FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
My process is simple. I ask questions, listen to my clients answers and hear what they are trying to achieve. What is the end result that they expect. Then I take about 30 minutes to an hour in order to lay out a strategic plan to accomplish their goal. I assign hours to that plan and multiply those hours by rate. At the end of the process I can give a realistic estimate for time and budget to the client that is neither too high or too low. I've been doing this for over 20 years so I know what my capabilities are, my time frame and my ability to achieve a target. I'm the first to tell my client if I cannot achieve it and I will go further and recommend the services of someone who can. For instance, recently I turned down an enormous writing project but was able to turn my client on to a professional writer that delivered exactly what they were looking for. The end result is I got all the design work and the writer handled all the hundreds of pages of writing. The client was very happy with the results.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I do go through code school online to keep up with the latest trends in CSS. I am also a member of several SEO and VSEO professional forums where we discuss the latest techniques. This is crucial if you are to keep fresh with your work.
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
My mother was an interior designer, my father was an artist and also a scientist who worked for NASA for 35 years. I would go with my mother on design jobs and she would tell me things like; "You cannot buy taste Tom, you either have it or you do not." Then I would watch her as she worked with her clients, listened to them and spent their money to design probably the most intimate thing in their life - their home. I have always wanted to be an artist and have always appreciated working with clients - never did I consider anything else.