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Yes, if you follow GDPR/CCPA guidelines and offer cookie consent.
The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action.
Yes, with tracking links and campaign tagging.
Yes, analytics track both desktop and mobile visits.
Yes, by showing which keywords and pages perform best.
Analytics tracks user behavior; Search Console focuses on search performance.
Weekly is ideal, but monthly reviews can also be effective.
Analytics helps you make data-driven decisions for marketing and site improvements.
Website analytics is the collection and analysis of data about site visitors and their behavior.
A: For direct sales and ROI, yes. Social media is great for discovery, but email is better for converting followers into paying customers.
A: Shorter emails often get more clicks, but longer ones work well for storytelling or education. Aim for scannable sections.
A: Both work—plain text can feel personal, while designed emails look professional. Mix them depending on the campaign.
A: For most small businesses, 1–4 times per month works well. Too few, and people forget you; too many, and they may unsubscribe.
If you’re using social media to grow your business, you’ve probably heard people talk about business page optimization. But what does that really mean?
Simply put, business page optimization is like giving your social media page a tune-up. It’s all about making your page look professional, attract the right audience, and help you get better results—whether that’s more followers, more engagement, or more sales.
Let’s break it down!
Why Does Business Page Optimization Matter?
When your social media page is fully optimized, it:
- Makes a strong first impression
- Helps you show up in search results
- Builds customer trust
- Improves the performance of your posts and ads
It’s a simple step that can make a huge difference for your business.
Key Steps to Business Page Optimization
1. Complete & Accurate Info
Make sure your:
- Business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Website
- Hours
…are up-to-date and consistent across all platforms.
Also, fill out your About section with a clear, keyword-friendly description.
2. Professional Profile & Cover Photos
- Use high-quality, on-brand images.
- Your visuals should instantly show what your business is about.
- A good cover photo can highlight your product, service, or upcoming event.
3. Social Media SEO
- Use relevant keywords in your business description, post captions, and hashtags.
- This helps your page show up when people search on Facebook, Instagram, or even Google.
4. Strong Call-to-Action (CTA)
Set up action buttons like:
- Call Now
- Message Us
- Shop Now
- Learn More
These buttons make it easy for customers to take the next step with you.
5. Consistent Branding
- Keep your logo, colors, and tone the same across all your social media accounts and your website.
- Consistency builds recognition and trust.
6. Engaging Content Strategy
- Post regularly (at least 2-3 times a week).
- Use a mix of photos, videos, stories, and updates.
- Use hashtags the right way (1-3 per post is ideal on Facebook).
- Post when your audience is most active.
7. Page Responsiveness
- Respond quickly to messages and comments.
- Facebook shows your response time and rates pages that reply faster as more trustworthy.
8. Track Your Results
- Set up Facebook Pixel or Instagram Insights.
- Monitor what’s working and what’s not so you can adjust and improve.
Final Thoughts
If you want your social media to truly work for your business, business page optimization is a must. It’s not just about looking good—it’s about making sure your page is fully ready to attract, connect, and convert your audience.
Need Help?
At Made To Be Unique, we can help you:
- Audit your social media pages
- Optimize your content and branding
- Create a custom social media strategy just for you
👉 Contact us today to get started!
Yes, absolutely. I offer basic SEO setup with websites upon request. SEO includes optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, image tags, and mobile responsiveness. I also make sure your site is fast and Google-friendly. If you need more in-depth SEO or want to track your growth, I can connect Google Analytics and Search Console so you can see how people are finding and using your site. And if you ever need help digging into the numbers or planning a content strategy, I’m here to support that too.
My process for helping businesses grow starts with clarity—understanding what makes your business unique, who your ideal customers are, and what goals you’re trying to reach. From there, I design a custom strategy that blends website design, branding, and ongoing marketing.
Whether it’s creating a user-friendly website, refining your visual identity, or setting up consistent marketing efforts—like SEO, email, or social media—I focus on building systems that support steady growth. And I stay with you for the long haul, offering support and adjustments as your business evolves. It’s all about making your online presence work harder so you don’t have to.
Great question! My approach to website strategy starts with really understanding your business goals and your audience. I want to know what you’re trying to achieve—whether it’s getting more leads, making online sales, building brand awareness, or supporting existing customers. Once we’re clear on that, I look at the structure, design, and content of your site to make sure it guides your visitors toward taking action.
I also focus on things like mobile responsiveness, loading speed, and SEO so that your site not only looks great but also performs well. And I’m big on long-term support, so we can make adjustments as your business grows. It’s not just about building a website—it’s about building a tool that works for you.
Quick Guide: How to Add Made to Be Unique as an Admin on Your YouTube Channel
Thanks for trusting Made to Be Unique to help grow your business through YouTube! I offer help with:
- ✅ Uploading your YouTube videos
- 🎨 Custom video thumbnail graphics
- 📈 Strong SEO titles
- 🔗 Website links in the video description
- 🏷️ Relevant tags for better reach
If you’re ready for me to jump in and assist, here’s how to add me as an admin (Manager) to your channel:
🔐 Step-by-Step: Add an Admin to Your YouTube Channel
- Go to YouTube Studio
Log into your YouTube account and head to: studio.youtube.com - Click on Your Profile Icon (top right)
Then select “Settings.” - Choose “Permissions”
On the left sidebar, click “Permissions.” You’ll be prompted to re-enter your password. - Click “Invite”
- Click the “Invite” button (top right)
- Enter my email address: [Insert your email here]
- Choose the “Manager” role
- Click “Done”
I’ll receive the invite and once I accept it, I’ll be able to help you manage your content!
If you have any questions or need help along the way, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m excited to help bring more visibility to your business through video!
I looking forward to working with you soon!
Sincerely,
Crystal Calhoun
If you’d like to hire me through Upwork rather than directly please use these following steps:
Steps for a New Client to Hire me on Hourly Basis via Upwork
- Sign Into Upwork: The client (you) needs to log into your Upwork account. If you don’t have an account yet, you will need to create one.
- Post a Job (if they haven’t already): In the job post, specify that they are looking for hourly work.
- Invite or Select Me: After posting the job, you can invite me to apply for it.
- Set Up a Contract: Click on “Hire Freelancer” next to the proposal or my profile. You’ll need to specify the job details and agree on an hourly rate. I currently charge $65 an hour. (This new contract will help seal this rate before it increases)
- Be Clear on Your Workload Details: Be sure I have any needed details, such as schedule and deadlines, any needed content or images, to ensure a smooth collaboration.
- I’ll Start Working on the Project Soon After: Once I’ve accepted the offer, the hourly contract is active, and I’ll start logging hours using Upwork’s time-tracking tool.
Thank you very much for trusting me with your project. I look forward to helping you soon!
Very Sincerely,
Crystal Calhoun
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which refers to the practice of improving your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) to attract more organic (non-paid) traffic.
SEO is crucial because it helps your website rank higher in search engine results, making it more likely that potential customers will find and visit your site. This increased visibility can lead to more traffic, conversions, and revenue.
SEO comprises various elements, including keyword research, on-page optimization (e.g., content, meta tags), off-page optimization (e.g., backlinks), technical SEO (e.g., site structure, mobile-friendliness), and user experience (UX).
SEO results can vary depending on factors such as the competitiveness of your industry, the quality of your website content, and the effectiveness of your SEO strategies. Generally, significant improvements may take several months to become noticeable.
Keywords are specific words or phrases that users enter into search engines when looking for information or products. Choosing relevant keywords and strategically incorporating them into your website’s content can help improve your site’s ranking for those queries.
On-page SEO refers to optimizations made directly on your website, such as content quality, keyword usage, and meta tags. Off-page SEO involves external factors like backlinks from other sites, social media signals, and online reputation management.
Mobile-friendly websites are like having a shop that’s easy to visit no matter where people are. Search engines like Google prefer websites that look good and work smoothly on phones and tablets.
Good content is like telling a great story—it keeps people interested in your business and coming back for more. Search engines love websites with helpful, informative, and fun content.
Backlinks are links from other websites that direct users to your site. Search engines view backlinks as indicators of your site’s authority and trustworthiness. Quality backlinks from reputable sites can significantly improve your search engine rankings.
Keep an eye on things like how many people are visiting your site (traffic), where your website shows up in search results (rankings), and if people are taking action like signing up or buying (conversions). Tools like Google Analytics can help you track these things.
Capitalization is an important aspect of writing, and using it correctly on your website contributes to clarity and professionalism. Here are some general guidelines for when to use capitals in titles and sentences on your website:
Titles and Headings:
- Title Case for Headings:
- Capitalize the first and last words of the title.
- Capitalize all major words in the title, including important words like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
- Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or), and prepositions unless they are the first or last word in the title.
Example: “The Art and Science of Web Design”
- Sentence Case for Subheadings:
- Capitalize the first word of the subheading.
- Capitalize proper nouns and adjectives.
- Keep the rest of the words in lowercase unless they are proper nouns or adjectives.
Example: “The Importance of User Experience in Web Design”
Sentences in Body Text:
- Start of Sentences:
- Always capitalize the first word of a sentence.
Example: “Web design plays a crucial role in creating an engaging online experience.”
- Proper Nouns:
- Capitalize proper nouns, including names of people, places, and specific brands or products.
Example: “John started his own web design company in New York.”
- Titles and Headings within Text:
- Capitalize the major words if you are using title case within your text.
Example: “Our Web Design Services offer a range of solutions for your business.”
- Acronyms:
- Capitalize all letters in acronyms.
Example: “HTML and CSS are essential for modern web development.”
