Or …

You’ve been in the industry for several years and have decided to market your services to higher class of clientele. You’ve raised your prices and had your photos taken. Your next step is to have your website re-designed.

Where to start? There are at least a dozen designers that cater to the escort industry. Which one to choose?

There are many companies that offer web design, but not all of them are familiar with escorts. When it comes to building a website, or hiring someone to build a website, escorts have a whole different set of requirements and criteria that be considered. First and foremost is the discretion factor; the companies you deal with must be discreet and aware that there are precautions that must be considered when setting up an escort website. Additionally, YOU are the product that is being marketed; trying to sell a service that is so highly personal is different than trying to sell a product or even a mainstream service. You should try to find a designer who, if not skilled at designing sites for escorts, at least understands the business. It is also to your benefit to make a list of what you’ll expect your website to do for you before you start emailing design companies or filling out estimate forms.

• Do you need web hosting? A domain name?
• What kind of personality are you trying to project? Fun, flirty, sophisticated – maybe a little nasty?
• What type of client are you trying to attract?
• Do you want to have your clients contact you through a form?
• Are there specific features that you’d like to have on your site? Wishlists are popular. Calendars, nice photo galleries and newsletters are other popular features that some providers choose to have on their sites
• Can/will they design a mobile friendly version of your site?

Also, make a list of websites that you like, whether for their color, their layout or because they have a specific feature that you would like to have on your own site. If you have a general idea of the kind of site you’re looking for, and you have examples of what you like, it’ll be easier for you find the right design company.

One good way to find a designer is to ask the owners of sites that you like who does their site. Drop them an email, most people who are happy with their sites and their designer are more than willing to share the information. If you belong to any forums or boards or groups, ask the other members who they might recommend. Many sites have links to their designers on them somewhere as well.

Once you have a list of possibles, take a look at their portfolios. If a designer is serious, they’ll have an online, easily accessible portfolio. Do the sites in the portfolio look professional? Do you like the designer’s style? Are their sites fresh and unique, or do they look like a hundred other sites? Can they design a memorable site for you, one that will stand out from all the others?

Ask for, and contact the designer’s references. Consider it a red flag if they hesitate to send let you contact current/previous clients.

Something else that absolutely MUST be taken into consideration when hiring a website designer is their personal view on copyright issues. You don’t want to get involved with a designer who “borrows” script and code from other people who’ve worked hard to develop them.

Before making a decision, be sure that the designer understands the finer points of designing for the escort industry. It’s important, for safety’s sake as well as for the basic but very necessary issue of anonymity, that a provider’s site be registered so that their identity isn’t easily found. Many providers also prefer that their photos be altered so that they aren’t easily recognizable. Look for a designer that understands and can accomplish these things.

What a design company charges has been discussed here before. Because websites are as unique as their owners, there is actually no such thing as an average price. Price is something that MUST be determined on a site-by-site basis. As always, buyer beware. You get what you pay for, but sometimes you can get tricked into paying for more than what you really need. Unless you’re looking to set up a paysite, with thousands of pictures, dozens of videos and an extensive private area, a basic 5-7 page site is more than sufficient for the average provider’s advertising needs. Remember that you are paying for a designer’s time and expertise, much the same way your client’s pay for your time and experience.

If you intend to update content regularly, ask whether (and how much) the designer charges for that service and how long it takes.

While it may not seem that important, try to find someone that you feel comfortable with. You want to work with someone who does their best to answer your questions and who makes a point of listening to you. Your designer should keep in touch with you on a fairly regular basis during the building of your site. You don’t have to best friends with your designer, but you do want someone who will respond to your phone calls or emails in a timely manner. If you find yourself feeling that you’re being talked down to or taken advantage of, it might be time to get out of the situation.

Bottom line is that you’re looking for a designer that can create a site that reflects you in an attractive, alluring manner, that is easily found by the search engines and does exactly what you want and need it to do.

This post was originally written on Friday, April 14, 2006. You can find a plagiarized copy of it here and here which were posted September 20, 2010 and December 14, 2006 respectively.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Prostitution, which is illegal nationwide except for a few counties in Nevada, continues to create problems for communities and law-enforcement agencies. A new study by an economics researcher at the University of Arkansas analyzes the U.S. prostitution market and provides policy recommendations to increase safety for women and communities and help government agencies regulate or enforce “the oldest profession.”

