Potential - What is the potential for the page(s)? Will it reach the readers wanted? Remember, the name of the medium is "World-Wide." A local market potential such as Joe's Corner Grocery and Meatmarket has little internet potential unless Joe ships better or different products than customers can buy locally, cheaper and more conveniently.

Purpose - What is the reason for the homepage? The internet is a powerful tool to provide specific information - available seven days a week, 24 hours a day - about the services or product. Perhaps the owner wants to entertain or promote a viewpoint. Decide what the client has in mind for the homepage.

Policy - Don't overlook the impact of the internet. From the very start, establish parameters of what will be on the page and what will be 'linked' to the page. Have the content reviewed by the customer's top management, and legal counsel if necessary, to prevent future problems with copyright issues, or questionable taste that may offend a segment of the potential audience.

Position - Help the client decide an effective domain name. Some clients will not require the exclusive domain-dot-com, but can be initially accommodated with a tagged-on suffix of a multi-hosting service. Also, see if the client should be grouped in DOT-COM (.com) or DOT-ORG (.org). Some groups perhaps are more adequately placed with similar entities. For the DOT-EDU (.edu) and DOT-MIL (.mil) or DOT-NET (.net) domains, they require some special considerations. You probably won't be marketing to those latter groups.

Plausible - Frankly, some companies just don't need a homepage. The corner convenience store doesn't, although their National Headquarters may require one for corporate policy statements, and franchise marketing, or employee information. You might lose a customer initially, you will gain credibility and perhaps a friend, if you point this out at the front. Unfortunately, there are many hopeful entrepreneurs who think the internet is the ticket to prosperity and success. When they combine with a web-page marketeer who doesn't honestly point out the truth about selling on the internet, disappointment is usually the result.

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Propose

Present - Make a complete presentation for the client. Explain what you can provide to add value to what many others (perhaps at lower prices) are offering. Include: initial charges for setting up the homepage, cost for graphics, links, and development of the initial page. Include additional costs of maintaining and changing the site. You may want to make a "client demo" page in your site to let the client browse and see what might be the type of work you are offering. This may backfire if you don't carefully review the "Plan" elements above, and follow them.

Persuade - If you are convinced a homepage will be good for the client, and that you can do it, by all means use your best sales techniques to persuade them to sign up. Don't expect them to come to you, asking for a homepage with a check in their hand.

Polite - Be polite at all times. Probably the client doesn't know much about the internet except what they have read in the news. Remain courteous always, and explain what the internet is, and how they can use it for their advantage. Don't be condescending or a know-it-all. Remember, they know their business, and you (should) know yours: Make the combination a perfect match for a successful homepage. They will be invaluable as a good reference, and expensive as a bad one.

Positive - you are "sold" on the internet, or you wouldn't be in this business. If you aren't positive, won't be in it very long. Show a positive attitude in your comments. Of course, you can point out some problems a homepage client may face, but always include ways to overcome those problem areas.

Premise - Develop, with the client, the premise of the site. Will it be helpful (content)? Will it be entertaining (graphics)? Is it useful (links)? When the premise is decided, build the site on that foundation. Some sites may include only one of the above, while others may include several in varying percentages.

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Produce

Prepare - At this stage, you are ready to prepare the site. Assemble necessary graphics and logos from the client. Be sure they are usable (copyright?). Find the text content. Often the client can provide it on some type of computer media. It should go without saying to check any disks you receive for viruses. I'll say it anyway - I've had two cases of disks from clients containing a virus, which the client didn't realize they were spreading.

Program - You may need to use some helper programs to accommodate clients, especially if they want forms or other viewer responses. There may be a requirement for an image-map to click on specific areas for links. Some clients may want a "shopping-cart" for viewers to buy merchandise on the internet. And, some may want to accept credit cards. All these require increasing levels of access to Computer Graphic Interface (CGI) libraries and secure servers. Make sure you can use programs if your client needs them.

Prune - Few things chill a reader's interest than a complicated opening homepage - usually the site "index." Make sure there is only the required information on it and links to other pages on the site. Webmasters prepare too many sites by using an ISDN or faster connection who think a splashy 50K graphic at the top gets the reader's attention. Many net cruisers (read: customers) just either turn off graphics to save loading time, or skip the site entirely.

Pick - Now that you have the graphics, text and programs or forms you need, pick the essential elements and put them together in the logical order for a first-time visitor.

Preview - The site should now be ready to preview. First, look at it on your desktop machine. Is it attractive? Do the links (except those off-the-site, which can't be contacted on the desktop) work? Proofread the text. It is easier and less embarrassing to change errors here than having mistakes pointed out after putting them on the web. If possible, view the same page with several browsers. Netscape versions 4.x & 3, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, and American On-Line version 4 or 5 are good choices today, and the newer versions should be tested when they are available. The largest segment of your viewers will be in the above categories, now. Finally, I suggest you design your page to be viewed on a 640 x 480 monitor screen. This is just my personal choice to enable everyone to see your message without scrolling or overlapping. Your mileage may vary.