Calls to Action:
- Action Phrases:
- Capitalize verbs and important action words in calls to action.
Example: “Sign Up for Our Newsletter” or “Shop Now”
- Important Notices:
- Capitalize words that you want to emphasize in important notices or warnings.
Example: “Important: Read Our Privacy Policy Before Proceeding”
Exceptions:
- Stylistic Choices:
- Some brands or websites may choose to adopt a specific style, even if it deviates from standard rules. Ensure consistency throughout your content.
Example: “Explore the New Collection” (Where every word is capitalized)
- Informal or Creative Contexts:
- In more creative or informal contexts, you might choose to play with capitalization for emphasis or style.
Example: “Unleash Your Creativity with Our Design Tools”
Remember, consistency is key. Choose a style and stick with it throughout your website to maintain a professional and polished appearance.
A brand identity guideline is like the roadmap that keeps your brand on track, ensuring that every visual element aligns with your business’s personality and values. So, what’s typically found in this design bible? Let’s break it down:
1. Logo Usage:
Your logo is the face of your brand, and the guideline will detail how it should be used. This includes variations, clear space around the logo, and guidelines for different backgrounds.
2. Color Palette:
Like a painter’s palette, this section outlines the approved colors for your brand. It includes primary and secondary colors, along with their Pantone, RGB, CMYK, or hex values for consistency across various mediums.
3. Typography:
Fonts play a crucial role in your brand’s voice. The guideline specifies the primary and secondary fonts, including styles and sizes for headings, subheadings, and body text. It ensures a cohesive and readable look across all communication.
4. Imagery Style:
Just as your garden has a particular aesthetic, your brand imagery should follow suit. This section outlines the style of images and graphics that align with your brand. It might include guidelines on photography style, illustration preferences, or any visual elements unique to your brand.
5. Voice and Tone:
Your brand’s personality shines through its voice. This section defines the preferred tone for communication. Whether it’s friendly and casual or formal and informative, the guideline ensures a consistent brand voice across all written content.
6. Iconography:
Icons can be powerful visual elements. The guideline might include specific icons or symbols that are part of your brand’s identity, along with guidelines on their usage and styling.
7. Stationery and Collateral:
For small business owners, this is where you’ll find details about business cards, letterheads, and other printed materials. It includes design templates, layout guidelines, and specifications for maintaining a cohesive look.
8. Digital Presence:
In the age of websites and social media, the guideline will often extend to digital platforms. It might include specifications for your website’s design elements, social media posts, email templates, and more.
9. Usage Do’s and Don’ts:
To prevent any missteps, the guideline provides a clear list of do’s and don’ts. It covers situations like resizing logos, altering colors, or using fonts outside the specified range.
10. Brand Story and Positioning:
This section might delve the broader context of your brand – its story, mission, and positioning in the market. It helps to keep everyone on the same page regarding the brand’s essence and purpose.
Having a well-documented brand identity guideline is like having a trusted partner in your design journey. It ensures that whether you’re creating a website, designing marketing materials, your brand remains true to itself.
Choosing the right fonts for your brand identity is a bit like selecting the perfect dance partners – you want harmony, not chaos. So, let’s talk about how many fonts you should invite to the party.
Typically, sticking to two or three fonts is a sweet spot. Here’s the breakdown:
Primary Font:
This is your main dancer, the star of the show. Choose a clean and readable font for your main text – like the lead in a dance routine, it sets the tone for your brand. It should be versatile and easy on the eyes, making it suitable for body text on your website, marketing materials, and more.
Secondary Font:
Think of this font as your backup dancer, complementing the primary font without stealing the spotlight. It can add a touch of personality, perhaps a bit more stylized, and is perfect for headings, subheadings, or any text that needs to stand out.
Accent Font (Optional):
If your brand is feeling a bit fancy, you can bring in an accent font for special occasions. Use it sparingly – like a dance move that’s saved for the perfect moment. It could be a script font or something more decorative, adding flair without overshadowing the main act.
Remember, the key is consistency. Stick to your chosen fonts across all platforms – website, social media, marketing materials. Consistency in font usage is like having a synchronized dance routine – it looks polished and professional.
So, when it comes to fonts, keep it simple, keep it coordinated, and let your brand waltz its way into the hearts of your audience!
Choosing the right number of colors for your brand identity is a bit like deciding how many veggies to plant in your garden – it depends on what feels right for you. However, let’s aim for a balance that’s visually appealing and cohesive.
In general, it’s a good idea to stick to a primary color palette with around 2 to 4 main colors. These colors will be the stars of your brand, the ones that define its personality. Think of them as the core elements that you’ll consistently use across various materials – website, marketing materials, social media, you name it.
Alongside your primary colors, you can also have a secondary palette with a couple more shades. These can be variations or complementary colors that add depth and flexibility to your design toolkit.
The key here is not to go overboard. Too many colors can be overwhelming and dilute the impact of your brand. On the flip side, too few might limit your creative expression. So, strike a balance that reflects your brand’s character while allowing for versatility.
Just like in your garden, where a variety of plants brings vibrancy, a well-chosen color palette can make your brand visually appealing and memorable. So, pick those colors that resonate with your brand’s vibe and get ready to make a splash!
While CAPTCHA is a widely used tool to prevent automated bots from submitting forms, it is not foolproof, and some spam may still manage to get through. There are several reasons why you might still receive spam despite using CAPTCHA:
- OCR Technology: Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology has become more sophisticated, allowing bots to read and solve certain types of CAPTCHAs.
- Human CAPTCHA Solvers: Some spammers use services where real humans solve CAPTCHAs for a fee. This method bypasses automated filters.
- Advanced Bots: Some spam bots are designed to mimic human behavior more effectively, making them capable of bypassing traditional CAPTCHA challenges.
- Accessibility Features: Websites often provide alternative accessibility features, such as audio CAPTCHAs, which can be exploited by spammers.
To enhance your defense against spam, you might consider implementing additional measures:
- Use Advanced CAPTCHA Solutions: Consider using more advanced and complex CAPTCHA solutions that are harder for bots to solve.
- Implement Honeypots: Include hidden form fields (honeypots) that are invisible to users but can be detected by bots. Legitimate users will leave these fields blank, while bots may fill them out.
- Use IP Blocking: Monitor and block IP addresses associated with suspicious or frequent spam submissions.
- Implement Rate Limiting: Set limits on the number of form submissions from a single IP address within a specific time frame to prevent spam attacks.
- Regularly Update Security Measures: Keep your website software, plugins, and security features up to date to benefit from the latest security enhancements.
By combining multiple security measures, you can create a more robust defense against spam submissions through contact forms on your website.
Yes, AI can be used to spam contact forms, just as it can be employed for various other automated tasks. Spam bots, which are automated programs designed to perform repetitive tasks on the internet, can be programmed to fill out and submit contact forms on websites. This can result in a high volume of unwanted or irrelevant messages being sent to the website owner through the contact form.
Website owners often implement security measures, such as CAPTCHA tests, to prevent automated bots, including AI-driven ones, from submitting forms. These measures are intended to ensure that the form submissions are made by actual human users rather than automated scripts or bots.
If you are experiencing issues with spam in your contact forms, you may want to consider enhancing the security measures on your website or using third-party tools to mitigate spam. Regularly updating and monitoring your website’s security features can help prevent unwanted automated submissions.
No. We take great pride in our service. Made To Be Unique was founded by Crystal Calhoun. Located in Talihina, Oklahoma, USA. Crystal designs all of the websites for her clients personally. So there is no outsourcing for website designs.
If a client needs help with content writing then I’ll call upon my partner, Jeannine Bennett of visiontopurpose.com, for her professional writing support. Christian Bailey will also help with logo designs and vector illustrations from time to time.
Most of our newer WordPress websites include the following plugins:
- Avada Core
- Avada Builder & Branding
- Slider Revolution
- LayerSlider
- Yoast
- Events Calendar
- Securi Security
- Classic Editor
Other plugins can be added/connected but there may be an hourly charge depending on the plugin and amount of support needed.
There are a lot of other similar plugins available for Shopify clients. Just let us know what your needs are so we can provide information and a quote, if needed.
Yes! We have 1000’s of photos available to use on any project, whether it’s a website or graphic design project. If you prefer to use specific photos then you might need to purchase them (if there is a fee) and supply them to us. Let us know if you need recommendations before buying.
Yes we provide this as an additional service. Please let me know what you have, if anything, and what you need as it relates to web page content, so we can accommodate you.
Yes, absolutely! We offer different monthly packages. Just let us know how much help you want each month and we can provide you a unique quote. Let us take the stress of learning a new application and all the kinks that come with it, off your shoulders! We help with updates, new posts, new pages, spam protection, SEO and even social media marketing! You can click here to learn more about this service.
Yes! We offer personal video guides for our clients that show you how to edit and grow your website. This limited offer is available for FREE in most of our web designing packages. If this option is important to you please mention it when requesting a quote.
Most packages include:
3 free custom training video guides to help you edit and maintain your own website, including:
+ Creating blog posts and basic pages
+ Portfolio/gallery posts
+ Editing menus
We can provide you a quote if you need additional videos. We would also be happy to help you with ongoing website maintenance if you would like us to do the work for you!
Crystal Calhoun is a very fast and positive communicator with years of experience and a passion for making clients happy. On a work day you can expect to hear back from her within minutes, sometimes a couple hours, depending on the workload.
Photoshop, WordPress, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and the Avada or Porto theme.
