A1. Can we meet in person so I can decide whether I want you to work on my website?

If you live in the vicinity of Santa Fe, New Mexico, I recommend that we meet for an hour to discuss your website needs and how we might work together on your project. I consider this initial meeting as an opportunity for us to get to know each other and to get a feeling for how we might work together. There is no charge for this initial meeting.

During our initial meeting, you can describe your vision for a website and I can tell you how we might work together to achieve it. We can talk about your involvement in the design, building and publishing of the website so that we can determine how much of the work you'd like to do and how much you'd like me to do for you. Any information you can share about text, colors and design would be most welcome additions.

If you don't live in the vicinity of Santa Fe, we can arrange to talk on the telephone, or chat on the Internet, to help us get a feeling for each other and how well we can work together. I am open to making arrangements for meeting you if either of us is traveling to the other's location.

A2. Can you help me pick out and purchase an appropriate domain name for my website?

Through our discussions about your website, I will be familiar with your vision and goals regarding your website. Together, we can consider options for your site's domain name and research which of these options are still available online. This process is neither complicated nor difficult, so you can do it yourself (I'll show you what to do) if you like. Purchasing a domain name is also easy, so you can do it yourself, work with me or have me do it for you, whichever you prefer.

A3. Can you help me figure out what kind of website I need?

Determining what kind of website you need or want is an important part of our initial meetings and discussions. If you are familiar with website design and know what you want, then you can just tell me what you want so that I know what to do. If you aren't sure what you want or if you don't know what type of site best suites your needs, then we can talk about it and I can describe the various options available to you. The options will be based on your needs, your goals, your vision and your budget, so you can make an informed choice about the kind of website that we create together.

A4. Can you help me choose a web hosting company that would be appropriate for my site?

Yes, I can help you choose a web hosting company that would be appropriate for your needs, goals and budget. Choosing a web hosting company can be challenging, especially if you are not familiar with the companies and their services. There are many upstart web hosting companies that offer great sounding packages for very good prices. I can tell you, from personal experience, that not all of them provide the service and tech support needed to maintain a reliable website presence on the web.

I can suggest hosting companies that will serve your needs and your budget. These are companies that I have found to be reliable and trustworthy. They charge fair prices and can accomodate you if you need to expand your website in the future.

I have signed up with hosting companies that seem to offer everything I need at a much better price than I'm accustomed to paying. However, in trying to use their services, I found that they did not respond to my technical questions and problems in a timely fashion. They were able to offer great prices because they did not provide sufficient tech support or customer service personnel to handle the volume of business they generated. I can help you avoid spending a lot of time researching hosting companies and experimenting with their services to see if they actually provide the services and reliability they promise.

A5. How long will it take you to design and build my website?

The amount of time required for designing and building your website will depend on how complicated it is. When we discuss your needs, goals and budget during our meetings, we will establish a time frame in which to complete your website. A simple website can be designed, built and published in a few days. A complex website with an online store might take several weeks.

Time is also related to money and payment. If you need to have your website published quickly, we can arrange that. On the other hand, if you want to spread the cost of designing, building and publishing your site over time to make it more affordable, we can arrange to complete it in stages so that the cost in any given month is not higher than you can afford.

During our initial meetings, we will include all your time considerations in our discussions of your website needs and goals. That way, we can develop a timetable for completing your website that incorporates your needs and fits my schedule.

B1. Can we work together if I don't understand technical language or have a lot of technical ability?

You don't need to have technical ability or use technical language to communicate your website needs and goals to me. You can draw pictures, describe in words or even show me websites that you like. You pick the colors, then tell me what you'd like your site to communicate to visitors or customers. If you want me to do the rest, I will come up with a possible layout for your site. If you like it, there's nothing more to do. If not, I will use your suggestions to come up with a look that you like.

On my side, I have taught high school and college physics, mathematics, physical science and computer courses for more than twenty years and am able to communicate technical knowledge using non-technical language. If you do not understand something that I say, you can tell me and I will find another way to say the same thing. I consider it my responsibility to help you understand what we're doing together.

B2. How can I choose between alternate design proposals if I can't picture them in my mind?

You don't have to picture the various options in your head to make choices. For simple decisions, I can quickly sketch the choices for you. If that is not clear enough, I can create sample web pages that clearly shows the options for you. You can pick the option that looks better to you.

Most people can't quite picture how a color will look on a website without actually seeing it for themselves. It's easy to pick a color that you like for your website. However, depending on how much of that color appears on a given page, it can come across very differently. For that reason, I like to put the colors on the pages so that you can see how it affects the rest of the page. It makes it easier to pick a good shade for that color that blends well with the rest of the site.

