Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend. If you’re like me, you thought spring would never get here.

Don’t forget to move your clock ahead one hour, Sunday, March 10th, at 2 a.m. Of course, since our iPhones, Androids, tablets, Macbooks, and PC’s take care of themselves, the process gets easier every year.

If you’ve been debating about whether to purchase a website for your small business, now is a great time. For the rest of this month, if you buy a complete (5-page) web package for only $475, you’ll get an extra year of hosting (a $75 value) at no charge.

Our complete website package includes:

• A five-page site
• Domain name
• Up to 5 email addresses
• Content written for you
• A custom-designed logo
• Keyword-rich content
• Google analytics
• Links to your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts
• One year of free hosting

PLUS ONE MORE YEAR OF HOSTING – if you order your site by March 31, 2013. You won’t pay for hosting until April 2015!

Spring into this great deal. Call Rick or Katherine at 734-252-9321 and ask about the Spring Ahead special, today.

Nothing will make customers leave your site faster than reading misspelled words and bad grammar. Think about it. When you visit a well-known “big name” site, do you find shoddy grammar or spelling errors? Sites with poor grammar, a variety of fonts, and spelling errors look unprofessional and do nothing to promote your product or service.

Take a few minutes to look over these common grammar errors. Do you know the correct usage of these terms?

• Their, there, they’re
• Lose vs. loose
• It’s vs. its
• Affect vs. effect
• Then or than?

Do you use random apostrophes? People often confuse plurals with possessives, a common error that can be seen on signs, ads, and websites.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White is an excellent book that explains the nuts and bolts of grammar. I recommend it if you plan to write content for your own site and/or blog.

If you aren’t sure if your site is up to snuff, or if you decide to revamp your site, give Palmerworks a call. We design and host websites, and writing the content is part of the package. We also provide blogging services.

Call 734-252-9321 to schedule a free consultation.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Everyone have a safe and happy New Year!

Katherine and Rick
Palmerworks Web and Print Design
www.palmerworks.com 

We stop at a neighborhood restaurant in the morning to have breakfast. A couple of times a week, the back room is filled with people attending a local chapter meeting of a business networking organization. I know this much because there is a large poster in the restaurant lobby.

It sounds interesting, and I wish I knew more about the organization. There is a rack card holder on the poster’s left, and a business card holder on the right. They are always empty.

I Googled the organization’s name on my smart phone to find out more about the meeting. After half a dozen screens, on a not too mobile-friendly website, I finally found information about the chapter.

Why did they make it so difficult? It didn’t have to be that way.

Marketing begins with the small stuff. That rack card holder should be replenished regularly. The same with the business card holder. Thousands of restaurant customers a day pass right by those empty holders. By leaving them empty, the organization is missing a golden advertising opportunity.

As a business owner, remember not to overlook the small details. You have to grab every opportunity you can to market your business or organization in order to get your name and information out to the public. A simple 4×9 rack card is inexpensive, yet can easily share a plethora of valuable information about your services.

Let Palmerworks help. We can create a user-friendly website where customers can easily access information on their smart phones. We can also design your rack cards, business cards, and other marketing materials to draw in more new clients.

Take advantage of our personalized service. Call 734-252-9321 today to schedule a free consultation, or visit our website for more information.

GARDEN CITY, Michigan – (September 20, 2012) – Palmerworks Design, a Garden City, Michigan-based, web & print design company, is celebrating its tenth year in business.

Rick and Katherine Palmer founded the company in 2002 after years of providing free design and writing services to friends and acquaintances. They soon found a ready-made market for their services in the small business community, with owners who wanted to get their businesses online at an affordable price. For ten years, they have designed and hosted websites and provided print media for local individuals and companies.

“We pride ourselves on personalized service,” said Rick. “Many of our clients have tried do-it-yourself web design companies and found that template-driven sites are unprofessional looking, take up a lot of their time, and are a waste of money.

“Unlike many web design companies, we help our clients create written content for their sites. In addition to developing a website for a client, we can design a business logo, and take care of all the technical details, like domain name, hosting, email setup, and even integrating your company Facebook page. We enjoy getting to know our clients, and we take an interest in seeing that their businesses succeed.”

Rick says many of their clients transferred existing sites to Palmerworks after being unable to reach their former designers for updates and other services.

“We are not is not a fly-by-night company. We’ve been in the business for ten years, and plan to be around for a long time. When you need changes to your site, due to price increases, employee turn around or other issues, we’ll have those updates done within the week,” says Palmer.

Palmerworks also designs and produces newsletters and other print materials for small businesses.

The future looks promising for Palmerworks. “We plan to keep growing the company,” said Rick, “and we’re going to focus on helping business owners develop ecommerce sites. We’ll bring the same level of personalized service and affordable pricing to that aspect of web development.”

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Palmerworks Design is offering a complete 5-page site for 10% off until the end of October 2012. Visit their website (palmerworks.com) to learn more about their web and print services, including business cards, monthly newsletters, and brochures. For a free consultation, call 734-252-web1, or email info@palmerworks.com.

Palmerworks Design, Garden City, MI 48135
734-252-web1
www.palmerworks.com

Contact: Katherine Palmer

Caprara Bakery in Southgate, Michigan, is owned by Tony and Fran Antonelli. The bakery has been in the family for more than 50 years. They offer a full Italian grocery and deli filled with imported Italian and domestic lunch meats and cheeses, plus Italian and domestic wines.

Tony knows that every business needs a website nowadays, so he gave us a call. We worked with him to design a website that tells the history of the bakery, plus highlights his products, menus, and photos. The result is caprarabakery.com. Click the image below for a closer look.

