Christian artist???

Growing up as an expressiv artist I had the ability to express any emotion through a wide variety of mediums and subjects. 

When I attended art college I had classes where men and women unclothed so we could draw, sculpt or paint them. We had a variety of body types to explore; aged to youthful, fit to unfit.  Each type representative of what happens.  With the body as it ages.

I should tell you at this point in my blog I am a born again Christian. No I wasn't in rehab or prison. I didnt find God in the back of a cop car... :) One day I just felt the voice of God calling and reminding me that He loved and missed me. Im so thankful I was listening. :) I have been blessed in so many ways! If you don't have a relationship with Him. Or have questions email me anytime. Even if its just to pray for you.

As I grow more involved in adult life. I seem to have less time to create art (besides graphic design). When I can, I take photographs, draw or paint. I have found an online resources that allows artistic projects to be uploaded and viewed by other artists. 

One thing I think about is can you be a true artist with no restrictions or taboo subjects and still be a Christian?

Some will say no, and some will say yes.  Some will point out reasons and some just want to argue. 

For me I guess the answer is almost similar to what is art...
I think it just depends on the point of view. As for me, Domonic, I think I can and am a Christian and an artist. While I don't sculpt, draw or paint nudes any more. I have found meaningful ways to express my feelings without feeling like a sellout. Perhaps this would of came by it's self with maturity.  Maybe God said try this.

Even when I wasn't a Christian my art always evolved. Part of what I love about art is if your mind is open you will always grow be it technique, medium or content.

Either way I still, when I can create expressive, meaningful art projects while being a Christian. At the end of the day art to me is about perspective and joy and knowing I have a Lord who is proud of what im doing with the talents He gave me.

Raise Funds for Your Church With Google Adsense

Google Adsense is a great tool for generating extra income for your church or ministry. It’s very easy to set up Google Adsense. You must first create an account and select a username and password. You will be required to enter your tax exempt numbers and other personal information, so have them ready.

Once your account is set up, decide what type of ads you want on your site, generate the code, and then copy and paste the code into your web page. Once the code is on your site, Google begins to generate relevant ads based upon your site’s content. I have been amazed at the accuracy of their choices. After that, when someone clicks on one of the ads, you make money.

Here are a few things that will help you get the most out of Google Adsense:

Ad placement. Where you place your ads is very important. Through trial and error we have found the best performer for us is a 160×600 vertical banner. We place it on the left side right below our navigation links. The second best performer is a 468×15 horizontal keyword ad. We place it at the top of the page right under our logo.

Ad format. The type of ad you choose will make a big difference in your performance. I use only text ads. I have tried image ads but they do very poorly on our site. You should experiment with different ad types because each site is different. For some sites using a combination of text and image ads works well. Google has a feature that allows you to create custom channels for each ad so you can track its performance.

Ad color. I have found that making the ads blend into our site as much as possible produces the best results. Google makes it easy to select colors for your ads. I use a white background with a white border and the title and URL are the same color as my navigation links. They don’t really look like ads, but additional links on our site.

Ad density. You are only allowed to have up to three ad units per page. We have two on every page and use an additional one on some pages. Often Google will only show one or two of the ad units at a time. You have the option of choosing either public service ads, or an alternate URL which will show the page of your choice during those times when the Google ads are not available.

Program performance. Google makes it easy to keep track of your site’s performance by showing how many clicks you have received and how many ad impressions have been shown. In the beginning a click-thru-ratio (CTR) over 3% is considered good. The amount of money you make is directly related to the number of visitors you have and how often they click.

Adsense for search. This is a great feature that allows your visitors to search for content either on your site, on the web, or a combination of the two. The landing page that is produced as a result of their search is full of relevant ads that will generate income if your visitor clicks on them.

