If you randomly select five website design/development vendors across the United States, chances are, you’ll receive five bids that each perfectly fit into the above categories. So, what do you do? Go with the cheapest? Seems right, but let’s take a minute to work through this together…

With free options or close to free options, you’ll need help implementing them. More than likely, you’ll enlist a high school, college, or recent college graduate with limited professional experience to help you out. The limited professional experience is a little red flag that should help you decide very quickly not to invest the time or financial resources in that person. Even if they offer to do it “FREE” or close to it, walk away. I can’t tell you the number of times people have called Presley Design Studio in a panic because their FREE option didn’t hold up their end of the deal - they missed their deadline and they have no one there to hold their feet to the fire. So, calls went unreturned. E-mails unanswered. And you find yourself firmly placed on the really hot back burner… and it’s boiling all your potential business away…

So, where does that leave us in the list? We have cheap, competitive, and four-year college tuition equivalents. When evaluating and researching the cheap vendors, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

- Do they provide designs that stand out above my competition or do all their designs look alike?

- Do they have satisfied clients?

- How long have they been in business? Will they be here tomorrow after I pay my half down?

- Do they have a proven track record of staying on time and on budget?

While each question is vitally important to your decision, the last question is imperative! Your cheap vendors might start out that way, but after tagging on all the “extras,” they just might end up as a college tuition vendor in sheep’s clothing.

Unless you have a HUGE budget, chances are the latter vendor is out. Even if you do have that huge budget, consider matching the competitive vendors with the college tuition vendors. You’ll find that they can provide the same Cadillac product at a nice little mid-sized SUV price. That extra dough can get you additional marketing and advertising opportunities, including design pieces that will just move your company further along - instead of theirs.

Where does Presley Design Studio fall? Heather runs her business pricing strategy according to her Grandfather’s wise advice. According to the late Floyd Kennell, “You don’t want the cheapest or the most expensive house on the block. For the best return on your investment, you want to choose what’s in between.” As you can see from our website portfolio at http://presleydesignstudio.com/web-design-portfolio, our client base is literally nationwide. Our company has been around for a while. Earlier this year, we celebrated our seventh year in business. We’re here and we’ve been here. We are accountable to each and every client. We answer our phones, respond to our e-mails, and don’t let your website modifications go incomplete for months on end. We form a partnership with our clients. If they succeed, we succeed. Our pricing structure is extremely competitive in the marketplace. Sometimes we price higher than others, sometimes lower. We remain consistent regardless of the client or the client’s pocketbook. Additionally, our team has produced award-winning designs, pushing our client’s image well above their competition. Presley Design Studio makes sense. And, if I may be a little cheesey, we also make “cents”.

CENTRAL TEXAS AD FIRMS TAKE DISTRICT AWARDS, BY DON BOLDING, KILLEEN DAILY HERALD

Two firms in the American Advertising Federation in Central Texas took prizes at the recent district ADDY competition - Preley Design Studio of Belton and Randy McCauley Designs of Killeen.

Presley Design took a Silver ADDY award for a Website design for Hat Creek Burger Co. of Austin, and McCauley received a Bronze prize for a CornerStone Catering logo.

“We were very proud to have won two awards for such a small group,” Randy McCauley of Randy McCauley Designs said of the multi-state competition. “No other groups our size even came close.

About my own award, I didn’t design it with an eye to winning prizes. I just don’t want anything in my portfolio that doesn’t work for my clients, and I do every design with the same care I would take if I were doing it for myself.”

McCauley is president-elect of AAF-CT. He said Randy McCauley Designs is on the back burner for a while because he is the new marketing director for Tarleton State University - Central Texas. McCauley still qualifies for any AAF position since membership is open to anyone connected with advertising, public relations or marketing.

“We were very excited to work with the Hat Creek project. Our goal was to give tribute to the classic 1950s-style diner but with a new twist,” said Andrea Crosswhite of Presley Design.  “(Hat Creek) serves the classic all-American burger, and they need a website that not only shows their retro style but also has an ‘Americana’ feel.”

ADDY competitions start at the local level, and Gold ADDY winners are automatically entered at the next level, from local to district and then national. Silver and bronze winners may enter the next level if they want, but neither Presley nor McCauley plan to take that step.

Presley Design Studio’s Hat Creek Burger Web site shows the company’s retro style.

1. BEST IN SHOW: Interactive Media for www.hatcreekburgers.com
2. GOLD: Interactive Media for www.hatcreekburgers.com
3. BEST IN SHOW: Print for University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Opera Poster
4. GOLD: Print for University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Opera Poster
5. GOLD: Interactive Media for www.presleydesignstudio.com
6. SILVER: Interactive Media for www.pinetopcc.com
7. SILVER: Print for Temple Independent School District Brochure
8. BRONZE: Interactive Media for www.texaspikes.com
9. BRONZE: Interactive Media for www.rapecrisis.com
10. BRONZE: Interactive Media for www.dunawaypr.com

The GOLD and BEST IN SHOW entries will move on to the district competition in April.