We enjoyed meeting and working with Tony and Fran. We especially liked the perks: some yummy traditional Italian and meatball subs for lunch, and a delicious unbaked pizza to pop in the oven after a long day at work. Visit Caprara Bakery and try some for yourself. Don’t forget to pick up some pepperoni rolls while you’re there.

If your business needs a website, call us at 734-252-WEB1. We’ll meet with you to discuss your needs and get started on designing the perfect website for your company’s needs. Our five-page sites, including domain and hosting for a year, start at $475.

The great thing about the internet is that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to getting your business noticed. Your company can have a professional website that rivals larger companies and franchises, even though your business is based from your humble home.

Potential clients can access information about your products, services and expertise from one visit to your website. They can find your contact information and request information using an online form.

If you sell products, you can even let customers order online using any major credit card, just by using your Paypal account and linking it to an “order now” button on your site.

Best of all, your new site could pay for itself once you’ve offered your customers easier access to your products or services.

Call Palmerworks today at 735-252-WEB1.

We can design a professional-looking and affordable site for your home-based business – and design your logo and business cards, as well. We offer personalized service and we’re always available to help, even after the site is launched.

Yes, the shoemaker’s children often go barefoot. We’ve been so busy with new web and newsletter clients, that we haven’t had time to launch our own newly designed site.

We finally took a few days to get our own site up and running. It’s chock-full of information highlighting some of our sites, new products, our credentials and experience, and the personalized service we provide.

We’re no longer just a web design company; we also provide print design, like brochures, and business cards. Plus we’ve branched into writing and editing services, including manuscript editing, blogging, and newsletters.

Please take some time to check out our new site, and let us know what you think.

Chris from C&C Countertops and Home Improvement in Westland gave us a call. He needed a website that advertised his company’s home remodeling business. The company started out doing countertops, but now they offer complete residential and home improvement services.

Rick decided that a rotating carousel on the front page would quickly convey the fact that they do all sorts of remodeling projects. Take a look at the result.

Palmerworks takes care of ALL the details necessary to get your site up and running.

The company needed a logo that reflected their many services. We created one and incorporated the logo into the look of the new site.

Next, we wrote the content, implemented the front page carousel, scanned company photos, created a photo gallery, developed a contact form, and also set up a new gmail address to receive client inquiries.

Technical details included purchasing the new domain name, hosting the site, setting up emails with the new domain name, and making sure the site is search-engine friendly. The next week will be spent listing the new site in online directories, linking it to Facebook and Linkedin, and submitting the site map to search engines.

Besides creating the new site, we also designed new company business cards and found Chris a local t-shirt shop where he ordered new shirts with logos for the crew. And the whole project took about 2 weeks.

Palmerworks knows that most business owners are too busy to take on more responsibility. Let us develop your new website and take care of all the details, while you run your business.

Five-page sites, with domain name and hosting – $475. Call 734-252-WEB1 for a free consultation.

It was a banner year for Palmerworks on many levels.

The company filed Articles of Organization and became a Michigan Limited Licensed Company.

Rick retired from his day job to work full time on the business. Since September 1st, he has been making the rounds of local shop owners explaining the benefits of a good website. His work has paid off. He’s signed up many new clients, including a local dentist, two restaurants, and a “budding” entrepreneur.

Our services have expanded. We’ve added a new division: Palmerworks Corporate Services provides newsletters and other communication media utilizing our writing, editing, and design expertise.

New clients in 2011:

d48shop.com [site in progress] – The year began with our first online shopping cart, created for District 48 Apparel, a Carhartt reseller.  The company had some major catalog revisions and merchandise updates that are still in the works, but the site is projected to launch next month.

basspimp.com – Straight out of 5-String Township, Michigan, Gordon Spencer, aka The Bass Pimp, is the first bassist to call if you make music in Detroit. This site incorporates his music, pictures, and best-selling Basspimp tshirt.

ndcaps.com – New Direction Counseling, in Southfield, offers a variety of classes, resources, and services. Their dedicated group of professional therapists offer evidence-based treatment in providing individual, group, and family counseling.

murphydentalcare.com [site in progress] – Dr. Edward Murphy, DDS, is a Livonia family dentist.

beachbudd.com [site in progress] – The BeachBudd is a highly inventive tanning lotion applicator designed by a local entrepreneur.

cornedbeefrestaurant.com [restaurant has closed, but you can see the site we designed here] – The Corned Beef House is a local diner in Westland, Michigan, that serves up the best corned beef in town. The owner wanted his menu on a simple one-page site.

thegreekflame.com [site in progress] - Greek Flame Coney Island is a diner located in Garden City – we’re providing a menu redesign and website.

Palmerworks offers more than web design

Palmerworks Corporate Services is a new division of our company that offers a variety of business solutions, including:

• Digital and print newsletters
• Writing, editing, and proofreading
• Press releases
• Business letters
• Speech writing
• Ad copy
• PowerPoint presentations
• Print and online resumes
• Branding strategies, SEO, and more.

Print services – We continue to design business cards, stationery, signs, posters, and brochures for our web clients. Once a website establishes the company look, we design print brochures, letterhead, and business cards that incorporate the logo, colors, and domain name.

Blogging and other digital services – No time to blog? Palmerworks writes bimonthly blogs, as well as Facebook and LinkedIn page updates for several clients.

Search engine optimization – We realize clients need help with website promotion. Palmerworks has added more services: we’ll help you list your new site in online directories, start your Facebook page, and help you discover other SEO strategies, all as part of our typical web design package.

Contact Palmerworks today for your new website  – or let us design your newsletter or brochure. Email info@palmerworks.com or call 734-252-WEB1.