The Web can take your business to another level!

Businesses and non-profits run into this simple fact of modern life all the time - without a top-quality Website, no one takes you seriously. The Web is the new Yellowpages, and getting listed is more important than ever.

Businesses and non-profits of all sizes need affordable, solid, and dependable Web solutions they can live with and keep updated.

Good thing this is the kind of solution that CorFun provides!

In this article, let's talk about how a project with Corfun works.

The Corfun Development Process

1 The Consultation - Everything you do with CorFun starts with a consultation. We always strive to get to know you, your organization, and your unique goals. Before starting any kind of Web development, a CorFun consultant will be looking for the following information to help in making recommendations:

• What is the purpose of the Website?
• How does it fit into the overall goals of your organization?
• What capabilities do you think you need? (Discussion Forum, blogs, etc.)
• What is the target demographic for your site?
• What is your approximate budget?
• Do you need a graphics such as as logo or a banner, or do you currently have them?
• Do you have an existing Website to migrate?
• Do you own your domain name already, or will you be buying it?

2 The Proposal - The CorFun representative will take all of that information and more and use it as the basis for a proposal for your project.

3 The Project - After you accept the proposal from Corfun, the project officially starts. Every step of the way, expect updates from Corfun on the status of your project.

4 The Training - After the project is complete, we conduct training for your resources on how to manage the new Web system. This training is free if conducted remotely or in Central Florida.

5 Support - Following the project, Corfun offers 90 days of unlimited support to ease you into your new system. After this period ends, you can optionally pick up an economical ongoing support contract.

That all probably looks really good, but other companies have a similiar development methodology. So, you might be asking, "What makes what Corfun does different?"

The Corfun Difference

If your business or organization needs its own custom Web solution, then CorFun has the skills in-house to build any size Website from a small online brochure to a major, multi-media extravaganza. CorFun can build whatever you can dream!

At an affordable price, Corfun can design, build, and implement a Web solution for your organization that can include the exact mix of capabilities you need to support your unique goals and objectives.

But how is that different from anyone else?

Traditional Web development is built around what is called static HTML.

And static is exactly what it is.

In the traditional, static design approach, organizations typically contracted a Webmaster to design a few pages of text about the organization, with some pictures and a contact email address mixed in.

Usually, the Website was out-of-date before the Webmaster even managed to deliver it. And the organization receiving the site often had to live with the out-of-date information. Most non-profits and businesses simply don't have anyone on staff who can code HTML well enough to keep a site fresh.

It is commonplace to find Websites for good, solid businesses and non-profit organizations that haven't been updated in several years. This lamentable fact turns off potential customers and supporters alike.

But in addition to being hard to keep up-to-date, static HTML is also severely limited in what it can offer.

eNewsletters? Mailing lists? Membership in the site with custom permissions? Photo galleries? Downloads? Podcasts?

Static HTML simply can't provide any of those things. And so, many businesses and non-profits just had to live without them or spend a large amount of money on serious custom development.

A more advanced alternative to Static HTML is some framework like ASP. You've probably heard about that technology. ASP is a method that can be used to build really interesting Web pages will all kinds of great capabilities. The same can be said of Flash.

ASP and Flash-based sites can do great things, and ASP sites can even be designed to let non-technical people update them.

Problem? Cost. Major cost. Full ASP or Flash systems can run tens of thousands of dollars.

Both ASP and Flash cost a lot of money.

Corfun, however, uses a Content Management System named Joomla to develop Websites.

Content Management Systems (CMS) like Joomla have changed all the rules for Web design and are making high-tech solutions affordable for all size organizations.

A CMS is an Open Source application which is developed and available for free. Because Corfun doesn't have to license this software, we can afford to offer robust, powerful Websites for a very reasonable cost. Solutions from CorFun start at a very reasonable $1,500.00, with a convenient monthly payment plan option available.

For the price many charge for static pages, you can have a powerful Website that includes powerful features like blogging, discussion forums, and podcasting that is still simple enough for a non-technical person to work with.

And we even include training! All Websites by Corfun offer training to teach employees of the client organization how to update and keep the site fresh.

Not interested in learning? No problem. The power of the Content Management System lets us sell inexpensive maintenance packages to allow us to keep your site updated!

Click below to find out more about the power of a Content Management System.

What Kind of Sites Can You Build?

We get that question a lot. Before we answer it, let's talk a little about the technology that we use to build Websites.

Corfun primarily develops using the Joomla Content Management System. We like Joomla best, but we can also develop using Drupal, phpNuke, and PostNuke. All of these systems are very similar, and can be used to create a wide variety of different kinds of Websites.

A Content Management System is a software application that allows you to publish Web pages online, through your browser, without the need of knowing any HTML. You use an editor tool to literally create Web content the same as if you were typing a letter in Microsoft Word, or some other text editing tool.

It's that simple. After the system is built by qualified technicians, and with some good training, anyone can learn to create robust, beautiful Web pages like you see on CorFun's site.

But a CMS is even more than a way for a non-technician to create nice pages full of good, solid content. It is a framework which supports plugins that can give you almost unlimited power. Just some of the things a CMS from CorFun can allow you to have are:

• User Management
• eNewsletters
• RSS Feeds
• Podcasting
• Video Dispay
• Dynamic form builders
• Business or organizational directories
• Document management
• image and multimedia galleries
• E-commerce and shopping cart engines
• Forums and chat software
• Calendars
• Blogging software
• Directory services
• Email newsletters
• Data collection and reporting tools
• Banner advertising systems
• Subscription services
• and much, much more…

A custom Web solution from CorFun is something you can never outgrow. No matter how your organization expands, no matter how much you need to accomplish in the future, your solution is infinitely scalable to provide anything you will ever need. We can't tell you the number of times we've created a very simple site for a customer, only to see their needs grow over time until they are using almost everything the software can do.

