[Project Complete] One page redesign template - Internet Consultant - $250

[mayor]

(Admin code added by Palmer - GP159535N)

It's been a while since I have posted a project, but I have a real easy one for you!

I have been in the Internet biz since 1995 (that's 70 in dog years...) and developed dozens of sites. I have decided to enter into the Internet consulting niche and wish to do a redesign of the main page of my site at www.joelcomm.com.

Right now, it is just a fun blog that I use to talk about whatever is on my mind. However, I am going to either move the personal blog to a different domain or to subpages on the new site.

I would like the new site to be a very professional site marketing my consulting services. I am an expert in many areas of Internet business, including marketing, search engine optimization, advertising (buying and selling), Pay-per-click advertising, affiliate programs, strategic alliances, joint ventures, ebooks and more. I would like the site to reflect a professional, yet somewhat casual, service. I don't want to the site to look "stiff" as that does not communicate my personality. I don't have any examples off hand, but you've seen enough consultant sites to know what I am talking about.

For now, you can use my headshot photo below as a placeholder, though I intend to eventually provide a photo of me in a shirt and tie. (No suit.. too stuffy!)

http://www.adsense-secrets.com/images-new2/author.jpg

The site must have a place for a short biography featuring my accomplishments, a list of services I can provide and a list of sites that I own. I would also like to integrate some testimonies from those who have used my services. It will also have a contact form for more information.

To give you an idea of my accomplishments, I started the family-friendly worldvillage.com in 1995. In 1996, I created one of the net's first multiplayer java gaming rooms, ClassicGames.com. In 1997, I sold the site to Yahoo! and it is now known as Yahoo! Games.

If you have ever played at Yahoo! Games, you might have seen this icon to choose from at the game tables.

http://www.adsense-secrets.com/images/joel-icon.jpg

That's me!

In 1999, I launched one of the web's first bargain-hunting coupon sites, www.dealofday.com. We've got over 125,000 registered members today.

I survived the dotcom crash of 2000-2003 and have come back strong in 2004, with over two dozens sites to my name as of this writing.

Earlier this year, I released an ebook on making money with Google AdSense, which has gone on to be very successful. Google "Joel Comm Adsense" and you'll see the buzz! www.adsense-secrets.com is my page.

That's pretty much it. I look forward to your questions so I may help you fine tune your vision for my web page.

Thanks!

Joel Comm
www.joelcomm.com

[Lori]

Hi Joel,

I am sure it will be no surprise to you that I am replying :) It is nice to put a face with your name "Mr. Yahoo Games" - what a fantastic internet success story you are :) I knew of WorldVilliage, but none of the rest.... very cool!

Do you have a logo for your personal site? Do you have a design style in mind (i.e. websites that you really like).

Let me know, and tell Mary HI :)

[mayor]

Hey Lori!

Glad to see you ... I am starting completely from scratch on this site. So I am counting on you talented folks to come up with a great design for me. The only things I bring to this project are my credentials and my photo. Not a lot of raw material, but I bet you can make me look good. :-)

Looking forward to seeing some fantastic stuff!

Joel

[dziner]

Hi Joel, it is nice to meet you :D
I do have a quick question... I don't think you mentioned the deliverables, will you need just the .psd file or will it be for the html and .psd?

I look forward to entering!

Shelly

[Lori]

AH, super question Shelly!

If you do need code Joel, do you want CSS-p?

[mayor]

I'm so sorry! I always forget to mention those little details!

I will need the page completely HTML-ized please. So it will just be plug 'n chug on my end. :-)

I don't know if cascading style sheets are needed, but if you think it would be easier for me in the long run, I'm all for it.

Thank you!

Joel

[mayor]

It's kind of quiet here. I do hope some additional designers decide to take on this task. Please check in if you expect to participate!

Thank you!

Joel

[Palmer]

Hi Joel, long time no hear :) I'm sure you will start to see the ideas start rolling in today or tomorrow.

[mayor]

Hi Joel, long time no hear :) I'm sure you will start to see the ideas start rolling in today or tomorrow.

Thanks Palmer.. and congratulations on your success with the site. I regularly refer people here for their site design needs. :-)

Joel

[mayor]

Anyone working on this?

Joel

[Lori]

I am Joel... just lots going on here right now :)

[mayor]

Thanks Lori.. looking forward to your design. I'm hoping a couple others will chime in as well...

Joel

[Lori]

Hi Joel,

I am fighting with myself here...

With no logo, or pointer to a design style that you like alot, I feel like I am going in circles.

If you could just point me to one website that is similar to what you have in mind for yourself, I am sure that lightbulb in my head will light up...