Experiment with Adsense. If one type of ad doesn’t perform well, replace it with another. Once you have Adsense in place, Google does all of the work for you. Give it a try – you really have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kim Linton is a freelance writer who covers a wide variety of topics including Christianity, technology and industry trends. Her work has been featured on major news outlets including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and has been published on a variety of niche sites including Woman's Day and Intel.

originally read on http://www.ministrymaker.com

Web of Neglect

If your site's outdated, you could be paying the price--in customers.
By Nichole L. Torres | Entrepreneur Magazine - May 2006

You know the drill--you're visiting a business's website, looking for information on the latest sale or the types of services offered, and when you click on a link, you find it's broken or the printout coupon has expired. The website is out-of-date, and that entrepreneur
is losing business because of it. Don't let this happen to your business, warns Steve Grushcow, CEO of Edit.com, a website maintenance service provider in New York City. "We find that [some businesses] forget about [their websites] because they're sort of intangible," says Grushcow, "but it's the face [of the business] to a lot of your customers."

During startup, define what exactly you want your website to accomplish-will it provide information, make sales, or get people to call your 800 number? Once you get up and running, make sure it still meets those goals. Grushcow also suggests checking your site at least once a month for broken links or outdated news. You can even add a newsletter or blog to make your site feel more current. And if you keep a list of clients or samples of past work, make sure to keep that up-to-date as well. "Keep your business consistent," says Grushcow. "Changes in your business should also be reflected on your website."

You can update your website yourself with web-maintenance software
like Edit.com's, but if your design needs an overhaul, call in a professional developer to give it the face-lift it needs.

And if you're paying to advertise your site on search engines, you should be doubly concerned with keeping it updated and functioning well. "If your phone number is on your business
card and it doesn't work, that would obviously be a problem," says Grushcow. "It's the same case for your website."

Gmote Turns Your Android Phone Into a Remote Control for Your PC

Android only: Gmote controls your desktop PC directly from your mobile phone, letting you control playback of music and movies, browse your file system, or even use your phone as a keyboard and mouse.

To get the media playback controls working, you'll need to make sure that your PC has VLC installed, install the Gmote server application—there are versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and then install the Gmote client on your phone. Once you've completed the setup you can connect the mobile client to the Gmote server by IP address, and start controlling your PC from your phone.

It's definitely not a substitute for a good media center remote, but it's a great way to control a PC using your Android phone. Hit the link for the download, or check out the How-To Geek guide for a screenshot tour of how it works. Gmote is a free download for Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Life lessons

I was very lucky in hindsight to have a pseudo-father growing up. An artist and poet, with a giving heart to the beat down and tired. Not wealthy by the worlds standard yet one of the richest people I have ever known. He would make his living by going to flea markets buying then reselling the things the people had for sale. Many times when I asked him why he bought that worthless dirty thing he would say

"One man's junk is another man's treasure"

I always thought this was about material possessions. This morning I wonder if it means a man may see one person as worthless, while others will see him valuable? Or maybe the "bad things" we go through in life can be junk to us, but to others our experience are useful, like addictions or abuse. So many times in life we may never know that the hard times we can go through can help so many other people. Mr. Rodgers said

"If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."

Our past can shape someones future. The stuff we go through can either build or destroy not only us but the people come into contact with and even our loved ones. Like the child with an alcoholic or abusive parent who becomes an addict. The way we deal with trials and hardships develop our character, good or bad. Helen Keller once said

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved".

How different my life would be if I had never went to the flea market with my Uncle Bob. I learned everything from discipline, work ethics and later in life, perspective. Many of my charter traits are from him and his time, love and quotes that he poured into me. I hope this encourages you to look at anything your going through in a new light and reminds you that we are all connected to each other. Lastly

"There was a man and they called him mad;
the more he gave the more he had".

A Guide to Church Social Media and SEO

One of the big buzzwords in Christian technology and design circles is social media and its role in online engagement and community. To answer some of the questions about church social media, I’ve provided this short guide, which is the first in a series of posts about church social media strategy.

1) Quality content. Stories, art, insight, and fun content that keeps readers interested. You might also consider video if that works for you.

2) The three most important components to consider in your church’s social media vision are:

Spiritual gifting and passion

Intended audience

Available time and resources

God’s mission for you and His gifting to your church staff will likely orient much of the content and nature of your online and social media ministry efforts. For instance, one strategy is the use of the bridge strategy to guide social media efforts.

