Web Redeux
by Anita Pagliasso

article continued from

I kept letting this project slip to the bottom of my priority pile because I knew that this would be a huge undertaking that would require an enormous amount of my time and attention. Boy, was I right!

First, I had to choose a look and layout for my Web site’s template. When the designers started sending over sample templates, my old control issues started to flare. When reviewing them, it was obvious that whoever was creating these templates did not know me or my style. Looking at the darkness of the colors and some of the strange anchor graphics, I started questioning whether these designs were for a travel agency or a tattoo parlor. It was then explained to me that I should look more at the layout than the colors and graphics, which made me feel somewhat better.

Once we decided on the layout, I needed to decide on the colors and graphics to use. Since a “red ticket” is my trade mark and logo, of course I had to incorporate red. Now, you think that would be easy, but do you know how many shades of red there are? I insisted on “Ticket To Travel Red,” which was not on any of the font color wheels (or at Home Depot, for that matter). Rather than clash with the existing logo color, the Web designer came up with the idea of using a gradient of shades of red, which took a lighter red and transitioned to a darker. By putting the logo on this gradient, not only did it look good, but it made the logo stand out much better. Finally, after many revisions, I had approved the template for the site.

Then, there was about three days of choosing font styles, placement of text, pictures, and the placement of my logo. Conversations went something like this:

“Can you shift the logo up a smidgen closer to the left corner but do not touch the vertical or horizontal lines?”
“Whoops, too far. Can you nudge it back down just a bit?”
“Is it my imagination, or is the last version you sent over slightly different?”
“I like the picture of the ship, but can you flip it around so that it is facing the other way?”
“Was that a sigh I heard on the other end of the phone???”

I was cautioned about using photos on the site. You can use your own photographs, or you can have a designer create images for you. But you cannot just select images off the web. You must have permission to use the graphics. (Yikes -- get my old site off the Web quick!) Carole from Primary Hub sent me to www.istockphoto.com, where you can purchase royalty-free stock photos at a very reasonable price. A download of a photo averages about $3 per image. When you go to the site, you can search by subjects. However, when I put in “travel,” it brought up 126,499 images. I found that, if you are more specific with a description, it will narrow the choices down quite a bit and make it a lot less daunting of a task. For example, when I put in “couple on the beach,” I got 56 really nice images.

Then, there was the decision on how many pages the site will have. Since this was like starting from scratch, I had to really consider what I wanted to feature and also take into consideration future growth of the site. I wanted to change the navigation bar to allow users to navigate the site easily and also allow me to easily add new pages and subsections down the road. I knew that, the way my site was set up previously, it was confusing and didn’t allow for expansion. There was also no consistency from page to page. Linking pages and subsections can be very confusing, especially when trying to explain how the links should work to a third party. It required good, clear communication between my thoughts and Carole at Primary Hub. We laughed one day when I started singing the old song “The hip bones connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bones connected to the knee bone…”

With the expert guidance (and amazing patience) of Carole, Phil, Mickey, and all the team at Primary Hub, the “Redeux” is finally done! I am really excited about the release of my new Web site and, even though it is still being fine tuned, take a look and let me know what you think: www.aticket2travel.com.

(Contact Mickey Smith at Primary Hub if you need a Web site or a “Redeux” of your own: mickey@primaryhub.com.)

Anita Pagliasso is president of Ticket to Travel (www.aticket2travel.com), OSSN’s Western Regional Manager, and an executive board member of PATH. She has written a book titled “How I Made a Small Fortune as a Home-Based Agent” and a CD (“Anita’s Toolbox for Home-Based Agents”) with dozens of her most popular forms, letters, and guides that you can download and customize for your own use. Visit www.redticketproductions.com.

(Credit: Anita Pagliasso)