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One Year Later: Got A Website Yet?

Posted by Tony Snipes on October 20, 2010 at 4:48pm in BUSINESS & LOGISTICS

About a year ago on this site I asked many of you why so many artists still go without having a website.

Many of you agreed that visual artists hurt themselves by their lack of having a website that showcases their work and their background as an artist.

You also agreed in the irony of these same artists using the internet every day, visiting social networks, email and websites but still having no site of their own.

So a year later, I ask, are you closer to having that website now? Is it still:

Perfection (no site, waiting for the perfect site)?

Procrastination?

Comment and let us know where do YOU stand to date with having a website

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Replies

Rob Marsh December 8, 2010 at 7:51am

Just my $.02.... building a website can be a daunting site, because of all of the factors involved. Not just an understanding of HTML and Wordpress and things like that, but also taking artwork, bringing it into a digital format (with Photoshop, etc.) and then finding the themes/format to make a site not just a website, but a webcomic/comic book theme. It is a daunting task to do alone (and expensive to hire folks to do this.)

But on the other side of the coin, and artist can very easily start a Blogger site and upload artwork almost instantly, and the easy configurations of Blogger make it very simple to state who you are, what you do, and how to contact you.

A variation on this question is, so you've got a website going, and its been running for a year or so - now what? Here's mine, which is a little stale, but it offers an amusing distraction from time to time: December Sun
But my dillema is, I've been doing this for awhile, posting pages on a fairly regular basis, and I don't know what else to do with it. I get a couple bucks on advertisements (not enough to pay a utility bill) but otherwise, it's just out there (waiting for Steven Spielberg to stop by and make a movie offer.... :)
Brian D December 7, 2010 at 3:04pm

I should pay you for all your insight and help, lol
Calvary Comics December 7, 2010 at 2:56pm

See if WORLD magazine (a Christian periodical) will run an article or blurb about your books/site. They've run a few short bits on mine. Dr. Marvin Olasky is the one you want to contact there.
Brian D December 7, 2010 at 2:45pm

Thanks as always, Alec. Youtube: I've edited everything I can see to edit. When I click on the web URL, it just brings me right back to the video. The UK's INSPIRE MAGAZINE is doing a small piece on the book in January, but I've received little response from other christian mags. They seem to want to send me advertising rates, so I'm going about that the wrong way apparently. I've put it up on some christian social networking sites, but that doesn't seem to land much traffic either. I guess I just need to keep up the good fight and hope to land some punches down the road. I'll try some of the resources you've mentioned, though. Every site presents a possibility. Appreciate it...
Calvary Comics December 7, 2010 at 2:38pm

Do you have a link to the site on your Youtube promo video? Does the video also have meta tags?

Mention the site on comics message boards, both secular and Christian, and give the link. You may (or may not) receive some flak on the former, but it's not about us, it's about God's glory and souls being saved.

Visit some Christian magazine websites and give a news blurb. Do the same with comics news sites to see if they'll put a blurb on there (Comic Book Resources, AintItCoolNews, etc.). Get the Word out there. Give a blurb to Christian Answers Spotlight (or some such name) which reviews films, books, etc. for believers.

Do some prayerful 'net surfing/networking!

Kind regards in Christ Jesus,

Alec
Brian D December 6, 2010 at 7:21pm

I'll invite you to check out my site: www.kingofkingsillustrated.com
Here's the skinny... I'm an artist, not a web designer. But I ran across this site called www.wix.com and I was able to build it in about a week or so. I've never built a website before this one and I have next to NO HTML experience. But I'm not ashamed to say I'm proud of it allthesame. Let me know what you think. Now I'd like to pose a question. I have a decent site (in my humble opinion)...How to get people to it? I can't afford Google Adwords, etc. I've thrown in some keywords, but try as I might, I've barely broken 300 hits!!! It's incredibly frustrating. Any one have any words of wisdom here?
Martin Murtonen November 3, 2010 at 3:39pm

You guys might want to check out Squarespace

There's a free 14 day trial. Give it a shot.

Here's the deal: You either need to go kicking the tires on things like Wordpress (Free or Paid Hosting option), Textpattern (Free and maybe paid hosting option), Expression Engine ($), Joomla (Free) OR you need to pay someone to build it for you, and then show you how the Content Management System works.

YOU STILL NEED TO: Find a hosting solution and domain name registrar (usually offered by the same people) that costs money.

IF you don't have the time or inclination to figure out how any of those previously aforementioned products work (I've tried all of them to varying degrees of success - but haven't tried Textpattern), the Squarespace may quite possibly be the right option. It looks like a powerful option - and if it offers you the web space creation tools you want for the price of your hosting package - well, I think it's pretty much a no brainer.

And now looking at it, it looks like I'm probably going to recommend it to my clients.

Martin

* I am not a Squarespace user, nor am I a shill for their product. It just happened to click in the back of my mind that it could be exactly what you're looking for - and it might just possibly be something I've been looking for.
Matthew November 3, 2010 at 10:17am

i have tried building a website for over a year now.
I have everything except for a builder.

i had one guy work on it for a few months, but obviously after i paid him some money he went away and never finished it

i am out money, and still trying to get it up.
Will Ver Schneider November 2, 2010 at 5:30pm

Anyone know of a way to create a website without knowing any web design or programming skills? Oddly enough, even programs like Dreamweaver get complicated for me.
southpawdoesart November 2, 2010 at 11:28am

Martin Murtonen said:
I should clarify: The updating mechanism in WP works no problem. It's the creating of a custom website that drives me nuts.

I dunno - some people seem to be able to figure out WP really quick. I've kicked the tires on it multiple times trying to make custom sites and can't make heads or tails of it - I even bought an online book for it and still can't wrap my head around it.

Ah well. Good thing I know how to hand code :)

Martin.

Exactly right. I spent ages customizing a music wordpress site only to lose my customizations every update. I prayed last update... I'm thankful to say that God held back another code loss disaster. I have sites that are another story... should of prayed harder I think...