Our support team has been listening to the suggestions of the design community, and we are responding to those suggestions.

We have launched four exciting pre-built websites this month to address the needs of web designers working in the following niche categories:

• BeFireplace – a delightfully beautiful shop for firewood sales;
• Betraining – a pre-built website destined to professionals and businesses in the training and consulting sectors;
• BeCouturier – a modern, chic pre-built website ideally suited for fashion designers;
• BeSurveyor – destined to those in the surveying profession.

Be Fireplace – Keeping that Cozy Fire Ready for Winter

Fireplaces on homes are quite common these days. Many older homes have them, and the trend in newly-built homes is for the owner to engage the services of an interior designer for the express purpose of adding an interior or exterior fireplace.

Since we identified with what appears to be a growing trend, we felt companies selling firewood would benefit from the launching of this cozy-looking pre-built website.

This pre-built websites video header nicely conveys the beautiful and cozy experience of watching the fire.

We wanted to find the best way to express this type of business. We decided that a video, such as the one used here, was all that was needed. Since the video is customizable, you can choose whatever one you want, to best satisfy the needs of your client.

This pre-built website is e-commerce optimized, so we added a gallery of available products right after the header to give the user an easy and satisfying UX.

A high level of clarity, as displayed in the product page, greatly simplifies the user’s shopping experience.

Be Training – Helps Trainers Get More Visibility Online

When we built BeTraining, our approach was to present a clearly structured pre-built website that used only the basic pages, such as programs, an event calendar, an about page, and a contact page. We also created BeTraining with the objective of providing professional trainers and consultants, along with training agencies and larger institutions, an opportunity to increase their online visibility.

If the format of this versatile pre-built website suits your web design objective, well and good. You can of course customize it for any professional or agency that offers training, coaching, classes, workshops, etc.

            This homepage provides a quick look into the most recent event section articles.

Scroll down the home page, and you’ll find an area the explains the services offered, a section about the business and its owner or owners, and a section that provides contact information, including a map. Additional sections could easily be customized to present images of from the workshop or training facility, or to describe and illustrate offline events.

Showing the trainer’s services, always an important section.

Be Couturier –  Where Fashion Meets Web Design Coolness

A couturier website should convey uniqueness and a feeling of luxury. We created BeCouturier because of our awareness of the rising trend in the number of people opening tailoring businesses. This is in response to a growing consumer demand for unique and attractive custom made clothes. As you would expect, our pre-built website conveys this same sense of uniqueness and luxury.

Notice how the white space helps the user focus on the header images, while at the same time conveying a feeling of relaxation.

As you examine BeCouturier in detail, you’ll see how we generously use white space to transmit a feeling of elegance. The offer, together with other items of clothing, are on display, plus there is a section about the professional tailors that you, as a client, could be working with.

The pre-built structure also features a page destined to the fashion studio itself, where photos can be added along with the studio’s story. A gallery with realizations, a page communicating the offer, and a contact page, complete the picture.

                     Clothes made in the couturier’s studio are highlighted in the gallery.

Be Surveyor – A corporate presentation pre-built website

At first glance, this pre-built website’s content would appear to cover all aspects of the surveying business quite well. There are however, many different ways in which the services of surveyors and surveying companies are rendered.

Consequently, when we designed and built BeSurveyor, our approach was to make it easy to transform and customize the branding and content, to be certain it will be easy to use for the entire spectrum of surveying business clients.

On the home page, you will see the areas that communicate basic information about the company and its services. Past and present clients and testimonials are features many business will want to include, and these could easily be incorporated if desired.

The menu includes the about page, the services page, a certificates page, and a contact page. The services page makes good use of modern icons and white space while providing the basic information a potential client might be looking for.

A certificates page is an especially important feature for businesses operating in the surveying domain. In this case, the user can open a PDF file to display any of several certificates. The contact page nicely presents all the information a potential client needs – including a map, telephone number and address, and an e-mail form.

            Custom, domain-oriented icons helps to convey a corporate, yet friendly, atmosphere.

