You are what you do

Professionally at least, here is what I’ve been (doing) lately.

Subcontractor with design companies, using Squarespace

Yes, Squarespace. I take design companies’ ideas and extrapolate them out into full sites using Squarespace. It can be a satisfyingly fast and inexpensive way to get a high-quality website online. This process fits a wide range of lower-budget projects that don’t require full-custom design and development, and we might add on custom widgets or third-party services if needed. Everybody wins.

Soup-to-nuts small business/organization marketing website creator

For these projects I often get to put on all my hats: project manager, strategist, copywriter, designer, architect, technician, coach, cheerleader, and more. Clients are sometimes surprised how much time we spend upfront developing messaging and writing content rather than jumping into what the Home page will look like. For every client-specific little thing that comes up chances are I have a well-worn hat that will address it.

Digital “hands”, consultant, and overseer for DIYers

I had a client recently (not a designer) who came to me with site layouts pre-made in Microsoft Publisher. She needed help getting her domain back under her own control, consultation about what online services to use (such as an online site builder, email marketing, and domain-based email), and someone who could reliably provide guidance to help get the project off the ground while pulling any necessary technical strings. It wasn’t glamorous, but when the client is thrilled with the project I feel really good.

Maintenance-engineer for certain types of “legacy” websites (and sometimes migration facilitator)

These are cases where someone else built the site and for whatever reason that person is out of the picture now. If it looks like I can help I step in and provide fixes and improvements as needed. In a couple of recent cases separate clients each had a site built on an old version of Expression Engine that we eventually transitioned to Craft CMS along with overhauling the design.

Website performance evaluation and improve-inator

It’s amazing how a little attention to improving the load speed of a site can make a HUGE difference. Faster sites make a better impression, keep people engaged, and perform better in search rankings. I recently worked on a small site that saw a 75% weight loss with just a few hours of diagnostics and improvements. (that sounds like a personal weight loss ad… results may vary… haha)

What have YOU been (doing) lately?