Philly News Web Design

Metropolis is a "news, analysis and commentary" site from veteran Philadelphia reporter Tom Ferrick (Wikipedia). An alum of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tom's spent the last half-dozen years talking to everyone who will listen about the future of print and Philly news. He's done talking and is showing what can be done on a budget budget. From "This is Metropolis," the lead article:

Local newspapers, TV and radio stations are retreating from in-depth coverage of regional news either due to economic or audience considerations.

The retreat has been gradual, but no one expects it to stop. The company that owns the region's largest newspapers - the Inquirer and Daily News - is in bankruptcy. The size of the editorial staffs at the papers continues to shrink. The prognosis for metro dailies here and elsewhere is not good. The journalism practiced by these papers is still robust, but the economic model that has sustained it is eroding. If these traditional sources of news falter or fail what will take their place?

The site was built in Movable Type. The most prominent feature is the slideshow display of featured articles. Tom has seen a similar effect on another journalism site and a search found the "Sliding Horizontal Banner Rotator" at Active Den, a great site to purchase pre-built Flash files. Movable Type entries are outfitted with custom fields to enter images and links. Movable Type then creates a custom XML file for the "Main Stories" feed, which is then picked up and displayed by the Flash banner. In addition, the site uses Google Adsense to provide income.

Visit: Philadelphia Metropolis

MartinKelley.com, 364 North Street, Hammonton NJ 08037
Email: martink@martinkelley.com
Phone: (609) 365-0123
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Free Initial Consultation:

Initial phone/email consultations are free: I'll work with you to figure just what kind of website you want and what sort of features you need. I take this information and pull it into a proposal with price quotes. I only start charging after we agree on the general outlines. I cover my pricing philosophy in some detail over on my design blog.

If you need an on-site visit, you can set up a consulting house call. If you subsequently decide to use my services, half of this charge will be credited toward your project deposit.

Rates

Projects are billed at $75/hour.

House Calls

Need help with your website? Want to meet before committing to a project?

Local House Calls: $100 first hour, $75/hr additional.
Philly Metro House Calls: $150 first hour, $75/hr additional.
My Kitchen Table: Just the $75/hr.

Local is South Jersey within about a half hour's drive of Hammonton, NJ. Both rates: one hour minimum. Additional time charged by the half hour.

Typical costs:

• Basic blog set-up: $600
• Analysis of a commercial site's SEO: $1200
• Small business or nonprofit web redesign: $2000
• Customized social media networking or news aggregator site: $3500

Client Services:

Existing clients can log-in to their accounts to check invoices and make payments from the Client Login page. You can also pay directly by credit card via Paypal.