A Business Proposal Concerning A Flash-Integrated Webpage

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Goldenclaw

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Hello, I am informing you of a very important business proposition concerning your status and popularity. As a musician and as an artist, the most crucial thing you have, save from natural talent, is a fan base. Generating a fan base is not easily done. You must rise from relative obscurity into a renowned sensation if you ever hope to strike a big deal. Pragmatically, the only possible way to raise your status from a musical vagrant to a musical superstar is to advertise. This leads me into the main topic of my post: I am willing to make you a website that is completely integrated with Macromedia Flash.

When browsing popular musicians’ websites, one aspect of the websites remains constant: Each website features Macromedia Flash content. Macromedia Flash has become a vital part of a website’s repertoire. Recent surveys show that 99% of companies in the Fortune 500 feature Flash content on their websites (source: wikipedia). Without Flash content, a website drastically limits its potential. This includes audio qualities, aesthetic qualities, and video qualities. Having an aesthetically pleasing website is crucial to musicians and artists who have a large internet fan base. Flash content not only improves the quality of the website and the impression of those who visit it, but also adds an entire new dimension in terms of finesse and professionalism.

“So what does this mean to me,” you might be thinking to yourself. “I don’t have enough money to hire someone to make me a custom Flash website.” Here is the important part of my post: Major web-design companies don’t even get out of bed for a budget under $1000 (Sources: Fearless Concepts*, and Online Revolution Design*). However, I am offering you a stylish Flash website that is customized to fit your unique image and taste for only $50. No, I didn’t mean to type “500”, I am really offering you a chance to expand your fan base exponentially for only one green picture of Ulysses S. Grant.

* Both web design studio names are trademarked to their respective owners.

Question: This must be a scam. No company or individual that wants to earn enough money to eat three meals a day would possibly charge only $50 for a website.
Answer: You’re completely right. I am not a company or a solo design expert. I’m just a fifteen year old kid who’s attempting to make some spending money.

Question: Wait, if you’re just a fifteen year old kid, then why are you doing this?
Answer: I need a summer job to buy some things that I want, and this sure beats hauling the lawnmower around the neighborhood.

Question: But if you’re just a kid, how can I trust that you’ll do a good job on my website?
Answer: Of all the questions, this is my favorite one to answer. Check out http://www.dizzydmusic.bravehost.com/. This is my sample webpage that features what you’re likely to expect in one of my flash websites. Of course I’ll be building your website to suit your personal demands, but this websites exhibits some of the talents and qualities that are likely to be used in the making of your website. Just ignore the ads on the page that plague free-hosting servers (and also the abominable music) and see for yourself how extensive and detailed my services will be. You can press the “7” key on your keyboard to be taken to an unlisted “Credits” section of my website.

Question: What will I be getting if I decide to buy a website from you?
Answer: If you choose to buy a website from me, you will definitely receive the basic .swf file for the flash portions of your website, the .fla file that can edit and add to the .swf file, and an .html file that features the full website as it will look on the internet. Additionally, you may receive any .ico or .cs files that correspond with the main website.

Question: So why should I order from a lone teenager when I could get a fully staffed web-designing company to make my website for me?
Answer: The main factor is the price. I’m charging a payment of only $50 while other web-designing services charge anywhere between $1,000 and $10,000 for their services. Another factor is dedication. It’s probably safe to say that I will appreciate your business much more than a giant company would. As such, I’m willing to offer you a better level of help, and I’m very willing to answer any questions that you may ask.

Question: Okay, so why are your services so cheap?
Answer: My services are so cheap because you are potentially my first client. As I build up a large portfolio, I may consider charging more for what I provide, but as for now, I need the business.

Question: If I decide to order my website from you, how will I get my $50 to your house?
Answer: I accept Paypal, checks in the mail, or any other rational ideas you could come up with for delivering money. If you decide to order from me, I will explain this in greater detail.

Question: Are your services limited to websites?
Answer: No, I can create Flash-integrated banners, e-cards, pop-up advertisements, and anything else you can conceive.

If you decide to consider my proposal, please contact me at Goldenclaw@gmail.com. Please also contact me with any questions you may wish to ask regarding my services. Thank you for reading my proposal.
 
There is no point in have a Flash based website if you are working with graphics as poor as the one shown on your sample website.

Also Flash can lead to a number of browser and loading issues for non broadband users.

I would much rather have a static HTML and CSS designed page with high quality graphics. Makes the website more accessible to the non-broadband user - but also special Broadband content can be added in the form of hi-res photographs and videos.

I appreciate that Flash is what the big boys use, but poorly executed Flash looks worse than a static HTML page.

Best to wait until you can shell out and get a decent firm to do this for you :D
 
Yeah, I didn't want to say anything, but that sample site really kinda blew the goat....reminds me of a flash tutorial that was included in Flash 3.0 back in 98.