[ read more ... ]

I have always taken great pride in offering top-notch customer service, no matter what job I held. “Under-promise & over-deliver” has always been my motto.

I’d like to clarify what is included with customer service if you are a current HHD client or thinking of becoming a client of HHD.

I perform FREE maintenance for all clients on Thursdays and Fridays. Free maintenance consists of banner and link exchanges and basic text changes. “Basic text” means 2-3 lines of text, NOT complete pages.

As is clearly stated on my Policies & Procedures page, as well as in every client’s welcome letter:

(If you have chosen the option of taking care of your own site) It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the way your site works. I provide step-by-step instructions for the areas of your site that you can update yourself (your calendar, photos, etc.) and recommend that you ASK for these instructions, then PRINT these instructions so as to follow them easier. I am also here to help whenever you need me, but be aware that “helping” is different than doing it for you.

and:

Your inability to understand HHD’s policies and procedures IS NOT considered poor business practice on my part. I make a concentrated effort to explain every expectation and procedure to you before and during the creation of your project; my expectations of you as a client are VERY clear. I will not be held accountable if you fail to understand how the process works.

and finally:

Your inability to understand how your site works even after explanation from me IS NOT considered malfunction. However, in the event that your website is in-operational due to a mistake on my part, I WILL make repairs at no additional charge.

I will always stand behind my work and do my best to make taking care of your site as easy as possible.

What I can’t do is be expected to TEACH you how to take care of your site beyond the detailed instructions and links to other informative sites that I’ve already offered.

When a potential client expresses the wish to take care of their own site, I am going to assume that once the site is created, they will be able to take care of their own site.

This post is not meant to insult any current or future clients of HHD; it is merely clarification (and a reminder) of what is already stated elsewhere on this website.

Designing your site so that its viewable in all FIVE of the big browsers is difficult, but it can be done. It takes a bit of time and tweaking and testing, but if you’re a serious professional, it’s one of the top three most important things about your website.

It may surprise you to know that Internet Explorer is NOT the King of the Mountain anymore!

As of September 2010, Firefox is the leader with 45% of the Internet’s viewers. IE comes in second with 31% and Chrome has 17% of the viewing public. Opera and Safari bring up the rear tied at 3% each – you can check the stats here –

Internet Explorer, especially older versions, does NOT play well with web standards. Your site may look great in IE, but seriously AWFUL in Firefox and Chrome. Worse, and I have seen this over and over with some of the free sites (email me and I’ll let you know the worst offender) you site will not show up at ALL.

Period.

Think of it. All the hours of work you put into your site. Pages of seductive writing. A beautiful gallery. You point a viewer toward your site and he gets …

The black screen of death.

Of course, you KNOW what happens then. He moves on to the next gal on the list.

Why? Because your site was designed with free software that isn’t up to web standards. You don’t HAVE to design keeping web standards in mind, but remember you could be alienating nearly FIFTY PERCENT of the viewers who come to your site.

Can you afford that?

I mean, I know technically it should be about design-related and industry issues and I’ve tried mightily, but because I’ve been personally blogging online since 1997 (yes, REALLY), I can’t get over the urge to blog personally here.

So I get started on an on-topic post and suddenly find myself veering off into Personalland.

To make matters worse, I have slacked off in my personal blogging since I started designing websites for escorts (six years ago), so one of my biggest outlets has suffered.

Pondering …

If you have a request that you want taken care of BEFORE Thursday, you WILL be charged my regular $30/hr fee, paid in advance, before you are added to the bottom of my current project list.

If you have a request that must be taken care of immediately, you WILL be charged the $60/hr “Rush Rate”.

As always, any emergency situation that puts a client in danger and jeopardy takes precedence over all.

We have all been affected by the economy. Your cost of living has been affected, just as mine has. Everyone loses potential clients when our website is operational (unless of course we are doing OTHER advertising besides our website, which we should be). I have many of the same bills, expenses and responsibilities that you do.

Your rates are non-negotiable. So are mine.

I have three clients who charge less than $250/hr. It takes me nearly TEN HOURS to make what the rest of you make in ONE HOUR.

Am also getting fired up for my 4th of July giftie to myself: Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd @ Summerfest in Milwaukee! Whoo-hoo.

This will be the third time I’ve seen each of them – first time together.

Yay – go me!