You are currently viewing the archived version of this web site

Please click here to visit the new version of this web site

Frequently Questioned Answers

Q: Price?

A: $50 an hour plus materials (if any). That is less than half the going rate per employee that most any agency would give you. Actually - this is less than your mechanic, your plumber, your electrician, your lawyer, your accountant, or any other working type charges you for their time. This hourly rate does include consultations and post-agreement changes in direction, otherwise I could find myself spending hundreds of hours discussing by phone or by email various new ideas and changes post-contract. If I am answering your calls, I am not working on your project, yet I am still working and I expect to be paid. I expect half up front, in return you receive a signed agreement that in layman's terms explains that I am in a lot of trouble if I do not give you the full project as tediously outlined in the agreement to make sure that no one gets screwed. The latter half is billed upon completion, with a thirty day grace period in most cases though I will do payment plans. I will not create open or good-faith 'accounts' anymore because such adds up to my not getting paid the remainder of a small balance while said individuals travel the country first class, and sleep in expensive hotels.

Q: Erm... Price?

A: It really depends on the size of your project. I work very very quickly, so you get a decent amount of work for each and every hour you pay for. I can do nice, clean corporate looking sites for as low as $600 if they are five or less pages with less than 20 images to add, and you either already have your logo designed or really don;t care to have a logo presented (because identity is a whole different ball game). Most of the stuff that cost more, I wouldn't recommend. Unless it is an art or music oriented site, people neither expect nor desire to wait a long time for something to load - nor do they like having to download plugins just to get to what they came to your site for: reading what you have to offer. I get seriously cheesed when I find a big flash intro to wait through when I am only looking for store hours or wanting to order a pizza.

Q: Hosting?

A: $12 a month or $105 yearly (save $40 a year that way), and that includes free domain name registration or re-registration (though the domain name must be available through normal means). You can probably find better prices if you look really hard, obviously I get it for a few dollars less or I wouldn't offer it. But, this way you end up with your web designer being your web host, and not charging you to communicate with your web host on your behalf. An added bonus is that you know for sure that the host will be compatible with all of the bells and whistles you want on your site, and that I will be able to show you how to administer all aspects of your web space.

Q: Book Illustrations?

A: I love this sort of work + I have favorite authors. Chances are, that if you are one of those authors, you will get an extra special deal out of an advance copy of your book for me to work from. Otherwise, I need to make a living. Still, if you are up to sending me a manuscript, and showing me that you are without a doubt well on the way to being published, or if you are an ESTABLISHED publisher - drop me a line.

Q: I have a great band, destined for fame/once famous and very little capital, though I have enough money to to go to club every frigging night, attend every after party, and replace whatever expensive clothing items I puked on the night before. I also have a SWEET Kurzweil synth to compliment my 2 custom-painted Les Pauls...

A: I have done a LOT of these deals. I will do no more. Reason being: I quote a remarkably generous price for 20 hours worth of work, and spend twenty something months making revisions, waiting on material, decisions, changes in direction, pay, and ultimately the big payoff. If I had the sort of time and resources to dedicate towards launching you towards stardom, I would have the time for making more paintings, more prints, redesigning my web site, attending conventions, flossing my toes, finishing my own music project, and doing a thousand things to enable me to never ever need to do this sort of deal. Inversely, if I continue to do these sort of deals, I will run myself into the ground, and never have the time to (at the very least) seek good paying clients of the 'good paying client' variety. Too many times I have had to pass up a great deal, because I was too tied up in these sorts of projects.

Q: Portfolio Site?

A: The importance of 'Portfolio Sites' is quality over quantity, and too many 'Portfolio Sites' tend to disappear off of the net, or become hideously updated/mutilated by some band member's friend's brother with his 486 and his copy of 'FrontPage 97'. Portfolio sites tend to be out there artistically, which renders them confusing to the types of people who would need to ask for free or cheap work.

Q: I have this fantastic idea, it involves me selling something online, then buying it, then shipping it. I would be able to pay you more once everything is up and running. I also need for you to design the things I would be selling.

A: Sure, I will build your thriving online business for you for free. Or better yet - why don't I build my own friggin' store and you build yours?

Q: Does my kewl design made by the airbrush guy at the mall constitute a pre-existing logo?

A: If it is a good design, I will need to re-trace/vector it so that I can work with it, and I will need to charge you for this time. If it is a terrible design, unbalanced or illegible, I might just opt out of the project before it begins. There is nothing like trying to figure out where to place an 'L' shaped formation of words or a cone-shaped drawing. I like sites to look good. Typically, the logo is the prime focus on each page (people like to know they have come to the right place, and that they have not accidentally left), second being the nav buttons (because some people still for some reason have a hard time finding buttons or links if you do not thumb tack them directly to said people's eyeballs), third being the content (because who really needs content anyway?). If the logo looks like crap, the site looks like crap, or is too unworkable to ever make it the point where it can look like crap. A good logo design, should be legible if printed on the spine of a cassette (primitive media device) or a really thin book; A good logo should not rely on any particular color scheme for visibility.

Q: I want to build a site that relies on a large grouping of a particular type of businesses to become members for fear that they will not be on yet another comprehensive listing of businesses of their type. Since I love to narrow my client base, I plan to make this either regional or local. I think I can get my brother to subscribe right away.

A: These 'target businesses' will most likely ask how long you have been up and running, and how many other people have already joined. They will ask for web stats, market research, and a multitude of things that you may not have. I however, will only ask you for the full amount of pay.

Q: I can't get to my site because there are popups all over my computer and I have a virus. I also have my resolution set at 600 x 480, or maybe have no idea what screen resolution is. I can't even find my desktop... at least not the one you are talking about... nope - no icons, just a cup of coffee and a keyboard... is it maybe underneath my keyboard?

A: This... especially this, falls under 'consulting'. Yes, I probably can troubleshoot your proprietary, misconfigured, and maybe outdated computer system over the phone. Yes, it will cost you an hourly rate. I prefer that my web clients be somewhat computer literate, since it is now around 2004 I do not think that this is a lot to ask.

Q: Can you build my site from a stack of paperwork? I will cross out what is not needed, circle what is, and draw little arrows where I am not sure what the hell I mean, and use paperclips for something.

A: Yes. Understand that I will be reading this, then typing this, then reading this, then typing this - and not feeding it into a little box with a telepathic type-monkey. Hourly rates apply for this and every time I need to call and ask what the squiggly means, or what content goes on which page or why a photo is rubber banded to a finger puppet. I prefer having this stuff sent to me in word or plain text format (notepad, BBedit, TextEdit or other)- it is better for you and for me and allows for less mistakes. I will scan images, but I recommend that you write on the back with details such as which page, which paragraph, tag lines, etc...

Q: I have a site, and would like it very much if you would include my huge banner somewhere on your site.

A: Die... now.

Q: I am an artist or musician, would you like to exchange links?

A: Probably. It depends on what sort of stuff you do.