The use of online marketing expands exponentially every year and as it grows so do the specialized services that cater to segments of the economy, both consumer oriented and B-to-B. The social media sites have added another dimension – or two, or three, depending on how you look at it – increasing the range of skills that is required for successful digital marketing.


One of the turnkey methods for entering this exploding field is a master (MA) in graphics design earned at a school or arts institute that addresses the use of social media. The best marketing and graphics arts programs are doing just that, incorporating multiple platforms into graphics and media design academic options. Our list of sites here provides a brief and inadequate example of the way in which graphic artists and web developers have created niche specializations.
 

  1. Sports ProfessionalsAthlete Web Design creates web pages for professional athletes and companies that provide services for sports professionals. Their roster of NFL clients is impressive. They are also in the custom logo design business and offer social networking plans, presumably for their clients.

 

  1. DanceStudio of Dance was developed by people with some professional experience in dance and the teaching of dance, which they have parlayed into a graphic design service than has built websites for dance studios all over the country. They offered packaged site design with a set of optional additions along with site hosting and maintenance.

 

  1. Theatre– Opera Web Design develops sites for opera performers, utilizing a lot of Flash in order to maximize presentation of their clients’ musical and theatrical talents. Their company site also uses flash and some impressive tricks to display their talents – impressive if you’ve got the bandwidth to download it all. They also offer an HTML version of their site and presumably design that function into client sites as well.

 

  1. Product DesignInventive Design provides graphic design for product designers. This company goes beyond site design into multimedia development, 3D logo design, and CAD support for the product design process itself. It’s an impressive marriage of site design and professional support services for an industry that increasingly relies on digital tools.

 

  1. Wine – Design Vineyard specializes in wine websites – specifically, sites for vineyards that manufacture upscale products. This is a boutique niche in an industry that thrives on boutique businesses. There are almost three thousand vineyards in California and about 6.700 in the U.S. almost all of which rely on micro-brand building and regional product circulation.

 

  1. GamblingJuggler Design develops gambling websites for online casinos, sports books, and an assortment of destination sites that also offer internet betting services. Many of these sites have extensive back office components that manage bets and payouts; complex financial applications that go far beyond the typical graphic design needs for sites and beyond simple retail exchanges.

 

  1. Massage TherapyBodywork Sites produces websites for massage therapists. There are a substantial number of specializations within the industry, giving this graphics house the opportunity to lay out a variety of templates for potential customers. They also provide hosting services.

 

  1. ChurchesMy Church Website has a very large portfolio of churches across the country for which they have built websites. The components for these sites include a graphic enhanced calendar function, donation solicitation, sermon management, a Bible search tool, prayer requests, and an assortment of other features.

 

  1. WritersWeb Design for Writers produces sites for authors, freelance writers, journalists, and poets. That’s a wide range of professionals who are in the throes of converting to digital from the dead tree media. It’s a well designed service structured for professionals who don’t have a lot of money to invest in web presence.

 

  1. Bakeries – Bakery Web Design has a former bakery owner as one of the company principals – no surprise. This organization offers website design and marketing services to optimize exposure for traditional bakeries and specialty shops with products like wedding cakes.


About the Author

Bob Hartzell writes for several websites including Masters Degree Online, on the value of graduate education as it relates to a rapidly evolving economy that is creating new career tracks as fast as it closes off old ones.  He has written extensively on the growth of online academic programs with traditional universities and high profile, top tier graduate schools.