The post November – The Latest Pre-Built Websites appeared first on Be Theme Blog.

When you are at work, there are usually certain standards imposed on you pertaining to your work performance and to how you conduct yourself when interacting with others.

As a freelance business owner, you need to set your own standards. Since you are a professional web designer, you already have high standards for yourself and for your work. You’ll want to bring these standards with you when setting up your own business. You can’t afford to become careless or lax.

You’re no longer just a web designer. You’ll be wearing several hats –  project manager, account executive, communications coordinator, and even CEO. It’s not easy, but it’s doable, and the rewards are great.

Be Portfolio

Taking your freelance work to the next level means, first of all, you must treat this kind of work as a business, and not as a simple side job.

Email Etiquette Tips

As the owner of your own freelancing enterprise, most of your communicating with clients or potential clients is likely to be via email. When using email as your primary means of business communication, you have to be careful not to send unintended messages.

When someone cannot see your face, they assume that what they read is what you have intended to say. Grammatical errors, slang, or SHOUTING make you look unprofessional. Follow these email etiquette tips, and you’ll avoid those little mistakes or omissions that could turn off a potential client.

• Have an appropriate email address: jnelson@server.com is good; jimthelover@server.com is not.
• Using an email signature with your name and contact information marks you as a professional.
• Keep the format of your emails simple. Avoid over-lengthy sentences or paragraphs.

Be Surfing

An example of a surfing resort website that could easily be designed through remote collaboration. It is highly intuitive and easily customizable.

• Respond to your emails promptly. Quick responses are always appreciated; they show the recipient you can be relied on.
• Use a vacation responder if you will be away for more than two days.
• Use a subject line that introduces the subject, and get to the point quickly.

Mistakes to Be Avoided

It’s in your best interest as a full-time freelancer to follow a set of workable, transparent procedures. Doing so benefits both you and your client. By following a well-established set of procedures, you are less apt to make the types of mistakes that could cost you assignments, or simply make your work more difficult.

• Don’t miss deadlines. Keep in mind that clients have their own deadlines to meet. If you get them in trouble, you’re in trouble. If you see you are going to have a problem meeting a deadline, at the very minimum let your client know ASAP.
• Don’t take on more than you can handle. It’s a balancing act. You don’t want to have to rely on just one or two sources of income, so serving several clients can work to your advantage. Carefully research and give a great deal of thought to an offer before you accept it, and avoid jobs that will have you working long hours for low pay.
• Maintain high standards of professionalism in everything you do. Never get angry with a client. If you are upset, write a nasty note, let it sit for a day, and then throw it in the trash. Keep a rational perspective if problems arise, not an emotional one.
• Don’t confuse business with pleasure. You are your own boss, and if you go about it right you’ll be under less pressure and be able to relax somewhat. Just don’t relax too much. After all, you’re still a professional.

Be Theater

If you can manage to take on many different types of projects, it will keep your interest and experience levels high, and make it much easier to find solutions to new problems.

When you are able to juggle several assignments and clients every month, you won’t end up having to depend on a single project for your income.

Taking Care of Your Professional Image

Your clients will probably never meet you face to face. They may not even speak with you over the phone or via live chat. Their perception of you is largely based on how you conduct your business. Your website and portfolio will say a great deal about you, and there are other ways in which you can brand yourself, just as most highly successful businesses are careful to do.

Establishing your personal brand involves more than creating a logo, or an attention-getting business card. Before you go about establishing your brand, you first need to define your business goals. Having done so, create a business plan, define your target audience, and give your business a name.

Your website, more than anything else beyond the quality of service you provide, will project your professional image. This is why you want to make use the best website design tools available. You’ve already seen several examples of websites that will mark you as a true professional.  These Be Theme pre-built websites are simple to use, extremely easy to work with, and provide the means to bring your brand close to your target audience. Using them can add luster to your professional image.

The post Freelance Business Etiquette – Keeping Your Clients Happy appeared first on Be Theme Blog.

