I am investing more and more of my time and resources on existing sites in my portfolio, and am looking to source work for my development team, with a mind for launching a standalone design & dev service later this year. In order to have a portfolio to present to interested buyers, my choices are limited to a) out my sites b) spend money and time on decoy sites that will end up either having to be maintained, or scrapped and replaced as those sites age. Option c) -- put it out on WickedFire on the cheap -- is a better option by far.
What we are offering is a real site, a ground-up original designed to capture traffic and retain that traffic's attention. Function is favoured heavily over form, but we do simple and original design work to complement the structure and core content.
When you go to contract with us, here's what we do and what you get:
Brainstorming All successful site builds start with a thorough understanding of what your goals are. We can confer by phone, IM, e-mail or other medium. From this brainstorming session we will provide you with an outline of notes to make sure we are on the same page as you, before we ever start core work on your site.
Keyword Research We perform extremely effective keyword research to get a picture of the depth and breadth of the market you are targeting. Over and above typical keyword software, we perform a good bit of manual work with non-search engine sources to divine trending topics in your niche at existing sites within that niche, on social networks and (as applicable) other UGC-heavy sites. The keyword research we perform yields a treasure trove of opportunities for you, if you are planning to promote your site via PPC advertising, wish to sell ad space to other sites, or want to hire a third party for backlink building services.
Choose Structure With an idea of your goals, and the "shape" of your market, we recommend a number of different approaches in how to actually structure your site -- reviews, social news, straight ecommerce, etc. -- evey niche is different, and different goals call for different means to get there. Obviously, some clients already know exactly what they want, and we will build what we're told regardless, but our insights are based in thorough research and, for my own 400+ developed sites, have a very good track record at targeting not just the right niche, or the right keywords in a niche, but also putting the right kind of site in front of the traffic we expect to get.
Basic Layout CSS/HTML "sketches" are put together to give you a range of choices on appearance.
Social Presence Even as the site is being built, we are creating a presence for you on Twitter, Facebook, in niche social sites, forums etc. with relevant posting -- no "Hai guys I'm new let's be friends" but actual news & commentary posts that will get attention, without selling any services or products, to build your site's reputation.
Content Tons of it. A front page that people want to read, core static content that spreads the message of the front page across the spectrum of keywords for your niche, authoritative reference content that is derived from GPL/CC/public domain work relevant to your niche (and which, where appropriate, links out to non-monetised authority pages such as Wikipedia, .edu pages etc.) For this class of site you can expect up to 100 pages of total content.
We also source original and open licenced images, charts and infographs (if applicable to your niche) and more.
Theming Once you have your market targeted and your core content delivered, it's time to make it pretty. As previously mentioned, we are more functional than design-oriented, but we can deliver an attractive site to you that at least tops what you will find in non-bespoke design packages (whether from free templates, licenced work from Template Monster and similar sites, or $10 "design competition" crap you got off of DigitalPoint.)
As these basics are laid out, we will continue to add new content to both the site and external sites (article directories and other sources for the backlink), continue to build the social/forum presence, and tweak the theme as necessary.
Linkbuilding We find as many quality backlink opportunities for your site as possible -- we do not offer directory submission, mass social bookmarking, link wheels or other linkbuilding services at this time; rather, we focus on a small number of high-quality links and mentions of your site wherever we can get them.
Analysis & Summary Once the work is done, we review all notes with you, make sure that each point discussed in the original branstorming session has been addressed -- whether delivered, modified or deleted as unnecessary.
The total timeframe between the original brainstorming session and the final analysis & summary session is atnticipated to be within 60 days. The time from brainstorming to the launch of what could be considered a proper site (ie. social presence established, keyword research done, core content published and theming done) is generally within three weeks.
The price for this package is $750, to be broken down into three payments:
$250 at the initial contract
$250 when the "theme phase" is reached -- ie. when you have a functional site but only core content, and limited to no linkbuilding/promotion done
$250 after the final analysis & summary, and upon your approval of the completed work
Need hosting? We can provide semi-managed VPS at discount rates.
Have nothing but an idea? We can help you make it a reality, even finding and securing a quality domain name for your site for a small extra charge.
Planning a site that will need ongoing content, management or promotion? Let's talk about your post-launch needs and see if we can help.
Want a review copy?
It's obviously difficult to offer review copies of a non-trivial expense like a full site build. However, as we want to develop a portfolio of sites that we can get permission to use as reference points in future client prospecting, and because WickedFire has been so good to me personally and professionally in the time that I have been here, we are cutting it down for a few early adopters of our service:
The first person to order will receive everything described above, for only the intial payment of $250.
The next two people to order will receive everything described above, for only the first and last payments of $250 each.
But wait - there's less!
Because I am essentially subsidising review copies out of pocket (I mean, content writers and such are going to be paid regardless of whether or not the client pays) please do not ask for a review copy unless you meet all three of these qualifications:
1) You sincerely intend to review your site work, and will allow us to reference your finished site as an example of our work. We'd rather see a bad review than none at all.
