I am exploring a business idea that would likely require me to have a professionally designed website. I'll bet some of y'all fit the bill of professional website makers. Could any of you give me an idea of the cost associated with that? I have no idea what to budget. I've had my own websites before, but I've never factored in professional design. To give you an idea of the content of the website, here are some websites from others in the same business.

A service announcement for people who know me in person: I've decided to stop keeping secrets. You can read more here: http://holdingtheempty.blogspot.com/2009/03/secrey-and-honesty.html

Here's one of those moments where I want to post to people I already know.  ;-P

I've got a gazillion writing projects in the works right now, but I'm a sucker for starting new blogs. If you looked at a pie chart of my internet usage, you might conclude that I think the internet is entirely devoted to seeking out new blog templates. I have two ideas for new blogs I'd like to put together, neither of which I can do alone. I'm wondering if you're interested...

One would be called Parenting Debate and would be a platform for asserting that particular parenting decisions, products, or philosophies are not merely "good" or personal preference but are actually the right (or wrong) way to do things. It's meant to be somewhat inflammatory and invite heated debate. Assertions can be based on common sense or what "works", but will mostly skew towards findings backed up by research. Possible topics include breast feeding, circumcision, pacifiers, co-sleeping/crib-sleeping, daycare, dirt eating, schooling methods, discipline strategies, family size and spacing, praise/rewards, spanking, toys from China, potty training, divorce, car seat usage, etc. I know that I know a bunch of opinionated parents, so this might be right up your alley. There'll be no hard-line requirement for posting frequency, but I think at least one post per month from each participant would be a good minimum goal. I'd also ask that you help out with promoting the blog by using it as your URL when you comment in other related blogs, adding it to email signatures, etc. It will be AdSense supported, and profits (which will likely be very small for a long time) would be divided based on posting frequency. A thick skin is required and the ability to state your belief or finding without a lot of apologies.

The second blog I have in mind is an advice column written by bitches. The word bitches will be included in the title and all contributors will be called bitches in their bios. The idea is to give advice (responding to questions) in a rude, no-punches-pulled, you're-probably-an-idiot style. Advice will be direct, recommending a very specific course of action. Contributors will be identified by areas of interest, and we can have a resident bitch for any type of topic. From the people I know, I'm sure we can have a bitch on hand to give pointed advice about polyamory, relationships in general, parenting, personal finance, religion, computers, cars, sex, etc. The themes and topics will probably take shape more as we see who gets on board. The goal is to have people ask questions, perhaps from a specific bitch, so contributors will definitely need to help in promoting the blog to increase traffic and questions. The ability to describe yourself in a bitchy way and speaking definitively on a topic is required. AdSense revenue will be shared.

You can email me at erosissa@gmail.com if you're interested.

All done with the LJ scrub. If I like you and want to read you AND you make public posts, I'll be reading you over in Reader. Even if I love you to death, if your post are private, I'd rather hear about them in person.

I can be found at http://holdingtheempty.blogspot.com