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Publish

Place - Decide the appropriate Internet Service Provider (ISP) to use. Depending on the client's "Plan" (above) you may mutually choose a local ISP with a T1 connection to an Internet Backbone link - don't settle for less. Some providers have only an ISDN line that is slow by today's standards, and won't provide adequate band-width - the capacity to handle many users at the same time. Perhaps a virtual host ISP with T3 connection(s) to the backbone will be appropriate. Above all, tell the client what the options are. In this fast changing area, it has been my experience to go with the largest (i.e., T3) available. There is only a small increment in the cost. Of course, some "Programs" (above) require support at the server, which affects the placement of the site.

Post - Now you are ready to post the site on the internet. Using a File Transport Protocol (FTP) program, you can move the information from your desktop to the internet host ISP. Make certain you observe the obvious - to use binary transport for graphics, and ASCII for text (HTML).

Probe - Once the site is up and running on the net, check it. Put the Universal Resource Locator (URL) address in your browser bookmark or hotlink. See how it loads. Fast? Slow? There are ways to "Polish" it (below).

Point - Currently there are nearly a million sites on the internet, and many millions of pages. How can this Homepage get noticed and found? How can you point to it? Most users look for what they want by using "search engines" such as Yahoo, Lycos, Excite and others. By entering a word or phrase, sites that contain them are retrieved. Not all engines are appropriate for your client. You should only agree to submit the site to several appropriate engines, but never commit that the site will be listed. You don't have control over that - but you can influence the acceptance of the site with the META tags, keywords, and index page layout. Some comments on this are in "Polish" (below).

Protect - Any work published on the web enjoys copyright protection (in the U.S.A. and some other areas). Although not required, the legal status is enhanced by the additions of the circle-c symbol or just "c" and a statement to the effect "copyrighted" and the year. Consult an attorney for specifics in your case. Use the HTML tag ADDRESS for signature and feed back contact.

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Polish

Prose - It's a good idea to review the page(s) at least monthly. Yes, they won't change, but you may see some typographical or grammatical errors you overlooked previously. Does the text "flow smoothly"? Is it precise and clear? Do you use acronyms without spelling them out? Apply the KISS principle - Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Picture - Graphics, used wisely, make a page. The old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words is true. On the internet it takes up about ten times as much space and time to load. Here are some tips to help: First decide the type - .JPG or .GIF. JPGs are best for photo type graphics, and GIFs are best for solid colors. GIFs, only use 256 colors - with some exceptions, while JPGs have 16 million colors. Most graphics can be either, and browsers can view either. Choose yours wisely, and as a rule-of-thumb use the smallest to speed downloading. Include the dimensions HEIGHT, WIDTH= tags so that text will load while waiting on the graphics. Include the ALTERNATE= words so the readers will understand what graphic will be loaded there.

Professional - There will be times you have to get the page(s) produced, published, and on the web as quickly as possible. Go back and make sure the code (view document) is professional and clean. Use the COMMENT tag to explain what you have done and why.

Patch - Check the links. Are they correct? Do they work? Do you get the dreaded "ERROR 404 - not found"? Those non-local links you once had may have changed. If they have, and are vital to your site, find the new link and patch it. Few things undermine credibility more than a broken link.

Purge - Face the fact that some things that seemed a good idea at the time are passe' now. Bad graphics? Purge it. Inappropriate link? Purge it. Prune the link like you would a rose bush to make a stronger, better and more beautiful site.

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Pay

Price - Now we come to the nitty-gritty part. What should you charge for a home-page? Here is a simple formula: Find out what you require for an hour of your work, and multiply that by the number of hours you will pend on the Homepage index and other pages. Don't forget the extra costs for scanning graphics, or converting computer media text to HTML. Finally, include the hosting ISP charges and Internic fees if any. The last thing you and the customer want is a surprise over unexpected costs.

Profit - Be realistic in your price - expect to make more than what the cost is. You have expenses and overhead to pay. If you don't include enough to cover them, and something for you, you won't have long to worry about anything else we've discussed, because you won't be doing it. Blunt, but true.

Pinch - Use your resources wisely. Forget ego, and see if you can use a $50 shareware HTML editor to do the job as well as one costing $200. Think of your client's needs as a triangle. Most of what is needed is at the bottom third and can be accomplished by the average tools - hardware and software. The middle third may require some specific expenditures, but for less of the needs than the bottom third. The top third is small, and may not be required by most clients. Determine if you need special software to accommodate them - you may not.

Pool - The old saying of "Jack of all trades, master of none" is also true in web page design and marketing. I suggest you find one or more association, group or other source to help with the needs as they might arise. Some sources are maillists, newsgroups, user groups and associations. One caution - plan on contributing as well as taking information. Share your knowledge about the things you know and ask about those you don't There is literally a world-wide-web of help out there.

Pass - Unfortunately, there are times you should decline to market a homepage. Questions of ethics, morals, or proper use may arise. Rather than risk being associated with the wrong type of client, for your own image, you should just pass.

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