DIRECTION:
---------------
What colors do you like?

Is this to skin your blog or is this to be your corporate presence? If so, do you want the "normal" blog layout i.e. two column, or something more out of the box?

What Navigation items do you need?

Do you have any preference for your logotext?

What should the logotext say? Joel Comm? Joelcomm.com?

[dziner]

I am almost done and will post my entry later this morning.

Shelly

[mayor]

I am fighting with myself here...


Don't hurt yourself! ;-)

If you could just point me to one website that is similar to what you have in mind for yourself, I am sure that lightbulb in my head will light up...

I am on the hunt as we speak and will report back asap.

Is this to skin your blog or is this to be your corporate presence? If so, do you want the "normal" blog layout i.e. two column, or something more out of the box?


It is going to be my corporate presense. I'll have links to the blog, but it will not be a blog.

What Navigation items do you need?

It should be a self-contained page as far as content goes. It will contain info about me, a brief bio, testimonies, a paypal button to hire me, etc..

The links on the page will go to my other sites, into my blog, etc.

Do you have any preference for your logotext?
What should the logotext say? Joel Comm? Joelcomm.com?

I think we can go with JoelComm.com :-)

More later!

Joel

[dziner]

Goodie! I get to jump in first. I will be happy to make any changes you would like to see. The boxes could be used in a different way to highlight or promote...

Shelly

http://www.yencreative.com/joel/web1.jpg

[mayor]

Shelly,

A great first try! There is lots to like about this design and it actually helps me crystalize where I want to go with the site. For example, you have made menu items on the left side to go along with each area of my expertise. I like that a lot.

Initially I was going to put everything on one page, but your design is begging for a page on each topic. So, perhaps I can apply the template to a whole series of pages.

I also like the url perspective on top, but perhaps we can do that with http://www.joelcomm.com and fit the whole thing using the same design concept. When using my name, be sure to include a space, so it is "joel comm"

We need to have a place for testimonies on the main page, endorsements. You can make one or two up for now just as a placeholder, though I am starting to get them from clients. Perhaps the testimonies can go in the boxes instead of what you have there.

An excellent beginning. I especially like the logo :-)

I think perhaps I need to come up with a tagline that goes up a the top. "Your personal Internet consultant" .. we can use that for now.

Thanks!

Joel

[dziner]

Joel,
I rearranged the boxes in the middle and addes some testimonial
content. Since they are not carved in stone the middle area has a lot of potential and I will make any revisions you would like to see.
Shelly

http://www.yencreative.com/joel/web2.jpg

[mayor]

Very nice, Shelly!

Can you add the text "Your Personal Internet Consultant" in the white bar below the header, please? I think we can probably remove the Home, Link, Link in the bar as well.

Instead, in the left hand menu, include a link at the bottom that says "Blog". That will actually go off site to my existing blog. I think we can get away with making all the other links on the sidebar just go to a relative place on the main page.

We need some sort of button that people can click to "Hire Me", which can lead them to the very bottom of the page. It would include a form to allow them to sign up for my services. At the very least, it would email and inquiry to me.

Other than that, I think your design is at completion and I'll wait to see if other entries come in.

Thanks much!

Joel

[dziner]

Joel,
I made two different versions of the hire me button. For the form you want at the bottom, it could be a simple contact form or a more detailed sign up form like you said.
Making the left menu items targeted links would work great to keep the design to one page.

Shelly

http://www.yencreative.com/joel/web3.jpg


http://www.yencreative.com/joel/web3b.jpg

[dziner]

And lastly, just a suggestion on your form...

http://www.yencreative.com/joel/4-form.jpg

[dziner]

oops double post

[mayor]

Thanks Shelly!

Now I want to see what Lori or any others come up with. :-)

Joel

[Lori]

I am getting there....

:)

[Anne]

Here's my entry

Anne

[Lori]

Joel,

Please accept my thanks for waiting so long for my design...

I wanted to go real simple and clean.

Let me know your thoughts...


http://www.zenfulcreations.com/client-files/do/joelcomm/gui.jpg

[mayor]

Anne, thanks for your entry! While attractive, it isn't what I am going for. This one is going to be between Shelly and Lori. Thanks again!

Joel

[mayor]

Hey Lori,

Thanks for the submission!

I like what you have done conceptually with the design... the header... pulling out the "com" in my name... the subtle graphics in the background.. "proof" , "talk", "Joel" (didn't even see the last one till Mary pointed it out the me!)...

But I'm not crazy about the color scheme. It seems very bland to me. Maybe a bit too "businessy" for me.