Thanks, but no thanks.
6
 
As a guy with about seven years experience in the software development/engineering, and web development/design fields, I'd like to point out a few things:

1. Wikipedia is free. Anyone can edit it. You may want to use one or two other sources to supplement Wikipedia.

2. Not including flash on a website does not limit the site's potential. I would argue, that the opposite may be true. Many, many people do not have flash enabled in their browsers, and do not wish to do so. How do you market to them? If they don't have flash enabled, and you have an all Flash site, you just lost a potential fan/customer.

3. You wrote This includes audio qualities, aesthetic qualities, and video qualities but I submit to you that all of these things can be done, and are frequently done without the use of Flash.

4. Flash content not only improves the quality of the website and the impression of those who visit it, but also adds an entire new dimension in terms of finesse and professionalism. -- That's one opinion. Not necessarily true. A non-flash layout can also project the quality, finesse, and professionalism that you speak of. Good designers who select a sound layout and appropriate color scheme can pull it off nicely -- without Flash.

5. Who's going to edit content if it needs to be changed? With a static, or database driven site, I can do it myself. If I "hire out" for Flash, anytime I want to change something, I have to call someone. Even if I did my own site in Flash, I'd have to go in, change the flash file, rebuild it, test it, and then upload it.

6. How long have you been doing Flash? If you're offering to do a full-fledged flash site for only $50, you're either: a. A really, really nice guy, b. Trying to build a Flash portfolio, c. Desperate for some cash, or d. Just getting started with Flash.
What if I want really, really complicated stuff with my Flash site? You know, forms, database interactivity, pull the content from text files, send emails, things like that? Is all that still only $50? What database would I use?

7. The phrase "This site is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox". -- Nobody cares about this. It may seem like you're doing potential clients a favor, but they really don't care. A lot of your end users probably have never even heard of FireFox and they're perfectly happy using IE or NS or the dreaded AOL browser. My advice: Make it look as good as possible in both browsers.

8. Why are you so adamate about Flash? Do you know any server-side languages (PERL, PHP, ASP, etc.) or did you just get started with Flash?

9. Modems. A lot of Internet users still use 56K modems. You must take that into consideration. If you're asking end users to download tons of things to view your website (even if it's the Flash plugin!) they probably won't, and will just leave your site. Flash files can be very large. If it takes a long time for your site to download, people will lose interest. A general rule is that a website should load within ten seconds.

10. You should really not have a $50 up-front price. You could either have an hourly rate, or quote a project. Otherwise, you'll end up with the client that wants all the bells and whistles, which could theoretically keep you busy for weeks.

11. What if the end user isn't happy with your end product? Will you make changes for free? What if they pay you then don't like it? Or you put in all the work, and they refuse to pay you? How do you handle things like that?

12. Search Engines -- If the sites you design can't be indexed by search engines, it doesn't help your client much. It's proven that META tags aren't the be-all-end-all when it comes to optimizing a site for search engines. If you have an all-flash site, you can have some meta tags, and that will help a little. That being said, a lot of search engines also index by the content on the page, and the bots and spiders can't read content in Flash files or in separate text files, unless the text files are directly linked to.

I'm not trying to hammer on you. I'm just trying to show you things from a different perspective, and provide you with information that may be helpful.

Good luck, and keep learning.
 
i would not have jabbed on u as hard, but i cant even open the dang site/page - although im not at my personal cpu so that may part of the problem

if i get a "decent" feel from the site when i do actually get a chance to v iew it, i will holla though -

im lookin for someone to build a few "artist" sites for guys i work with -

my advice - dont neccesarily try to market yourself to artists who are "seasoned" or "well developed" - if you create a niche for yourself by doin pages for artists perhaps even in your same age group - u might be onto somethin - their expectations are natually lower (nto that you would be conning them) but
1. u get what you pay for
2. a "starter" site is great for "starter" artists . . .
 
come again!!!

ok, it finally uploaded. and . . . uh . . . i . . . well ... ah shit!!!! perhaps some of the other responses were . .. hmmm . . hammer-on-nail's-head-ish

i still stand by my "corner your niche" remarks - holla at people your age who want "nice" artist pages as they begin to play with the idea of becoming an aritist, etc.

i dont think the images on the site are too convincing though . . .
 
gullyjewelz said:
i would not have jabbed on u as hard, but i cant even open the dang site/page - although im not at my personal cpu so that may part of the problem

if i get a "decent" feel from the site when i do actually get a chance to v iew it, i will holla though -

im lookin for someone to build a few "artist" sites for guys i work with -

my advice - dont neccesarily try to market yourself to artists who are "seasoned" or "well developed" - if you create a niche for yourself by doin pages for artists perhaps even in your same age group - u might be onto somethin - their expectations are natually lower (nto that you would be conning them) but
1. u get what you pay for
2. a "starter" site is great for "starter" artists . . .
Click to expand...

Gully u have my #, Check out my *old* portfolio site www.cwmdesign.com and my current band site www.cyanidedependency.com and another band site i did www.ill-conceived.com

if ur interested give me a call, also, whats up w. the touring? I have a few of my guys who say they can do it.

