WordPress Sites
Here are some samples of my past work with creating WordPress sites for small business clients.
The Intentional Way
The Intentional Way with Coach K
The Intentional Way is a men's ministry organization, based in Charlotte. Its founder, Jeff, is a nationally-known speaker, who travels the country speaking at churches, conferences, and seminars.
TIW needed to not only have an attractive site with a blog, podcast, and newsletter, it needed to show off sample topics that Jeff could speak about to prospective clients wanting to book him. To that end, I translated some of his sample speech notes from Word documents to engaging pages, and placed them under the Coaching menu. Under the Booking menu, you'll also find a heavily stylized contact form.
Because of the site, Jeff had a successful launch. It gives him a platform to not only reach bookers, but individuals who attend his speeches seeking spiritual guidance.
BMAT Consulting
BMAT Consulting
BMAT is a mitigation and reconstruction estimating firm. Basically, that means when catastrophic damage from fire, flood, etc. is done to a property, the property owners call BMAT to provide an estimate on how much it will cost to not only prevent further damage, but to also rebuild.
Bryan and Andrew, the owners of the firm, contacted me just after they had launched. As a B2B firm, the public-facing portion of the site simply needed to announce their presence. But, click on Request an Estimate, and you'll see the tip of the iceberg.
BMAT needed a way to both accept incoming estimate requests, and to track the progress of their estimators in the field. So I built a web app to do both. When a client completes the lengthy form, a ticket entry is created into the database. Then, that ticket gets assigned to an estimator by Bryan or Andrew, who dispatches them to do the work. The backend app is also built responsively, so it can be used by estimators in the field using a phone or tablet.
Moore Computer Services
Moore Computer Services
When I started my own IT firm in 2014, I wanted to help not just small businesses, but residential customers. From my own circle of family, friends, and friends-of-friends, I saw such a need for everyday people to have a "computer guy" that they trusted. So I needed a site that was friendly and reassuring to computer newbies. Amazingly, so many of my local competitors' sites seemed to be constructed circa 2003. I knew my site had to stand out, and yet be friendly enough for the average "grandma" to use.
And yet, because I was also developing sites, I also wanted a site that functioned as a miniature portfolio, to show off my skills to those needing web design services. The end result shows a sophisticated knowledge of color palettes, shapes, designs, photophraphs, and writing skill.
Ibis Claim Services
Ibis Claim Services
Ibis is an independent claims adjusting firm based in Charlotte. In the wake of natural disasters like hurricanes or floods, major insurance agencies are so overwhelmed with the number of claims they have to process, that they farm out adjusting duties to small firms like Ibis.
Because Ibis deals directly with insurance agencies, they only needed a "Here I Am" corporate presence. But because of the lack of content inherent in a site like this, it necessitated the use of stock photos. The owner, Robert, had no idea what he wanted, other than it involved an ibis, the last bird to leave before a hurricane, and the first bird to return. He also said he liked the color orange. In the end, I found a stock photo of ibises at sunset that was perfect, and the site was arranged around that look.
Robert's firm started as just him. Thanks to his hard work (and a professional-looking website), he now has 6 employees and is growing quickly.
About My WordPress Creations
Across all my WordPress sites, I've been using Divi for the last 4-5 years. Made by Elegant Themes, Divi is more than a theme: it's a design framework. It makes designing sites quick and easy, and yet it still has the ability to let me dive into the CSS and Javascript, if I choose.
In a way, I've always had the technical chops to code; that's just sort of how I think. Functionality, more than creativity, was at the core of my designs. But I think I've come along a great deal in my design skills the last few years. As you can see, I've found that spark of creativity needed for design work. I now understand how to use color palettes, gradients, non-right angles, soft edges, icons, and photos come together into a seamless whole.
And with each new design, I can see my skills improving. Because, with each design, I always strive to make something different, something I've never done before. Because knowledge is a journey, not a destination.