Hello Everyone,

My name is Sharon and I would like to get some opinions, suggestions and any possible help with a concept I am presently working on.

It is to be a network of primarily female web designers, graphic artists, promoters, programmers, ISPs, hosting services, etc. Actually any and all services essential to building and promoting a web presence.

Network members would basically share ideas and brainstorm various marketing and promotional concepts along with building valuable partnerships and alliances. Mentoring and sharing of tips and tricks of the trade would also be available to members

I would also like to add special showcase pages, electronic business cards, and banner ads for our various members, whereby potential clients could view the different styles, services and prices, and all under one roof so to speak. I am appealing to you all for input and or for any help in building and seeing this network to fruition. For a more visual understanding of my idea come visit what I have finished so far at ...

http://www.come.to/designing.women

(Remember the site is still in the planning stages)
Thanking you all in advance.

Regards,

Sharon,
Founder and Director of IDWO
International Designing Women Online
http://www.come.to/designing.women

"Wisdom is doing today what you will not be sorry for tomorrow"

Sharon...I like this concept...and was wondering how long the free trial lasts to join in on the networking.

We do have Free Multimedia Business Greeting Cards here on NOVA PLAZA...Click here to send one!

I have a few questions about your services.

First what is the fee for being listed as a designing woman on your site? As a small business that caters to small and home-based businesses we try to keep our overhead very low so we can pass on affordable rates.

Also here at NOVA PLAZA we not only design but provide a complete web presence for our clients including hosting, customized design, marketing and regular upkeep. This keeps the costs down as most of
our clients are very small or home-based businesses. Do you take the "full packages" into consideration or just the design work?

How many sample pages do you list per designer. With the goals and visions our clients portrayed we have VERY different looking sites based on our clients customization desires. Showing one sample may
lead viewers to believe what they had in mind cannot be
accomplished...where a few samples will show more of a variety of the skill each designing woman has to offer.

Click here to see our Full Packages including all that I described above we do base our pricing and services within the community for small and home based businesses.

Last concern is how do you portray targeted traffic generated from great services offered in a community. We built this community to attract the targeted traffic our clients benefit from by being showcased on our main page. This is part of the marketing but ties
into the hosting as well as who you choose for a designer and what they have to offer based on more than just "design work"...although this is a large factor and price is of course the bottom line, there's a lot to the decision process...do you take all of this
into consideration in your listings?

Thanks again for your posting and I'll look into it in more detail.

Hello Nova Plaza

Thank you for replying! I am assuming you are the webmaster here and I will also assume that you are female!

<< I like this concept...and was wondering how long the free trial lasts to join in on the networking. >>

Since I am still in the process of designing and building the website and brainstorming the total concept as well, I expect the free trial membership to continue for some time. At least until I can build up a sufficient number of networking members to warrant minimal monthly dues for the resources and support they will receive, with definate exceptions for those members who would provide the most help and contributions to the network.

<< I have a few questions about your services.
First what is the fee for being listed as a designing woman on your site? >>

Right now that has not yet been completely determined. I am open to suggestions on this. I hope to have enough of the site finished to start promoting it in a couple of weeks. I know that initially I will not charge a set monthly fee for this service but rather I would like to set up a fee of around 15% to 25% commission (or any agreeable amount) for any and all work derived as a direct result of a listing on my site.

<< Do you take the "full packages" into consideration or just the design work? >>

That is a good question and again one that I would have to brainstorm, with yourself and the others who would join in the beginning, to make sure I would not be in a conflict of interest situation, so to speak with my own services, and those special deals I would definately be making with others (as well as yourself) on an individual basis.

For example, let me illustrate what I mean. Let's just say that I have 30 members who all provide "full packages" and a potential client can't seem to make a decision on who's service to use. They then decide to leave that up to me and ask for estimates from my 5 top recommendations. (I definately see this possibility happening and maybe more often than not, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, too.)

Now, this poses all kinds of questions I would need to address.

1) Who are the top 5 that I would recommend and how would I decide that and still be fair to all members?

2) Once the potential client sees all the estimates, suppose they decide to go with 2 or more different members for each phase of their total web presence, would that be a problem for you? for the others?

Those are just 2 of the more important questions to settle as I am sure more will arise as I begin to lay out the structural foundation of the whole network.

If you are following the vision of my concept so far, you can see that I wish to create the perfect environment for everyone concerned and fairness and a win/win situation for all is to be the end result.

Let me take a moment to illustrate the "big picture" here by using an analogy. Let's use a grocery store to represent the network and let's use a can of chill to represent the design work.

