 |
|
|
|
An Online Extra to Fine Woodworking magazine World Wide Woodworking An online portfolio can provide a virtual window into your woodshop
As it turns out eight years later, having photos of my furniture online has produced many benefits, the most practical being the ability to point potential customers to my portfolio by handing them a business card with my Web-site address on it. Choose your route to the information highway In 1995, the Internet was in its infancy, so getting online at the time was not an easy task. I had the help of a friend to build the initial site, but I was thrown head first into the technology in order to update and maintain the site on my own. I must admit to having more than a few perplexing moments when my updates produced disastrous results. These days, getting your portfolio on the Internet has become a lot easier thanks to ever-simpler Web-design software and a growing number of services available that do the technical work for you. Whatever your computer experience, you will find several methods for posting your portfolio online. New to the Web? Join an online community Despite being accomplished at woodworking, many furniture makers are green in the ways of computers. If this is you, one solution is to join a community Web site. This approach will allow you to display your contact information and photos of your work on the Internet with relatively little effort. There are two basic types of community Web sites: those that will host your photos for a fee and those managed by local craft organizations or galleries. CustomMade.com (www.custommade.com) is a good example of fee-based community Web site. It is unique in that it is dedicated to showcasing the creations of woodworkers. The site currently hosts several hundred woodworking portfolios, which can be searched by region or by specialty. As of this writing, startup costs to show your work on the site include a $30 membership fee (with a $25 annual renewal fee) and a one-time fee of $30 for every photograph posted. All you have to do is send CustomMade.com your text, photos and contact information, and they do the technical work for you. Local artisan and woodworking organizations have also gone digital and in some regions post photos of work by their members. Woodworkers living in California's wood-rich Mendocino County, for example, can submit contact information and photos free of cost to a local site, www.MendocinoWoodworkers.com. Some other regional groups hand pick artists to promote on their Web sites, such as Seattle's Northwest Gallery of Fine Woodworking (online at www.nwfinewoodworking.com) and the Ontario Crafts Council (online at www.craft.on.ca). The community site is by far the easiest route to an online portfolio. But simplicity comes with a price. As a member of a community your work is but one of many being featured. And, changes or updates to your portfolio can incur a charge or be slow in coming. Prefabricated Web sites simplify the technical work Woodworkers with general computer skills might consider posting their portfolio online with a prefabricated Web site, available through Internet service providers and Web hosting companies. These are generic Web site templates that can be customized with your photos and text via a home computer with an internet connection. To create a Web site with this method you must first purchase a Web address, also known as a domain name. As long as it's not already taken, you can come up with your own Web address and choose from a number of domain name suffixes, such as .com, .net, or .biz. Domain name resellers, such as Register.com and Network Solutions, sell Web addresses over the Internet for about $10 to $30 a year (view a list of accredited domain name resellers at www.internic.net/alpha.html). Once you have purchased a Web address, many domain name resellers will offer the option to create a small Web site based on one of an assortment of prefabricated templates. You simply upload your text and digital images to the Web (best done with a high-speed Internet connection). If you like what you see, you pay a fee of about $5 to $10 per month to have your site hosted, effectively paying rent to occupy space on the Internet. Template sites are an improvement over community sites as you can update your content as often as you wish. Some hosting providers also offer special Web-site features, such as personalized email accounts, mailing list services, and the ability to track the number of visitors to your site. If a specific feature is important to you, make certain it is available before you settle on a company to host your site. From outward appearances, a prefabricated site is usually undistinguishable from any other site on the Web and could be an ideal way to get your feet wet. Consult an expert or build your own A traditional Web site, which is built using desktop software, can require a major outlay in time and expense, but is by far the most flexible method to put your portfolio online. With a site built from scratch, you can arrange photos and text in any fashion, and all the newest Web features are available to you. These include elaborate graphics and illustrations and moving text and images. If done well, a custom Web site can impart a high level of professionalism to your work. But this option is not for everyone. If you are not already technically proficient, getting up to Internet speed can be a drain on your time and pocketbook. Building a Web site with no prior knowledge on the subject is analogous to cutting dovetails with no woodworking experience. You will have to delve into a pile of books or take classes. Alternatively, the cost of having a professional build you a Web site can range from $1,000 to $10,000 or more. I compromised and had a professional build my site, then learned how to tinker with software code in order to maintain and update the site on my own. Rather than paying the high fees for a Web designer, I enlisted a friend of mine to make me a site in exchange for a piece of furniture. As I sit comfortably behind my computer keyboard updating my Web site, he's sitting comfortably on a Craftsman-style bar stool I made from cherry and ebony. Design your Web site for ease of use No matter which method you choose to get online, concentrate on making your Web portfolio interesting, informative, and attractive. Include links from your site to others that share a similar subject matter, such as Web sites dedicated to a style of furniture or a type of wood. Some of the seemingly smaller details can make a big difference as well. Make sure your site is easy to navigate; at the bottom of each page include links that will direct a visitor to other major pages on the site. Email links are also important; don't make potential customers hunt for your email address. Color schemes should be given careful consideration. Most of my furniture is in either cherry or mahogany, and the warm colors on my Web site complement the furniture. Finally, represent yourself honestly and be prepared for what the Web will bring you. I can go for long periods of time without receiving inquiries over the Web, but at time I have been overwhelmed with them.
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