I generally create the pages that you request, then put them in a private file on the Internet so that only you can see them. That way, you can look at the image on your own computer and determine whether you like the colors and/or the layout, etc. You can let me know what you think and I can make additional changes to your site without having to physically get together.

B3. What if I don't like the design you come up with?

My job is to create a website that you like and that suits your needs. If you don't like the design that I come up with, you tell me that you don't like it and l change it or create an entirely new design depending on what you tell me.

This is your website. I want to understand your needs and your visions so that I can build a site that represents you and accomplishes what you want from a website. I want your ideas, suggestions and thoughts about the site. I endeavor to put your ideas, visions and thoughts into the design for the site. When I present you with some ideas or samples for your site, I ask for your comments so I know what you like and what you don't like about it. If you don't give me your critique, I won't be able to make your website represent you. I want your feedback. I solicit your comments. Creating and building your website will involve you as much as you care to be involved.

B4. Can I work with you even if I live somewhere besides Santa Fe, New Mexico?

I can work with you on your website regardless of where you live. With today's technologies, we can communicate through email, telephone and FAX lines to make sure that I understand your needs and visions for your website. The information, data files and photographs or graphics can all be sent to me through the Internet, email and even ground mail, if necessary. Once I have the materials and have discussed your site with you, the process is essentially the same as it is for those who live nearby.

I create possible designs and show them to you. In this case, I will display them on the Internet where only you can see them. You can tell me what you like and what you don't like so I know how to proceed. I work this way with all my clients, regardless of where they live. It allows us to work without having to take the time to schedule a physical meeting. Working this way also allows you to see the designs displayed on your own computer so that you can decide for yourself whether it works for you. You can also invite others to see it and give their opinions without having to schedule meetings with everyone.

C1. Can you edit and maintain an already existing website for me?

Yes. I can makes necessary edits and changes to your site in a way that blends with the design, colors and style of your existing site. Whether your site only needs minor editing to the text, a few design changes, some additional pages to describe new products, or a complete overhaul, I can handle your project for you. If you would like to see a website that I edited in this way, please go to www.ave-maria.net. See if you can tell which pages I added to the site.

On the other hand, if you would like to change the look and feel of your website, I can work with you to create a new style, a different color scheme or an entirely new look. I can do this gradually, as you need to make changes to the various pages on your site, if you'd rather not spend the money to do it all at once.

C2. Can you redesign an already existing website for me?

Yes, I can redesign the website to create a new look and feel if you'd like. On a more modest scale, I can create a new color scheme or change the navigation for the site to make the information more accessible. It's really up to you.

If you'd rather not spend the money to redesign the site all at once, I can change the look on pages that need editing and new pages you might need. That way, the site can be changed gradually, as additions and changes are made. I worked this way with Laura Ellis at www.LauraEllisArt.com. We made the changes over a year and a half yet the site always felt whole and integrated during the changes.

C3. Can you create an online store for my website?

I have created and edited online stores for a number of websites. See ShainaNoll.com, ComfortSoup.com, ArtMatters-LLC.com and LauraEllisArt.com for samples of my work. I would be happy to discuss your needs and visions for an online store with you.

There are numerous ways to configure online stores, so we would want to establish which alternative would best suit your needs before we actually start building the store. Mostly, the decisions are based on the volume of business that you will handle online. It doesn't make sense to pay high monthly fees for a store that only sells a few products a month. To make low-volume stores profitable, we would choose a set-up that pays only percentages of all transactions made. That way, if there are only two sales in a month, you pay a percentage of your sales amount.

High volume stores make better profits by paying monthly fees or purchasing software that handle the business regardless of how many transactions are made. There will always be some charges per transaction, but they can be kept lower than those for low-volume businesse.

Security is an important issue for online businesses. I believe it is important to use shopping carts and payment options that are established and secure so that your customers' credit card and personal information is not available to hackers and thieves.

C4. Do I have to edit and maintain my own website after you design and build it?

I would be happy to edit and maintain your website for you.

On the other hand, if you would like to learn to edit and maintain your own website, I can help you with that as well.

C5. Can I learn to edit and maintain my own website after you design and build it for me?

There are many ways for you to learn to edit and maintain your own website, if that's what you want to do. I generally encourage using software that makes the whole process easy and fun. It's not very expensive and it's easy to use. Through using the software, you can get more familiar with the structure of your website and fundamentals of the HTML language that comprise it.

