website HELP!!!

Not sure where to post this, but since this is my usual haunt I thought I would give it a shot.

Here's the problem: Our website is for lack of better words "in need"

I am not a web guru nor desire to be one. We put an ad out on Craigslist with dismal results. We have been offered services by potential customers with similar results. The problem being that so far, though well intentioned, we have yet to see an example of a website that meets our need or is anymore attractive than what we have already.

Here is the deal: We are willing to trade labor for labor on a brewstand. As BadAssed a stand as you want.

IF you are saavy and can build a site that will match the product we sell, please give us a shout.

We will need to see samples of your work.
In particular we need an eCommerce solution that has a configurator with dynamic same page price update. We want shoppers to be able to build a virtual stand and price it.

You may or may not be aware of this, but being a software engineer, I thought I would draw attention to it:

OneHoppyGuy said:

The problem being that so far, though well intentioned, we have yet to see an example of a website that meets our need or is anymore attractive than what we have already.

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Based your overall post, but specifically the quote above, you're after 2 things:

1. An excellent site design showcase the quality and versatility of your products
2. A competent software professional to build the site, including the ecomm. component

Speaking from experience, it's exceptionally rare to find a single person that's both above-average in graphic design skills and competent enough with software to build a customized site. Not saying those people don't exist, they do, but as I said, they're very rare.

You may have better luck having a local design firm tackle the site design, and then finding a developer to implement it. It there are a ton of software devs who also homebrew, finding someone to tackle the second part shouldn't be too difficult. Hypothetically, if you had a design in-hand, I would be very interested in a trade like this

Good luck in your search!

Are you just offering the labor part of the brewstand or the entire brewstand for free?

hoppedupbrewer said:

You may or may not be aware of this, but being a software engineer, I thought I would draw attention to it:

Based your overall post, but specifically the quote above, you're after 2 things:

[*]An excellent site design showcase the quality and versatility of your products
[*]A competent software professional to build the site, including the ecomm. component


Speaking from experience, it's exceptionally rare to find a single person that's both above-average in graphic design skills and competent enough with software to build a customized site. Not saying those people don't exist, they do, but as I said, they're very rare.

You may have better luck having a local design firm tackle the site design, and then finding a developer to implement it. It there are a ton of software devs who also homebrew, finding someone to tackle the second part shouldn't be too difficult. Hypothetically, if you had a design in-hand, I would be very interested in a trade like this

Good luck in your search!

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Nail meet head. I can make you a really functional site, but it will look like crap unless you already have a design and graphics

The latter (configurator/eCommerce) being the most important. Design where a nice to have is not the main complaint we have, it's the lack of price sheet. We are a custom shop and throwing prices out there is misleading, thus the need for a 'build-your-own' tool.

Fid said:

Are you just offering the labor part of the brewstand or the entire brewstand for free?

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We used to build our stands with space-age adhesive until the North Koreans stole our formula for their rocket program. So, the answer is no, just the labor... unless the site brings in so many new customers in such a short time that....

Okay... Ben @ SpikeBrewing.com (give him a plug) suggested Shopify. So, anyone here know shopify real well?

Fair enough. If I had the free time to tinker I could likely pull some solutions together to create some sort of working model but unfortunately I don't have the scrilla to throw down on the material costs of a brewstand so I don't know that I could justify the labor that I would have to sink into it as I basically wouldn't see a return on my investment. I am by no means a pro at either programing or web design but I'm scrappy enough that I can typically hack my way to something functional and reasonably sexy. If the deal was for a full brewstand I would definitely entertain the idea of doing a full build website that you had no obligation to commit to unless you were completely satisfied with it because, as I said, I'm no pro... but I can typically find a way to make things work. (Great sales pitch huh :cross

Just as a heads up... even a freelance web designer is likely going to charge you somewhere around $500 per unique page that you want them to design and that might not include the ecommerce aspect.

I don't think my site is sexy or very flexible on the ecommerce side due to my ties with paypal shopping cart, but at least I know how to update it and people are becoming more comfortable with paypal handling the secure transaction.

Your host probably has fantastico in the cpanel and you can install joomla there. Set up a merchant account on paypal and start creating buttons with pricing option dropdowns. The button code pastes into joomla articles.

Thanks Bobby, I'll check it out
One minute later...
Dude, first thing I click on takes me to the digital thermometer compression fitting. I hadn't seen that. Very sweet! :rockin:

Bobby_M said:

I don't think my site is sexy or very flexible

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WARNING!!
Bobby, as long as YOU are sexy and flexible, that's all that counts...

hoppedupbrewer said:

Speaking from experience, it's exceptionally rare to find a single person that's both above-average in graphic design skills and competent enough with software to build a customized site. Not saying those people don't exist, they do, but as I said, they're very rare.

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This is very true but graphic design should be the last thing he should worry about, if at all. Instead you should find an engineer who has experience with product design. A simple, intuitive, functional site is far more valuable than a sexy site. Take BargainFittings.com for example... by no means is it sexy but its very useable. I actually bought twice from them this week! Would I have bought more if it looked prettier... of course not.

OneHoppyGuy, do yourself a favor and play around with Balsamiq to get a rough idea on how you want your site to look: http://www.balsamiq.com/products/mockups
Or checkout the web demo here: http://builds.balsamiq.com/b/mockups-web-demo/

Once you have a rough outline of how your site should look it should be a lot easier for someone to give you a rough estimate on how long it should take to develop.

Good luck.

cool, thanks... where bouts in the yeast bay?

It seems like what you want is a sure that allows people to go to and select different options like single tier, double, triple, then add way kind of burners they want. If they want this option out that option, then give a price based on their selections. Does this sound right? I can look into it more tomorrow and see if we can work something out if you are interested.

vince805 said:

It seems like what you want is a sure that allows people to go to and select different options like single tier, double, triple, then add way kind of burners they want. If they want this option out that option, then give a price based on their selections. Does this sound right? I can look into it more tomorrow and see if we can work something out if you are interested.

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perzactilly!

sounds like we might be able to help each other out. I've got some other ideas brewing in my head now too. Nothing crazy but just some basic stuff that will give your potential customers some good information and take a step towards ordering a bad ass brew stand

OneHoppyGuy said:

cool, thanks... where bouts in the yeast bay?

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Danville... not to far away from yourself.

vince805 said:

It seems like what you want is a sure that allows people to go to and select different options like single tier, double, triple, then add way kind of burners they want. If they want this option out that option, then give a price based on their selections.

Click to expand...

So did you want something like this? http://www.synergybrew.com/complete_systems/custom-brewing-stands/

I've sent you a PM.

HoppyMcHopster said:

Danville... not to far away from yourself.



So did you want something like this? http://www.synergybrew.com/complete_systems/custom-brewing-stands/

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Not really...

Ok... looks like we have a good candidate. THANK YOU ALL for rising to the challenge. This site is awesome!!
:rockin:

Sent you a PM as well.

You have a contest. America's Next Top Web Master. Winner gets the brew stand labor. Of course the person who came up with the idea gets a really good discount, because he's been lusting for a BABS....or BABS2

l3asturd said:

You have a contest. America's Next Top Web Master. Winner gets the brew stand labor. Of course the person who came up with the idea gets a really good discount, because he's been lusting for a BABS....or BABS2

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must be Friday...