Big or small?
It does not matter!

If your client runs a small business, and that client asks you to create a website that will attract customers, you will want to know a few things about the type of business it is. In fact, to make sure your client will be satisfied, you need to know quite a bit about the business. You might also wish to share with your client your ideas as to how you can design a website that will give visitors a great first impression.

There are three specific areas you must focus on to ensure your client will be a happy one

A website must:

• Have well-written, clear, crisp content.
• Make good use of attractive images – preferably the client’s own.
• Be a responsive website. The client certainly will need to cater to the mobile crowd.

All you need is the right tool to make everything happen; and one that is perfect for the job is ready and waiting.

Pre-Designed Websites that Work for Businesses

There’s one more thing to take into account when designing a website for a small business. The website will be much more successful at keeping a viewer’s interest and drive sales if it tells a story. The story it has to tell needs to have a great introduction however, if it is to capture a viewer’s interest. Each of these 10 predesigned website examples will get a business’s story off to a great start; another way of saying that first impressions count.

If, for instance, your client represents a design agency, images are all important. So is a sense of professionalism. The home page of the agency’s website needs to address both if a viewer is going to want to do business. The home page is important, the following pages are important, and a professional portfolio is all important. Pre-designed websites can serve as excellent conceptual designs for all three.

For creative business

This is where Be Theme really shines! It is the best design tool and source of pre-built websites on the market for designers of business-oriented websites.

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For food industry

The popular hamburger is rarely thought of as being classy or elegant in appearance; but using the right image in the right place might just change your mind.

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This pre-built website sends out a powerful message, and it delivers a great first impression for anyone who likes good food – which will include most viewers. A business’s unique value proposition can be its name, its logo, an announcement, or an image like a burger that says nothing, but speaks volumes.

• Using images effectively is always a good marketing technique.
• Images win hands down over descriptive text when it comes to attracting customers.
• Images have a powerful effect in a visually-oriented culture.
• A stock image rarely conveys a message as well as a business’s own image does.

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For entertainment

This pre-built website gives a great first impression. It also invites the viewer to explore more deeply, and it implies the business it represents is trustworthy.

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See BeClub live

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This example is rich in atmosphere. It provides a call to action. It makes you want to visit the establishment, or join the club. It tells you that life is to be enjoyed.

For adventure and lifestyle companies

These two examples powerfully illustrate another way to enjoy life – if you like intense activities.

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Any business will love a website that will attract like-minded customers; in this case, customers who love outdoor or sporting adventure.

For education

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This pre-build website addresses several themes; care of small children, education, and having fun. It does so in a somewhat whimsical matter, and features a powerful call to action – “Take a Tour.”

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For production business

If you have more than one product to sell or service to render, you don’t all have to cram everything on the same page. Keep things simple. Invite the viewer to sit back and thumb through your offerings.

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See BeHandyman live

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For hotels

This example is an illustration of how a hotel’s a website can be rich in information and imagery, but still have a crisp, clean look. It makes it easy for a visitor to navigate to important information, and it also shows an effective use of sliders.

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Designers Love Pre-Designed Websites, and Their Clients Do Too

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The good news is, you can take any one of these Be Theme examples and customize them anyway you want. Even better news is that this WordPress theme’s selection of pre-designed websites presents more than 170 choices. Virtually every business theme topic you can think of is represented, and for any given type of business, there are many different examples to consider.

At the outset, we stressed the importance of great first impressions and the difference they can make. We also made note of the fact that, given a great design, you need the right tool in order to take that design and put it to practical and powerful use. Be Theme is that tool.

Be’s many features include two powerful page builders. The recently-released and state-of-the-art Muffin Builder 3, and the popular Visual Composer. Be’s Layout Configurator and Shortcode Generator are among the 40 core features that make website building faster and easier than many web designers thought possible. You can even start from scratch by creating your own layout from a blank screen, and still build an awesome website in record time.

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The post 10 Business Website Examples that Give Powerful First Impressions appeared first on Be Theme Blog.