K&M Landscaping
- Services: Consultation, design, development, distribution, hosting
- Technology: PHP, SQL, CSS, JavaScript, Flash
Small landscaping companies typically face two main problems. First, there's a ton of competition, and positive word of mouth only spreads so fast. Second, landscapers often have trouble communicating that they offer year-round services. I solved those problems for K&M Landscaping by implementing an auto-updating seasonal special promotion, and comprehensive service list. And just to keep things fresh, I included a gallery component that can be updated via simple email.
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Alisia Delany Hair
- Services: Consultation, design, development, distribution, hosting
- Technology: PHP, SQL, CSS, JavaScript
Common problem: everyone wants their business's site to look fresh, but CMAs are expensive, and managing a site can be too time consuming for small business owners. I've found ways to solve this problem via email-updated photo galleries, and in Alisia's case, an auto-rotating coupon promotion that changes out automatically every few weeks. This site also features an appointment schedule form that has generated dozens of new clients over the past few months.
Edelweiss Furniture
- Services: Consultation, design, development, distribution, hosting
- Technology: PHP, SQL, CSS, JavaScript
Jack Smith is a master craftsman who specializes in antique restoration. He needed a way to showcase his work and reach new clients without a lot of site management. I instituted a photo gallery that Jack can update via email, and a database-backed contact form to track potential clients. This site represented an important milestone for me in terms of project management. I moved from initial consultation to product delivery in a week and a half, handled every aspect of design and development myself, and created a relatively large amount of owner-oriented documentation in the process. The site is great, and the client is happy.
Speed Stacks
- Services: Consultation, design, development, content management
- Technology: PHP, SQL, CSS, JavaScript
Speed Stacks essentially invented the sport of cup stacking. The company sprang from the mind of a PE teacher who put his family's home on the block to get the company started. Three years later, Speed Stacks was thriving. And five years after that, facing increased competition, they hired me to transform their web site into a destination for the stacking community, complete with news updates and video archives. This site was a usability challenge, given the enormous amount of content they'd amassed over the last decade. The final product is engaging, informative, and fun to use. It's also #1 in Google searches for "stacking."
Beat Studies
- Services: Development, content management
- Technology: PHP, SQL, CSS, Wordpress
This is one of the first custom-skinned Wordpress installations I worked on, and it went surprisingly well. A lot of small businesses like Beat Studies want a customized site that can be easily updated by people with little to no technical skill, and I've found that Wordpress is a great way to provide that at a reasonable price. I designed the site to match existing Beat Studies branding materials, customized a Wordpress installation, and trained the site owners on its use. It's great to see that two years later, the site is regularly updated and still going strong.
LifeBound
- Services: Consultation, design, development
- Technology: PHP, SQL, CSS, JavaScript
LifeBound provides books, seminars, coaching, tutoring and resources for students and graduates. They also provide resources and coaching for parents, teachers and professionals at all levels. After languishing for years with a terrible Web site, LifeBound contracted me to create a seamless learning and shopping environment. The result: a week after redesign, the new site had nearly paid for itself with increased shopping cart revenue.
Carol J. Carter blog
- Services: Consultation, design, development, distribution
- Technology: PHP, SQL, CSS, JavaScript, Wordpress
One of the toughest aspects of owning your own business is that too often, you're so focused on the daily operation of the business itself that you don't get to work on the good stuff; those truly enjoyable things that were the reason you started the business in the first place. If, like Carol Carter, you're a writer by trade, you can get back to the core of what you love doing simply by taking an hour a week to blog about your area of expertise. It's cathartic, and a great way to give your brand a boost.
Keys to Success
- Services: Consultation, design, development
- Technology: PHP, CSS, JavaScript
Based on the work I did on her success skills site and personal blog, Carol Carter and Associates contracted me to pull an enormous amount of life skills content together into a single site designed to help teachers and students get the most out of their publications. This was another quick turnaround, start to finish in two and a half weeks over Christmas and New Year. This site incorporates a side-scrolling content widget, as well as news feeds from other Carol Carter web properties that update automatically.
Sarah Murane Doulas
- Services: Consultation, design, development, distribution
- Technology: HTML, CSS
This site was one of the first projects I took on in a freelance capacity. In addition to being my first real client, Sarah Murane also has the distinction of being the first doula I've ever met, and was really very nice when she had to explain to me exactly what a doula is. I completed this site in a little under two weeks, and incorporated her existing brand equity into the design. Overall, the site is simple, but effective, and comes up on the first page of Google searches for "Denver doulas."
