As you may have read in an earlier blog, I had another job interview today.
But I am still thinking about web design. It is calling to me, and it is
getting less subtle.
Late Monday afternoon, in desperation after a day stuck in bed because of my
ankle, I hobbled to my bathroom, and crawled onto the edge of my tub. I hate
being dirty. I wanted to wash my hair and at least rinse the rest of me. I
knew that getting all the way in the tub was a bad idea, as I was unlikely
to be able to get back out. With my husband on the other side of the
country, I would be stuck in there until Friday. Luckily, I have a shower
nozzle on a hose (it is one of the "massaging" showerheads. I find it is
easier to clean the tub when I can move the spray to reach all sides.)
I started the water and adjusted the temperature. I leaned forward and wet
my head. No sooner did I have shampoo in my hand than my 13-year old knocked
on the door. I had a phone call. "Who is it?" I asked, hoping I could just
call back. "I don't know. He said something about a web site." Sigh. "Is it
Ned?" (He and I had been talking about a site earlier that day.) "Yeah, I
think that is what he said." Good, he would understand. "Tell him I'm in the
tub and take his number." I knew he wouldn't mind a bit. He knew about my
ankle. We had worked together for the Diocese, and still kept in touch.
Thank God for small favors.
When I was done, I crawled back to the bed. It was easier than using the
crutches. There was a piece of paper with a phone number in orange, but no
area code. I knew Ned was out of our district, and the number looked like a
local exchange. I called her in and asked her to go back over what he had
said. "Well, he thought I was you and when I told him I was your daughter,
he said that someone had told him to call you about a website." Okay, that
would not be Ned then. This was someone else. "Oh, and he said wait until
tomorrow, because he was on his way out of the office." Probably someone
from one of the churches who thought I still worked for the diocese and
would help them with a hosting problem. That would be easy to take care of;
I would just point them back to the diocesan office. I don't do that job
anymore.
The next morning I called the mystery number. But it wasn't a church, it was
a business. He had gotten my name and number from someone I had worked with
before I quit my last job. We wanted me to create a web site for his
business. Well, I was unprepared for the call. I didn't have clients' info
in front of me. I gave him the first one that came to my mind - my mother's
site. She is a potter by trade, and when my server crashed, I put what I had
salvaged of her site up on my own personal webpage until I had a chance to
rebuild the machine. He didn't need to know that she and I were related.
He paused, and then said, "That isn't a domain name. That is just a personal
site." "Yes," I answered, "I put her pages on my site for now. She wasn't
ready to get a domain name yet." He hesitated. That isn't a good sign.
"Could I have the URL of one that did get a domain?" he asked. "None of them
have domain names," I replied. This was not going well. "How long have you
been designing sites?" he asked. "Five years," I replied. "And none of them
have domain names?" he said. I sighed. "None that I am working with now. You
see, most of them pay me in trade," I explained. "This client is a potter
and she pays me in pottery. Another has a vineyard and she pays me in wine.
There is the one I did for my last employer. That has a domain name, but I
don't do their site anymore, so I can't vouch for its condition." He thanked
me for my time and hung up. A lost sale because none of my clients can
afford to pay; they are all just starting businesses too.
I called my ISP. They have a business package that would allow me to run a
full web design and hosting company from my home. It was time for me to
investigate the price. Thirty minutes later, I was depressed. Eighty dollars
a month plus a setup fee. I doubted I would have enough cash paying business
to cover even half that on an ongoing basis. And under no circumstances
would I sell the pottery my mother gave me. It is beautiful art that is
increasing in value each year. In addition, there is a sentimental value
attached to it as well.
I called the vineyard owner to check on her business. This is her third
spring, and she had told me that in March they would be able to tell how the
vines had done over the winter. She was excited to hear from me. The winter
had been kind to her vines and they would have a crop of grapes to sell. I
congratulated her. She had told me in the beginning that it usually took
three years to get a harvest. I asked her to send me some new pictures of
the vines for the website. She told me that she and her husband were finally
ready to get a domain name and start expanding the website. I was ecstatic.
We arranged to meet Thursday (which is today) for lunch to discuss the
expansion and paying me in cash from now on. Maybe it was time to officially
get my business off the ground.
I went downstairs, got my coat and purse, and walked out to the car. I
needed to run a few errands and I wanted lunch out. I called my
brother-in-law. Just the previous night, he had offered to buy my mother a
domain name for her birthday and host her site there. He has his own
business where he goes to people's homes or offices to fix their computers,
sort of like house calls for computers. I wanted to know how much he had to
pay for licenses and such to start up his business two years ago.
I was shocked by what he told me. No, not about his license, which in his
state is free, but that he could show me a place to get hosting at a price
that made my ISP's offer look ridiculous. After thirty minutes on the phone
with him, he had purchased the domain for my mother and sent me the upload
info. There was a way to make this work. I finished my errands and headed
straight home. I contacted the company he dealt with and bought two domain
names (one for myself and one for the vineyard.) I immediately began working
on the files that will go up as soon as the transfer is complete (estimated
to be tomorrow). While I worked on those, I got a call from the vineyard
owner. She had lunched with a real estate agent she knew, and the subject of
web sites came up. Now the realtor wanted me to create a site for her. In
addition, she was going to recommend me to her company and see if the whole
agency would take a site.
I was shocked again. I had gone from no (money) paying clients to two
definite and a possible, with the possible being a large client, in just two
days. I called the city to get information about getting a license. It turns
out to be quite simple and inexpensive in this area. I printed out the forms
and made plans to go to city hall on Friday.
I hung up the phone, and went back to my computer, opening the program I use
to edit web pages. Its familiar screen sprang to life, greeting me and
encouraging me to open a page. I browsed to the folder where I kept the web
pages I have built over the last several years, and opened one. I loaded the
pages and started coding again.
Next week, after my trip to the real estate company, I will make a call to
the man from Monday and arrange an interview with him. I will have three
current domain sites to show him, and half a dozen others (though they still
don't' have domains, and never will). I may even have a preliminary draft
for the real estate company. Then, I will show him my proposal for his site.
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