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Q&A

Can you do it yourself? Probably...!

You have two options. Make It Yourself or call a pro.

One saves you tons of money, but cost time. The other saves time and is very expensive. I play ball with the pros at reasonable price.

It's always cheaper to do it yourself, so should you? See if this helps...

CAN YOU HELP YOURSELF?

Should I ask you or do it myself?

It's not hard to make a clean a functional website yourself. Use Wix, Squarespace or Ecwid and you can do in a couple days. They make it really easy to make something good these days.

Good. Yes - but if you want to tell your story and not look like all the other templates out there, text me.

We can do amazing things together and sometimes it really helps to have another perspective that can sink their teeth into it, unrestrained by tools and conventional ideas.

You have an Etsy Shop & want a website.

If you have an etsy shop that's doing decent, then you're no stranger to an online store. The truth of the matter is you can make a great online site these days with the right tools. Look into Ecwid, Wix, & Squarespace, then go for it! Don't let things like SEO scare you, they handle it crazy well.

Wix will literally build a site for you based on info from Google and Facebook. If you have a Facebook page it will make you a site with their Corvid editor. Check it out.

Do not use Shopify or Wordpress. Ever. Please trust me.

"I can't do it myself because I don't get SEO."

Ok, hear me now. It's not hard. This gets blown way out of portion really fast.

Most of it is done for you with Wix, Squarespace & Ecwid. All you need to do is make a blog and post about everything you can think of, you will have no problems. I also can handle building something super easy to use it if you get a site through me. A portfolio also does the trick. Anything that keeps your site changing each week or even month will do wonders for SEO.

Only extremely large (and sometimes lying companies) actually have to pay people for the SEO results they want. You're golden if you get that blog or portfolio going.

"I'm too busy."

This comes from a serious place, so I don't take this lightly. However, you should take one more minute to think about it like this:

Do you have two or three days to do it yourself if it only cost you your time and $30-$40 a month?

Most people don't realize how little time it takes and need to be pushed just a little to spend the time up-front so they understand how to manage it easily in the future. You need good tools and maybe that's what you need my help with. Text me any questions you got.

Do it yourself, no-code programs make it really easy to make something good these days. Good. Yes - but if you want to tell your story and not look like all the other templates out there, email me. We can do amazing things together and sometimes it really helps to have another perspective that can sink his teeth into it who is unrestrained by tools and conventional ideas.

I want a free online shop.

As you may have guessed. You can start for free using Ecwid and have up to 10 items in your shop. I do that with my shop from time to time and it's great.

This will cost you about 3 hours in set up time, but no money - at least until you need more of their features and more products. Then it's only $15/mo. This is the most stellar deal I've ever seen! (No they don't sponsor me.)

You think you can but just want to talk through it real quick?

Yeah that's great! I'll totally talk you through it. Text me all your thoughts, so I can soak it up. Then I'll get back to you. I'll do that for free too, but if we talk about it for more than an average meeting time then I'll charge you $50 hr. Just covering my ground little. I want to help more than anything.

Teach What I Know

This is the most important part of being a freelancer these days and I love to teach what I know because I spend a lot of time finding the best ways to do things. I never stop. If you want to learn how to do something with Webflow or how to save money on everyday business expenses, I have learned some lessons that I'd be happy to share. Take a look at my musings page to learn lots of life and business tricks. It isn't easy being a small business and every $10 a month adds up fast!

Want to learn Webflow or how I edit my images insanely fast? I have videos for that, but I'll also meet you at 211 Cafe for an excellent cup of joe and to party in person. That's my favorite, because it gives me a chance to learn too. So text me and let me know if you need help with anything.

Oh and why would I charge for that when the internet if full of people doing it for free? I'm not a boring consultant, more like your new homie who's learned from a lot of mistakes and practice. If I don't know something I won't pretend to, but let's have some fun.

I'm game to start a Webflow meet up if you are!

ABOUT ME

Who are you and why do you do this?

I'm Brad. Nice you meet you! I've seen many small businesses struggle with design, either because they don't have to time or it's too expensive. I get that and realized I can fix it. I work full time at Downtown Bentonville Inc, but I love web design so much that I find myself doing it for fun at home too. I do this for the people. Money is cool, but I just use it to take care of my family and buy tools to make my work better.

