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Thread: Dance websites

  1. #41
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Dance websites

    Andy, my point, and I apologise if it came out poorly, was that this was a high-content-value thread, not some of the standard drivel we see in Chit-Chat, and I'd like to keep it that way.

    Love you really

    David

  2. #42
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    Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    the standard drivel we see in Chit-Chat, and I'd like to keep it that way.
    I can confirm that DB is very effective in keeping up the standard of drivel - my own drivel pales into insignificance alongside DB's. If it were not for Mr Bailey there would be half as much drivel talked on this forum - I'd say he should congratulate himself for a job well done

    On the subject of dance websites, my experience is that it's a full-time job keeping them up to date. My own website is still giving details of summer opening Everything else is correct, but it's hard to run a dance business, a website, do a day job, etc, etc.

    I am also developing another dance website which is why my current site isn't quite up to date. I've already spent a lot of cash with the experts and I'm still a long way from publishing the site.

    I think that the situation is that there really isn't enough money in dance teaching to pay for the slick marketing you see from mass-market companies. So we muddle along as best we can being a Jack-of-all-trades. Most dance websites have that nice, amateur look that money can't buy - I think that this adds a human touch.

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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    ....I think that the situation is that there really isn't enough money in dance teaching to pay for the slick marketing you see from mass-market companies...
    "Slick" marketing should be a money earner.

    ..On the subject of dance websites, my experience is that it's a full-time job keeping them up to date...
    The ******* date keeps changing ...

    ... it's hard to run a dance business, a website, do a day job, etc, etc...
    to all that can do it.


    ...So we muddle along as best we can being a Jack-of-all-trades...
    Most small businesses are like this. Most small businessmen love the challenge and the variety, and are content to stay small. It is "their" business. It is not until they come to try to sell it that they begin to realise just how much "their" business it is. It is like trying to sell the clothes you are wearing.

    To be a proper business "Jack" has to be replaced by more specialised personnel. The one-man-band must transform into a group on its way to becoming an orchestra.

    If you do not do it excellently, do not do it at all. Because if it is not excellent, it will not be profitable or fun, and if you are not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing there?
    Robert Townsend "Up the organisation."


    ... Most dance websites have that nice, amateur look that money can't buy - I think that this adds a human touch.


    Old news, amatuerish mistakes, credibility blown.

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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by bigdjiver View Post



    Old news, amatuerish mistakes, credibility blown.
    I think a lot of it is about keeping it simple. If you aim for flashy and miss the mark you look amateur. If you aim for basic information in a well laid out site you get less criticism.

    I use a professional web designer for our site. The problem with updates is that I have to use this designer to make them rather than doing them myself. I have to find the time to talk to him on the phone or make up an email to him that makes sense. It all takes time.

  5. #45
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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    I think a lot of it is about keeping it simple. If you aim for flashy and miss the mark you look amateur. If you aim for basic information in a well laid out site you get less criticism.
    Absolutely the right approach.

    Clean, simple, easy-to-use - do that, and you'll succeed.

    Flashy, colourful, complex - do that and you're stuffed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    I use a professional web designer for our site. The problem with updates is that I have to use this designer to make them rather than doing them myself. I have to find the time to talk to him on the phone or make up an email to him that makes sense. It all takes time.
    Yeah, that's always the problem with that approach - you can't make changes quickly, or cheaply, and you can't do them yourself. So the site refresh rate suffers.

    Ummm.... yes, I see what you mean about your site... Would you like some critique? (Public or private, either's fine)

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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    Ummm.... yes, I see what you mean about your site... Would you like some critique? (Public or private, either's fine)
    I've got a major update to do as we changed our logo a while ago. I'd love a critique once we've made our changes. Part of our problem has been that our web guy uses a Mac and it doesn't see punctuation in text documents properly This requires him to do a lot of correction in text hungry documents - this adds to the time required by him and I'd rather he spent his time on updates.

