I type this information a lot, so I decided to provide this information here. If you have other questions, please contact me directly using the e-mail links at the end of this information guide.
Special News
On July 10th, 2010, I began a project with a few buddies that will offer a way for women to sell their photos online. We're still working out some of the details, but stay posted.
Domain Name
A domain name is the name of your website, for example - Yahoo.com, Google.com, GameDayDog.com.. are all domain names. When you find a name that's available, you can register or own it. On average, it costs around $10 a year ($10.69 on GoDaddy.com)to own the name of your website. I always recommend ordering - Domain Privacy - which usually costs approximately $9 a year. This brings your total cost to roughly $20 a year to own your website name.
If you are going to hire me, please contact me before purchasing items from GoDaddy.com to insure you choose certain items.
Hosting
Having a domain name does not give you a website yet. You have to have your website hosted and the pricing varies. I'm a big fan of GoDaddy.com. Once, I used a cheap web hosting company and their server crashed. As a result, all of my private files were exposed on the internet. I switched to GoDaddy.com and have never experienced any problems.
As for pricing, GoDaddy.com is the only company I've found that offers a three month payment period at $4.99 per month. This results in a total of $15 for the first three months. Now your website is finally hosted on the internet, but that's not the final step.
If you are going to hire me, please contact me before purchasing items from GoDaddy.com to insure you choose certain items.
Programming
Your Domain name was $20 and your hosting was $15 which means you've spent $35 to get your website onto the internet. Now you need the programming done for your website and that's where I come in. At the top of your browser, you may see a "VIEW" option and under that option is - "View Page Source". This reveals the programming that creates the website you see in your web browser - Internet Explorer, Safari, Camino, etc.. Without this programming code, your pictures and other items will not appear on the internet. This is why I get paid - by writing this code I'm able to take your ideas and materials and put them onto the internet.
How Much?
I charge a total of $125 and require a down payment of $50. When I'm hired, I will guide you thru the GoDaddy.com purchasing process. Afterwards, I will also require the passwords for your GoDaddy.com account. If you will be conducting financial transactions with your website, I will help you properly configure your PayPal account.
Additional Costs
At this point, your domain name is paid for 1 year. Your website is hosted for 3 months. Starting with the 2nd month, I USUALLY charge $15 per month to maintain & update your website. I mention - usually - because it depends on your site and the frequency and quantity of your updates in addition to the level of difficulty. For example, updating your website with 50 photos once a month is at the low end of the scale. While updating your website with 50 photos each week and adding your website's name to each photo and configuring them to be sold on your site is labor intensive and at the high end of the scale. It's good business for me to flexible with my clientele. My prices for being your webmaster will be reasonable.
Another additional cost, starting with the 4th month, will be a monthly fee to GoDaddy.com. They have different pricing plans. In the future, it may be necessary to upgrade from the Economy plan to the Deluxe or Unlimited plan. In addition, if your website's content is extremely sexual in nature, it MAY get flagged by GoDaddy.com and may require us to relocate your website to an adult-friendly web hosting company. It's a simple process and I'll take care of it.
Your Website Expectations
There are a lot of technical things that occur behind the scenes in a website. To simplify things, I would like you to picture some design elements from this website that would function for your website. Some of these features you may or may not require, we will discuss specific details before I design your website.
Here are some features that will probably be on your website:
- Contact Forms - Get information you want from photographers or job offers up front.
- Membership Based - Collect emails of your visitors to build your fan base and contacts.
- Public/Private Areas - Place your swimsuit or lingerie photos in private areas.
- Selling Photos/Items - Offer digital calendars or sell individual photos without watermarks
- Eliminate Competition - Don't get lost in the crowd - on your website, all eyes are on you.
- Take Suggestions - Post surveys on your site. Red or Blue swimsuit? Let your visitors decide!
- Lots More - You're only limited by my programming skills and your imagination!
Timeframe & Suggestions
Most models require photo intensive websites. E-mail isn't the best method of transport for bulk delivery of high quality photos. I always recommend burning your photos onto a CD or DVD and mailing it to me. Usually a website can be completed within two weeks, but I will require your photos or your project will be delayed.
There are a lot of "internet" models. Attractive women that get rave reviews and comments based on their "cellphone in the bathroom mirror" photos. If you want to be taken seriously and also invest in a website, these photos will not be adequate or appropriate. Please find a local photographer and a make-up artist - especially if you would like to sell your photos on your own website.
A lot of ladies tell me - they don't have professional photographs. Allow me to explain - I hate taking work from real photographers, because real photographer have an "eye" for a great photograph. However, if you just want to get started, you can have someone take your own pics. The problem is most people use low quality cell phone cameras, etc & then take 400 pictures of their face, cleavage or butt in a bathroom mirror and that won't cut it, especially if you want to sell your photos.
Use a digital camera and set it to the highest setting. The camera will produce huge photos and that's what you want. Software like Photoshop can turn a big photo into a small one with great results. It won't turn a wallet sized photo into a high quality 8 x 10.
Next, you have to find places where the lighting is good. The sun should be shining on the person being photographed and the photographer's shadow should not be in the picture.
The final piece of the puzzle I want to discuss is finding places with distraction-free backgrounds. If you look at a photo and notice something in the background first, then the background is too busy.
There's more, I would suggest taking a look at this Guide to Better Photos by Kodak.
When you start taking or reviewing your pictures, ask yourself this - "If a total stranger tried to sell me this picture - would I buy it?" -- Then ask yourself - Would this picture make a great poster? --- If not, then you have to try again... Start looking at photos in magazines and ask yourself these questions as you browse the internet. You'll soon recognize what a quality photo looks like. So, having professional pictures really means having professional LOOKING pictures.
There's a category for everyone and everything today. In this business, you can find your niche or make your own. If you're 26, but look 14 - some people love that. If you're a BBW - some people love that. Black, white, brown, asian, long hair, short hair, brown hair, blue hair - some people love that. Experience has taught me professionalism is extremely important and it is represented by your attitude, a quality website and quality photographs.
I am a modest individual. I'll be the first to admit that I know a lot, but I don't know everything. I'm always learning and will continue to improve your website as needed while I am your webmaster. In fact, a lot of elements on my website appear because a customer wanted it first. That's how ideas develop and as a result, I grow and you reap the benefits with improved website design and function.
Contact Me
As usual, I invite you to contact me if you have any questions or comments. Click on the address below to send me an e-mail or use this contact form.
Website Designed and Maintained by : GameDayDog and P.I.I.T.B. Productions
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