I can teach you how to use the software or recommend interactive books and instructional media which will do the same more inexpensively. There are also online courses that you can take that will help you learn the software. We can discuss the options that will best fit your learning style and time constraints.

C6. Can I start with a simple, inexpensive website to see how useful it might be?

It makes a lot of sense to take small steps in the direction of creating an online presence. Many people are disappointed to discover how few visitors find their way to new websites during their first few months of online presence. On the other hand, there's a certain freedom in this reality. You don't have to create the perfect website to justify an online presence. In fact, it takes time and effort to let people know that your website is up and running. So, it makes sense to start slowly and see if having a website is as useful as you hope it might be.

I can work with you to create a simple site on an inexpensive server that will allow you to explore the possibilities without making a big financial commitment up front. You can add to it over time or let it die out as you learn more about what it can offer.

D1. Can you work within a limited budget?

If you have a budget for your website, I can work with you to decide how to best apply the budget to designing and building your site. The budget may be more than sufficient for building the website you want, so it may not be an issue.

If the website you want costs more than your budget, we can discuss creative ways to work around it. We can create the website in stages that do fit your budget so that every month, or every six months (whatever fits your budgetary scheme), I can add another stage to your site. That way, you can begin operations immediately and add more functionality over time.

Another option would be to create a simple version of the website initially, then add more sophistication and functionality when more funds are available.

A third option would be for you to learn to do some of the website building yourself. This option will work if you have some skill with design or website creation, or if you have time to learn to build websites and are not in a hurry for a completed product.

D2. Do you accept credit cards for payment?

I can accept payments with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card.

D3. How much do you charge for your website editing and design work?

I charge $75 per hour for small tasks like editing and maintaining websites. In those cases, I only charge for time that I am actually work on your site.

For a larger project, like designing and building a website, I will give you an estimate for the entire project. The estimate is what I will charge for the completed project, assuming everything goes as planned. I will ask for some money before I begin working on your site and then bill you regularly as work proceeds, depending on the exact terms we negotiate when we discuss your project. If something unusual occurs during the the time I'm working on your site, for example, your hosting company is bought by another company so that the website must be changed to display properly on the new host or you change your mind about using a shopping cart and decide to use PayPal to accept online payments from customers, we will renegotiate the charge to fit the new circumstances. If you did decide to use PayPal rather than use a Miva Merchant shopping cart, for example, I would charge less because Paypal is much easier to set up.

If I need to learn a new technique or a scripting language to add a feature to your site, I will discuss the potential costs with you before I begin and charge you according to whatever agreement we reach. If the scripting language or the technique is something that I will use again for other websites or something that I would want to learn anyway, I may not charge you anything for the time required to learn it.

On the other hand, if this is something that is unique to your site and has limited applicability to other websites, I may charge anywhere from a fraction of my normal charges to my full charge depending on the situation. I would discuss this with you in advance, and let you make the decision about whether it's worth your money and my time to do this. It's usually possible to find alternative solutions that don't require exceptional techniques. In some cases, it is more efficient to find someone already familiar with the technique than to learn it myself. We would discuss that if the situation arises.

D4. How much do you charge to teach me to work on my website?

I charge $50 an hour for tutoring. In most cases, I would recommend books and online courses that would handle certain aspects of the learning efficiently so that you would not be paying me an hourly rate while you are learning and practicing fundamental skills. After you have learned the basic skills, I would work with you, as much as needed, to help you apply your new skills to editing and creating pages to your website.

I generally recommend that you learn to use software that lets you edit your website as if you were working in a word processor program. It is not difficult to learn and it's fun to use. At the same time, you will learn a lot about the components and processes that comprise your website.

D5. Can you spread the cost of designing and building the website over time so that I can afford to put a website online?

We can work out your terms of payment in our original discussions regarding your website and our working together. We can spread the work over time to make it affordable to you.

D6. What are my payment options?

You can pay with cash, checks and credit cards; I can accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover Card and American Express credit cards.

I ask for some percentage of the money as a down payment before I begin working on your website. The exact percentage will depend on the size of your project and the payment schedule that we agree on during our first meetings.

We will also establish a payment schedule that is created specifically for your project and takes your time table and budget into account. For example, if your project is spread over over many weeks or months, we might have have you pay for two weeks up front, then pay for the work done every two weeks while the project lasts. On the other hand, if your project will take only two weeks, we might have you pay for half of the work up front, and pay the balance at the end of the project. We will discuss this and agree on a payment schedule before we actually begin the project.