| You have something to sell or a message to spread | | | | hosted by someone else. The publishing on the |
| and you want a website. What should you do? | | | | website might be super simple but no one is going to |
| Should you pay a lot of money to hire someone to | | | | take you seriously if you have a free website and |
| do it for you? Or, should you learn the art of web | | | | are trying to promote a business on a professional |
| design yourself. There are pros and cons to both | | | | level. A simple and hosted point and click website is |
| sides of the fence. | | | | ok for playing around but not for a professional |
| The Do It Yourself Web Designer | | | | business. |
| If you do decide to learn building a website as a do it | | | | Hiring a Pro Web Designer |
| yourself project, you can save some money and gain | | | | Hiring a web design company can be a great way to |
| some knowledge. Web design programs are out | | | | get a professional looking website and even your |
| there that are boxed solutions that you can use to | | | | own online store. The downside here is that some of |
| create your own brochure-ware type website or to | | | | these sites charge a lot of money and when you're a |
| even a robust online store. There are products that | | | | beginner web entrepreneur you might not have that |
| you can buy for cheap or on the higher end that can | | | | kind of cash floating around. If you want professional |
| help you manage and create your website. You could | | | | results but don't want to pay a fortune, you might |
| even go with an open source platform like OS | | | | choose to look for a freelancer. You can find them |
| Commerce. Those with a bit of a technical aptitude | | | | on webmaster forums and online bidding sites where |
| might find the process interesting and fun. | | | | you can create a service request and allow |
| The downside to this is that many of these web | | | | professional freelance web designers to bid on your |
| design software products either are too advanced | | | | business. This can be a great option as you can |
| for the novice user or are too simple and not | | | | control the pricing and see a professional web |
| advanced enough for the purpose you want it for. | | | | designer's portfolio of work before you use their |
| You could find that you are frustrated easily by the | | | | services. Some website owners do part of their web |
| technical aspects of the software being above your | | | | design. You choose the web designer that's in your |
| comfort level or could find that the web design | | | | price range and that provides the quality you want. A |
| software doesn't have all the bells and whistles that | | | | word of caution here is that you don't want to go |
| you were hoping for. A word of caution: Don't bother | | | | based on price alone otherwise you might be |
| signing up for a free community website that's | | | | unhappy with your results. |