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 – 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.

Palmerworks had a productive 2010. We were busy all year developing sites, creating company logos, and providing print media for entrepreneurs and established professionals.

We had the pleasure of meeting some great people who’ve created successful businesses. Please take advantage of their services.

911 Set Medics – provides the Michigan film industry with the highest-trained professional EMS personnel for commercial, TV, and film production. We developed their site, blog, logo, and business cards.

Everlast Asphalt – a Canton, Michigan-based provider of residential and commercial asphalt services. Palmerworks developed a 5-page site, logo, and business cards.

The Word of Truth Church and Ministries – a thriving church in Warren, Mich., presided over by church founder, Dr. Robert E. Garner. We developed their site and incorporated two blogs for updates from the pastor and about church events. We also set up their Facebook, Twitter, and helped them with other social networking services.

Trotter Strategies – a Washington, D.C.-based firm headed by veteran lobbyist Tom Trotter, provides Congressional consulting, strategic advice, and issue advocacy. We provided a one-page “business card” site, logo, and business cards.

American CME – provides web-based continuing medical training with documentary-style training videos and online testing. We created a 5-page site, blog, logo, and set-up and integrated the learning management system. (As of March 2011, American CME has moved to “moodlerooms” as their new hosting provider. The original design is by Palmerworks, but writing and information is not by our company.)

Ostlund Plumbing – Ostlund Plumbing and Heating, Inc., has been a part of the community for more than 50 years, completing hundreds of projects in the southeastern Michigan area. We designe their 5-page site with photo gallery, plus their logo and business cards.

Fire Ground Review – is a first responder modified version of the military’s After Action Review used by fire departments to become more effective and create a safer working environment for personnel. We developed a 5-page site, blog, logo, and business cards.

Marsha Westfall – is an aspiring teacher in southeastern Michigan. We created an online resume/portfolio that showcases her credentials and teach philosophy.

Access Christian Counseling – is a private outpatient clinic offering a variety of services in Southfield, Michigan. We developed a 5-page site, blog, and print flyers, and provided photography services.

Ultimate Hair Removal/Body Beautiful – Located in Farmington Hills, Mich., Body Beautiful LLC specializes in laser and electrolysis hair removal, with 15 years of hair removal experience. We took her existing flash-based site and redeveloped it in html.

Jamy K – Jamy Krulikowski is mutli-talented actor, film and video editor, writer, and motion graphic artist living in surburban Los Angeles. We developed an online portfolio/bio and business cards.

Palmerworks is also honored to help whenever we can. We donated hosting to a site dedicated to supporting fallen Grand Rapids Firefighter Bryan Blattert.

This year is off to a great start. New in 2011:

The Initiative – We’re finishing up a site for a new company that specializes in property management services for homeowners, commercial investors, and small businesses.

Gordie’s Cards – Gordie Roedding creates original, hand-drawn greeting cards for any occasion, event, or holiday. We’re putting the finishing touches on his 5-page site.

Bass Pimp – Palmerworks is developing a one-page site offering t-shirts from local musician, Gordon Spencer.

District 48 Apparel – We’re developing a website, blog, and online cart for a local Carhartt reseller.

Cyndi’s Cakes – Cyndi Berger has been creating beautiful cakes for more than 35 years. We’re developing a 5-page site and blog showcasing her talents.

Check back often to see our progress. We’re thankful to all our clients and look forward to another successful and productive year.

Palmerworks provides affordable, professional web design and specializes in personalized service.

Access Christian Counseling is a private outpatient clinic offering a variety of services in Southfield, Michigan. Their team of licensed Christian therapists facilitate the healing process for spiritual, psychological, and emotional growth by combining biblically based principles with psychological concepts.

The clinic director, Dr. Charles Capicchioni, wanted to update their website with a new, more welcoming look. We softened the colors, added photos, and incorporated a mountain view to coordinate with the business cards and brochures they already had. The result: accesschristiancounseling.com.

The original site had harsh, red tones that didn’t seem very warm or inviting.

The site we developed was our standard five-page package, which includes domain name, hosting for one year, and a blog. We really enjoy helping our clients, and wrote two “starter” blogs. Rick also updated their Men’s Group flyer, which we added as a blog graphic.

Palmerworks always customizes sites to our clients’ needs, and this site includes biographies of staff members. We’ll update it next month when we receive staff pictures.

We’d like to thank Dr. C. for choosing us to develop his new look. He is definitely a man who cares about his staff and clients, and he was a joy to work with.

We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Shelly Raitz for recommending us for the job.

Purchase a complete web package for your company, including domain name, hosting, and blog, for under $500. Contact Rick or Katherine at Palmerworks Design, today. We offer professional design with personalized service.

Palmerworks can do more for your company than design websites. If you already own an older site, call us to help you revamp and/or update it. Our latest client, Maria Gorton, is the owner of Body Beautiful LLC, a hair removal salon in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She had two sites and a unique problem.

Maria already owned a gorgeous site called bodybeautifulllc.com. The site was created in Flash, using custom-designed graphics that complement the colors and style of the decor in her beautiful new business location.

However, Maria also owns an older site named ultimatehairremoval.com — a simple home-made template site. She wanted to retain the old site, because it has a great, catchy name, with good search relevance, and it brings in lots of hits. Howevever, the site definitely lacked the professional allure of the Body Beautiful site.

After pondering the options, we decided to replace the “simple” site with a mirror image of  the beautiful Flash site, using  html instead of Flash. Rick honed his css design skills and recreated the entire Flash site graphic by graphic. The results are amazing. The new site retains the elegant look without using Flash, and also has a few improvements. We added a blog, a photo page, simpler navigation, an easy-to-access contact form, and we added the location’s address to every page. Take a look at the new ultimatehairremoval.com site.

As an added bonus, Maria received one year of hosting with her redesign. After canceling her old provider, Maria ended up paying the same price for the entire redesign plus hosting as she was already paying for hosting alone! We took care of the transfer for her, so it was a stress free “move.”

If you already own a site that needs updating, or have other unique web or print design needs, call us at 734-252-WEB1, or email info@palmerworks.com. We offer personalized service and will take care of all your design needs.