Can I attribute that to getting out of bed an running everyday? Maybe. But I can also attribute it to the fact that I got some work off of my plate and I can move on to some better things soon.
I am 95% done with a redesign at [riverrochester.com][1]. It’s looking great and it boast a lot of cool features like an integrated CMS and great hosting.
I built it from the ground up in Jekyll. I use Jekyll’s awesome posts feature to drive things like a blog, events and media pages. All of those are able to be updated by people other than me.
Because of that, I can spend more time on growing the online presence of the Church instead of doing repeat tasks that take time away.
Because I am using CloudCannon for hosting and CMS, I was able to clean up my github account really well. I made an organization account (Thrown), and was able to dump several repositories there. Now, my projects are my projects and my web development projects are under Thrown.
My goal for this month is to get my first web development client. Not only could I use the money, but I really want to get my business going. I want to be able to have it sustain me in the future, and I want it to continue to grow.
I get somewhat frustrated when I see other web developers in Rochester getting business. Almost always, the websites they build are terrible. It makes me sad knowing that people are paying for bad quality and they don’t even know it.
I feel like it is my duty to offer clients a totally premium website that is future proof, accessible, modern and fast.
Business is a funny thing. It’s so personal. If there is one thing I have realized on this venture, it’s that you need to be able to interact with people an provide them value.
If you can’t interact with people on a personal level, you won’t be able to make sales and you won’t get any business, no matter how good you are.
Since there seems to be quite a few web developers posting on Craigslist, I think I will do the same. It pains me to know that is one of my only ways to advertise, but so be it. I need the business more than I need to be picky.
I think that getting a client would help me organize my time better. Instead of being able to do whatever I want in the mornings, I would have something specific to work on. I could make a plan and stick to it. There would be an end in site.
I’m hoping today that I get some work done at work. I know that’s a weird thing to say, but I have not been very motivated. It’s been dragging for a while and I need some change. The fun projects I thought I would be working on fell through, and the ones lined up are meh.
I honestly can’t wait to get out of the corporate culture. The people there mean well, but they just aren’t on the same page as me with their goals and dreams. I mean, do most of them even have any dreams anymore? They come to work everyday and work on stuff so they can get paid and OK salary and live an average life.
It makes me sad sometimes because some of these people are amazing at what they do, yet they have no idea that their talents are so undervalued. Working a day job is just something they have always done. It’s a way of life for them.
I want my life to be incredibly flexible, so that if I want to work insane hours I can, and if I want to take an awesome vacation and forget everything for a few weeks I can.
I think it’s important for me to have that flexibility everywhere in life. Having my kids homeschooled, my wife at home (or working remotely / habing her own business). I just want that to be a way of life for me and my family.
Jordan @Thrown