FAQ

I sent in a inquiry 24 hours ago and haven't received a response! What's the deal?

We're so excited about your inquiry and can't wait to get started on your project! I receive literally hundreds of emails every day, so please forgive us if it takes me a few days to get back to you. I always, always reply ASAP! If it's been more than 2-3 days, though, feel free to shoot me another email as it may have been lost in the shuffle.

Do you work with any other cart system than Zen Cart?

At this point, no, I don't. I've decided to specialize in Zen Cart as I'm a firm believers that it's better to be a really great at one thing than to be average at many things. I'm considering adding blog design to LBD's offerings, though, so stay tuned for that!

What payment methods do you accept for deposits and the final invoice?

I accept PayPal, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and personal/business checks for deposits, final invoices and any work after your launch. If paying for your deposit by paper check or PayPal's eCheck option, your start date will not be finalized until the check as cleared the bank.

What kind of cost am I looking at?

It pretty much depends on your needs. The base prices of our packages are on the product pages, so that's where the pricing would start. If there's anything that's not included in your package that you'd like for your site, it's no problem to add it on! One of the reasons that I like to chat about your project before you sign up is to make sure that if you have any special needs that I can give you the best estimate ahead of time. I never want you to be surprised by your invoice! Except for being pleasantly surprised at what a great value Lightning Bug Designs provides. =)

The deposit is due before scheduling your start date and the remainder of the invoice is billed when your website is ready to launch. So you have time for budgeting as needed. I can also accept payments during the development, if that works better for you.

Do you offer blog design? What if I want a matching blog to go with my fancy new website?

I do offer blog installation and integration into Zen Cart. I'll install WordPress and set it up so that it's displayed from within Zen Cart, rather than being a separate site. I think this ideal because the customer's experience with your site stays totally seamless as the logo, header, column(s) and footer stay the same on every page. Also, it keeps all of your categories, products and info pages just a click away! Blogs are great for driving traffic to your site, but making the transition from reading to purchasing should always be as quick and easy as possible.

How long will it take to complete my website? When can I be up and selling?

Website development for custom projects usually take 4-5 weeks from your start date (when I install the development site and we get to work) to your launch date (when I move the site from the LBD development server over to your hosting account so that everyone can bask in its awesomeness).

Need to launch a bit sooner? When you start the project with all of your product descriptions/images and info page text ready to go, we can easily shave a week or so off the development.

Prefab websites already have the most time consuming part of the project done (the design), so we're able to whip through the process very quickly! Starting the project with all of your information/photos ready, we could easily have the site launched within just two weeks! Of course, feel free to use all four weeks of the project to get familiar with the cart and to add your products and info pages.

I want to start the process right away, but I'm going to be on vacation for a week of the development. That's not a big deal, right?

Website development is a VERY communication-driven process. Just about every day of the development is important, so we can't miss on a bunch in a row. Vacations are super important; I highly recommend them (and am secretly a bit envious of yours)! But let's wait until after you get home to start whipping up your ideal site.

If you decide the website can't wait and the vacation can't wait, we might be able to make it work if you're able to check your email and be in contact with us at LEAST once per day (minimum). Otherwise, we'll push back your launch date in one week increments for our current weekly fee ($200/week, as of 3/09).

How flexible is my projected launch date?

Your launch date is pretty firm. Launch dates will only be pushed back in cases of extenuating circumstances (think divorce/death, not so much problems with product photography). I'm more than happy to push back your launch date in one week increments, though, for our current weekly fee.

Every now and again, technical issues can necessitate my pushing back your launch date by up to two weeks. This is pretty rare, though; I do everything I can to get your new site in front of your customers as quick as possible!

So what do I need in order to get started?

The first step is to shoot me an email from my inquiry form. The more you can tell me about your business and your ideal site, the better! Once we've had to chance to chat about your project and have settled on the perfect package for you and penciled in a start date, I'll send you an invoice for the deposit that you can pay directly online. The deposit is 40% of the package price in order to schedule a project start date. The deposit is nonrefundable. The remainder will be invoiced when your site is ready to launch. Once the invoice has been paid, I will launch the site on your hosting account. There IS a late fee.

Once your deposit has been received, your start date will be finalized. Within usually 5-7 days of receiving your deposit, I will set up your project on my project management website (Basecamp). I'll send you your login info as well as information about the process, recommendations for resources and a series of questions about the set-up of the site (what payment methods you'd like to offer, shipping methods, sales tax, categories, etc). That way you have plenty of time to think about all of those things and still have your answers ready to go by your start date!

How does the process work?

On your start date, I'll install your new site on our development server. Over the next few days, I'll get started setting up the cart according to your questionnaire answers and will install any modules that you'd like added on.

For prefab websites, while I'm doing that, your graphic designer will be customizing the site with your business info. They'll send those updated graphics to me and I'll integrate them into your site. You'll have four weeks from the start date until the launch date to add your products and informational page text, though we can always launch early, if you'd like!

Custom websites are a bit different. On or before your start date, your graphic designer will send over a design questionnaire for you to fill out. That's the perfect time to tell us about your business, your brand/favorite colors, design ideas and/or send over websites that you love and what you love about them (for inspiration ONLY; we will NEVER recreate or copy a website for any reason). While I'm working on the settings and the modules, you will be working with your graphic designer on creating your ideal web design. The design process usually takes about two weeks.

While the design is being created, I'll be here to answer any questions and help you get used to your new site. Once we have a finalized and approved design, then my favorite part starts! I'll take the design and integrate it into the site....turning a static "screenshot" into an interactive, clickable website. After the integration, all that's left is cart testing and launching! About a week after the integration, I'll go through the cart and test it extensively to make sure it works as intended, including placing test orders and doing cross browser testing (to make sure it looks great in different browsers....not everyone's using Firefox yet, though they should!!). After the testing, you'll have about another week before your launch date. On that day, I'll start the process of backing up the site on my development server and installing it on your own hosting account. I'll let you know as soon as the site's up and running so that you can start promoting it!

Your two week support period starts on the launch date. I'll be "on-call" for any problems or questions that you might have. The support period is only for support, however, and is not an extension of the development. Any design changes and/or sizable website work will be billable. Once your support period ends, I'll archive your project on Basecamp, but you'll always have access to it for future reference. In addition, you'll always have access to the LBD tutorials.

What's included in my package? What if I need something that's NOT included?

The specifics of each package (what's included, what's not) are on each product page. If you have any questions or aren't sure if something's included, please let me know before we get started. If there is something that's not included that you need or want, let's talk about it! I'm happy to add on anything that I can.

Are the prefab websites sold more than once? Will I ever come across another site using my design?

The prefab websites are only EVER sold once. You will never find your design on someone else's website.

Will I be able to trademark my website graphics?

This will depend on the particular design. Any copyright or license that is given to you is for the complete design; the copyright for individual elements is not available, unless the elements have been custom illustrated for you. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions about this.

Will I be able to get any matching print design or web banners to go with my new design?

Absolutely! All of our graphic designers offer at least some print and web design to match your site. Let me know what you have in mind and we'll go from there.