If you’ve got a web site or are thinking of creating one, I recommend checking out the winners and nominees for ideas. If you run a small operation and you're low on time and/or web savvy, you may feel a little overwhelmed by the polish and shiny sophistication of many of the winners.That’s ok. You can still come away with a lot of good, low-tech, DIY tips and best practices.

And keep in mind that you don’t have to have deep pockets or technological wizardry in order to have an effective web site. (As Seth Godin mentioned recently, for $5 a month web novices can have a good-looking site up and running in a few minutes.) As it happens, many sites buckle under the weight of their excessive budget and bloated technology, so be glad you don’t have truckloads of money to spend on web design. :)

And often enough, monetary constraints bring new ideas and creativity. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple: “All the best things I did at Apple came from (a) not having money, and (b) not having done it before, ever.” (How’s that for motivation?)

Additionally, I’m sensing lately that the pendulum is swinging in favor of the low-tech. Consider the sensation that this site, which is comprised of low-quality photos of writing on top of a refrigerator, has caused. The techies at 37 Signals think it's perhaps the most creative site on the internet. Or this site, which has one graphic and never strays from humble 12-pt Times New Roman font. It is, in my opinion, one of the better-looking sites on the interweb.