Yes! Made To Be Unique is a reseller for Godaddy. This means we can offer you much lower rates than what you find even on the Godaddy homepage. You’ll get the same hosting quality, same excellent customer service, but at a much lower rate. There’s even the option to add a professional business email to your hosting account. Just let us know what your needs and interests are and we’ll provide you a custom quote. Or you can visit: besthosting.madetobeunique.com to compare rates and packages.
Backlinks are when other websites link to yours, they will get you higher in the search engines.
So if you can do a contest and have those ladies post an article on THEIR website with a LINK that goes to smmcosmetics then that would be a backlink and would get you higher and higher on the search engines. The search engines see it as a “recommendation” or a vote in favor of your site when others are posting links to your site. Make sense? What’s even more valuable to you is if one of their websites has to do with makeup and fashion. If their website has similar keywords and has a link to your website, that’s the best kind of backlink brownie points you can score!
I got a lot of free stock images because I wrote an article on my website about their stock images (depositphoto). But my site had to be approved in order to receive the reward… my site had to have similar interests (illustration and image keyword stuff) which it does, so then I qualified…. because to them my site just gave their website a boost up with the search engines.
Q: Someone gave me a quote for numerous keywords that would put me on top three search engines top of page, but minimum is $400 a month for a min. of 3 months. Flat Fee, not pay per click.
A: I would be VERY careful with these kind of promises! Have they shown you their portfolio, do they have many references of successful happy clients that you can personally contact yourself for reference?
If not then I’d strongly suggest staying away and moving up the search engines organically or at least finding someone that can show proof they can do what they are promising… proof through a wide variety of references and an impressive portfolio.
Posting more articles is very search engine aggressive, then getting people to link from their website to your website (link building) is aggressive. You can also do aggressive SEO through Youtube videos, always being sure to post good keywords in the title and then your domain name. Also on all your posts and pages use good keywords in your titles… This too is VERY helpful in your quest to reach the top!
The meta tags are very important to use for the most sought after keywords. You want to reach people who don’t even know your name, so you use keywords they’ll use. In other words – don’t use your business name (it’d be okay in like the About us meta tags but I don’t think it will help you much in other places) you’ve got to put out words that strangers are looking for in the search engines.
- Title Meta Tag – most important – use up to 5-8 main keywords but try to keep it short and sweet
- Description Meta Tag – (Or Excerpt) – very short summary of the page using similar keywords
- Keywords – put just a few keywords – no more gazillions, it may hurt and not help as the Search engines are now on alert for keyword spamming… So… just a few keywords having to do with the content/description. 5-8 should be perfect, don’t go over 10 though
Concerning the Title
- Use your most important keywords first. The words that most relate to your page and the words that will get people most interested in clicking your link.
- Don’t spam your title with only keywords, make it an understandable and inviting to click.
Important Tips For SEO
Search Engines LOVE information, links, pages, time, and more information…
Again, keywords – don’t spam, just use what applies to you and your page
The more information, the better! Information that is filled up with keywords that relate to what your site is all about or to what you are selling. Don’t use a bunch of keywords that don’t relate to your website though otherwise the search engines may block you for “spamming”! My website is all about my many different services, so I use those keywords all the time throughout my website and blog (ie. website designer, ebay store designer, ecommerce designer, etc…) I do not put keywords that do not relate to what my page or my website is about.
Articles – Use your own!
Also, be careful that you do not use articles and information written and repeatedly used by many others. If the search engines see that you have information that is found in many other website’s they will not value your content and mark you as merely spamming your site with invaluable content. A while back I tried using articles from an article bank. Unknowing that I was actually doing DAMAGE to my ratings rather than good. When I posted the free articles in my website my website was knocked back DRAMATICALLY (from the bottom of page one on the search engines to about the bottom of page 12!) It was a disaster that I’m still trying to recover from!
So again, when you post information on your website – try to keep it fresh, new, and information that is your own / not copied from other website’s. There are times when I will copy a portion of information from website’s, such as ebay rules, or CSS informational guides for my clients to benefit from… but I will never get another free article from an article bank – ever again! agggh!
Question: Should switch to WordPress? Is it better at SEO than Blogger?
Answer: Yes and No. I love working with WordPress, but WordPress is not what’s going to get me ahead with the Search Engines. What’s going to get me ahead is me actually using my blog – on a regular basis. However, using your own domain name over a sub-domain such as what happens with blogger is much more effective. This is explained better below.
Domain Names For Your Blog
Also something to strongly consider, when you have a blog, have a domain name for the blog. When the blog has another domain (such as blogger or wordpress) ie: madetobeunique.blogspot.com the search engines will give it lower ratings. But if you have your blog affiliated with your own unique domain, then it will give you a much better rating with the search engines. ie. www.madetobeunique.com
So in short… have your own domain name associated with your blog… and post information regularly with information that is your own. Use keywords that relate to what your information is all about. And don’t spam. Doing this will drive your website, ecommerce, and or blog to the top of the search engines, and quickly!
Characters can be anyone or anything! It doesn’t have to be a person, it can be a little mouse, a roaring lion, or a wrench in a toolbox. As long as it is personified, it is seen as a Character. If your main character (for example, a mouse) is holding a piece of cheese, the cheese is not seen as a character, but merely an object. Details and limitations on objects varies depending on the package.
This depends on how involved you want to be! Here at Made To Be Unique, we strive to make complex situations easy to understand. If your strengths are in writing or other incredible skills, but you prefer to keep the illustrating to us, then all you have to do is let us know in the beginning stages and we will be more than happy to work out a package that suits your needs!
We recommend you choosing a package after the final manuscript has been written and finalized. Developing characters before the final version of the book can lead to problems and character conflict. But, if you are interested in writing your book based on the artwork, then all we need to get started are some detailed character descriptions and other basic information such as the number of spreads.
We strive to help our clients feel comfortable and understood. If you decide you want to keep the process of your children’s book illustrations private, then rest assured, we will support you!
This depends on how big or small your book is. It could take two weeks to several months to illustrate a children’s book. This is usually discussed during the beginning stages of illustrating the book.
You can email me directly at: crystal@madetobeunique.com or call 918.268.8811. You can also find me on facebook by looking up Crystal Calhoun in Talihina, or madetobeunique.
YES! Infact, I have quite a few online courses available for graphic design students of all ages. I also offer one-on-one video training sessions for my clients that want to learn how to manage and grow their websites themselves. So if you want to learn how to do graphic design, marketing or even how to edit and grow your website you are welcome to contact me, I’d be happy to show you how!
Do it! Especially if you enjoy it. There’s enough fish (business) in the sea for us all. Find what you love most about this line of work and use that passion to help others. It’s very satisfying and can be a financially rewarding occupation. However, it really comes down to if you love what you’re doing, whether it be the art in graphic design, the challenge and excitement of learning effective marketing, the fascinating numbers in business growth, analytics and reporting, or working with others to make their dreams come to fruition…. Do what you love to do most, learn to iron out the kinks that get in the way, and enjoy your life in the process.
The general recommendation is 7-8% of your business revenue should go back into marketing but I would suggest setting aside 10% for marketing whenever possible. If you have a new or struggling business be especially careful where you put those marketing dollars. Consider hiring a marketing consultant such as Made To Be Unique to help you invest smartly so you can get a return for your investment.
If you have a great product or service and people don’t know about it you’re really not going to benefit much from it, at least not financially. You need to learn to “toot that horn” (or hire others to toot it for you) if you want people to know what amazing products and services you have available.
Do what you love and stick to it. Nothing good comes without sacrifice or commitment. Also find people who believe in what you are doing. People can pull your business down, or they can spike it up by the mere energy they put into you and your business. Team up with the right people so you can stay focused on what you love to do most. It’s not healthy to try and do everything all by yourself. That’s the quickest road to burn-out and business failure.
The well-off schmuck who has the audacity to ask me to lower my prices because they are putting their kids through college. I say, value my time and experience and you’ll have yourself a committed, energetic team player whose occupational goal and passion is to help you make more money.
There’s so many aspects to my job that I love. From the challenge I get starting new projects, to art and graphic design, as well as the fascinating results of effective marketing, or working with others for a common goal. But, what I have come to love the most is the excitement I get from my clients when they see their revenue growing, or to hear their success stories as more people visit their store or more products and services are sold. Hearing my clients excitement and seeing their numbers grow first-hand is extremely rewarding!
I’ve lived in the general area for the past 7 years including Wilburton and Red Oak, but Talihina has really grown on me. The people are friendly, the businesses seem to work well together for a better community and the area is incredibly beautiful! I hope to be here for quite some time.
It happened by accident actually. Back in 2005 I co-owned a brick and mortar shop. We sold fine furniture, clothing, antiques and collectibles. The business was struggling because even though we had amazing products, very few people actually knew that our store and products existed. So I taught myself marketing. Shortly after, I found that many of our products sold better online than they did in the store. I did so well with marketing that other businesses hired me to help them sell their products better as well. I found that I enjoyed helping other businesses grow, much more than I enjoyed running the brick and mortar store. So, eventually the store was closed and my online marketing business began.
I’ve been helping business owners for over 15 years.
We can providing printing services but typically we offer lower rates for our graphic design packages that do not include printing, shipping and handling fees. Most of our clients use Vista Print or their local print shop to keep the total cost down. Please contact us if you would like a quote for custom graphic design packages that includes print and shipping rates.
We are located in Talihina, Oklahoma, USA. However, we have served clients worldwide for over 15 years! At times we are available to travel if needed, in order to meet clients and discuss their projects. We are within driving distance to many nearby cities and towns including:
I use trusted website templates (themes) that developers have created and perfected over the course of many years. Then I customize it to be completely unique for each of my clients. So yes, it is a unique design when complete, but the foundation of it is a well thought out theme created by professional theme developers. Using Shopify or WordPress requires certain layouts and CSS coding tricks that I’m not too crazy about, so I allow the templates to do the foundation work (coding) for me while I do the design and layout part of the project, using beautiful pictures, colors and custom advertisements… The part I love most.
I used to create 100% custom designs using HTML and light CSS, but I found that using pre-made themes especially in WordPress allowed my customers a lot more freedom to edit and add to their own website, which is a feature most of my clients really appreciate.
The time it takes to finish a project varies from project to project and person to person. If our communication is very good and I’m able to get the look you want a reasonable time frame will be as such:
A 3-5 page website project normally takes me 1-3 weeks to complete depending on the amount of customizations needed. Graphic design projects usually take me a 2-5 business days. I will try to have a sample to show you within the first week no matter what project it is. There are some instances that I may be delayed but I will be in constant communication with you so you are reassured I’m still “on the job”.
My passion is to provide you quality before speed but rest assured, if you take a look at my extensive feedback history, I’m not the type of person that likes to have my customers waiting on me at all.
If time is of the essence please email me and ask if there will be any delays and what time-frame you can expect to have your project completed, as again it all depends from project to project and person to person.
When you are logged into your email account click on the tab “Settings” near the top of the page. Then Display Settings. That’s where you can change the time zone you’re in. :-D
Google Drive is free and helps me share video tutorials with my clients so they can access their personal videos privately any time they like. Here’s an excellent tutorial on using Google Drive.
Q: There will be times I need to cut and paste language into the description. How do I get the font to match the font you have in the other sections?
A: The template coding I created is set to keep the text at Arial. However if you happen to copy and paste a code unknowingly and it changes the font type here’s a couple options on what you can do.
Using Notepad to clear formats
• Copy your text from your source
• Open a notepad application up
• Paste the text into the notepad
• This will erase all formats and hidden codes
• Now you can copy the text back
• And paste into auction listing.
• Adjust the text how you want it (eg. You’ll probably have to reapply bullets and paragraph breaks)
The font should automatically be Arial now because it doesn’t have the copied text format to contend with.
Using HTML to clear formats
You may be able to save some steps and not use the notepad if you are familiar with HTML coding. Here’s what you do…
• Go into your auction listing and instead of pasting the description into the normal description box, you would select the HTML coding description tab
• Find the area where you want the pasted information to belong, such as below your product image code.
• When you paste text in the HTML side it automatically wipes out formatting codes and only keeps the text. But you need to be careful, if you paste the text in the wrong spot you may accidentally mess your whole page up. So be sure you’re comfortable enough with HTML and know where you’re placing your text.
• After you’ve pasted your text where you want it then go back to the normal description tab so you can see your auction listing and edit the text from there (adding back any bullets, paragraph breaks, etc.)
Give this a try and see which option works best for you.
Let me know how you do!
Here’s a list of Free Stock Image Websites with Commercial License – Author Credit Not Required
Start by looking through Google images under logos and try different keywords that relate to what you are selling or the services you provide. See if you get any ideas for a new logo that way.
Consider also going through logo templates for ideas. You can find thousands of logo templates in stock sites such as GraphicRiver, CreativeMarket and many others. Use them for inspiration. However logo templates are not good to use if you ever want to trademark your logo brand. So with that in mind I would encourage you to look through them for inspiration rather than for purchase or professional use, that is unless you find a nice logo template in which you are able to buy the owner rights to.
For logo icons consider the things you love. Is something precious to you as an individual (speaking to the business owner), that’s always good to use as logo icons as well. Think about things you enjoy, that gives you peace or strength when you look at it. Do you decorate your home with certain common things, like specific flowers, certain animals, butterflies, or ?? Do you use certain colors regularly? That may be an indicator of something you might want to use as a logo.
Need more ideas? Contact me, I’d love to help!
We accept cash, check, bank and credit cards through Paypal.
Checks will need to clear before the project begins. We will also consider some full and partial trade/bartering offers. If you are interested in this as an option please mention it before we begin to work on your project. We have a wide range of interests, so please feel free to contact us if you believe you have something to offer for trade or partial barter.
Yes we do! We offer easy installment payment plans to those interested. They are great if you are on a tight budget but still want a great website, or need help with advertising services.
Please understand that we work for the amount that we’ve been paid for first. We do not accept final payments after the project is complete, but rather before the project is complete. Please contact us with any questions about this or to inquire about specific installment arrangements. Thanks!
Let’s start off with some things that first come to my mind that should help
#1 a blog for your website – blog about all kinds of art and techniques… Answer Q&A’s about art… that would REALLY get some help to your site. Then blog about other artsy trends and what-nots – but keep it mostly related to art stuff. Your feelings/perspectives on this and that… it could even be rants and raves about others art.. just be careful on that on though, lol.
#2 you may consider having a Zazzle store and put your artwork on gift products. In the description ALWAYS mention your website and give a link. You can increase the cost of the gift products by whatever % you like. Then you can make a small commission and at the same time draw traffic to your website. It takes a while to make any “real” money through Zazzle so consider it more of an opportunity to advertise. You can also put some of your zazzle gift products on your website. I think it’s pretty fun and real easy to use!
#3 Deviantart.com – there are a gazillion artist on there that show off their artwork and get involved in groups. They rant, they rave and they get followers and they follow. Always, always post website links wherever you put any of your artwork pictures, and put it in the description field that way the search engines find your website address on multiple websites – it’s called link building. Be wary of deviantart though, they have a lot of people that post a lot of bad artwork that you may very well not want to see. I HATE visiting their homepage if I’m not logged in. Kind of like Youtube, it’s full of perverse ads until you are logged in and it knows your personal settings. (even still with the personal settings there’s trouble brewing). So if/when I go in I go straight to my own channel, post my own stuff, answer questions from people that send me notes and then I’m out of there again.
#4 More link building. Visit other websites and make comments on their website articles pertaining to art, when you make a comment it usually gives you the opportunity to add your website address. This link will go with your name when your comment is published. This is VERY helpful for search engines as they see your website being promoted on other websites (which is the idea of #2 and #3)
#5 put together some wonderful photos and make some Youtube videos with them. Youtube has this tool where you just load the images and choose some free songs they provide and wa’la you have a slideshow video of your artwork! Be sure to put your website information in the description and use awesome key words in the title…. keywords that relate to your kind of artwork/photography, skills and tools.
Consider making a bunch of videos that feature different feelings or topics, or whatever… just the more the merrier.
Ok, that’s the first stuff that comes to my mind. That should keep you rather busy as well! heh!
Oh! And if you have a blog – if it’s WordPress there is a tool called Publicize which is linked to the Jetpack plugin. It can post your newest blog on your facebook fan page automatically for you. It also posts to twitter, pin and Google+ if you have those accounts as well. The more automatic posts, the less you have to do yourself. Woot, woot!
I’m sure I can think of more but again that would keep you pretty busy for a while.
Please keep me posted and ask any other questions that may come to mind.
I welcome my website visitors to share other ideas on how to better promote your artwork online!
I’m always looking to give my customers the best quote possible so knowing what work is involved really makes a difference! Here are some questions I commonly ask new clients before I provide them a project quote:
What service/s are you considering hiring me for?
-
- WordPress Website Design
- Shopify Website Store Design
- Logo Design and/or Logo Branding
- Labeling, CD/DVD or Packaging Design
- Social Media Banner Cover Designs
- other (please be specific)
How would you like your design to look?
What kind of products do you sell or plan to sell / if any?
How many pages are you interested in having me custom design for you?
page examples could be
- Homepage
- About Us
- Contact Us
- FAQS
- Category Page
- Product Page
- other (please be specific)
Are there any special features or functions you would like it to have?
Is there a design or a website page that you admire, or some things about it you like a lot? If so, please send me a link so I can get an idea of what kind of look of functionality you are interested in having. This step actually helps a LOT.
For print marketing inquiries I also ask these important questions:
- Is there a specific size or file type (such as psd, pdf, eps, ai, other) you need the design to be in?
- Do you have a template outline for me to use that your printing company has provided you?
We have no problem waiting to begin your project if you need a little time to plan things out. Hiring us now might save you money in the long run as we are likely to raise our prices in the near future. Our objective is like most everyone’s; work less and get paid more. We too would love to spend more time with our families regardless of our love and addiction for design!
I do! For those of you who are new to selling online you may consider the following business plan. This plan should help you make money the quickest way possible (now) while building up an ecommerce website in which you can sell your own products from (ongoing) so you can make money now and the most profit possible as time progresses.
- Get your business name established (see recommendations below)
- Get your products ready to sell
- Open an eBay store and sell your products here first.
- When you send out your products always put a business card or thank you card in the packages, with an invitation to check out your website for more wonderful deals such as this one.
- Forward your domain name to the ebay store for now while you build up your products. This way you can make money as quickly as possible while advertising your website domain. For now your website visitors will just automatically be sent to your eBay store to buy. But later, when you’re ready you can turn off the forwarding and have them see your new website instead.
- While you’re making money on eBay and establishing a clientele, get your website going.
- Work on your website products and content.
