Going Geek

I have been learning how to increase my geek-dom lately (did I really admit that?!) And I am loving it. [This in addition to my learning to enjoy gardening. 2010 is apparently a year for big changes in my life.]

When I started working at the church I am at, I quickly discovered that my favorite part of my job is maintaining the website (http://www.unitysouth.org/) I had never done this before - and I soon found out that if I wasn't careful, I could easily spend all day every day adding this, tweaking that, editing the other thing ...

Suddenly I realized that I could be a webmaster - without being a programmer (shudder at the thought) and I could be good at it!

So, over the past several months, I have been slowly moving towards launching a new career as a web designer. Mostly it's been thinking big thoughts as I drive back and forth to work, but in the past 3 weeks it's become more concrete as I actually have been working on three sites. The first is very simple and I plan to go back to it and spice it up a bit (http://www.lwvbloomington.org/) The other two are not quite ready to showcase yet, but I am excited, and will share them with you as soon as they are ready.

My goal is to have about a half-dozen sites done by mid-July and then start soliciting paying customers in earnest. I plan to focus on small business and nonprofits, and entrepreneurs - people who want a quality web presence but don't want to spend a ton of money to do it. I have two defining characteristics of my business: I am affordable, and I am good! I can't believe what I have been learning some people pay to get a website up and running. I also can't believe how many sites I see with mistakes - typing errors, or navigational problems, or garish color or font, making sites unfriendly, disreputable, and not conducive to getting my business. My sites won't be like that. (Well, I suppose the color thing could be a matter of taste, but there's no accounting for some people's taste!)

So as you read this, if anyone or anything comes to mind who might need a website, I hope you will think of me - soon I will have my own site live to refer people to.

Loving the inner geek.