I also like the menu items that Shelly has used on her design. If you could use those, that would help me judge apples to apples a bit better. I do want to do a one-page site for now, so maybe all menu items could link to an anchor on the same page.

Thanks again!

Joel

[DesignGeneral]

Hi Joel,

I can have something for you today if isn't too late.

Let me know.

Cheers,

Adrian

[mayor]

Hi Joel,
I can have something for you today if isn't too late.


I'm eager to see what you come up with, Adrian.

Joel

[Lori]

Joel,

Thanks for the feedback.. yes, I can play with the navigation items - I am a fan of "less is more" but I will add them all on for you to see.

The colors - well, hmmm. I designed with the idea that this would be your "corporate" presence, so tried to choose some color with that in mind... as for "bland" - I am a fan of muted (very white).

Do you have any ideas on some colors you would like to try? Everone here seems to be using green/blue - so I will try something different - but still would like to hear if you have any preference :)

[mayor]

Lori,

Your color scheme IS very professional. Just a little to corporate for me. I need it to be more casual. As for suggestions, I can't say that I have anything specific in mind. I know I don't want red for sure... too hot! ;-) But I am open to other ideas.

Joel

[Lori]

A bit bolder:

http://www.zenfulcreations.com/client-files/do/joelcomm/guiR1.jpg

[mayor]

Definitely better.. ok, Lori.. thanks. I am going to wait to see what else comes in today.

Joel

[DesignGeneral]

Hi Joel,

I wasn't able to finish my entry today, sorry for that. I will have it done by tomorrow morning.

Thanks for your patience.

Adrian

[DesignGeneral]

Hi Joel,

I was working on this design.

Let me know if I'm on the right way and is worth to finish it.

Thanks,

Adrian

[mayor]

I appreciate the entries. Shelly came out of the gate with a fantastic design and it has been an uphill battle for everyone else. Thanks for everyone's work. Shelly is the winner. :-)

[Lori]

Congratulations Shelly! And great project Joel :)

I will move this into revisions where you two can finalize the design, and get you coded!

[dziner]

Wow, thank you Joel! Are there any changes you would like to make before I convert it to HTML?

Thanks Lori :D !

Shelly

[mayor]

Shelly,

I am excited about this design and eager to get it up and running. I would like to use the button placement where it is at the top, but instead of "hire me today", let's use "book a consultation". Make it look more like a button so they will know what to do.

I like the way you have the menu, so let's anchor each sidebar link to each item that is further down the page. You can leave garbage text and I will change it. You have "more" buttons with each one right now. I don't have pages to link those to, so I would like a copy of the page with and without those buttons in case I ever decide to add "more"

For "hire Joel Comm today", let's change that to "book a consultation with Joel Comm"

I wish to make the form an actual signup form that will use Paypal to do the transaction. I can provide the html for that and will send via PM for security reasons. You can then take the form and make it look nice according to the form you have. I'll be adding a couple fields for payment, etc. We'll want to include a MC/Visa logo to let them know they can use that via paypal.

Please include an email link to [removed to prevent spam] for questions, etc. But do whatever you can to hide the address from being spammed.

That's it for now! Questions?

Joel

[dziner]

Joel,
The link for the HTML is below. I will make any changes that you need. I wasn't really sure what you wanted exactly on the form but the paypal is linked up. Thanks!

Shelly

[removed link]

[mayor]

Looks good Shelly.. just a couple things.

Need to link all the sites we refer too in the introduction. However, I need the style sheet to be like it is and not show them as traditional blue hyperlinks. Can you do that?

The "book a consultation" button should link to the form at the bottom.

If I do a save-as for this page and upload to my server, will it be ready to go?

Thanks!

Joel

[mayor]

Oh, one more thing. I was hoping the entire form for paypal would be on the page.. name, email, etc... is that doable?

Joel

[dziner]

Joel,
I will make the changes and yes I will link the sites and still have them look the same way as they do now. (not standard blue)

As far as saving as... that won't work because you will need the image files and CSS too. I will zip up the files and post a link for you to download the zip file. The zip will have the html, css, images and the layered image files that you can use if you ever want to change anything.

The paypal form... you can't really add any form items to the paypal processing script. You could maybe do a two part form where on the main page the visitor fills in their information and when clicking submit this is emailed to you and the visitor is sent to part two of the form which is what you see now (paypal form). I hope that makes sense.

Shelly

[dziner]

Files have been sent ;)

[mayor]

Job completed! Palmer, pay the nice lady ;-)

Thanks for a job well done, Shelly

Joel

[Palmer]

Payment made [Project Complete] Thanks Joel! :cool: