Margit Crane is a dynamic person with a big mission: to make growing up a little bit easier for teens and the parents who love them (despite wanting to wring their necks sometimes!).
As an author, speaker, consultant, teacher, and coach, Margit needed to bridge together all of her different websites into one easy-to-manage presence to free up her time to do what she does best – work directly with her clients.
We used her existing design and worked out a map to include all the relevant pieces from each website into one comprehensive site, including a online store to sell books, CDs, and offer registration for workshops and classes.
In Margit’s own words:
“What I love about Warren Talbot and MWL Development is EVERYTHING. And I should add that his wife, Betsy, is the copywriter for the site and for any copy you may need for your own site. Warren is very professional and QUICK. He knows WordPress inside and out and he can get a site done or updated super fast. Plus he’s such a personable guy, filled with warmth and humor. Betsy is delightful as well and a consummate pro. It’s like having a cheerleader in your corner. I highly recommend the MWL Development team. They have made my business life easier, lighter, and more fun (something you don’t expect from a web development team, right?)”
Check out Margit’s live site at www.margitcrane.com.
Category : Website Projects
Angela Barton is a woman after our own hearts. She took part in The Compact in 2009, which is a promise not to buy anything new for a full year except for food. She documented her journey via blog, and she gained quite a following from people looking to simplify.
As her professional writing opportunities grew, she knew she needed a more robust site than the simple Blogspot page she began in 2009.
We used a simple layout to stay with her overall theme, and we added a funky cartoon picture from her husband as the header.
In addition, we added more about Angela from a writing and professional standpoint while still including her blog. This gives current fans access to her blog and allows new readers (and potential customers) the ability to learn more about her.
You can check out Angela’s live site at www.angelabarton.com. Do you think you could live for a year without buying anything new?
Category : Website Projects
Jamie Peha has the coolest job ever. She helps wine, culinary, and lifestyle brands host amazing events and promotions in the Seattle area.
Jamie knows that promoting herself is the first order of business, so we did a few smart things: lots of pictures of fun events, a blog to showcase her successes and expertise, and a bullet-point list of active and former clients and events for potential customers to browse.
Who wouldn’t hire her after all that?
Jamie also promotes her radio show and newsletter of regional wine and food events on the website.
Check out the live site at www.pehapromo.com. Don’t blame us if it puts you in the party mood, though.
Category : Website Projects
We were happy to work with designer Bridget Gailey of TRAY Creative in implementing this whimsical design for children’s literacy consultant and speech therapist Stacey Loscalzo.
While we specialize in converting existing designs to the WordPress platform, we are always happy to work with talented designers of your choosing or by recommending one ourselves for a brand-new look. An all-new design involves more participation from all parties, but the end result can really knock your socks off.
To see the site live, go to www.staceyloscalzo.com. Check out her blog to find recommendations on books to read with your kids.
Category : Website Projects
One of the hardest things for hotels and resorts in exotic locales is attracting visitors from foreign countries. After all, if you are in a beautiful spot, chances are the competition is fierce. Sometimes you even have to overcome a fear factor (is the water safe? is it dangerous?)
Casa Mojanda is a gorgeous ecolodge set in the mountains above Otavalo, Ecuador. In addition to the beautiful setting, there are numerous amenities (a nice library, a Japanese hot tub at the edge of a mountain, and delicious meals from an organic garden) that make it a place worth visiting.
But how to convey all that on a website without “over-informing” potential guests with too much text?
We did things the easy way: we let the pictures do the talking. Owner Diego Falconi has 16+ years of fantastic photographs and stories about this magical place, and we spent time with him to dig out the best ones to showcase this little slice of heaven.
The result is a site that showcases what makes this the best ecolodge in Northern Ecuador, while giving Diego and his staff the ability to easily handle online registrations and promote seasonal specials throughout the year.
Another bonus is a dual-language site for Spanish- and English-speaking guests (with French coming soon). We also included some of the incredible testimonials in the guestbook.
All that is left now is for Diego to finally finish that cookbook guests keep asking for. Eat there once and you’ll agree with them! We’ll be happy to set up an online store for Casa Mojanda when that happens.
You can visit the Casa Mojanda website here. Be careful, though; once you see the site you’re going to want to visit in person.
Category : Website Projects
Maria Ross is a dynamo branding expert, and she had a terrific website with a perfect design for her business. The problem? She couldn’t update anything on it without going through a web developer (and paying a fee each time).