3) Focus on evergreen content over time-specific content. One way to help create more evergreen content is to create a series on particular issues important to potential members. What would be helpful or valuable to my members which I feel is consistent with my faith? Realize that time-specific content like church, community, and event announcements are still incredibly important, but this tip is more about focusing on what will be valuable 3 years from now than just 3 days from now.

4) Consider re-purposing content. If you already have a church newsletter or e-mail newsletter, perhaps 65 to 85 percent of that could be valuable to your users. One great way is to re-purpose sermon content in 1 to 3.5 minute snippets. Most users won’t be interested in listening to 25 minute lessons, so making short snippets available so they can access core lesson components in short bursts is important. One website that has done a great job of putting their content into snippets and is an example of video social media best practice in this regard is Stanford E-Corner website, which provides short themed segments.

5) Idea board. Create a document, wiki, or whiteboard to explore ideas for the blog. You might even just use a traditional paper model. This helps centralize your ideas so that no ideas get left behind. There are a ton of great free and low cost Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0 tools that are perfect for document collaboration (Google Docs and PB Wiki are available for free, while Zoho Docs and Basecamp are inexpensive paid platforms). This is also a great way to collaborate productively on ideas in staff and ministry groups.

6) Try to keep it personal and conversational. This is one of the core precepts of the new era of social media on the web. One way to do this is with your tone. Another is to have short interviews with community members about important issues and events.

7) Look to models and proven social media best practices. Check out the top 100 church blogs. What do they share in common? This can provide you with strategic insight about what type of content is link worthy and therefore SEO friendly.

8) Think about users. What are the 7 to 10 most relevant items? This is the same decision you might make in a Christian newspaper or magazine. Front page your most important content by putting links on the top or side menu bar. Another user-centric design consideration is to keep your design visual.

9) Aggregation. If you have multiple publishing platforms online you may consider consolidating them in one place via aggregation. Content aggregation makes it easy for users to access and view all the content on one particular topic all in one easy to use location. Widgets and content aggregation is one way for you to bring in content from your favorite Christian magazine, website, or blogger.

You will want to return to some of these concepts every 6 to 12 months as you review your church social media goals and strategies. Make no mistake, it is a time and content creation commitment. Often solving that issue is just a matter of focus and time management.

If you have questions about church search engine optimization or church website design, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

What should a website cost?

What should a website cost?

this is a common question many people ask.....

To not show favoritism because I am a developer and graphic artist I have take the pricing from the source many freelancers use to price their work..... The following comes directly from http://www.designquote.net/html/dq_estimate_wizard.cfm

Web Design Pricing Calculator

Average Hourly Rates

Student/Offshore $15 - $30/hour

Freelancer/Company $25 - $75

Expert Consultant $50 - $250

Professional Firm $75 - $200

Average Cost Guide

Logo Design:
$100 - $250+ (Student or Offshore)
$250 - $1000+ (Professional Designer)

Basic Brochure Website:
$500 - $1000+ (Student / Offshore)
$1500 - $5000+ (Professional Designer)

E-Commerce Website:
$1000 - $5,000+ (Outsourced Offshore)
$2000 - $10,000+ (Experienced Developer)

Custom Database / Interactive Website:
$1500 - $15,000+ (Offshore)
$2500 - $25,000+ (Experienced Developer)

To put this into perspective..... Elev8 Web Design just completes a website of 10 pages with a logo and 20 images, a java image slider with 5 custom images and client included 10 microsoft word documents that i placed in the pages. This site also included a email contact form... Our Cost..... $750.00

VS

Estimates: Note: These are ballpark estimates, submit a project for real bids.
Premium	Medium	Discount
Professional Designer or Company	Small Company or Freelancer	Student or Offshore
BallPark: $11,305.00 - $15,295.00 DesignQuote Budget: $10,000 - $15,000	BallPark: $6,783.00 - $9,177.00 DesignQuote Budget: $7,500 - $10,000	BallPark: $2,826.25 - $3,823.75 DesignQuote Budget: $2,500 - $5,000

If you need a website let us know free quotes and prompt attention to details are our calling cards. For examples of our work visit us @ Http://www.elev8webdesign.com or email sales@elev8webdesign.com