Our Company was founded to bridge the seemingly opposite worlds of web developers and business owners. Too many business owners are confused by the Internet and too many programmers have no idea about business. To understand the solution, we must first look at the problems.
Time and time again some of the smartest most successful entrepreneurs unwittingly make poor use of their technology budgets. Business owners clearly understand the need for a professional and viable web presence, but despite best efforts the execution is frequently poor.
The reason is exceedingly simple...the choices are seemingly endless! To compound the problem, web programmers speak a completely different language. Without clearly understanding coding and the technologies suggested, a business owner is forced to accept the suggestions of a person whom they have no way of gauging against the industry.
Perhaps the biggest danger the business owner faces is not being able to judge a programmers skill, or the software options available. For example, if a business owner were looking to start an online retail store and needed an inventory management system, the choice ranges from free open source software to licensed software that can cost upwards of $75,000 a year!
The daunting reality for most business owners is that without completely understanding software, web development, and speaking the language, they are at the mercy of someone with little accountability.
It seems that everyone knows a "web developer" who is more than willing to build you a web site. There are some truly great Web Professionals out there, but the overwhelming majority can leave a bad taste in your mouth. The difference between good and bad is glaring! The advent of WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) web site creation software (Dreamweaver, Fontpage, etc.) now allows someone with no understanding of HTML create web sites. This can create serious issues when something goes wrong, which it will.
A web site is more than just a place for people to find company information. It is a place to sell merchandise, track costs and inventory, keep in contact with customers and employees, and a way to grow your business. Web Developers are not typically business strategists yet they are often responsible for creating this vital business growth.
Web developers are paid for the web site being built, not for it being effective. There are many programmers that are capable of making visually interesting sites, but at what cost? Will the site still work when the next version of a particular web browser come out? Does it work on Apple? Is it stable? The questions abound.
We are business owners first. This company, like most businesses, was started with very little working capital so the only option was to do things right the first time. And because the vast majority of businesses we develop are our own, we are obsessed with maximizing efficiency of our development budget.
Site 1 Media is committed to best practices Web Design, by creating validated, forward compatible web sites that don't rely on gimmicks or hacks to render correctly. We believe in open source software whenever possible and hand code our sites for compliance. We are a Business Online...not an online business.
Finally, we believe in the web as mode of doing business not just a channel. A business' web site should not be an afterthought and if it is, that company is throwing money out the window.
Site 1 Media develops business ideas into workable online businesses brands. We have access to hundreds of the Internet's premier domain names, yet are focus is not on putting out as many sites as possible. We focus on businesses where we can create our own competitive environment, that are highly scalable and are not capital intensive. We will not put launch a business unless we are confident that we can do it better, for a lower cost and with better product than our competition.
Our primary focus is on developing our own businesses and web sites, however we do offer partnership and development opportunities on a case by case basis. Just as with our own development, we do not want to be everything to everyone and only pursue avenues in which can bring tremendous value. For more information about our services, please see our Services section.