Now each can of chilli is produced by different companies with different tastes and ingredients and then sold at different prices, right? But they are all sold through the grocery store, right?

Now the consumer has the freedom to choose any or all of the cans of chilli available, right? Now suppose that they cannot make up their mind, will they not ask the store manager for their recommendation as to which they should buy?

So in like manner, I will display "design work" for others to choose from and when they desire a recommendation, I should provide it, right? In fact that will be a big part of the "selling point" for potential clients.

Now on to the win/win situation for network members who participate and display their work. Since I am not charging set monthly fees, everyone wins. If you do not derive any income that month then you owe me nothing. If you do $10,000 in business then you owe me the agreed upon commission. This way, I will be sure to work hard at promoting the site, because if I don't, well, you know ... (lol)

I will throw out a couple of more questions for consideration.

1) Should there be a limit to the number of network members, if so, how many?

2) Since I have to track each member's income, I would need to be the middleman so to speak and all inquiries and price quotes would be transacted through me (the network) until a work order is signed, only then would the network member and the client personally interact with each other. So, with that in mind, would it be a good idea to have "open" bidding on those inquiries from potential clients that would not ask for specific members by name? (let's say we have 100 network members and they don't wish to wade through all of the examples, especially if most had more than 1 or 2 pages to view.) I could post all such inquiries to a password protected area and everyone would have 24 hours to send me their bids, which are then forwarded to the potential client for review. (After receiving the bids, now the client would be more apt to view the sample pages of the few designers they have narrowed their final decision to.)

As you can see the more questions I answer the more questions arise, which is NOT a bad thing. I truely beleive that such a Network could surely make a name for itself and it would definately be something to set us apart from the rest of this very, very competitive industry. So that for the most part is my vision and dream for the, Designing Women Online Network, not to mention the personal interaction and mentoring of the network members themselves.

<< How many sample pages do you list per designer. >>

For the most part, I will let you decide this. (I may eventually have to charge a small monthly fee for more pages or take a bit more in commisions, so let's diccuss this further.)

<< Last concern is how do you portray targeted traffic generated from great services offered in a community. We built this community to attract the targeted traffic our clients benefit from by being showcased on our main page. This is part of the marketing but ties
into the hosting as well as who you choose for a designer and what they have to offer based on more than just "design work"...although this is a large factor and price is of course the bottom line, there's a lot to the decision process...do you take all of this into consideration in your listings? >>

The network site is targeted to a 3-fold audience.

1) To all of those who desire a total web presence from the world's most talented designers, artists, programers, etc. and all assembled under one roof. Whether they desire a personal, business, or corporate site, we will appeal to them all. Also available to not only them, but also those who wish to tackle designing their own websites, a host of "how-to" information would be posted throught the site with many links leading to outside resources as well. Insider tips and the like will attract a variety of indiividuals from the amateur to the seasoned professional.

2) To all females "designers" (both pro and amateur) and those who also provide all the related services essential to a complete web presence, to assemble as a network to gain more knowledge and insight from their peers to build and grow their own businesses. To be able to build strategic alliances (mentoring and the like.) To have access to the latest news and developments to keep abreast and remain competitive. To help build a reputation and aquire credibility among peers and clients alike, etc, etc.

3) To all of our network members (who qualify) who also wish to showcase their work, expertise and services in order to hopefully aquire addition clientelle for their own businesses.

Then in the future I plan to spin off this site with a similar setup for all designers, co-ed if you will, but all the while keeping the women's division just as it is!

Will wait to here back from you, so long for now!

Regards,

Sharon,
Founder and Director of IDWO
International Designing Women Online
http://www.come.to/designing.women

"Wisdom is doing today what you will not be sorry for tomorrow"

This does sound interesting to me. I'm sure the networking will benefit all women in this business. It's the referal system that I question... and the fact that questions lead to more questions.. this may be a long post.. lol

I have to wonder what your company does...and how this will effect my listing on your site as a full service website provider.

One thing I did see on a "bid for printing" site is this particular site took the printing specs and sent it out to all print shops affiliated with their site. They charge somewhat of a "finding fee" and this is how they made their money.. THEY WERE NOT a print shop themselves but meerly find the best deal for the client.

Once all specs were sent out.. each print shop would bid on the work... then the owner of the site I'm assuming would either pick the top 5 based on price and verified references to forward to the client...the client would then pick from the top 5 I would guess.. and the commission would be paid to the site that listed all print shops from the winning bidder... does this make sense?