- Advertise, advertise, advertise. The more you do this, the less dependent on eBay you will become. Within time you may not need the help of eBay for income at all. It took me several years but I’ve accomplished this myself. With the help of social networking your timeframe could be a lot shorter! Having been able to pull away from Ebay is the reason why my eBay feedback doesn’t have much current feedback posted to it. I just haven’t needed or wanted to sell on eBay for quite some time… but it did take me a lot of work to get to this point. Ebay is great for getting established and known…. but the plan is to pull away as soon as you can, so you can keep most of the profits yourself, heh!
Recommendations for establishing a good business name.
Consider a name that is easy to use, starts with either A, B, or C… and don’t use numbers in the business name (yuck). It would be good to have key words in the name, ie. beauty, fashion, makeup or cosmetics; as this will help you in the search engines ratings greatly. So for a Cosmetics business you may consider something like: Cosmetics Wholesale or Beautiful You Cosmetics. (just as an example)
But again something easy to remember, easy to spell and early in the alphabet. When your site is added to a list if you start with A, B or C, then you’ll be more at the top of that list! You don’t have to take all the recommendations, but the more you get the easier it will be for people to remember, return and recommend!
Are Video Blogs (Vlogs) Good for Business, Particularly SEO?
It really depends on how you vlog. Video blogging can be a very powerful tool for SEO and marketing or it can be counterproductive and hurt customer confidence. For instance, one of my makeup clients started a vlog and she started LOSING business fast rather than gaining business. It scared her pretty bad so she took the videos down. What happened was that she was vlogging from her home office with a background that was relaxed, rather than showing customers a “sterile” factory environment or a plain background. I believe the relaxed home office background might have had the ladies wondering what kind of conditions their makeup was being produced in. So you really have to consider your audience as well as your product/service when doing video blogging. For this particular client and the type of products she sells I would strongly suggest video blogs with a solid background, a fancy makeup room or a sterile factory background environment (or all 3).
Another point to consider is what kind of information should be shared, and how much or how often should one vlog, again consider your audience, or who you want your audience to be. If a business owner is very open and wants to share their “real side” with people because they are naturally very personal and friendly, the business owner may in fact scare a lot of buyers away. There are many people out there that don’t want to know the “real side” of who they are doing business with. Most people have their opinions on this or that and if a business owner voices too much of their opinion well they can be assured someone out there will hold it against them and choose to do business with someone else… Religion and politics can pretty much make or break ya if you’re too vocal about it.
So the success of vlogging is conditional and can be very powerful. Some niches such as artists, musicians, news and politicians would probably do well with open opinionated blogging, while other businesses would do well to keep their videos full of information, helpful tips and advice about lifestyles as well as advertisements related of their products.
Informational guides, how-to’s and advertisements are really powerful for SEO so I would strongly recommend getting into this area and putting some videos out there – they do help in SEO and in connecting with your customer if done wisely! Just don’t forget to put the website domain name in the video title and/or description. Good titles, tags and that website url in the description is going to aid tremendously in your SEO.
Question
It appears that America have been on holiday since Thanksgiving. I have a few questions you might be able to answer.
- Is Thanksgiving on the same date each year?
- What is Black Friday? It looks like I missed an opportunity for some sales.
- I’ve also seen the term Cyber Monday. What’s that?
Answer
Yah our Thanksgiving Holidays are almost as treasured to Americans as Christmas and 4th of July. It’s a big event. Many people will get 2 paid vacation days off to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family. Same for Christmas (btw – we don’t celebrate Christmas ourselves, I’m just sharing matter of factly – but we do enjoy Thanksgiving!) ?
Black Friday is the main 1 day event where Americans forget who they are and put on a very animalistic nature for the sake of saving a few bucks. The measures they do to observe this disturbing day is inhuman. My husband read that this year 2 people were run over in a parking lot, people are knocking people over, bringing handguns to Wal-Marts, fist fighting, literally breaking doors down (LITERALLY) to get inside a store. It is sickness. And a great point was made that all the time people put into a LONG OVERNIGHT waiting line outside a store (ON THANKSGIVING EVENING till the next morning) that all that time they could have put in the same amount of extra work hours in at work and would have been able to get the same product they’re standing in line for.
I was disgusted when I heard people were staying in line over night at a Toys-R-Us of all places….. A Kids toy place! I mean really… stay home with your kids on Thanksgiving, they’ll love you more for it than the toy you’d stand in line for hours just to save $20 or $50 bucks.
It is sad and disgusting at the same time.
As far as sells opportunity, sure its defiantly a time to throw out some sales pitches. All holidays are advertising opportunities. Black Friday is just another “reason” for the season – of shopping. But it mostly pertains to retail chains. There are many online businesses that will try to do a “pre-Black Friday” sale in order to get the peoples money BEFORE they spend it all on Black Friday at the retail chains. This works to some degree. But I think it’s a minor degree. These people that rush in line at the stores and stay overnight there with their sleeping bags and what-not – also do it for the “experience” and thrill… and sheer stupidity. (eh hem… as you can see I’m quite perturbed over this particular day, lol)
It was pointed out just looking at the animalistic nature of these people rushing in and grabbing and fighting and hurting each other (OVER ELECTRONICS) how much worse would it be if our economy were to go through a meltdown / economic disaster. The people are just uncontrolled… and how much worse would it be if it were not a Black Friday – but a depression or terrorist attack that made us have to fend for ourselves. They’d be animals out there.. no humanity about them whatsoever. ARGh.
Sorry… venting while answering your question. Heh.
Ok, back to holiday sales.
It’d be a good idea for you to get a list of American Holidays and popular events. Any holiday or popular event is typically a advertising opportunity. Companies will find whatever holiday or “reason” they can to throw a sales pitch… and it works. Give a person a reason to shop, and many times, they will. People for the most part are followers. Very few leaders out there.. and companies are leading the followers into spending. Some are better at it than others.
Another idea you might consider is signing up for some other popular newsletter lists, especially the makeup companies.. and just keep an eye on them and their advertising. I remember you said you’re doing that with Barb, which is awesome because she really keys in on selling, she’s a leader! But each leader has their own style, so again watching and signing up for different newsletters of makeup sellers will broaden your perspectives as you learn to lead in online makeup advertising yourself.
Cyber Monday – honestly I don’t know enough about it. But my guess is that it’s online businesses trying to play catch up with the retail chains Black Friday. Christmas is right around the corner, this is the one big opportunity for business to make the most that they can in the whole entire year…. If they don’t get $$ now who knows if their business will make it through the economy slump yet to come.
In my opinion makeup sales are very different. Yes they can be used a gifts, and very nice gifts at that… but for the most part they are a daily “need” for a large portion of women. So they get makeup on a very regular basis. Especially the foundation. The eye colors can last a LOOONG time, so keeping them a fun thing is a bonus, but the main attraction is to keep the foundation well stocked so women can hide their “flaws”.
So having said all that, yes Black Friday and Cyber Monday are selling opportunities for you, I assure you, there are monthly and even bi-weekly reasons in which to advertise the need for makeup, lol.
Even sharing Australian customs and holidays with the Americans is an added bonus, what a neat thing to learn about another countries holidays and to enjoy a great sale for both American and Australian events! That’d be neat to read a short newsletter about some Australian holiday and then to find out I could get a discount off along with the Australians… I’d feel like part of the family or something, lol..
This would also be great for blogging opportunity (SEO) in which you can fill up your site with priceless keywords.
Holidays and events… it’s a company’s true romance novel.
Q: How do I take better photos of my products so they look more professional?
A: Do you have a photobox of some sort, and some good lighting? Honestly i think the photographers equipment make up about 70% of their occupation. Sadly it can be quite expensive when added up together. Home-made photo boxes cuts the cost and in some cases can do just as good a job as the professional products. But a good photo box (small and illuminates the light all around your product) with good lighting will probably help make your pictures dramatically better!
Something like this:
If your familiar with image editing using Adobe Photoshop, or PaintShop Pro, you can do some further touch-ups to the brightness and color contrast, and/or give your products a custom background and pretty shadow effect to make your product presentation more appealing.
Q: Do you suggest that a blog is the first place to start for getting traffic? I want to learn, and start with the most important place first in getting traffic to my capture page.
A: A blog is the most powerful tool for getting traffic – if you USE it. I have many clients who order my services for an ecommerce and blog and then they never end up using the blog, it becomes such a wasted investment and opportunity for them. So, if you use it, yes, it will be soooo helpful in regards to traffic.
The best thing to do is post 1-3 articles on your website a week. It should be stuff related to what you’re selling most of all… ie. Health, nutrition, oils and all that good healthy stuff. Writing about your personal experience in using them would be AWESOME… writing about some testimonials you’ve received or heard that amazed you would be great. Writing about FAQS about the oils… so many things. They can be short blog posts (articles) or long ones, the more information you post the better for SEO… but it can also burn you out quickly so keep in mind short and sweet is also good, just keep them coming in!
You may consider creating a facebook fan page as well, and every time you post to your blog you can copy the url and paste it into your facebook fanpage. In time as your fans grow they’ll be able to appreciate the info you have on fb.
You’re welcome to like & keep an eye on my pages and see how I use FB in conjunction with my blog.
It’s a good idea to watch others and learn how they do things.
If you ever get into sending out newsletters then consider signing up for newsletters of other companies with similar products, and see how they advertise to their subscribers. ?
For now, yes, get a blog and use it regularly. If possible have it on the same domain name as your website.
Looking for some feedback on your website (as well as any others)? This new tool helps you analyze and evaluate website content by showing Page Authority, keywords, page tags and other page attributes, how much is their bounce rate, etc. It’s also great for competitive analysis and content research – all helpful information that can be used to create a good website.
