Your Web Site - Do It Yourself? or Get Serious!

Written by Mike Jones


Continued from page 1

After a couple of weeksrepparttar new site was ready for my first appraisal. With great curiosity I opened it up. First impression? Nice!

The colors of blue and grey were just right for complementingrepparttar 134686 site theme of goal achievement and personal development. Serious and business-like - that's repparttar 134687 effect I wanted.

The menu system and categorization were brilliant. It made navigation so easy and piqued a visitor's interest to investigate further from any page. Instead ofrepparttar 134688 previous mish mash of doorway pages, ads and serious articles mixed into an undefinable soup, there was now purpose and order torepparttar 134689 site.

Now began an intensive period of communication with Micah as we worked together onrepparttar 134690 small details. His input was invaluable.

Out went some 'cheesy' looking bullet graphics to be replaced by plain but professional list items.

The body text color was changed to black.

A small paragraph introduction was added torepparttar 134691 top of each category section.

The color and formatting ofrepparttar 134692 hyperlinks and article boxes was fine tuned.

Atrepparttar 134693 end ofrepparttar 134694 day do I miss my very own do it yourself web site? Quite honestly NO. I now have a professional web site I am pleased with and one which is now set up to accomplish my business goals.

Have I got any results to boast about yet? Yes. My visitors' behavior has changed radically. The tracking records show visitors are now hitting an average of 4 pages per visit as opposed to 1 before. The navigation system with categories has made sure of that.

If you've got a minute, just take a look for yourself and make your own appraisal. http://www.vitalstop.com/index.htm.

What is my recommendation? Do it yourself web site design is good to a point. It may satisfy your desire to get underrepparttar 134695 hood and tinker withrepparttar 134696 engine. It can give you a working knowledge so you can fine tune things later. But quite honestly you can save yourself days and weeks of sweat, frustration and grief. It took me about six months to learn this lesson. You can learn it in five minutes from reading this article.

THE LESSON: If you want to get a professional web site up and running quickly which will be a spring board for your business, do yourself a favor - Getrepparttar 134697 help of a web site designer and GET SERIOUS!

ADDENDUM

99% of responses to this article so far related torepparttar 134698 experience and agreed withrepparttar 134699 conclusion.

One reader however related her nightmare experience after employing a so-called professional web site designer. In her own words, "The design that was presented to me looked like repparttar 134700 work of a 5 year old." She is now attempting to get her money back.

If you decide to use a professional web site design service, check it out first!

Mike's web site at VitalStop.com is a great information resource for Internet Business, Communication Skills, Computer Proficiency, Creative Thinking, Goal Achievement, Image Building, Power Vocabulary, Speed Learning and Time Management. Receive a monthly notice of new content by sending a blank email here: mailto:highachievers-subscribe@egroups.com


Give Your Graphics A Professional Look without the Price

Written by Shelley Lowery


Continued from page 1

You will now see your text with, what looks like, marching ants around it. If you'd like to move your text, click and hold your left mouse button to drag your text to your desired position.

With your text still selected (with marching ants), atrepparttar top of repparttar 134685 screen, go to "Image" then "Effects" then "Drop Shadow." This will launchrepparttar 134686 "Drop Shadow" window. Your image will be viewable withrepparttar 134687 drop shadow inrepparttar 134688 little window atrepparttar 134689 right. You can try different settings until you achieverepparttar 134690 shadow effect you desire.

Another text effect that is popular will display your text in a graduated color effect. Your text can be displayed with a dark color atrepparttar 134691 top and gradually get lighter or justrepparttar 134692 opposite.

To achieve this effect,repparttar 134693 foreground (top box) color must first be set to white. Next, click onrepparttar 134694 text tool and followrepparttar 134695 same procedure for displaying your text. You should now see your text displayed as "marching ants," only with no color. Now you'll need to select a dark color for your foreground color and a light color for your background color.

Once you've selected your colors, click onrepparttar 134696 "Flood Fill" icon onrepparttar 134697 left. To changerepparttar 134698 effects ofrepparttar 134699 Flood Fill tool, locate repparttar 134700 little box on your screen that says, "Controls" then click on "Tool Controls." Under "Fill Style" select "Linear Gradient" and then click on "Options" atrepparttar 134701 bottom. The "Blend Mode" should be set to normal. In order to select which color will be atrepparttar 134702 top of your text, where it says, "Degrees" type in either 0 or 180 depending on your desired effect, then click OK. Now place your mouse over each letter and fill it by clicking on your mouse.

After you've filled your text, you can either createrepparttar 134703 shadow effect or "right click" on your mouse to deselect your text.

If you'd like to decrease your graphics window size, click on repparttar 134704 "Selection tool" onrepparttar 134705 left (dotted rectangle) and select repparttar 134706 portion of your graphic that you'd like to display within your new sized image. Click on "Edit" then "Copy" then "Edit" - "Paste as a new image."

After you've completed your graphic, go to "File" then "Save As" and select a folder. Type in a name for your graphic and save your new file inrepparttar 134707 .GIF format. The program will prompt you and ask you if it's all right to reduce your file to 256 colors. Click on yes. Your new graphic is now saved.

Now that you've mastered these new techniques, try them with some of your other images. The drop shadow effect can be used with photographs or just about any image you'd like. Try repparttar 134708 graduated color effect with your banners or image backgrounds and give your graphics a professional look.

Shelley Lowery is the Webmistress of Web-Source.net. Your Guide to Professional Web Site Design & Development. Subscribe to Syndicator Etips for fresh, original articles to assist you in Web Design, Internet Marketing & Ecommerce mailto:etips-subscribe@web-source.net?subject=subscribe http://www.web-source.net


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