"Money and fame bring a man shame. Ain't no doubt about it."
-NEEDTOBREATHE

Why would I stray so far from the norm? To meet you where you are. I don't care about recognition. Only making the best websites for the people who can't afford an agency or the time to do it themselves. Minim's purpose is to help small businesses grow in a place where these services are hard to afford.

How are your prices so low?

I don't ever want to live in a new subdivision or even get a building for Minim. Even my phone line is free with Google Voice. So I make things simple to keep overhead extremely low and to save you money. I don't want more. If anything I want to learn to live with less. That helps me keep prices low and makes my family and I happier in general.

Also, I use the best software around. Webflow for example, help me build websites faster than I could in Squarespace, Wix and ESPECIALLY Wordpress. Most importantly, I can do anything with it. Tools that help me spend less time doing more are tools that save you money. I can't be affordable without them.

I believe you should know what design will cost before you call me. All my prices are listed as clearly as a price tag. A lot of people will tell you that you need more than you do or that it's harder than it is. We keep it simple and that keeps more money in your pocket.

Should I EMAIL you or use Wix/Squarespace?

There are so many great tools that inspire people to build good site without any understanding of code so should you use them?

Wix is pretty easy to use and can do a lot. They can even make a website for you with their Corvet in like 5 clicks. You can update it an maintain it yourself and you can make it look good. Squarespace is similar, but with less control over placement.

If you want to use design to make you stand out in ways you didn't know were possible, you want to talk to me. I can set up parts of your site to be easily updated. Webflow gives you the best client editor in the world. It takes a huge load off your back and let's your create content without effecting the design of your site. It's even easier than Wix, but it's all up to me to make stylistic changes and add things like new sections and text.

To see what you can and can't do with the editor check out this blog post I made to show you.

The downside (or upside) is that you don't get to move things around. That's my job. So if you need that, then go sign up for Wix and get rolling. No hard feelings. I legit want you to use what's best for you.

Want to start a project? Email Me Please.

Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and clock that Start a Project button. Let me know how many pages you're thinking you need, what you do, your mission and send along a few examples of websites you want to look like. That'll be enough to get my brain working. I'll have for half of the total cost up from and once that paid we'll start. After you're as happy as a cucumber then I'll invoice you for the rest. Pay that and I'll connect your domain and give you access to the website editor.

"Will You Work On a Website I Already Started?"

That's one thing we don't do for a good reason. I know you've probably put a fair amount of time into it, but there's just no guarantee I can pick up on the platform you use. I use tools that don't limit what we can do and that are 100% mobile responsive. Website builders don't have that kind power and flexibility. Seeing something partially made makes rebuilding it much faster. So not all is lost. Trust me, it's for the best.

YOU WANT TO DO IT YOURSELF & GET SOME GUIDANCE

Yeah that's great! I'll totally talk you through it. Text me all your thoughts, so that I can think about it during the day while I'm working my full-time job. Then I'll get back to you.

Let's say the first round is free, but if we talk about it for more than an average meeting time then I'll charge you $50 hr. Just covering my ground little. I want to help more than anything.

Teach What I Know

This is the most important part of being a freelancer these days and I love to teach what I know because I spend a lot of time finding the best ways to do things. I never stop. If you want to learn how to do something with Webflow or how to save money on everyday business expenses, I have learned some lessons that I'd be happy to share. Take a look at my musings page to learn lots of life and business tricks. It isn't easy being a small business and every $10 a month adds up fast!

Want to learn Webflow or how I edit my images insanely fast? I have videos for that, but I'll also meet you at 211 Cafe for an excellent cup of joe and to party in person. That's my favorite, because it gives me a chance to learn too. So text me and let me know if you need help with anything.

Oh and why would I charge for that when the internet if full of people doing it for free? I'm not a boring consultant, more like your new homie who's learned from a lot of mistakes and practice. If I don't know something I won't pretend to, but let's have some fun.

I'm game to start a Webflow meet up if you are!

WEBSITE QUESTIONS

WHAT DO YOU USE? [NOT WORDPRESS]

First thing is first. We NEVER build on Wordpress. It's crazy outdated and flat out sucks to maintain. So take a deep breath of relief, cause we have something MUCH better for you. Seriously - breathe little - I will too. It's good to do.

