If you are a photographer, writer, designer, illustrator or an artist of any kind you have gotta have a web presence. But not just any old web site. Please pay attention to colors, fonts, layout and of course content.

Bernice Yeung is a freelance writer who gets it. Hers is a clean, simple, pleasant web site that has just about all the things that one would want to see at a writer's website. “I'm mostly using it for when I'm pitching stories for freelance work,” she offered in a recent email. Indeed, a web site can be your calling card that could either make or break you in a world where the first impression lasts a lifetime. See how each page has a different background color. That sort of feedback to the web site visitor is golden. I was also impressed in the way the pages loaded quickly. Missing are unnecessary animations and other eye candy that distract rather than attract you to the content on the site.

Yeung's site is designed by Rick Elizaga. And I mention his name because a lot of us feel we have to go at this alone or mistakenly believe we can design our own sites. Here is a bit of unsolicited advice – get a designer to help you out. Going back to the topic of making your first impression, would you want your site to look unprofessional or professional? Do what you do best, leave the rest to those who do those things best. While it may mean saving a few bucks now, the price you pay trying to be a jack of all trades is much too great for your future.