I am so excited about the status of the portfolio site, which I’m using as a final project in my Web Development class, and I haven’t even written a line of code yet.
It has a name, an architecture, and a color scheme. I’m delighted with how my two classes are intersecting; this week’s assignment in the Writing for PR and Marketing course has inspired me to compose mission and purpose statements for the new venture.
I’m excited about this marketing tool, and about the prospect of self-marketing. I feel enthusiastic about the firm end-of-semester (May 10) deadline to have it up and running, on the school server initially, then via a hosting service.
I can’t wait to build a base. I have three friends lined up as my first “pro bono” (“pro experience” may be more apt!) clients already, with three very different deliverables:
- an area-of-expertise blog utilizing some sort of moveable type/wordpress/typepad-type platform. I’ve been blogging for seven years, but never independently of a babysteps host (livejournal, blogger, etc.), so it will be fun and educational. Also very hands-on for me, with probable future maintenance, and certainly lots of color, loads of design, a tight working partnership with a knows-what-she-likes kind of gal who has been my bedrock for the better part of a dozen years.
- a massive overhaul/redesign of an existing artist’s portfolio site. It’s very basic, very obsolete, loads of possibilities. The artist will likely be the primary content manager. His work is almost exclusively black-and-white, and the current site is exclusively b/w, so I may try to convince him to play with color.
- a marketing/publicity site for a very active, almost-famous writer/rocker, who also happens to be my best friend. He’s had his domain name registered for years, and desperately needs content. He’s currently operating his mini-empire via myspace—and his landing page does not direct visitors to his myspace. This is huge, ambitious, will involve bios, headshots/press photos, updates for press clippings/gig notices, probably flyer design and downloads, audio/video, plus a full blog (more likely at least two), so basically the works. It will likely be maintained either by me or by his occasional assistant. I want all three sites up and running by the end of the summer. I’m taking an XML course in June and July, and would like one of these projects to represent my deliverable for that class.
Things are happening.
