Web Development

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Small business sites. Restaurants, salons, law firms, medical groups, online e-commerce sites. If you have your own business, you really can't afford not to have an online representation now-a-days.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Do not be so concerned with hiring a local developer. Your website will be online. Your viewers will not demand to meet with you before interacting with your site. Why would you demand it of a developer? You severely limit your access to quality and perhaps BETTER choices if you insist on meeting with a local developer. Overseas developers on the other hand are a whole other animal. For one, you have little to no recourse with someone out of the country should something go awry.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Coding ability, for one. There are way too many "designers" that know very little about coding. They simply purchase expensive software that allows them to generate code by clicking buttons. This generally provides what looks good at face value but violates so many other "not-to-do's". It can lead to numerous problems such as longer loading times, cross-browser incongruities, poor SEO performance, etc.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Once you reach a certain level of skill, the greatest determinant in if a client chooses you is personal preferences for design, form, etc. What separates me from most developers is my level of professionalism and service. I have numerous willing and happy references.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I love most everything about my job. But foremost, it would have to be the creative outlet. I love being able to produce something that captures what a client wishes to convey about themselves and their business.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Most commonly people want to, of course, discuss price. That is a legitimate concern, assuming that price is not the greatest determinant in selecting a developer. Service, competence, and reliability are equally important if you are concerned with getting a quality production. Fortunately as a freelancer I can provide all of the above.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. Surely! There was this one time that a colleague and I met to discuss a gameplan for a client's site. A rarity in its own right for an internet-based commodity. Anyway, three hours and 4 frappucinos later...

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. That I offer web hosting. We have economical plans as low as $4.99/monthly and full service plans that include unlimited email account and domain management. You can view details at http://buildmyweb.org/web_hosting.php

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I started building websites as a hobby. Luckily, I became one of those fortunate people who had the opportunity and courage to try making a living doing what I love to do.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Read, read, read. I constantly get books from the local libraries and read up on new techniques and expand my skillset. I then purchase the really good ones. And there just isn't enough time in the day to read all the good personal blog sites with tips and tricks.

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. http://www.robertevantrop.com/
This was a personal site for an individual who took one of my HTML classes. Great guy with some personal products to sell.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. My pricing is not complicated at all. I charge hourly. $45 for XHTML/CSS and $75 for programming/graphic design: http://buildmyweb.org/pricing.php

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. Love it! If you don't love it, programming quickly becomes monotonous and frustrating.