Hiring a designer can be an intimidating process — you don’t know if you’re getting someone with artistic vision or marketing expertise, and sticker shock is always a looming danger. Here are some tips on what to get together on your end before you go looking for your perfect designer.

1. Know what you need.

I know this sounds obvious, but it’s good to have a clear idea of why you’re hiring a designer in the first place. You need a website — why? What are you looking to have it do for you? What are your expectations about its performance? You need a direct marketing piece — brochure, postcard or flyer? Color or black and white, and who is going to print them, anyway? Are you a start-up that needs a logo to go with it, or are you established and needing something that fits with your brand? Are you looking to spruce up something that’s already there or start from scratch?

2. Know what you have.

If you have a logo, do you have an electronic copy you can give your designer? Who’s going to write your copy, provide your content, do your website updates? What assets are you bringing into the job, and what are you expecting the designer to provide? Be clear on this before you start out, and try to have as much of it already assembled as possible. This will help your designer not only to give you exactly what you want, but it’ll allow them to do it in a timely manner if they don’t have to wait on you.

3. Know your budget.

And please, don’t be afraid to tell your designer what it is! Often a designer can offer you a lower-priced option if you’re really hurting — or they can give you some bells and whistles they’d held back on mentioning for fear of the aforementioned sticker shock. This is one of those strange areas around which there is a lot of mystery — but there doesn’t have to be. Open discussion about what you really need and how much money you have to pay for it can lead to great things.

4. Know your deadline.

Just like the budget, a deadline can make or break a deal. Make sure you’re up front about when you really need that piece done, and don’t drag your feet when it comes to providing your content. Your designer will be working you into a schedule with other clients, which can sometimes be a delicate balance, so you need to be clear on how firm your deadline is, and then keep up your end so they can keep up theirs.

5. Know what you like — and dislike.

Love the product descriptions on your favorite chocolatier’s website? Hate the flashing banner ads on that blog? Tired of pulling out your reading glasses for people’s direct mail pieces? Do you just have a thing for squid? Information about your personal style can help your designer put together a marketing piece — whether it’s your logo or your e-commerce website — that really reflects not only what you want, but what will attract your ideal customers.

Not only that, but having a clear idea of what you really like will help you choose your designer wisely — someone whose portfolio pieces aren’t really your style is probably not going to be a good fit. If you’re a winery looking for a label, you may not get what you want out of the guy who specializes in snowboarding and t-shirt designs. If you’re looking for brash and bold, then someone who uses a lot of soft colors and gentle curves is probably not the right fit. On the other hand, if you see a friend with a logo you love, it’s always good to ask for their designer’s number.

A little knowledge can go a long way.

Of course there’s more things that you might want to know before you hire a designer, like who they are and how they work, but this is the knowledge you need to bring to the table. They’ll have their portfolio and their recommendations for you, their pricing and schedule and special skills. But you’ll fare better if you know — before you go looking — exactly what it is you’re hoping to find.

So you’re on the internet, you’ve got a website, and you’ve put up some stuff for sale. And yet, the sales aren’t rolling in.

It could be that no one knows you’re there, and that’s a different problem for which there is a whole slew of other advice, and other people more qualified to give it. This isn’t about that.

I’m here to ask you one simple question:

How easy is it for people to give you money?

Go on your own site. Get as far as you can in the buying process, even to the point of going all the way through buying stuff, if you can (Paypal won’t let you buy from yourself, for obvious reasons). Count the steps. Think about how you’d feel if this was someone else’s site.

Then call up your web-clueless friend or relative, offer a full refund (plus a small bribe, if you’re feeling generous), and get them to do the same thing while you’re there to watch.

You might be amazed at how hard, confusing, or weird this process is for someone who isn’t you.

Recently I was on a teleseminar and someone sent us to the cool sale on their site. There was a giant banner about the sale, totally obvious, so I clicked it! And got a blog post, with a smaller banner at the top. So I clicked that, and it sent me… back to the blog post. Which I skimmed, but had no obvious “so go here!” link that I could spot.

Even though it seemed obvious to them, it wasn’t easy for someone new to the site to get to the sale. So they put up a quick-and-dirty box at the top of the post with the basic sale info, and now it’s a whole lot more obvious to slackers like me who never read anything on the page. And there’s even a chance they’ll get my money.

It’s very hard to look at this objectively. No, really, don’t feel bad! You built or paid for the site, so you know where everything is. All that stuff that other people find confusing seems really obvious to you, because you already know the answer, before you even have to ask the questions.

So here’s my piece of wisdom for today: remove every possible obstacle between the buyer’s money and your pocket. Strip away every step you can, make the button really big, put the price in bold and put them next to each other.

Then make a link to your shipping costs and put that on every single page — if shipping is free, even better! But put a link anyway, even if it’s just to a page that explains about your free shipping, and who it applies to, and if it isn’t everyone (like, say, Canadians), then how much shipping is for those other people. Well, unless you sell only virtual products, and then you need a link that explains the download process in painfully specific detail. Possibly twice.

