Always write a contract
Roughly 18 months ago talks were made with a local Real Estate business in the small town of Delhi, NY about redesigning their current webpage. At first the discussion was about a possible new host provider in that their current one was not benefiting their business. I have this chip on my shoulder for clean and bold websites. Their existing design at the time though unique, was full of browser incompatibilities. An old format of flash was their primary form of navigation. The listing page was actually a separate page all together and it’s style did not match their site as a whole. I can go on and on about the designer’s flaws, but I won’t. And, there were many other questionable things they wanted to discuss about their site. They asked me to help them out and I was happy to.
Since by trade I am a building contractor I always approach a job no matter the size with a formal contract. These contracts always are discussed and re-written with the client before a signature is made from either party. Folks, always write a contract! I am so glad I did because I could have really dug myself a hole with this design. Fortunately I was dealing with very respectable people and we both saw eye to eye with the objective before us.
Here is a screen capture of the home page they had/have:
Here is a screen capture of their Listing Page (notice any similarities? Me neither):
Here is the design I came up with (beta):
This is a working demo of my design. Might I suggest you have the latest updates with your browser for best experiencing my design. Keep in mind it was/is only a beta design and not officially released.
With that said… I was paid generously for the services I had done on this template. I am disappointed we hadn’t moved forward with my design. It runs on a rather extensive MySQL database with an administration backend which makes updating and listing work like a charm. Since the economy here in NY slowed down to the consistency of frozen molasses they told me the switch over could not be done. I was saddened by their decision not because of the money, but because they have to endure what they currently have as a website, and remain with their current host. I last spoke to them back in January and it appears this project is no more. I think I will bundle this site, strip the title, and offer it as a package to other real estate businesses around the area. When viewing the current sites for real estate companies I am shocked at how poorly they’re done. I take pride in my design, and the web standard initiative.
There’s money to be had here!