So what kinds of sites can we build using all of this power?

Almost any kind. For example, we can build an online shopping site that can also have a weekly eNewsletter to keep customers notified of special deals or recently added products.

Or we could do a site that is a community like Facebook or mySpace. Visitors can register, and then have their own profiles, interact with each other, post pictures, blog, etc.

There really is no almost no limit to the different ways the features of this software can be combined to create custom solutions. For some sample pricing of different options, visit our Guideline Pricing page.

eNewsletters

One of the most powerful options available in a Corfun Website is the eNewsletter capability. eNewsletters are the lifeblood of marketing and fundraising in the 21st Century. Your success on the Internet is driven by your ability to keep your prospects coming back to your site, and routine eNewsletters drive traffic like almost nothing else.

CorFun works with the powerful Acajoom Mailing System which plugs right into the Joomla framework. Once installed and active, the eNewsletter system has no carrying costs! You pay once, and then use it forever to keep your members and customers up to date on what is happening in your organization.

Some of the great things offered by our newsletter component:

• Full compliance with all federal anti-spam laws! Many non-profits violate the law and don't even realize it. By law, subscribers to mass emails have to confirm they want the subscription, and have to be allowed to opt-out. CorFun's eNewsletter component does both of these things, and keeps you out of hot water with Uncle Sam. Not to mention avoiding headaches from your supporters!
• Easy sign-up with a simple form! We give you the code, and you can even take registrations right off your own site.
• Stunning HTML capability. Your newsletters will pop! Keep your organization, its mission, its goals, and its fundraising efforts in front of your supports at all times, and in a way they'll love getting!
• Mailings are easy to set up and send. In fact, we'll even do it for you!
• No limit on the size of your mailings! Compile as large a subscriber list as you can!
• Send out articles, latest news, information about events - whatever you need to communicate to your supporters and members.

eNewsletter services normally charge a monthly fee, and a per item charge above a specified limit. With your own mailing system, you will never have to pay any of those charges!

Contact us today, and be sending eye-popping eNewsletters to your supporters within a few weeks!

Website Package Guideline Pricing

Every project is unique. Every customer is unique also. At CorFun, we understand that. But, we also understand that everyone wants to get an idea of what they can get for the money before investing time and effort to contact us for a consultation. For that reason, we've prepared the tabs below to give you an idea of pricing for our services and the kinds of projects we do. Please note, however, that your pricing may vary depending on the overall needs of your organization.

All packages listed below come with:

• 90 day warranty and full support period
• Free Search Engine Optimization
• Free upgrades to all components as new versions are released for six months
• Training for staff on use of the new Web system

Additional, affordable support options are available for after the warranty period expires.

In addition, Corfun offers the option to launch your project with a small downpayment and take up to 12 months to pay the remainder in easy monthly installments!

If you prefer to have help in managing your new Website, Corfun offers two hours of management services a month for only $35.00, with additional hours costing only $30.00 each. For more information, see the next tab.

Also note, Christian ministries and charities receive a discount from CorFun on the commercial packages. Please contact us for more details.

The Joomla system we use comes bundled with an amazing array of built-in features and can used to build any kind of site. The packages below have been put together to give some ideas of the kinds of projects Corfun does, and how those projects are normally priced.

eCommerce

Perfect for: Businesses and non-profits seeking to sell merchandise online.

Base Price: $3,000.00

Features:

• Complete Joomla Installation and Configuration
• Commercial grade Joomla template of customers' choice
• Minor template customization to fit existing logos/art work
• 6 Pages of Content with maximum 3 graphics per page
• Installation and configuration of complete shopping cart system
• Load and build of up to four categories of products with up to 20 products per category (unlimited number possible)
• Display of products on site
• Six hours of training for staff on the new system
• HTML Newsletter Mailing System integrated fully with Joomla User Management
• Extensive Banner Ad Management System that includes:
  • Banner integration with specific content types
  • Put the right banner with the right articles to appeal to the right market!
  • Rotating banner ads using Flash technology
• News tickers
• Fading/Rotating module for news items
• Slideshow gallery
• Multi-media player for streaming audio and video content
• Customer Service/Ticket Management System
• Upgraded RSS feed management system
• Search Engine Optimization
• Podcast
• Pick of two additional components from the following list:
  • Photo gallery package
    • Highly useful for product demonstrations
  • Personal Messaging System
  • Chat
  • Content Submission Portal
  • Discussion Forum
  • Event Calendar
  • Event Registration System
  • Blog
  • Wiki
  • Comment System
  • Guestbook
  • Document Manager (stores downloadable files)
  • FAQ Manager
  • Multiple language translation module
  • Google or other affilate advertising integration
  • Additional features are available by request and may be substituted for the items on this list.

Corfun develops using the Joomla CMS platform. This gives us the ability to build Websites quickly, cost-effectively, and with a wide variety of capabilities.

In addition, the CMS architecture allows Website owners to be their own Webmasters!

Click on a category to see what we can do!

 

Christian Ministries	eCommerce
Commercial Sites	Online Communities

Contact us today to find out how we can help you!