People on your site might be shopping, and they might not, but if you make it too hard for them, then you definitely won’t be the one getting their money in the end.

Make it so easy that they’re done buying before they can think of those fifteen reasons why they’re not really sure they want your stuff right now. Make it so obvious that a busy skimmer who doesn’t even glance at your carefully-crafted copy can do it. And make the fine print easy to find, for those who need that extra reassurance.

Your pocket will thank you.

Recently Copyblogger reminded me of a very important principle in blogging, writing, and many other everyday sorts of tasks: consistency wins.

In my everyday life, this most often comes up when playing Mouse Hunt on Facebook — if I sound the Hunter’s Horn every fifteen minutes consistently (or at least once an hour, so other people can take me along on their hunts), then it doesn’t matter if any given catch is a bust, because overall I’ll keep making progress in the game.

Blogging’s like that, too — it’s a hard habit to get into, but once you get started, you don’t have to produce Pulitzer-winning gems every time. You just have to keep putting that content out there, and some of it will spark with your readers. Assuming you have readers. (Hi, readers!)

Email can be like that as well, though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend poking at it every fifteen minutes — instead of letting the mail pile up until there’s hundreds of old emails you never want to see again, make sure that keep up with replies, do the stuff that’s small as soon as it comes in, and keep filing or deleting whenever possible. You might find an email or two still falling through the cracks, getting deleted before the project it was reminding you to do is done or ending up sliding into your spam folder, but overall you’ll keep ahead of the game.

Cleaning can be that way, too — five minutes clearing off the counters can help, even if you don’t have time to mop, scrub and bleach to your heart’s content. But you have to do something every day, or entropy sets in.

So, if you’re a business wanting to start blogging, here’s my best advice: start blogging. Put it in the schedule, make yourself sit down and be consistent. It doesn’t matter if some of your posts are more like pyrite than pure gold, as long as you keep polishing them up and setting them on the shelf for people to see for themselves.

Perhaps you’re a new business, wanting to start everything out right with your office painted, your sign out front and your website up and ready to go. Perhaps you’ve got a website, and it’s out of date. Perhaps you’re established everywhere else, and think it’s time for a web presence. Here are some questions that can help make sure we’re on the same page before I give you an estimate:

1. What do you have now (give the address)? If the answer isn’t “nothing”, what do you like best about your current site? Least?

2. What’s the one thing you need your site to do most? If you have a current site, does it do that? How well?

3. What’s the one thing you want your site to do most? This is more about what you think is cool, eye-catching or just plain nifty, rather than necessity.

4. What are some sites you use regularly? What do you like best about them? What don’t you like?

5. What are the impressions you want someone to get when they first visit your site? Professional, fun, cool, welcoming, homey, natural, creative, something else?

6. Do you already have logos and a color scheme for your business? Do you want your website to reflect them? Do you want to update your whole look as part of the site update?

7. What hosting do you have? When does your domain registration expire? Do you have the passwords for both? If the answer is “nothing”, then what do you need and will you need help setting it up? What about search engine optimization? Shopping cart systems?

8. Do you know what you want your site to say? Will you provide the text, or will you need a copy writer?

9. Make a list of all the things you want out of your website. This is the free-form question where you can fill in all the blanks left by all the rest of the questions, so don’t be afraid to be random, thorough, and a little rambling.

10. And finally, what sort of budget do you have? You don’t have to disclose this if you don’t want to, but it will help me to be able to tell you what corners can be snipped and what can’t, and how well your wants and needs fit inside your budget.

1. Know what you need.
Just like a car, you can get a website that’ll do the minimum you need it to for cheap, or pay thousands and get a luxury ride. When thinking about getting a website for your business, first figure out what your needs are, and make sure you ask for all of them up front — you don’t want to hire someone, or sign a contract with a web host, only to find that they can’t provide the services you require. Conversations with your web designer can help you to clarify some of your needs, but you will also want to do some of your own research. A good designer should be able to help you get set up with a web host, register your domain names, and give you a clear idea of what you are getting and why.

2. Know the technology.
Do you want to pay for search engine optimization? Do you need secure browsing, or programming language support? Are you concerned about users on dial-up having slow access to your site? Do you have a market for cell phone users, and will they need their own page? You really liked a site you saw, but will the same technology fit your needs? What is bandwidth, anyway, and how’s it different from disk space? What’s the going rate for the services you need? In the end, the only person who has the final say on the who, what, where and how of your website is you — make sure you’re making informed choices.

3. Know what you like.
From colors to functionality, your site should be a collaboration between you and your designer. Surf the web, pay attention to the sites you use every day, and know what works for you, and what doesn’t. Then, pay attention to the advice you’re given, because not everyone surfs the same way. Sometimes, what’s a nice bit of ambiance to you is embarrassing noise to the person in a cubicle who wasn’t expecting music from your site. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want, but listen carefully if there’s a good explanation for why you can’t or shouldn’t have it — and if the answer starts as an unexplained ‘no’, then don’t be afraid to ask why.