The ADDY Awards bring in over 60,000 entries annually and are considered the largest and toughest advertising competition. With 200 member advertising clubs and fifteen districts, The American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association, conducts the ADDY Awards on an annual basis.

900% Increase in Unique Visitors

As a case study, we have been working over the past few months to optimize our own site. Even in a span as short as 2 weeks, we noticed that the number of daily visitors increased steadily and dramatically. Over a period of 3 months, we saw a roughly 900% increase in the number of unique visitors that came to our website - even though our site had already been on the internet for approximate 4 years prior to this experiment. When looking at our site’s ranking for certain search terms in Google and MSN, we found that, while all search terms saw an increase in rank for search engines, some keywords saw as much a 20,000% improvement. That means that we went from page 19 in Google to page 1! Our work with the Presley Design Studio site is ongoing and we are constantly seeing improvements in the amount and quality of traffic that is being attracted to our site.

Our clients who have already opted for our Search Engine Optimization services have seen dramatic increases in traffic to their sites as well! One of our clients who sells products directly from their website has seen 600+ visitors a month and watched that figure steadily rise – even with our most basic SEO package!

Why create a website if no one goes to it? We can make sure that your site gets seen by all the right people! Contact us today about increasing your site traffic!

When you walk into the lobby of Kidz Therapeze in Killeen, a center offering pediatric physical, occupational and speech therapy, the first thing you’ll notice is a giant tree painted on the wall. Swirling with browns and yellows, the tree stretches from the baseboard to the ceiling, accented by striking butterflies that seem to float away. On a nearby wall, a similar tree is accented with a flowing river in multiple blue hues.

The murals are the result of one local artist who’s making a difference in the way people decorate, one wall at a time.

Five schools and eight years after Hope Casmer first realized she wanted to be an artist, she graduated from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor with a degree in studio art. She began searching for a way to utilize her major without becoming a “starving artist.” Working as a live-in nanny in Dallas, her first gig fell into her lap when the mother asked her to paint the four kids’ rooms.

After discovering there was serious business in painting walls, Casmer teamed up with her older sister, Heather, who was working as a Web designer.

“We hated each other growing up, but things changed over time,” Casmer said. “She’s a little more structured and logical but still has an artsy side. She has all the business skills. She taught me how to go from art major to businesswoman.”

The two merged to become Presley Design Studio, a company that has made its artistic mark on Central Texas. Heather takes care of the Web services and marketing material, while Casmer concentrates on doing what she loves most: being artistic.

“We really support each other a lot and always fall back on the ethics and morals we were raised on,” Casmer said. “We always work together and go above and beyond what people might expect.”

The scenes Casmer creates are a testament to the family business success. From Tuscan villas to faux finishes, playful Christian scenes to landscapes, it’s apparent Casmer is just plain having fun.

“I’m a total hippie; I’m a big nature lover,” Casmer said. “God has given us all this stuff to work with. It’s great.”

From beginning to end, having a wall painted by Casmer is a personal experience. After getting an idea of what a customer wants, she returns to the drawing board to merge ideas with palette colors.

“I start with an outline or a scribble and go from there,” Casmer said. “I take note of the art around a person’s home and just piece everything together.”

While she’s able to bring a specific idea into fruition, Casmer says she does her best work when customers have no idea what they want.

“A concept is fine, but it’s great if someone has no idea what they want and I get free reign,” Casmer said. “I’m a big fan of the process, I try to get on the wall as soon as possible.”

The result is a piece of artwork that is eye-catching and worth every penny.

“I looked at three different muralists, and she was my favorite. She has such a fun and bubbly personality,” said Kelly Barr, owner and director of Kidz Therapeze. “Her personality came out in her work and shows that she loves what she does.”

Barr was searching for a scene that made her therapy clients feel comfortable, no matter the age.

“I didn’t want the kids to feel like they were walking into a nursery and as soon as they walk through the doors, they are comfortable immediately,” Barr said. “It was a good investment, she definitely made the place.”

Casmer’s work has even taken her to Africa, where she painted a giant Noah’s Ark mural as part of a mission trip.

“We were refurbishing these buildings from the 1940s that were falling apart,” Casmer said. “I ended up doing an entire African-inspired gospel track and Noah’s Ark scene. It was awesome.”

Africa is only one of her destinations. Since her business began in Dallas, Casmer often finds herself traveling back and forth between the Metroplex as well as hitting other destinations.

“I’m single, and I don’t have any kids, so traveling is definitely not a problem for me,” Casmer said. “I will go absolutely anywhere to paint, no problem.”

So why should anyone trust their precious wall space to Casmer? The answer can be found in her well-stocked portfolio.

“It’s all about building up a portfolio,” she said. “Once people can see the work I’ve done, they can trust me enough to put me on their wall.”

And her work is everywhere. Besides private residences, she’s also completed a subway scene just off U.S. Highway 190 and multiple murals in bright colors for schools and businesses such as Kid Therapeze.

For more information, call (254) 773-3770; visit 3320 Pecan Valley Drive, Ste. A in Temple; or check out presleydesignstudio.com.