As Maria geared up to publish her book (Branding Basics for Small Business
We created a WordPress site that looked just like her old one with a few minor tweaks, and she was off and running. It was great fun working with someone who is an expert at branding because the details really do matter. In fact, we like Maria so much that we recommend her “Branding Basics for Small Business” book to all our clients as a first step in deciding what message to convey on a website.
This is what Maria had to say about working with us: “I am not a techie, and he made what I thought would be a hassle a real snap. If you’ve been thinking about a WordPress site, Warren’s your guy. He makes it so easy, with minimal disruption and lots of knowledge to get you up and running fast.”
Check out Maria’s live site here www.red-slice.com – and don’t forget to check out her book!
Category : Website Projects
US Tanker 2010 is a bi-partisan effort led by governors from across the country who support awarding the U.S. Air Force Refueling Tanker Contract to the Boeing Company. We were hired by The Seattle Chamber of Commerce to put this site up in time for the national announcement of the effort by Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire.
The goal was to have a clean design with a clear message, and we accomplished that with a slideshow picture box surrounding the 3 key points in the message. Visitors can easily click through to find information on creating US jobs, protection of our nation, and readiness to begin building the US Tankers at Boeing.
While we don’t normally like to advertise this (because we like to sleep and all), we turned around this site in one week. As of this writing the contract has not been awarded yet, but we like to think Boeing is a shoo-in (and not just because of our work).
Check out the live site at www.USTanker2010.com.
Category : Website Projects
Rebecca Rodskog is all about change, which is why it made sense for her get a website she could manage herself.
Rebecca helps large and small businesses work through change, whether it is a large-scale organizational change or a practical project. She also offers classes and one-on-one coaching to business owners and executives working through change.
We took Becky’s original design and tweaked it as requested, and we used spacing and font changes to add more visual interest.
Becky can now highlight her services, publish a blog, and list her upcoming classes and seminars right from her own laptop.
You can visit her live site at www.rodskog.com.
Category : Website Projects
It’s Time for Business! is an initiative by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce to lead economic recovery in the Seattle area for small business. The site is set up to allow members to add videos, calendar information, and blog posts about their businesses, practices that are helping them recover from the slowdown, and to promote Chamber seminars and events to help small business owners succeed.
This site makes the most of social media with an active Twitter stream and Facebook presence, and it gives small business owners the ability to reach a wider audience than they might be able to on their own.
The Seattle Chamber of Commerce is a repeat customer for us, and we always love working with them.
You can visit the live site at www.itstimeforbusiness.com. Is it time for a new website for you?
Category : Website Projects
We love working with creative clients. Karen Rosenzweig is a former PR expert and personal chef who decided to combine the two with her love of all things internet and help restaurants and food companies use social media.
She knows everyone in the food business in the Pacific Northwest, and when she’s not making introductions that create fabulous food creations and big bucks for her clients, she is showing them how blogging, a website, Twitter, and Facebook can add significant revenue to their bottom line. She’s not just in it for the fans, folks.
We helped Karen take her existing Yahoo! website to the easier-to-manage WordPress and inserted her new design while we were at it. She can now blog about who’s doing it right (smart cookies), who’s doing it wrong (cookie monsters), and who just doesn’t get it (crumbs). It is a great way for food companies to learn how to manage their own social media presence.
Even if you aren’t in the food business, you’ll love what Karen has to say about building an online presence and really reaching your audience. In fact, she may be able to teach you a few things about what you want in your next (or first) website.
Check out her live site at www.onesmartcookiemarketing.com. With a glass of milk, of course.
Category : Website Projects
Ah! Simply the worst clients ever – so demanding, always changing things, and never satisfied. And they never paid their bill!
Of course, that’s what you get when you work for yourself. We started up a basic site in 2008 to document our plans to take a year off to travel the world. Lots of things changed during our planning process, and of course the site had to change over time as well.
We added in Google Maps with imbedded blog posts by location, videos, an imbedded travel calendar with daily updates, affiliate links to products we bought for the trip, an Amazon store for books, and a few other bells and whistles.
To find out more about our trip, why we are doing it, where we are now, and why we need you to hire us so we can keep traveling (too subtle?), go to www.marriedwithluggage.com.
We both loved and hated working for ourselves on this, so we’ll let you be the judge in how we did.
Category : Website Projects