-C$
 
So I need fancy frills, ambigious pictures of people I don't know, and superfluous paint splatters to make my flash site a success. It's all so clear to me now.
 
I'll keep my comments brief. There's a lot of potential. The layout work is solid and the functionality seems to be there (at first glance, anyway; I didn't look at the site too long).

Now for the criticisms:

  • The intro animation should have a "skip intro" button.
  • The site should degrade gracefully to HTML for non-flash-capable browsers. Flash-only sites probably cannot comply with Section 508, which is a bitch if you're a corporate website.
  • Contrast. Low-contrast text is hard to read, and in some cases, can cause problems for the color-blind.
  • Sound effects are really annoyingly overdone....

The biggest reason for flash is content protection. While corporate sites might care, I'd wager most home recording folks would welcome people downloading their music. Just a hunch. Beyond that, it's mostly just an annoyance to the user.

Instead of focusing on flash, you might consider instead focusing on nice CSS layout and achieving the same functionality with HTML. Create dynamic functionality where needed with JavaScript (or, more accurately, ecmascript). As a user, nothing makes me want to leave a site more than heavy use of flash, and as a site owner, what you want is to keep eyes on your content as long as possible.

I'm pretty sure that with the exception of the intro animation and other transitions (which are mostly just distracting), everything on that site could be done with JavaScript in a way that would not only be cross-browser-compatible, but would also be Section-508 compliant, would work with screen readers, etc.
 
Goldenclaw said:
How many websites have you designed?
Click to expand...

I've been in the industry for about seven years. I've designed, developed, and engineered a number of websites, all with varying functionality, complete with graphics.

How many websites have you designed?

If you will, read my previous post.
 
Cyanide-Depende said:
Gully u have my #, Check out my *old* portfolio site www.cwmdesign.com and my current band site www.cyanidedependency.com and another band site i did www.ill-conceived.com

if ur interested give me a call, also, whats up w. the touring? I have a few of my guys who say they can do it.

-C$
Click to expand...

C$ -- Hey, nice work! I checked out your Flash and your HTML site. Graphics well done, Flash looks good, nice animations. Well done, all around! Those are VERY good uses of Flash! Not sure how they load over 56K, but I'm on broadband and they look great.
 
Goldenclaw said:
So I need fancy frills, ambigious pictures of people I don't know, and superfluous paint splatters to make my flash site a success. It's all so clear to me now.
Click to expand...

No you need good design, a working knowledge of line/color/shape/animation, quality images - not blocky pixelated ones, smooth animation if your using it, well thought out/designed navigation, and well thought out navicgation to content placement, sounds that don't make me want to kill everything around nme and stab ice picks in my ears... should I go on?

You should also have meaningful content, if you want to show what you can do, and dont have content, put in dummy text.

and, I dont know who that is on your site, it could be you, it might not be, why does it matter if YOU know who is on the site? people like to see people, its a common advertising fact, both of my design boss' have said that.

Goldenclaw said:
How many websites have you designed?
Click to expand...

I cant count, I've been working developing interfaces flash programs and websites for about 7 years. I wasn't bashing you, I was offering an alternative, read what i wrote, work on those things. also, just a word of advice to make your life easyer, learn xml, and css in flash. Use them to populate your navigation menus and content, it will make updating a whole lot easier. also, load your movie clips externally, your intro load screen will not be as long if its there at all (I havn't done this for cyanide yet)

Don't get defensive, that above... thats help, do what you want with it, but don't be an ass.

mjr said:
C$ -- Hey, nice work! I checked out your Flash and your HTML site. Graphics well done, Flash looks good, nice animations. Well done, all around! Those are VERY good uses of Flash! Not sure how they load over 56K, but I'm on broadband and they look great.
Click to expand...

Thanks, they load pretty well on 56k, the only problem one is the flash portfolio site, I made that about 2-3 years ago and didnt load anything externally so it takes a while. glad you liked it. :D

-C$
 
sixways said:
No, you need some talent.

That should be clear enough.

6
Click to expand...
TRUE STORY!

hey i'll make you guys websites for only $25, but ill make them in wordpad and paint, and then upload them to yahoo free hosting service.
i happen to be a connesiour at fancy paint splats and pictures of people you dont know.
and im 16 :p .

... and i'll record all your music on my 2 channel cassette recorder, at no additional cost.

you've got some competition now!

just playing around...

but yeah, they teach that kind of stuff in my high school's media production class, maybe you can look into taking advanced media production next year.
 
easy on the kid .at least the guy aint jackin your car stereo for crack.hes just tryin to make it .somebodys jealous or something .go getem kid great job.I wish I could do that stuff when I was 15 .Im thirty two and cant do that stuff.the way I look at it the kid was trying to do you a favor.he aint selling chicklets.
or trying to wash your windows at a stop light, so chill bra.
 
Wow...dosn't it seem weird to propose a business plan to total and complete strangers?


Oh wait....




I do give theguy credit though. It's a good learning experience.

But unfortunately, the world dosn't usually work on a "business loan via bullentin board" basis.
 
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