often a great idea.

Things like:

• not paying full balance until the work is completed to your satisfaction – Keep the funds in escrow ready for the work to be completed
• not writing a positive recommendation until the work has been completed
• find someone who you like and who is efficient – and then use them
• be very specific about B timescales, quality required, layout etc – and renegotiate after anything changes

Marketer: BlinkWeb

Product Link: www.blinkweb.com

What it Does: An easy way to create a professional looking website without knowing html, php, javascript, and all the other techie nonsense needed to put a website online.   The intention is to create a website with BlinkWebs’ drag-drop features…

See Demo Here:

Cost: Free at the moment
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In addition Elance.com

There is also a site called scriptlance.com where you can outsource your coding and scripting needs.