Many people rely heavily on their newsletter campaigns and put a lot of time, attention and detail into their newsletters yet what they fail to do is to use that WONDERFUL content rich information for their websites! Search engines LOVE information, information, information, and if you are posting a lot of information in your weekly and bi-weekly newsletters, why not copy that information and post it to a website blog??! That information can be stored up and used for your benefit as the Search Engines will recommend people to your website more and more!!!
Here’s a little guide (err… suggestion) so as to show you how to get old newsletters you’ve already written and post them to your WordPress website and/or blog.
2 suggestions to help you get the newsletters on your website.
#1 – When you write your newsletter write it in a word document first… and then copy the information over to both your newsletter and then your website. ?
#2 – if you’ve already posted the information and want to copy it from a newsletter…
- Open the newsletter you want
- Highlight all the information you want to add to your website
- Copy
- Open your notepad found on your pc under accessories
- Paste or (Control X) the content on your clipboard from the newsletter.
- If nothing is pasted in try copying and pasting one more time.
- Now all the text is in the notepad and all the coding is deleted.
- Go through the content and erase any parts that you don’t want, e.g. links that say “click here” or anything that just wouldn’t really be applicable on the website that is applicable in the newsletter.
- Now highlight and copy all your notepad info.
- Go to your website
- Create a new post
- And paste your information in.
- Add a featured image and stick a picture inside to make the news more interesting to the reader.
- You can also add bolds and paragraph breaks and other light text editing, but I don’t recommend much. Keep it readable and consistent with the website formatting.
I recommend option #1. lol
The older the newsletter the less editing I think is necessary, it’s good for the Search Engines, but probably inapplicable to the visitor at least in regards to the sales…. Having said that you want to be sure that it is clear that there’s a date deadline somewhere stated so that someone viewing the newsletter even accidentally can not later call you on it asking why the coupon code doesn’t work or what-not. Expiration dates are important to have in other words! Lol… but having all that WONDERFUL rich newsletter content will be soooo good for you! I’m sooooooo glad you’re going to give it a try!!!!
OH and yes, do the OLDEST newsletters first….. That way by the time you are caught up and posting the most current it will be shown as the most current posting and will be in correct chronological order.
My brain functions naturally in extremes, lol…. the thought process of the complete design is to captivate, familiarize and personalize the presentation…. I believe the more a person can familiarize themselves with things, the more they get involved and interested in what is being presented to them (ie. The local state or country flowers, the state or country colors, the product qualities, and then models to make it come “alive”).
While I CAN create a much more calm minimalist design, I don’t normally prefer it myself… it’s sooo less personal. (heh) no offense towards those that do like minimalist approaches.. I do have a lot of clients who prefer that…. and I do in some situations, but I have to question what the goal of the design is… and in many cases, I think personalizing is much more powerful than minimalism.
Other things to consider when deciding whether to opt-in for a minimalist store design vs. a more “fuller” store design…
Minimalists are usually drawn towards minimalist designs and away from the fuller design that provides more pictures (for obvious reasons) ? however those who are not minimalist are likely to be drawn towards a more full design where words are spelled out in pictures (ie. Category pictures and advertisements). While a minimalist might think a full design devalues the products, a person on the opposite side might feel the same thinking that the minimalist website or store design couldn’t afford to have more done to their site. I mean that in the kindest of ways. People will have differing views whether minimalist or not.
I think it’s good to consider and observe what the larger companies who have LOTS of money in which to spend on marketing gurus who’ve studied what works best in marketing strategies (website advertising tactics, layouts and appealing verbiage). Are their designs, minimalist, full of design, or a mixture of both… OR… does each one have a different taste of their own (some minimalist and some full in design. It’s good to consider the colors they use… are they dark, light, or changes with the seasons? If they change with the seasons then you really might not know unless you’re very familiar with the company, or if they put graphics that are clearly seasonal or holiday related.
Here’s a look at some top makeup companies on the web… just to have a gander what type of design they prefer:
- http://www.avon.com
- http://www.bareescentuals.com
- https://janeiredale.com
- http://www.sheercover.com
- http://www.covergirl.com
- http://www.elizabetharden.com
- http://www.revlon.com
- http://www.sephora.com
- http://www.almay.com
The shorter body designs seems to be a consistent layout. And while I prefer this shorter layout myself it does have its disadvantages to those starting out. For instance these companies don’t need to push nor pursue SEO much within their page because the higher more established companies typically pay for the top space on the search engines so they don’t really have to add as much SEO tactics such as a good amount of information, meta tags and keywords on the homepage.
I also believe having some products below the main design should help spark curiosity for the visitor (into digging deeper) as well as help with SEO by means of information and important keywords within the titles and page description. For the sake of design it looks nice shorter, but I do believe having the products below will be more productive and make you more money.
I wanted to share some sites with you (some you may already be aware of) that really help drive more traffic to your website as well as get your products more attention and in the end, more sells!
- Deviantart.com (HUGE website for all kinds of artists)
- Zazzle.com (you can make products w/your pictures)
- Twitter account
- Flickr (good for search engine optimization if you add website links in the descriptions!)
- Photobucket (same as Flickr but also helps with auction listings)
There’s a bunch more, but those are the ones I use and benefit from the most.
If you don’t already have an email account associated with your business name, now is the time! The sooner the better I say! That way when you email friends, family, customers and POTENTIAL customers it looks something like:
- support@yoursite.com
- sales@…..
- info@…..
- help@…..
- yourname@
- othername@
and beyond!
You can have this email forward emails to another email address that you’re more comfortable using if you like…. this way the email address you present (advertise) to the world looks professional and it also advertises your business for you in all your communications!
When people see crystal@madetobeunique.com – they can see my website address in it and check out my site without me even inviting them to… (this is great for correspondence with family and friends, heh). The more traffic you get on your site – whether it be friends, family or clients, the better… Search engines count your traffic and how long your traffic stays on your site.
So again, consider getting an email account with your domain name.
If you had a good hosting account for your domain name then you should have a free email account included with it. But if you want to wait on the monthly hosting fees, then a domain and email account should work very nicely for you, until you’re ready to add to add more, such as an online ecommerce. ?
Slide shows are primarily used on the homepage. They have attractive pictures or advertising banners that fade in and out. The point of the slide show is to cross-promote different products, different services, different sales, or the best points of your business…. Or in the case of makeup different skin types! If you put pictures of different skin type models in the slide show, then you can point out that your products apply to all skin types. The customer automatically knows you have what they need in the shade they need it.
I would use different skin types if I had my own cosmetics store… or maybe even both skin types and advertisements!… ie… “Pure Minerals, Purely Good for you…. ” with a beautiful model of one skin type and then “Our ingredients have this and that” on another ad with another model of a different skin type. Again, so the customer automatically knows you have what they need in the shade they need it.
So again, slide shows are for getting across multiple messages in a short span of time (fast advertising in a bling bling kind of way).
Check out my portfolio, and browse through the different live examples, the ones with flash and the ones without… And see how the flash affects the presentation. And then look around at designer websites of top brand name websites and your strongest competitors… Probably the majority of them have a slide show themselves! lol – why? because largely it works!
I wanted to share a link with you to a site that has a lot of drop shippers from all over the world. I had planned on doing this myself (along with a cosmetics online store if I ever find the time)…
However, I have some clients who sell on ebay products that are just drop ship and they do very well. Now I’ve heard some bad stories of drop shipping so you have to be very careful, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be success… and for a few of my clients it has been ongoing and profitable! ?
There’s a gazillion drop shippers available – so again, be careful if you do decide to give it a try… and I would recommend starting slow with low dollar items, just to get a “taste” of the drop shipper… if they’re timely, do they have good communication, fair prices, ect.
I purchased the lifetime membership package myself (they offered this rate when I was going to discontinue my trial… The discount I believe was over half their normal price for the lifetime membership – and I am a sucker for savings, truth be told)… I have yet to use it, but hey, when I’m ready (if) then it’s available for me. Lolll – So hey, if you give it a try, you may consider talking the price down – way down and for a lifetime membership.
How to fill a blog… Honestly I let my clients and prospect clients help guide me with that. When I answer their questions I will grab some of the content (my answers) and post it to my blog. This is great for my visitors that have the same questions, so it may save me time later on by already addressing those questions, but also for Search Engine Optimization! The Search Engines just looove all that information, information and information. So, when you have a blog, consider doing the same, post Frequently Asked Questions to your site, as they come in.
It’s good to add content regularly to your website in small even portions… like a page a day if possible. It doesn’t have to have a lot of information, but the more the merrier as far as the Search Engines are concerned! It’s okay to add a lot all at once, but I’ve seen somewhere that it’s good not to add too much all the time otherwise the Search engine red flags go up and they think you may be spamming your site with content… So gradual content added is most recommended. (of course you want to get your site filled up with products so I’m not referring to filling up your store – just addressing the notion of after your store has been filled – to keep information coming in – gradually).
There are websites that offer Free content or free articles – STAY away from these sites, the Search Engines have documented their articles and their links and will consider your website a spam website if you post these free articles on your site. I learned this the hard way… I used to be on the bottom of page 1 for Google with the keywords: ebay store design before I gave free content articles a try. It has taken me roughly 3+ years to recover because I used free articles to build my site up. BIG lesson learned!
So again, when you think about adding content to your blog/website, do it gradually and use fresh information or fresh answers to questions you receive (or questions you can think up that someone maybe searching for). Trendy stuff and beauty news is also great to add to your blog.
