If there’s one consistent message my clients have been sending me, it’s that they need me to help them through the entire process of getting their business online.  It’s not enough to simply build their website: we have to first plan the project, then do the project, and then follow up on the project.

So I now offer a continuum of services, to help you at each step along the way!

The “before you talk to a web developer” step

Let’s start at the very beginning
A very good place to start

“Do Re Mi”, from The Sound of Music
lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, 1959

Before you set out in your car on a roadtrip, you need a map and a plan.  Before you build a house, you need a blueprint.  Before you bake a cake, you need a recipe.

And before you commission a web developer or a marketer to build you a website, you need a strategy.  I used to do this step as part of every web development project anyway: I need to get your branding and market and content structure out of your head so I know what to build!

Now I offer that step as a stand-alone session. Right now I’m doing them one on one, but I can reach more people if I deliver the same material in front of a roomful of people, or online as a series of webinars.

The “let’s build it” step

So once you have your strategy nailed down, the next step is to build what you planned.

I love WordPress.  I love not having to reinvent the wheel every time I build a website.  I love how powerful and how flexible it is.  I love how my clients can maintain and update their websites themselves.  Did I mention I love WordPress?  These days I use WordPress almost exclusively when I build a site.

Because I’m doing more and more strategy sessions with more and more people — and that will increase, of course, once I figure out the best way to deliver to a larger audience — I can’t possibly build for every person who goes through a strategy session.  I’m very pleased to be able to announce that I am partnering with a branding expert who has a team of designers and developers that can make your branding vision a reality.

The “now that I’ve got it what do I do with it” step

And once you have your website (and your email newsletter, and your blog) you have to fill all those content buckets with stuff.  Add in social media and audio and video, and that’s a whole lot of content buckets!

I help folks figure out how to fill those content buckets without losing their sanity.

The “I’m stuck” or “I need a nudge” step

Sometimes we need a fresh set of ideas, or a gentle nudge to keep moving in the right direction.  So I also help people work through their sticking points, and then help them stay on track with their plans.

It’s all good

Whew!  That’s a lot of pieces.  But you know what?  It’s all connected, and it’s all fun.

Rise again, rise again, that her name not be lost
To the knowledge of men.
Those who loved her best and were with her till the end
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

“The Mary Ellen Carter”, by Stan Rogers, copyright 1979

There are days, weeks even, when my business feels like the Mary Ellen Carter.  And yes, I’m rising again!

So many changes.  So many different options to explore and figure out What I Want To Do When I Grow Up.

I’ve been in business since 1992, and developing websites for small businesses since 2000.  I still love doing that.  Over the years I found myself doing a lot of coaching, of sorts: helping my website clients BEFORE we build, with branding and web strategy, and AFTER we build, with content planning and general business issues.

I’ve learned, oh boy have I learned.  I’ve joined coaching programs, most notable Ali Brown’s Millionaire Protege Club in 2011 and her Elevate in 2012.  I became a certified coach myself in 2010, as a Profiting From Your Passions Coach (program by Valerie Young).

I wrote a book!  OK, part of a book.  But I want to do more, because that one was so much fun. (And I can’t WAIT to get my hands on the copies when they get her in late March/early April!).

And I found that it’s all of a piece, what I do.  Sort of an online business continuum if you will.  It took a while to figure out how to package and price the various bits — and I’m still sorting some of that out, as these things tend to take on a life of their own and go in unanticipated directions — but I now feel both comfortable and really excited with what I offer.

So join me on my journey. I promise I won’t sink the ship!

This is a WordPress website based on a free template and customized for her.

Visit the Reality Dreamer website

This site is built around a little content management system called PHPSeeds which is not as flexible or as powerful as WordPress. The product catalogue is a custom-built database application.

Visit the Urban Salt Box website

This is a custom WordPress site, created as a child theme of the Builder framework from iThemes.  It contains full e-commerce using the MarketPress plugin from WPMU.  Bonnie maintains the content herself.

Visit the Taylor Made Time website

This is a custom WordPress site, created as a child theme of the Builder framework from iThemes.  It contains a number of image galleries.  Karen maintains the content herself.

Visit the Time Frames website

This is a custom WordPress site, created as a child theme of the Builder framework from iThemes.  The volunteer board maintains the content themselves.

Visit the SPD Canada website

This is a custom WordPress site, created as a child theme of the Builder framework from iThemes.  It contains numerous photo galleries, and full e-commerce using the MarketPress plugin from WPMU.  Shelley maintains the content herself.

Visit Shelley’s Nature Photography website

This is a static site (plain old HTML pages, not WordPress). It will be replaced by a custom WordPress site in 2012.

Visit the Heartful Touch website

This is a static site (plain old HTML pages, not WordPress), and the client maintains it herself.

Visit the Integrated Functional Solutions website