• I designed and developed a low-cost, online-presence-style web site for BioToBiz to showcase the firm's services, experience, and client portfolio. BioToBiz is totally stoked about the overwhelmingly-positive feedback it has received about the site from colleagues and clients alike. Site features include the following:
  

  • sharp, clean, professional appearance
  • consistent look-and-feel across the site
  • intuitive navigation
  • customized, professional graphics (see sample below)
  • optimized image file sizes and page sizes for shorter download times
  • pages automatically print in "printer-friendly" format (see sample below)
  • prominent contact links
  • contact links concealed from "e-mail harvesters"
  • compatible with all major browsers on all major computing platforms
    
  • understated "rollover effects" for main navigational links enhance site's interactivity and aesthetic appeal
  • rock-bottom-priced web hosting package with exceptional, personalized technical support
  • all pages spell-checked to ensure highest professional image
    
    

• As a free added service, I continue to resubmit the site to search engines (e.g., Yahoo, AltaVista, etc.) on a monthly basis to ensure good placement in searches conducted by potential clients and other contacts.

• I helped research, compile, and format a 200-page biotechnology market assessment for BioToBiz to deliver to a client of theirs, Synapps Software. After originally preparing the document in Microsoft Word, I published the report in HTML format both to the Web and to CD to make it readily accessible from any PC.

• I compiled for BioToBiz a contacts database in Microsoft Outlook, consolidating and reconciling information from business cards and the Web.

• I provided — and continue to provide — technical support and advice on a wide range of subjects, including the following:

  • Internet service provider selection
  • hardware purchase selection
  • e-mail client setup
  • software configuration
  • networking configuration

graphic design

Part of the process of developing the BioToBiz web site involved selecting graphical images from professional photo catalogs, choosing pictures whose composition conveyed the nature of the business while making the site more appealing to the eye at the same time.

But selecting images was only half the battle, as they required a good deal of retouching to make them truly "work" with the site.

Check out the before-and-after images below to get a feel for the level of thought and attention I put into this effort. Recognize that this spotlight reflects the effort for just one image out of many on the site!

(Click image to see it in the context of the web site.)

automated printer-friendly format

Ever seen web pages containing a link that says something like "click here for a printer-friendly version of this page"? Cool idea, as printing a less-graphically-intensive page can reduce a visitor's printing time and ink costs. But on the down side, the extra click opens an extra page that merely re-displays the same basic information.

So how to simplify the printing experience for the visitor? Just have the web page "tell" the printer the format in which it would "like" to be printed. In other words, design the web page to look one way in a browser, and another way when it's printed.

Want a demonstration? A picture's worth a thousand words, so check it out:

1. Visit the BioToBiz web site.
2. Navigate to any page you would like to print.
3. Print the page (usually through the "File —> Print" menu in your browser).
4. Compare the printed page to the on-screen view.
5. Gasp in amazement at how cool and simple this approach is, and return here posthaste to hire my web design and development services.

"When I first saw how good-looking Scott was, I couldn't imagine anyone whose appearance was further removed from the 'techie' stereotype. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of 'GQ model' or something. But as soon as he started working his techno-magic, I knew I had found a bona fide computer geek...

Still, as far as geeks go, he's pretty hot!"

Angie Christoffersen
President
BioToBiz