Honesty

I have spent some time in some small business forums and have come to the idea that whenever a small business creates a post that they are thinking about creating a website two things happen every time.

One is that the group member never gives enough information about what they want to do. This is obviously due to the fact that they do not know what they need and have not done enough research. They often can’t do enough research. These poor people have no idea what they need and are swamped with other business decisions and research. They need honest answers. They also need honest developers to tell them what they need, but that requires a conversation with someone who can speak like them and like developers.

The second thing that always happens is that they are overwhelmed by developers desperate for work. The good are blended in with the bad and the group member looking for a website is often over whelmed again. This is why I rarely offer services in forums. I offer advice. I praise the developers that I think are offering for the best interest of the client and I give advice to better the developers who should not offer services at all. My goal is to be honest and give the best advice to the client, even if the client does not work for me.

So why do I spend my time doing this? There is a better way to waste the day. I want to show people that I am honest. I will not up sell you. I will tell you what you should do and I will tell you what can wait and what can not. My goal is to simply work with the best freelancers doing what they are best at for as many clients as possible. I want to get clients quality projects and keep developers busier. I want to get to a point where I can even build up others developers into great developers. I want to climb high enough to reach my hand back and bring someone else up.

This idea that I have takes clients. Getting clients takes time, but it also takes honesty.

Fluid Web Concepts is Changing, Slightly!

Fluid Web Concepts is now becoming more of a general manager of web development. You hire us and we make sure you get what you want. We hire the professionals, we check their work. We hold the standard. We help you make the decision that matches your budget and your needs.

In the past, I have believed that I could do it all.

And I can.

But, I can’t do it all and give my best to my clients, spend time with family, grow as a developer, stay in shape, keep up with life, and everything else that comes with adulthood. So why not split the wealth (not that there is any to split) and switch my role as the principal developer to that of a manager.

SEO is What We Do

We are coming back. I first started Fluid Web Concepts LLC as a means to make money when I first graduated. I started with a few clients and a thirst for knowledge.

The problem in Milwaukee is that we do not have enough people who know how to get things done. We have people who need services, but don’t know that what services are available locally.

I am looking for collaborators currently looking for their own freelance work. I am primarily looking at content developers, web designers, and WordPress developers. You let me know what your rates are and show me your work. Email: contract@fluidwebconcepts.com

We will move on from there.

Working toward the new logo

FWC Logo smaller

I started my first website building business while in school.  I made almost no money at it.  I had little time for making it look nice.  The most time I spent on any project for it was the logo.

The logo was a picture of my hand blacked out on a free app on my phone.  I intended to imprint a picture of the great lakes onto it.  I never got that far, but I learned a few things as I went.  The “Helping Hand” looked great.  I felt it was very professional looking.  The reason I started this company is because the name of the first was clever, but maybe too much so.  SqRt2Design.com was chosen because I noticed that the square root of 2 was 1.414…… in an algebra class.  I am in Milwaukee, WI where the area code is 1-(414).  I was more excited that no one else seemed to notice this little factoid.  I even tried to get the phone number with the full value of sqrt2.

But, was it too clever?  No one seemed to get the connection.  Even after I explained the name, no one seemed to see it as clever.  That is why I went simple, elemental.  I live near one of the great lakes.  I grew up here.  I wanted that to still be seen.

But then, I thought of how websites and anything connected to them is fluid as well.  Websites have to be changed to fit any purpose and fit any need.  If you add more fluid to fluid, you just have more fluid making it greater.  The same can be said for your web presence.  You can start with a basic site that will drive business and inform your clients about your business for a small initial investment.  Then you can add on to it.

Add Ons:

Do you have a Facebook page for your business?  We can link to it.

Do you already have a website and wish it would look better on a phone or tablet?  We can insert responsive design or transfer everything to a CMS or content management system.

Not coming up very high in the search rankings?  We can improve your SEO or search engine optimization.

Need a better logo?  We can improve it, create it or find someone who can.

 

Buy as you need it.  That’s the right way.

You may have noticed that both logos are droplets made of multiple parts.  That is because the web is a very fluid concept.

Fluid Web

First Logo Design

The fluid web concept is simple.  You are never done.

  • Social media accounts have to be made as new social media websites are developed and become popular.
  • Social media accounts then have to be constantly updated to generate interest in your business and direct traffic to your business.
  • Your website has to be constantly updated.
  • Your blog has to issue new posts.
  • Your SEO has to be constantly refined so that you don’t get lost in the search engine forest.
  • Your databases need to be updated as you collect more data.

Find a website that looks like it did in 1996.  That website will look nothing like it does now.  The featured image of this post shows Coca-Cola’s website in 1996.

There is nothing special about this website.  It connects a few pages together and provides information about the company.

Today, Coca-Cola is a WordPress website (https://us.coca-cola.com/).  Coca-Cola’s website probably has a professionally created theme specifically made for them, but it isn’t necessary.  WordPress has made making a professional looking website easier and more secure.  Theme research, menu design, code development,  and plugin research still take time, but it is a much faster process and can be shared with multiple users.

The point here is that there are many parts of a website.

  • The Website – This is your first step into adding traffic to your business from the internet.  Everything can be added to your website.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – On what page does your website appear on a google, bing, or yahoo web search?  What appears as the description?
  • Social Media Content – Researching content relevant to your business, website, or blog and posted to your Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Instagram, Pinterest, or Youtube.
  • E-Commerce – How do you want to do your business online?  Are you putting on a show and need ticket sales?  Do you want to have an online store featuring a shopping cart and product description pages?
  • Photography – I am not a professional photographer.  I have done some work for different groups I have worked with.  If you can afford a professional photographer, I encourage you to hire one.  If not, I will do my very best to help you add beautiful high resolution images to your website. (This is one of the benefits of having a local freelance professional web developer.).
  • Marketing – I am not a professional marketing person.  I am able to make relevant marketing decisions.  I am capable.  I have performed marketing for businesses.  I am able to make suggestions for marketing and PR consultants that I have worked with.

We can start your social media or your website now and add more parts as we go.  Each piece of your web presence will take time, talent, and research to build.  Separating your web presence into pieces gives you the ability to pay for services as needed.  All pieces are suggested and you should not expect awesome results with only piece.