We build on Webflow.
They let us create custom coded sites with perfect code. We can do most anything easily and it hosts your site in the most secure ways possible. On Suckpress you have to do all the security yourself. No way dude. We've done it and will never do it again. This makes site building infinitely faster and gives you a better product.

"Fact. Bears beats...Wordpress."
- Jim Halpert
(if he was a designer)

I Need ImageS For My Site

You betcha. We charge a base fee for our time and then a small fee for each item you need photographed. Check out super simple pricing.

CAN I MANAGE MY SITE?

Both! Webflow makes editing your site better.

1. We can control what you can edit so you don't have to worry about messing something up on accident or forgetting to make changes to the mobile version.
2. The editor is infinitely simpler than any build-your-own site. I can create your site so that you can edit anything with just a simple form, but you can also switch out images and change text just by clicking on your working site.

With any custom made site. you give up a lot of control, but thankfully with me you get a lot of that back. What you can't do is redesign the site. That's where I come in. I made a video blog showing you exactly what this looks like.

Check out the editor & what you can change

Will You Finish the Site I Started?

Thats one thing we don't do for a good reason. I know you've probably put a fair amount of time into it, but there's just no guarantee I can pick up on the platform you use. I use tools that don't limit what we can do and that are 100% mobile responsive. do it yourself website builders like Wix, Weebly Squaresapce etc... don't have that kind power and flexibility. Seeing your site  partially made makes rebuilding it much faster. So not all is lost, but trust me, it's for the best.

Can You Help Me Get A Domain?

Yep. If you have one, we can use it on your new site. We can help you buy one too. Most are only $12 a year. Not so scary, right?
Get one from Google

Communicating

Share your ideas at the start.

If you have a specific vision or image in your mind of what you want or hope something will look like, make sure to share the details of your idea as best you can at the beginning of a project. This way you can avoid being disappointed when your exact vision is not delivered, even if what your designer provided is a good option. If your team or designer thinks your idea won’t work, sharing it at the start will give them opportunity to explain why it won’t work so everyone can move in a better direction.

Be frank.

When it comes to your budget, timeline, or your expectations, share as much as you can. We understand that not everything needs to be a masterpiece. But we need to know what parts are really critical to you and where we should invest our time; and where it’s okay to save time and money. Clients can feel “robbed” if something took much longer and therefore was more expensive than planned. On the other hand, it takes time to do our best work, so let us know when you want that.

Let us control the visuals and wording.

Our best work happens when we drive both the design and words. You should supply content, because you know what you do better than anyone, but changing some words and eliminating a paragraph may make most sense to the reader. Sure you should supply content, but give us room to package it perfectly.

Don't rush.

Sometimes deadlines pop up, but when you can plan ahead and make sure you are giving your designer time to think about the big picture and make sure details are worked out, you will almost always get better results.These tips will help you save money by allowing us to work more efficiently.

Have one point person.

It’s hard when we get conflicting feedback or people just raising questions. We understand that multiple people often have to review and sign-off on something. But it’s most efficient when one person is filtering the feedback to us.

Organize your information.

Keep updates grouped together and organized. Performing content updates a little at a time takes longer overall then doing them all at once. Every time we get restarted by logging back into your site and refocusing on your content takes time. It’s easier to make several updates when they are all together rather than 10 emails with 1 modification each.

Clarify your edits.

Present changes clearly, rather than making your designer dig all over to find what you want to change. Write it out clearly. For example, “on the home page, change paragraph 3 from “…” to “…”,” or use a different text color for your changes.

Describe the problem, not the solution.

For example, rather than say “make the text bigger, bolder and blue” say “this text is really important and needs to stand out more.” When we get a string of very specific design requests, they often don’t all work together. And by the way, statements like, “make it pop” are the worst.

Trust your designer.

If your designer is asking questions and pushing you for information it’s so that we know we are going in the right direction. Marketing, user experience, brand positioning and your business goals all influence design. Knowing details about you and your company helps guide us to the right solution for you.

Listen and learn.

Let us educate you about some of the many peripheral issues that factor into a design. For example, we might make decisions about the web site layout so that it will look good on both desktop and mobile devices. Or, we may make recommendations about email open rates that may be affected by your graphics.

Borrowed from Visible Logic

Ha! Gotcha!

I kinda hate social media with a burning passion. Always have and always will. Who really needs that mess!? [nobody]