Web Savvy Mama - The Blog. Web Design for Small Business. » minnesota http://websavvymama.com/blog What do you want to learn today? Web Savvy Mama answers many questions about web design and web site management. Sat, 28 May 2011 04:46:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 The Night Sky, Nature by Design http://websavvymama.com/blog/2011/the-night-sky/ http://websavvymama.com/blog/2011/the-night-sky/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:08:53 +0000 Kristine http://websavvymama.com/blog/?p=492 We all need something that inspires us, the universe inspires me! Its hard to believe that there is so much beauty around us and we often don’t take the time to stop and see it!

Late in the evening on March 1st I got a call from my husband, he was excitedly telling me to check the sky watch maps at Space Weather to see the Aurora intensity. When I pulled up the web site I mirrored his excitement and said “Heck yeah, we are so going sky watching tonight!” Since we live in Northern Minnesota we have the opportunity to see Aurora’s when they dip low enough, its not often though.

Northern Lights

What does this mean? Well, first of all the sun has to be active and when it is it sends out solar flares that can interfere with our atmosphere and cause geomagnetic storms. OK, this is the really simplified explanation, there are a lot of factors and more scientific stuff but I’m sure you don’t really want to hear all that. If you are interested check out SpaceWeather.com for more info. Our atmosphere is always slightly active but when its more active we get a nice light show of green and sometimes purple ribbons to the north. Because of the light pollution from cities most people that live in the northern areas still don’t see them. In order to catch them in Northern Minnesota we still have to go out to remote areas and use long exposure photography. On the night of March 1st we were hitting K5 to K6 for intensity, which means it was dipping low into the upper United States and perfect for sky viewing.

Canon 60D
After my husband’s call I rushed around the house packing up our photography equipment and preparing for what would be a cold cold night. I glanced at the thermometer and saw it was nearing -30 Fahrenheit in our area, brrr! At those temps you have to be especially careful with your camera equipment as well, the cooling and heating of the lenses and sensors can cause condensation that cameras and photographers hate. That’s an easy way to ruin a piece of equipment that cost more than your monthly wages!

When my husband got home we loaded up the SUV and headed for Lake Vermilion, the best place in Northern MN to view the Northern Lights. Once we got there and set up I was loving that I chose to go with the new Canon 60D as my current camera of choice, the articulating screen came in handy! When it’s that cold outside you want to be outside as little as possible. The articulating screen allowed me to use my remote shutter and stay toasty in the SUV. My poor husband had his Canon 7D with and while he has a remote shutter he couldn’t see his display and had to continually get out to make sure his shots were coming out correctly. I almost felt sorry for him.

Northern Lights

The results of our cold night and staying up until 1am were well worth it. We got some great shots of the sky and a bit of color. I will say I’m extremely jealous of those who live in even higher latitudes, such as Norway, who get an even more spectacular light show on a regular basis.

Want to see more Northern MN photography? Check out our other website.

]]> http://websavvymama.com/blog/2011/the-night-sky/feed/ 0 Requesting a web design quote http://websavvymama.com/blog/2009/requesting-a-web-design-quote/ http://websavvymama.com/blog/2009/requesting-a-web-design-quote/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:49:23 +0000 Kristine http://websavvymama.com/blog/?p=112 I thought I’d take a few moments to walk through the request a quote form to help answer any questions visitors may have while looking for web design services.

The request a quote form is located on the contact page.

Why do I ask potential clients to fill out this form? This helps me get an idea of the project and get several basic questions out of the way in the first email so subsequent emails can contain more of the nitty gritty of your actual web design needs. This helps to ensure that I understand the scope of your project and answers many of the common questions clients have when they first approach Web Savvy Mama for a web design.

*Website Address/Domain – This lets me know whether or not you have already purchased a web domain and if you already have a site started and what phase it is in.

*Type of web site (personal, business/e-commerce, informational) – Knowing what the intended purpose of the site will be for helps me decide what kinds of services you may need and what design package my fit you best.

*Design Package – I have a Package Matrix already in place to help clients pick from pre-fabricated packages and get an idea of the base price of their design before getting a quote. If you don’t know what package you’d fit into that’s fine too! I’ll be doing a post on the Package Matrix as well for more information.

*For e-commerce sites (not e-commerce, need a cart, have a cart. If have cart please list cart.) – Most small businesses want some sort of cart to sell products. It helps me to know which cart the client is interested in using or already has installed. There is an additional fee when working on some carts, while others are already built into my package matrix. Knowing what cart you are using helps me give you an accurate cart or suggest a cart that will fit your needs.

*Logo (I have a logo, do not have but want, do not need) – Now this is where most the questions come in! I generally do a followup email with more specific questions if a client is asking for a logo. If you know what you are looking for then feel free to add that information. Already have a logo to work with? Great, let me know that as well.

*Colors – We all have our favorites! If you are not sure about a color palette I can help you there as well.

*Total pages anticipated – This mostly applies to non-cart sites, aka straight HTML sites. This can also apply to sites where the client would like me to load the content for them. If you just want a site design integrated onto a cart or blog, then you can usually ignore this question.

*How internet/HTML savvy are you? (none, some, very) – Have you used online editors before? Can you code from scratch? Are you familiar with FTP? If you just said “Huh? What are you talking about?” Then you can answer none here. Some clients are pretty web savvy and just need a template to integrate themselves, others need my help with integration. This just helps me figure out what level of web design you are going to need and makes sure I provide you with the best setup that will meet your needs.

*Website examples you’d like to show me? – Now we’re talking. I’m sure you’ve seen sites and said, “Wow, that’s so my style!” Or parts of a web site that you really clicked with, perhaps the layout or navigation. Maybe you saw a site that you know you DON’T want yours to mimic in layout or style. Let me know! I’ll take your preferences and work my magic into a design that’s truly you!

*Do you need any of the following services? (yes/no)
*Banner? – These are advertising banners displayed on web sites.
*Extra Graphics? – Things like catalog buttons, or photo editing that may not be included in some packages.
*Blog? – Want a matching WordPress blog integrated?

*Anything else I should know? – If you want to share more details about your project, stick them here.

*How did you hear about Web Savvy Mama? I like to know how my clients are finding me. Another site? Google? This helps me see where I need to work and what is working for my site as far as SEO!

Above all, if you have questions, ASK! There are never any bad questions.

July 2009

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