Made To Be Unique also offers content writing services that are written uniquely for you, so this is something also to consider when needing content rich information for important pages and posts.
I think it’s a great idea…. but I’d recommend a picture that portrays the image you want your customers to have of your business… ie. If you want to give off the image that your business is elite with designer brands and high end trendy products… then be sure to take a glamor shot showing a very professional and trendy you. If you want to give off the image that your business is more relaxed and friendly then be sure to share a picture that sends that message as well.
Now, if you wanted your business to look corporate then I’d say leave the personal pictures out and use some kind of stock photo of customer service representatives, lol…
Funny how pictures tell a story and make such an impression… but they do!
My clients vary on what they choose to put on their about me page…. I think if I were to sell clothing I would probably go for the corporate designer look. I probably wouldn’t put my picture in there. For artists though, I think they should stick their pictures in there w/out a second thought! But I have many clients who sell retail items and they choose to add their pictures in there to make the experience more personal. Soooo…. it’s something to think about, lol.
Recommendations for establishing a good business name.
Consider a name that is easy to use, starts with either A, B, or C… and don’t use numbers in the business name (yuck). It would be good to have key words in the name, ie. beauty, fashion, makeup or cosmetics; as this will help you in the search engines ratings greatly. So for a Cosmetics or fashion business you may consider something like: Cosmetics Wholesale or Beautiful You Cosmetics. (just as an example)
If you plan to sell more than just cosmetics, then don’t limit yourself by putting only cosmetics in the name consider adding something like Cosmetics Fashion and more – or Beauty Minerals and More… (shorter would be better, but it does take time to think them up, lol). But don’t put a keyword in your name unless you’re 100% sure you plan to sell that type of product (ie. fashion or makeup or eye-wear)
But again something easy to remember, has keywords, is easy to spell and early in the alphabet. When your site is added to a list if you start with A, B or C, then you’ll be more at the top of that list! You don’t have to take all the recommendations, but the more you get the easier it will be for people to remember, return and recommend!
Another important thing to consider when choosing a good business name is to check the domain name (scroll down to the bottom of the HostGator page from the link I shared, and click where it says Domain names, that’ll help you check to see if your business name has already been taken or not.
If you plan to sell on ebay then look on ebay to see if there is a store already using that name. It’s important that your business is consistent, unique, easy to remember and easy to spell, so that your customers can find you no matter where they are (ie. home, school, office, etc).
After deciding which services you’d like to hire me for based off of a custom quote I would then kindly request a full or partial payment in order to reserve time for your projects needs. After receiving payment I would then send you a questionnaire form to fill out. I will need you to fill this questionnaire out as thoroughly as you can. The more information you provide me, the better!
I will also need you to send me any pictures and/or information you want included in your design. If you do not have quality pictures that you would like me to use I would then strongly recommend you researching to find some wonderful royalty free photos from iStockphotos to be used within your design. I can help you with recommendations if needed or desired.
I’m not completely positive how long it will take for you to get back up to the top again like where your site used to be. It may be a matter of time for the search engines to re-recognize your site but there are things you can do to help it get recognized sooner rather than later.
#1 sign up with www.google.com/analytics and get your website connected so that Google can track it and the page stats. I’m pretty sure there is a place in Network Solutions that you can put an analytics code in some place probably in options or settings. (It’s been a while since I was in NS). If you can’t find the place for the code then it’d be worth contacting a NS representative to show you where to put it.
#2 start a business blog or add some more website pages for additional content. Search engines like to see fresh new content added to sites. People are looking for current news which is why business blogs are so powerful for getting great results / search engine success. So again, consider adding some more website pages or have a business blog posting some new fresh information about your products. Maybe add fresh testimonials on a new page or talk about new products.
There are more ways to get the site re-recognized such as a facebook fanpage, youtube videos that link to your website, and other social networking sites. They all take time and energy but help in regards to getting more noticed in the search engines.
Let me know if you need help with any of that. Some folks like to do as much SEO themselves as they can, and others are just too busy and need help.
—–
A few weeks later I received the following update:
Once again thanks for your ongoing help , the site has been up live again and webpage back ranking on the first page again with a number of key search words :)) thanks again !!
Website Portfolio
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Testimonials
“I needed a website upgrade badly! I had been running my site without a lot of traffic. A friend recommended Crystal and her team. Since having Crystal help me with my website, logo, and book cover, I have noticed a remarkable increase in traffic to my site.
Not only does my site look so much better, and more characteristic of my cause, it is better than I could have imagined. Crystal takes the time to make sure you are happy with the outcome! She is also just as passionate about your projects as you are.”
“Crystal is not only great at what she does, she is so easy to understand and makes something that is very complicated (websites, social media, etc) into a platform that is so understandable. Her videos on the “How To’s” of navigating my website is the best I have ever seen! Thanks again Crystal, I will recommend you for sure. Aloha and Mahalo from Hawaii!!!”
“Crystal is so easy to work with and works quickly! Hire this lady if you want a professional website done right!!”
“We could not be happier with the beautiful advertisement Crystal created for my daughter’s business. The ad has generated great revenue and many likes and attention on social media in just the few days it has been out. Crystal was a pleasure to work with and I highly recommend her services.”
– Review listed in Facebook
“Crystal designed my logo and I completely love it!!! I had the vision in my head and she exceeded my expectations with her design. She is great to work with and communicated with me regularly to make sure I was content with how the design came out.”
– Review listed in Facebook
“I have worked with Crystal for a long, long time. She was instrumental in developing one of my very first eBay stores. Today, about 15-20 years later… here we are. Crystal is a true professional who helps me with my website design and content. She is knowledgeable with SEO and I consider her a wonderful ally for my business (my secret weapon), but even better yet a good trustworthy friend.”
– Review listed in Facebook
“Crystal, just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you again for your beautiful work. The ad has generated some great revenue and many likes and attention on social media in just the few days it’s been out. You are a blessing!”
“I’m working on a display design now…… we sold a 10′ RPL display to a real estate videography company today… That is one of your listings! Good job, Crystal. Apparently it’s working.”
“Crystal designs my magazine and I love her! My customers rave about how beautiful and professional it is and can’t wait for the next issue. I know the content is good, too, but it’s the design that they talk about. Not only is she talented, but Crystal is also easy to work with, meets deadlines early and is a great communicator. I hope she always will work for me!”
“For years I thought of starting my own business. I had a vision, a plan and a purpose for doing so but was reluctant to move forward until I found a web designer who could produce the professional site I envisioned. After much searching, I found Crystal with Made to be Unique. Going with Crystal was one of the best business decisions I ever made! Crystal is a gifted graphic artist with an amazing talent for web design. She made the web design process easy and enjoyable. Fast forward four years and I am still using Crystal for her graphic and web design services. To date she has designed two Web sites, an electronic newsletter, and several LinkedIn profile backgrounds for not only me but for my clients as well. She has also created several customized graphics for my business. Crystal is a trustworthy professional with a heart of gold! I give her the highest recommendation possible.”
Dr. Jeannine Bennett
Vision to Purpose, LLC
“I hired Crystal to design the website for my voice over business and she was amazing to work with. Creative, patient, knowledgeable and incredibly flexible. I switched gears on a different design direction midway through the process and she was able to quickly and smoothly move things around to fit my specs. She has been accessible at all hours to answer my questions solve any technical problems and even created how to videos for a word press novice like myself so I could modify what she created. Can’t say enough good things about her talent and fantastic customer service!”
“I like Crystal. She took our membership website and made it go from “meh” to “WOW”, increasing membership levels almost overnight. She’s a smart lady with an eye for design. Glad we hired her.”
Thank you for your helpful advice and appreciate your excellent service.
“Made to be unique is an amazing designer! She goes out of her way to give you the best! When you hire made to be unique, you are hiring professionalism, creativity, and style on a level above all else!”
– Review listed in Facebook
“Bible Pathway Adventures’ has just launched its new website, and we couldn’t be happier with the way it showcases our ministry. Crystal was fantastic; she took our old website and turned it into a modern, colorful, user-friendly online platform that’s already experienced 100% growth in site visits and average session duration. We were extremely impressed with Crystal’s understanding of SEO. In fact, we’re already experiencing the benefits of implementing SEO-optimized content throughout the website with organic search results as a % of web traffic continuing to grow. And when there was a technical skill we needed to learn, Crystal put together short, helpful teaching videos that were easy to understand.
Post-launch, Crystal continues to help us fine-tune the website with her technical skills and awesome ideas. Crystal is amazing. She’s creative, a fantastic communicator, and lots of fun to work with. She did everything she said she would do, and in a timely way. I highly recommend her to any business and plan to work with her again in the future.”
“Just a little FYI, the website has picked up GREATLY! Orders are coming in very nicely and I am quite pleased! SO I REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE IT! You are the best, and I honestly mean that!!!!” Barb (SMM Cosmetics)
It has been awhile. Thought we’d say hello.We have gotten so many compliments over our sharp looking eBay store and template – thank you. We have grown considerably since we last spoke. Oh, I almost forgot, did Zazzle business cards too – they came out great!
The template you made has increased sales, and people comment on how beautiful a job you’ve done! I’ve looked at all the other designs you had for example but mine was the best! (I’m joking…they were all good as you know) …
Yeah, your template and store front really did the trick. I’m having trouble keeping things in my store… people keeping buying things..of all the nerve! After all that work to write things up and list them…and then they TAKE them. Well, I guess that WAS the point.
