Newsletter

December 2008

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Welcome to our 2nd E-Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

Thanks for your positive response to our first newsletter last month. We will continue to send you valuable information that will help your business grow!

We hope you enjoy our Second Issue. If there's anything you'd like to see covered in future issues, drop us a line at cc@sonoradesignworks.com or just hit reply to this email.

Regards,

Jim & Heidi Somers
Sonora DesignWorks


Our New Website Launches!

Hello, Goodbye!

Have you ever heard the saying about the plumber that has a leaky faucet? Well, it's not uncommon for web design firms to suffer the same type of problem with their websites. Sonora is usually so busy working for our clients that our own site takes the back seat.

The site many of you remember was online for nine years, which is truly a testament to the longevity of our designs. Good-bye old site, old friend, it was nice clicking on you. Thank you for bringing us so many great clients over the years.

Today we are happy to announce our newly redesigned website! We didn't simply take our existing site and give it a new look & feel, we reorganized the sitemap and content to consolidate information wherever possible so that visitors find what they are looking for easier and faster.

To read more about our new design and how it works, click here.


And the winner is...

Two New E-books Win Top Awards!

Sonora DesignWorks recently completed the design and layout of 2 new e-books for Dianna Huff of DH Communications in Plaistow NH - one promoting her business and the other for her client, Dr. Helaine Smith. Both of the books won awards in the 2008 MarCom Creative Awards in the Electronic/Interactive Media/Other category.

MarCom Creative Awards
2008 Platinum Winner

E-book: Five B2B MarCom Strategies to Increase Sales Now
<Download the PDF>

MarCom Creative Awards
2008 Gold Winner

E-book: Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex!
<Download the PDF>


Meet The Team

Briana Yarbrough
Web & Print Designer

Starting over 13 years ago as a point of purchase display and sales presentation designer for an international sports medicine company, Briana quickly evolved her career to encompass package design, logo development and large scale signage. "I was given a huge opportunity when as an entry level designer, the lead designer left abruptly. The company was in a bind to find someone to fill his shoes."

"In the midterm I was given the chance to start designing packaging and product displays and months later was given the job as lead graphic designer officially. I learned so much so fast, from how to create professional mockups, to how to color correct photos, and prepare electronic files for press."
more...


"Why does my web site look funky in Firefox?"

Imagine you look in a mirror and see an image of yourself. It's that same image you expect to see because it's how you always see yourself in your favorite mirror. Now imagine that you look into another mirror and your hair appears a different color, or you can see every fine detail that you'd rather not see. Now imagine you look into yet another mirror and your not even within the frame. Websites have this problem everyday.

A website can appear very different to people depending on their particular browser, monitor display settings, security settings, the lighting in the room, and on and on.

So, how do we make sure that a site works in as many situations as possible? First, cross browser issues can obviously eat up a project's budget quickly, so we take steps during the design phase to alleviate potential issues, which is based strictly on our experience. Second, we make sure that we use XHTML compliant code. XHTML compliance is a coding standard set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium, and browsers strive to correctly display compliant code. Third, we test, test, test, test! We beat your site up on as many computers, browsers and display settings as possible to try to make it break. Then we fix the problem and test some more.

read more...


Next Month...

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

OK, you have an awesome web site but no one seems to be visiting. Are the search engines finding you, or better yet, are your potential customers finding you anong the millions of web sites on the web?

Next month we'll give you some important tips on how to be sure you at least have the basics in place, and how you might drive a lot more traffic to your site. Tune in next January for the details...

Does your Website need an Extreme Makeover?

Is your website not performing and creating new sales but you're not sure why? Are you still using the same site your cousin did for you in college? Or worse yet, did you do it yourself using a free program? These days, a website is the first impression prospective buyers have of your business - so it pays to have a good one. Now you can get a FREE analysis of your current site - and how you can make it better - from Sonora DesignWorks.

Call Sonora today for your FREE web site evaluation!
978-388-1716