Now, assuming you provide hosting or marketing or some other web development service, this is much different than the print shop scenerio listed above as their only income source was by refering others... and gaining commissions... so they didn't have the problem with print shops not wanting to be affiliated with another print shop... ??? Does this make sense..???

Something non-competitive like this would be much more inviting.

I know our pricing here at ColDen Communications is low and our reference base is fantastic so I would love to enter in on bids... but this scenerio seems much different. I question whether this is a win-win for the client based on THEIR best interest.

Don't take this as a personal slant.. it was in no way intended to be like that.. I know you are just throwing ideas out.. and hope this helps you to see where many web developers will be coming from when seeing your ideas...and maybe you can help me (and other web developing companies) see how this could help rather than hurt them and the small or home based businesses seeking quality at a low cost.

Hi Colleen,

Thank you for your continued dialog, this is exactly the type of interaction I was hoping for. It gives me a chance to work and think through some of the details!

<< I have to wonder what your company does...and how this will effect my listing on your site as a full service website provider. >>

I am not sure I follow your meaning here, so please elaborate. As far as what my company does, we do anything and everything essential to establishing a web presence for any size web site from personal to business, to corporate.

<< Now, assuming you provide hosting or marketing or some other web development service, this is much different than the print shop scenario listed above as their only income source was by referring others... and gaining commissions... so they didn't have the problem with print shops not wanting to be affiliated with another print shop... ??? Does this make sense..??? >>

Not really! If I didn't know anything about web development, I really doubt that anyone one would wish an association with me, as a member or as a client. Plus I would have no desire to even pursue an enterprise I know nothing about. But because I do possess the necessary skills involved I am very confident that any web designer would be more than glad to build an association or alliance with us all, whether it be a casual, sometime thing or a full time endeavor.

The web has just made the opportunity for designers and marketers to set up shop very easy and with very little investment monetarily. The biggest investment comes in promoting yourself once you have established your presence, right? So that is where I want to establish a different type of promotional model and that is where the Network comes in.

Let me ask you something to ponder. Would you think it to be easier to have 100 people promoting 100 different websites, or to have 100 people promoting 1 website, which represents the other 100? After it was all said and done and with equal and exact efforts, which web site would produce the most traffic and have the best branding?

Granted, that this type of promotion is not going to appeal to everyone, but then again what product or service does? I just know that there are enough like-minded women designers here in cyberspace to be able to make this Network a gigantic success. It may not happen overnight, it will take a collective effort to bring about the results we all wish to achieve, but to me it is all worth it.

Many of today's entrepreneurs fail to incorporate a basic fundamental essential law into both their businesses and their personal lives; that it is always more blessed to give than to receive.

As President Kennedy said ..."ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." If that very same principle is applied to the Network, then it will be sure to succeed.

<< Something non-competitive like this would be much more inviting. >>

If you have been reading some of the new trends and words that are coined only here in cyberspace you will have seen that a new word, "coopetition" has emerged and with it a new concept (the very one I am building the Network on), instead of competition the new word is a combination of cooperative and competition. Cyberspace by its very nature can and will be extremely advantages to those who are wise enough to pool their resources collectively instead of trying to compete with one another such as most do off-line. A quick glance at the financial section will attest to that one any day of the week as mergers and buy-outs are a plenty. I have done my homework and much of my time has been spent researching and searching for a niche-market to build here in cyberspace and I believe I have truly found it. I just cannot do it all by myself, I will need the help of others and the rewards are worth all the time and effort needed to find those who believe as I do.

<< I know our pricing here at ColDen Communications is low and our reference base is fantastic so I would love to enter in on bids... but this scenario seems much different. I question whether this is a win-win for the client based on THEIR best interest. >>

Colleen, again I do not follow you here, so please also elaborate on this, thanks!

<< Don't take this as a personal slant.. it was in no way intended to be like that.. I know you are just throwing ideas out.. and hope this helps you to see where many web developers will be coming from when seeing your ideas...and maybe you can help me (and other web developing companies) see how this could help rather than hurt them and the small or home based businesses seeking quality at a low cost. >>

No, I do not take this as a personal slant at all, I welcome all the good questions, it causes me to re-think certain aspects and or explain them in more detail as well as make the necessary adjustments.

As far as helping others, the advantages and benefits are many, and as far as hurting them, well I can not think of anything that would off hand, if you can, please post and I will address it. Thank you again for all your time and interest,

Sharon,
Founder and Director of IDWO
International Designing Women Online
http://www.come.to/designing.women

"Wisdom is doing today what you will not be sorry for tomorrow"