Peridot Parrot
Hi Crystal, Im not sure if you remember, but you designed our shopachu site for us a while ago… I thought I’d just tell you we finally launched the redesign! I know, I know, it took forever (we’ve been busy)…. but wow, it’s awesome…. our site view time is way up and the site looks waaaay nicer now.
Just thought I’d say thanks! Kris
I am enjoying the web site very much! On our chalk board where it typically says “try our fresh baked cookies” I just erased “cookies” and put in “website”. Everyone thinks I’m a bit nutty for being so excited about our website but I both love it and think it will be key to increasing traffic in our store. (especially on music nights because now people can check what’s playing from home)
Crystal,Your head should swell. I picked you for a reason. One of my gifts is the ability to recognize talent. You excel in creating unique designs and also understand the technical aspects of web sites. Most people are not strong in both areas. I have not seen another coin seller on eBay with a store that is even close to what you just drafted. This is going to position me to drive repeat business and develop a regular clientele. This is money well spent!
Can you please post this new price list. I had to follow your lead and raise my prices to deture too much more business… Thanks again for all your hard work.
WOW!!! Thanks a million Crystal for your great design, great service and fantastic communication. I am very pleased. Working with you was a wonderful experience and above my expectations. Thanks again… I have already referred you to all of my friends. Good luck to you.
Sincerely, Hengameh
I got my flyers in the mail today, and WOW! they are absolutely gorgeous! I hate to send them out they are sooo pretty!
Ok, thanks again!!!
You have done a great job use me…. For a reference if someone asks…
DEAR CRYSTAL, I AM EXPERIENCING A SERIOUS AND REFLECTIVE MOMENT AND NEED TO SHARE IT WITH YOU BEFORE IT PASSES… I KNOW THAT I JOKE AROUND ALOT AND CAN BE VERY SILLY… BUT THERE IS AN INTENSELY SERIOUS SIDE OF ME AS WELL AND WHILST IT IS UPON ME, LET ME TAKE A MOMENT TO TELL YOU JUST HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK… CRYSTAL, I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH YOU AND YOUR WORK. YOU NEVER LOST YOUR PROFESSIONALISM, NOT ONCE, AND MOST PEOPLE HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME DEALING WITH ME AND MAINTAINING PROFESSIONALISM… I RESPECT YOU FOR THAT IMMENSELY! DON’T EVER CHANGE.
YOUR WORK IS EXCEPTIONAL, COMING FROM A PROFESSIONAL FINE ARTIST I FEEL THAT I HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO IDENTIFY A TALENT LIKE YOURS… YOU HAVE A KEEN EYE FOR COLOR AND BALANCE… NEVER TAKE THAT FOR GRANTED. YOU KNOW YOUR FIELD AND WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW YOU QUICKLY LEARN. YOU ARE HUMBLE ALL THE WHILE GREAT! I AM HONORED TO HAVE YOU AS MY PERSONAL WEB DESIGNER… I LOOK FORWARD TO A LONG AND BOUNTIFUL CAREER FOR BOTH OF US….THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE AND ALL THAT YOU WILL DO IN THE FUTURE…. YOUR CLIENT AND FAN,
Crystal, It looks just great, I am pleased, fortunately it appears our taste is the same. The store site is really nice, I love it! thank you.
Comments Concerning Auction Templates: You were so right, listing with the template is SOO easy, it’s almost too easy, I have to watch that I don’t become too complacent.
Responding Additional Comments: By all means you any use any of my comments for your portfolio, Go for it! and what I said is really true, I remember in the beginning my inner concerns about flash and template and etc. but you were so correct it is a snap, this weekend I listed about 40 items and as I put together my system it works so much easier that I find I can actually list more than I could the old eBay way.
Everything looks sooo nice Crystal! Your work is flawless! There’s nothing I would change. You are a terrific web designer and a great artist. You have injected so much class to these pages. I am so happy that our page is going to look this classy. Your design is going to bring coin dealers web pages to a new level. I am going to be so thrilled to be on top!!! Mark was sooo right about you. You rock!!!
Comments less than a week after the design was put in his store: I have no clue what kind of magic you worked on my store but I can’t keep stuff in stock!!! Your re-design of our eBay store has been a huge success! We use to post stuff for sale and have to reduce the price sometimes within days to get any ATTENTION. We started listing full price stuff this week for inventory purposes only (the type of stuff you post to give the store more volume). I just wanted the store to look a little fuller while we get more items on inventory. Well, the stuff is just selling as it is. Buy It Now or Make Offer? No! People are just buying the stuff, PERIOD!!! Remember the high price items? Gone! The full price sets? Gone!!! I received some inventory on Tuesday, put it on sale; went to get a drink and came back, GONE!!! I look at the sales report? Sales are up more than 100% since Sunday! It is only Thursday and most of our inventory is gone!!!
What can I say, I am speechless… You really surprise me, I never thought it turn out this beautiful.
Email 5 months later: By the way, I got a lots of compliments on my store design. You really did a wonderful job. Thanks so much for everything, Sima
I probably haven’t told you how happy I am with the way you work and the quality of your work….. Any rate, I really appreciate all you’ve done…. Thanks again. I am really, really happy with the way things turned out! Feedback Left: Quick, Creative, Clever, and a Good Communicator. Couldn’t ask for better.
“Using Crystal to design my website was a great step forward for our business! Even though I was over 9000km away it was never an issue. I found that Crystals deigns to be innovative, creative and professional. After hundreds of emails, asking questions and further advice from a person like me with no previous web design knowledge, I found Crystal to be understanding and patient and very quick to resolve any queries’! It’s the best decision we’ve made in quite some time.
Crystal came up with various ideas that allowed me to choose what I liked best and with her guidance we got exactly the website we dreamed about. Our new presence on the net has substantially increased our visibility, sales and strength in the market place, we believe it’s created more confidence for our customers worried about buying online! Our site is attractive, informative and easy to navigate as well as professionally done.. I highly recommend Crystal from madetobeunique.com.” if you want to gain the competitive advantage and maintain cost effective advertising tool to reach a wider range of customers, No matter what country you are from!! Use madetobeunique.com.”
Your new template has tremendously boosted my sales. When I used to sell 15-19 items per day- now sales are more like 35- that rocks thanks to your talent. Best of all – less questions, better sell through rate, and now my auction management software does most of the work for me, so I have family time again- yea. I really want to thank you for that- God bless you! 
I started implementing the new template yesterday and it looks great! I’m so thrilled with all of the changes that have been made. I’ve noticed that sales have picked up as well. Not sure if it is a coincidence but I like to think not!
This is an unsolicited testimonial for Crystal Calhoun of www.madetobeunique.com.
My name is Vince Cordi, joint owner with my wife, Maria, of AU Beauty Blue. We live in Sydney, Australia.
After being forced to plan for early retirement due to ill-health, I was given the opportunity to set up an online store selling mineral makeup. Problem was that I didn’t have the time or knowledge to set it up myself. Hence I started “googling” web designers, and was lucky enough to stumble upon Crystal.
One night before going to bed, I decided to send her an email outlining my situation and what I needed from her. It was a long email. But that didn’t daunt Crystal. The following morning when I checked my inbox I saw her reply. It was an even longer email than mine that methodically addressed all my questions and raised numerous possibilities I hadn’t even thought of. I knew then I had found not only a web designer, but an online business consultant.
In fact, it quickly became apparent to me that Crystal was a good person to have on my side. Although she asked me to complete a survey detailing my requirements, I decided to leave the design totally in her hands. It was one of the best decisions I made. Crystal is creative, and as the name of her business suggests, “unique!” She created a great original design that we tweaked together to improve. Crystal is easy to work with and is very focused on customer satisfaction. You can see the end result of her hard work at www.aubeautyblue.com.
Crystal loves to over-deliver. The value she provides is manifold the price she charges. She designed and set up our eBay store, she designed the company logo, the auction template, our business card, and the Facebook fanpage cover. Next, I intend to hire her to create our website. If you are thinking of hiring Crystal, what are you waiting for? She has my highest recommendation.
Crystal has been known to me for over a year and I have only praise for her outstanding work. I am delighted to give her this testimonial as I can vouch for her dedicated approach, eye for detail and inspired designs.
Crystal was able to create website and logo designs that were exactly what I was after, even though I gave her sometimes incoherent direction. I knew what I wanted, but had trouble visualizing it. She was able to take my ramblings and create a motif for my logo that I LOVE!
Apart from an obvious flair for design, Crystal is meticulous in responding to emails, quick to ask for clarification and unafraid to make suggestions. Working with Crystal, you stay on track very easily because you always know where you are up to, and what you are doing next.
Both my husband and I hold Crystal in high regard and have no hesitation in recommending her for all your web design work.
Maria Cordi
Career Coach
“Crystal is a pleasure to work with. She is courteous, patient with questions, reliable, and a great communicator. We’ve been working on a project “Innocence Abandoned – Street Kids of Haiti” for over 10 years. She is very focused on the creative process. Crystal truly cares about her clients.”
Crystal is a pleasure to work with. She is courteous, patient with questions, reliable, and a great communicator. We’ve been working on a project “Innocence Abandoned – Street Kids of Haiti” for over 10 years. She is very focused on the creative process. Crystal truly cares about her clients.
– Review listed in LinkedIn
“Crystal is more than talented and creative. She takes website design to a new level of beauty! Detail oriented, aggressive in her work, a genuine desire to see your business succeed. She truly loves what she does and it shows seamlessly throughout the design from minor details to bold expressive outside the box ideas that work! I highly recommend Crystal for everything from website, eBay, Blogs, Logo Designs to Marketing, Illustrations and SEO services.”