4. Know what you don’t like.
For every site that works, there’s a dozen sites that don’t — they’re slow, confusing, hard to read, they “hide” what you need under marketing language, or they’re just plain ugly. Keep them in mind just as much as the ones you do like. Don’t be afraid to tell your designer you don’t like the direction things are going, to tell your web host they’re just too slow or unreliable, or to stand up for what you really want out of your site. Again, listen to advice, but in the end it’s your site — the only limitations are those imposed by the technology and your budget.

5. Know your limitations.
Can you only afford $10/month for hosting? Are you short on cash right now, but able to make payments? Can you handle fulfillment if you start an e-commerce site? Do you have someone to answer the phones if you put your toll-free number on your site? Small business is all about compromises between what we want, what we can afford, and what the technology can do; websites are no exception.

6. Ask questions. Know what you’re getting for your money.
Whether it’s your designer or your ISP, you should know what you’re getting for your buck.

If it’s a web host:

• Find out what your bandwidth and disk space allowances are.
• Find out what extras you get with your package. SSL, shopping cart software, cgi, asp and php are just some examples.
• Find out what extras you actually need, and if you’re paying extra for something you don’t use.

If it’s a designer:

• Make sure you know what’s covered in your estimate, and how binding it is.
• Are you paying by the hour, or for the whole job?
• What happens if you make a lot of changes? If there’s a lot of mistakes? If someone misses a deadline?
• Who’s going to write the copy, and is it an extra fee?
• Do certain things get hired out by the designer, such as programming or copy writing, and if so, is there an extra fee?

If it’s an ISP:

• Just how speedy is high speed? Do you have an option for faster, and are you already paying for it?
• Are you renting your equipment (modem, router) or do you own it?
• Check periodically to make sure you can’t change your plan for the better, either in terms of price, speed or functionality.

With any service, it’s up to you to make sure you’ve got what you need and aren’t confused about the services you’re paying for.

7. Know who you’re paying, and why.
Check your bills, and keep shopping around. Keep track of all the services that you’re paying for. Once every year or so, look around and see if you providers are still competitive — my web host increases my disk space and bandwidth allowance periodically to keep up with industry standards. Does yours? Are you paying for more than you need, or paying overage charges because your account doesn’t cover your needs now that your business has grown? A lot of the time we don’t even have to write a check to keep paying these bills, and it becomes easy to take them for granted.

8. Keep a list of the username, password, account number and other relevant information for all of your accounts.
Even if your designer or computer guy set up everything, make sure it’s in your name, and you have access to it. Things happen, and sometimes small businesses, like many designers or small web hosts, can disappear. Don’t end up in a position where you can’t access your own site, renew your own domains, or update your own account information.

9. Keep your account information updated.
Especially if you’re paying by credit card, be aware of which one and when it expires, or you may find yourself suddenly without a website. Make sure they have your current address, phone, fax and, most importantly, email address. Domain names can sometimes take 5-10 years to come up for renewal — make sure they know how to contact you when that happens, or you might find your domain is suddenly pointing to a site for mail-order brides.

10. Change with the times.
Web host not giving you what you need? Designer moving out of the area? Business changing faster than your site? Make sure you don’t get bogged down in what you’ve always done, and are willing to entertain new ideas — in the end, you’ll find yourself better off if you’re getting what your business needs now, rather than what it needed five years ago when you first set things up.

Confused about some of the terms? Check out UC Berkeley’s >Glossary of Internet & Web Jargon.

There’s any number of reasons to start a blog — bringing traffic to your site, keeping in touch with your friends and family, the simple desire to keep a journal without all those pesky blank books lying around the house. All of them are perfectly valid, but what you want to do with your blog will affect which service you use, what design template you choose, and how you present your blog to the world.

There’s LiveJournal, DeadJournal, and all its clones; Facebook, Orkut, Xanga and MySpace; Twitter, Blogger, TypePad, and a dozen others as well. They all offer different things to the discerning blogger, and most of them are constantly adding features and other improvements.

So, how do you decide?

For social networking, for instance, you’d want to go with a site like Facebook, LiveJournal, or one of its many clones. For someone who isn’t up to the challenge of long, introspective posts, or who wants to be able to keep a txt msg update of their daily lives, you might end up on Twitter. Someone wanting to present a more professional face, doing essays and articles, would probably use Blogger or TypePad. Kids might end up on Xanga. Anyone promoting a band would end up on MySpace, not to mention thousands of teenagers and twentysomethings just looking to hook up with friends.

Once you know what you want to use your blog for, it’s time to figure out what features you really need. For a lot of business bloggers, the main issues are ease of use, and ease of integration into their existing site design. But there are a lot of other features that make it a harder choice than it might seem — threaded comments, custom urls, posting clients and email or txt updates. In the end, only you can know what you need in a blog.

You never know, you may end up like many people out there in cyberspace, with more than one to suit your different purposes.