    The frustrating thing is that I put myself through evening classes on Dreamweaver. My major learning from that is that I don't know enough and haven't got the time to learn more - plus it would be a waste of my time for just one or two websites - a bit like doing a plumbing course when all you need to do is fit a bath in your own home.

  7. #47
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    I've got a major update to do as we changed our logo a while ago. I'd love a critique once we've made our changes. Part of our problem has been that our web guy uses a Mac and it doesn't see punctuation in text documents properly This requires him to do a lot of correction in text hungry documents - this adds to the time required by him and I'd rather he spent his time on updates.
    This is exactly why, if you can, it's best to take ownership of your own site once the template and designing stuff is done.

    The site looks OK, actually, but looking under the hood, it's using a lot of scripts and stuff... Still, no problem, let us know if you want / need feedback.

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    The frustrating thing is that I put myself through evening classes on Dreamweaver. My major learning from that is that I don't know enough and haven't got the time to learn more - plus it would be a waste of my time for just one or two websites - a bit like doing a plumbing course when all you need to do is fit a bath in your own home.
    Dreamweaver's not actually necessary - I don't know it myself. HTML knowledge is usually enough. Although, that said, learning HTML usually takes longer than learning Dreamweaver.

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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    Dreamweaver's not actually necessary - I don't know it myself. HTML knowledge is usually enough. Although, that said, learning HTML usually takes longer than learning Dreamweaver.
    The first few weeks of the course I took were learning HTML. I preferred that to Dreamweaver as it made much more sense.

    This is a symptom of a much bigger problem. When you decide to teach dancing you suddenly have to know so much and do so much that is nothing to do with dance teaching. Not only do you need a website, you need venues, insurance, PPL, PRS, leaflets, advertising, admin forms, email management, music, speakers, amplifiers, cd players, radio microphones, lights, plastic cups, mints, etc, etc. Those are the must-haves - there's also nice to haves like qualifications, dances, etc ....

    .. and then you need to decide what you are actually going to teach!

    If I knew what I was getting into I might not have done it.

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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    I think a lot of it is about keeping it simple. If you aim for flashy and miss the mark you look amateur. If you aim for basic information in a well laid out site you get less criticism.


    I use a professional web designer for our site. The problem with updates is that I have to use this designer to make them rather than doing them myself. I have to find the time to talk to him on the phone or make up an email to him that makes sense. It all takes time.
    Your designer has designed the site for his/her business, not yours.

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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    I use a professional web designer for our site. The problem with updates is that I have to use this designer to make them rather than doing them myself. I have to find the time to talk to him on the phone or make up an email to him that makes sense. It all takes time.
    And I assume you are charged for this? Theres no reason why you can't have a new site with logon access to update your own content in place - static sites are sooo 90's and sooo profitable for the web designer

  11. #51
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    And I assume you are charged for this? Theres no reason why you can't have a new site with logon access to update your own content in place - static sites are sooo 90's and sooo profitable for the web designer
    That's the way I do it.

    Andy's site seems to be owned by the designer, actually, I'd recommend grabbing it and putting it up on somewhere else. I use 1and1 for my hosting, mainly because they have a fairly easy-to-use web designing thingy.

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    Re: Dance websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    And I assume you are charged for this? Theres no reason why you can't have a new site with logon access to update your own content in place - static sites are sooo 90's and sooo profitable for the web designer
    90s, yes, profitable, debatably, a good use of a web developer's time, absolutely not. I utterly loathe doing updates for clients, but a good site is (amongst other things) generally constantly kept up-to-date - so I've spent considerable amounts of time developing content management systems to allow clients to do all that themselves, while I can get on with the things that inspire me.

    A good bare-bones CMS will allow you to add/remove pages, edit page content, alter any images etc etc etc, without you having to know anything about HTML, processing images for the web, ftp and the like. Why waste time learning about things that you really don't need to, when there's some very good, viable alternatives out there?

    Static sites, updated purely through the designer / developers should, IMO, be increasingly a thing of the past.

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