Sam the Site Maker

The following partial client list indicates the types of services SSM has provided. Click on the domain names in the left-hand column to visit the site or click on the SSM logo to learn how SSM helped make the site more effective.
Domain Name	Services Provided	Category
audreysabstractart.com	original design, content, graphics, management	Fine Art
barbarapace-art.com	original design, content, graphics, management	Fine Art
belfieldartworks.com	hosting	Fine Art
cbaudit.com	content review and editing	Business
deborahbriskerburk.com	design, content, graphics, management	Fine Art
denverbasinmusic.com	hosting, consulting	Business
patsyfleming.com	content, design, management	Fine Art
fullmeasureproductions.net	hosting, consulting	Business
gavinglakas.com	original design, content, graphics, management	Fine Art
gouldingphotography.com	original design, content, graphics, management	Fine Art
inabindinc.com	design, content, management	Business
invoiceinsight.com	comprehensive content review	Business
janefergusonart.com	original design and content, management, graphics	Fine Art
lasnerphoto.com	hosting, management	Fine Art
michaelswatercolors.com	original design and content, management, graphics	Fine Art
miketoomeybaseball	original design, content, management	Business
Montgomery County Federation Of Republican Women	original design and content, management, graphics	Political
Restaurant Resources	original design, content, management	Business
rollwithcole.org	original design, hosting	Pro Bono
sharondorancallagy.com	original design and content, management, graphics	Fine Art
shearwatercondos.com	hosting, consulting	Non Profit
the-grammar-guru.com	original design and content, management, graphics	Business
toriesfightingfortheking.com	original design, hosting	Literature
torycowles.com	original design, content, management	Fine Art
yellowbarnstudio.com	content, design, management	Fine Art

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Case Studies

• When tragedy struck a teenager in the community, everyone wanted updated information on his conditions and what could be done to help. The family was using a service called carepages, which was great for sending out new information, but horrible for finding information in previous posts. A website was needed to consolidate all of the information, from where to donate; what are the current fundraising activities; where to send letters and packages; how to find the youtube videos. SSM provided a tool where people can find the information they want easily. Now they need to remember one site only, and from there they can navigate to all other sites associated with the teen. The site is going viral, as the Richmond television stations and websites, and newspapers have been publishing the site, videos mention the site, and buttons have been produced with the site location. We are also able to capture who is interested in helping with an added email box, which will be vital to those spearheading the fundraising efforts.
  
  
• The client was unsatisfied with the appearance and content of her existing web site. She came to SSM knowing that she wanted a web designed to display her abstract art work in a bright and colorful setting, but with no idea of how to accomplish it. We worked together in person and by email messaging to create her new site. After we built and published it she wrote to us “The web site looks marvelous! Already several people have written to say it looks amazing, fabulous, etc. With your tech savvy and my art and words we are a good team! I'm very happy I found you. Again, many thanks.”
  
• The artist client came to SSM with definite ideas about the appearance and functionality of her new site. She also wanted the site up and running before an upcoming exhibition of her artwork. In her own words "I had a time line when I started the web site project as I wanted to be able to refer to my site in advertising for an upcoming gallery show. The site maker's quick turnaround in answering questions and making adjustments not only kept the project on track, but allowed time for researching ways to incorporate some additional features." and "I am definitely pleased with the site and enjoyed working with [SSM]. Many thanks, Barbara"
  
  
• In addition to displaying her original art work, Jane Ferguson wanted to offer her note cards and prints for sale. We set up a PayPal© shopping cart allowing viewers to order and pay for these items on line. Because clients may like to see the prints with the various mat colors offered, views of the individual prints are programmed so that one mouse click selects the desired mat color and automatically places the color information in the shopping cart when the "Add to Cart" button is clicked. (You can click on the image to see the live page.) Note to programmers: This coding is accomplished using only standard HTML so that all browsers will display it correctly. Javascript or other advanced techniques are not used.
  
  
• The client came to SSM with very definite unique ideas for the design of his new site. We implemented his ideas, suggesting and implementing additional or modified features to make the site more accessible and user-friendly. The final product includes a shopping cart so that shoppers can quickly and conveniently order any of the photographic prints displayed on the site.

• Baseball coach and major league scout Mike Toomey came to Sam the Site Maker to design a new Web site to advertise his Professional Coaching/Training and College Recruiting programs. The response from prospective students and their parents has been very gratifying. The site has been instrumental in filling Coach Toomey's training camps to capacity. He recently told us "...thanks to you our camps are filled with more [students] than we can handle".
  
• The Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery used amateur volunteers to manage their Web site, in part as a cost-cutting technique. Each successive volunteer redesigned a few pages of the site and then lost interest or diverted to other pursuits. The result was a hodge-podge of pages with different designs, an animated greeting screen (splash page) that served no useful purpose and a routing page on which fully half of the links led to an "under construction" notice for months on end, even though the pages to which they referred actually existed. Site visitors were sorely challenged to find the information that they sought. Within two weeks of taking control of the site, SSM applied professional design standards, converted all pages to a common design format, and revised the internal link structure so that all main pages are directly accessible from the home page. No page is more than two clicks from the home page. By putting the most timely information right on the home page and adding a search function, we assured that site visitors would be able to find the information they were seeking. SSM’s low cost structure enables us to provide Yellow Barn with hosting and management for less than they were previously paying for hosting alone. Our improvements in the usability and timeliness of the site resulted in a more than 10 times traffic increase in the first two months after we assumed management of the site.

• Invoice Insight SSM content specialists conducted a study of the client’s enterprise, which became the basis for a comprehensive review of site content. The review included editing for grammar, punctuation, syntax, consistency, and content as well as sharpening the marketing language to increase the selling power of the site. We interviewed key players and used their inputs to develop the tone, style, and language of the site. SSM also worked with the graphic artist to fine tune the layout to align with content and navigation.

• Check Back Auditing SSM worked with company officers to edit existing site content and develop new material to reflect business expansion into new areas. We contributed to the graphic look by providing feedback on layout and design elements.

• Working from the artist's résumé and photographs of her paintings, we created Audrey's Abstract Art. The paintings in the catalog are viewed as small thumbnails. Clicking on any thumbnail leads to a full-page image of the painting, with medium, size, and price information. SSM performs maintenance for the site by adding new paintings to the catalog as requested by the artist.

• The client, In-A-Bind, Inc., contracted with a high-priced provider to create and manage their new Web site. Because the cost of this arrangement was not justified by sales obtained through the site, In-A-Bind switched to a low cost provider who did nothing but host the site. When the domain name registration expired because there was no active management, Sam the Site Maker reregistered the domain name and assumed management of the site. We added an on-line contact form and a convenient reorder form. A steady stream of orders paid for the cost of managing the site many times over.