2) You have been a member of WickedFire for at least one year
3) You have an iTrader rating at least equal to my own (currently 11 -- shouldn't be that hard)
I look forward to working with you guys, and welcome any questions about any aspect of the service on offer.
Frank
What we are offering is a real site, a ground-up original designed to capture traffic and retain that traffic's attention. Function is favoured heavily over form, but we do simple and original design work to complement the structure and core content.
When you go to contract with us, here's what we do and what you get:
Brainstorming All successful site builds start with a thorough understanding of what your goals are. We can confer by phone, IM, e-mail or other medium. From this brainstorming session we will provide you with an outline of notes to make sure we are on the same page as you, before we ever start core work on your site.
Keyword Research We perform extremely effective keyword research to get a picture of the depth and breadth of the market you are targeting. Over and above typical keyword software, we perform a good bit of manual work with non-search engine sources to divine trending topics in your niche at existing sites within that niche, on social networks and (as applicable) other UGC-heavy sites. The keyword research we perform yields a treasure trove of opportunities for you, if you are planning to promote your site via PPC advertising, wish to sell ad space to other sites, or want to hire a third party for backlink building services.
Choose Structure With an idea of your goals, and the "shape" of your market, we recommend a number of different approaches in how to actually structure your site -- reviews, social news, straight ecommerce, etc. -- evey niche is different, and different goals call for different means to get there. Obviously, some clients already know exactly what they want, and we will build what we're told regardless, but our insights are based in thorough research and, for my own 400+ developed sites, have a very good track record at targeting not just the right niche, or the right keywords in a niche, but also putting the right kind of site in front of the traffic we expect to get.
Basic Layout CSS/HTML "sketches" are put together to give you a range of choices on appearance.
Social Presence Even as the site is being built, we are creating a presence for you on Twitter, Facebook, in niche social sites, forums etc. with relevant posting -- no "Hai guys I'm new let's be friends" but actual news & commentary posts that will get attention, without selling any services or products, to build your site's reputation.
Content Tons of it. A front page that people want to read, core static content that spreads the message of the front page across the spectrum of keywords for your niche, authoritative reference content that is derived from GPL/CC/public domain work relevant to your niche (and which, where appropriate, links out to non-monetised authority pages such as Wikipedia, .edu pages etc.) For this class of site you can expect up to 100 pages of total content.
We also source original and open licenced images, charts and infographs (if applicable to your niche) and more.
Theming Once you have your market targeted and your core content delivered, it's time to make it pretty. As previously mentioned, we are more functional than design-oriented, but we can deliver an attractive site to you that at least tops what you will find in non-bespoke design packages (whether from free templates, licenced work from Template Monster and similar sites, or $10 "design competition" crap you got off of DigitalPoint.)
As these basics are laid out, we will continue to add new content to both the site and external sites (article directories and other sources for the backlink), continue to build the social/forum presence, and tweak the theme as necessary.
Linkbuilding We find as many quality backlink opportunities for your site as possible -- we do not offer directory submission, mass social bookmarking, link wheels or other linkbuilding services at this time; rather, we focus on a small number of high-quality links and mentions of your site wherever we can get them.
Analysis & Summary Once the work is done, we review all notes with you, make sure that each point discussed in the original branstorming session has been addressed -- whether delivered, modified or deleted as unnecessary.
The total timeframe between the original brainstorming session and the final analysis & summary session is atnticipated to be within 60 days. The time from brainstorming to the launch of what could be considered a proper site (ie. social presence established, keyword research done, core content published and theming done) is generally within three weeks.
The price for this package is $750, to be broken down into three payments:
$250 at the initial contract
$250 when the "theme phase" is reached -- ie. when you have a functional site but only core content, and limited to no linkbuilding/promotion done
$250 after the final analysis & summary, and upon your approval of the completed work
Need hosting? We can provide semi-managed VPS at discount rates.
Have nothing but an idea? We can help you make it a reality, even finding and securing a quality domain name for your site for a small extra charge.
Planning a site that will need ongoing content, management or promotion? Let's talk about your post-launch needs and see if we can help.
Want a review copy?
It's obviously difficult to offer review copies of a non-trivial expense like a full site build. However, as we want to develop a portfolio of sites that we can get permission to use as reference points in future client prospecting, and because WickedFire has been so good to me personally and professionally in the time that I have been here, we are cutting it down for a few early adopters of our service:
The first person to order will receive everything described above, for only the intial payment of $250.
The next two people to order will receive everything described above, for only the first and last payments of $250 each.
But wait - there's less!
Because I am essentially subsidising review copies out of pocket (I mean, content writers and such are going to be paid regardless of whether or not the client pays) please do not ask for a review copy unless you meet all three of these qualifications:
1) You sincerely intend to review your site work, and will allow us to reference your finished site as an example of our work. We'd rather see a bad review than none at all.
2) You have been a member of WickedFire for at least one year
3) You have an iTrader rating at least equal to my own (currently 11 -- shouldn't be that hard)
I look forward to working with you guys, and welcome any questions about any aspect of the service on offer.
Frank
