Work and more work
In the mist of Covid-19 (Corona Virus), we at JDS WebDesign are hoping everyone is safe, washing your hands frequently, sneezing and coughing in your elbow, and practicing social distancing. Over the next several weeks, we are planning on blogging about how to make your website more business friendly. We will have some tutorials on our favorite plugins and features, which will make your site more efficient.
A quick recap of my Tuesday, which was more like a typical Monday. Given that Monday was a holiday for most of us, celebrating Labor Day. While not posting as many blog as I typically do, the other day a subscriber asked me to describe what my day looks like as a free lance web designer. Work and more work, was my response.
However, this is probably a question many new freelance web designer have…what does a typical day look for me. My day was not full of work on projects.
It began early
6:30am – Woke up and pour my 1st cup of coffee. Daily prayer and meditations. Took some medicine for my ache back, and scribe my weekly and daily goals. Wanted to get ahead of a postponed launch, so I worked on the site for several hours over the weekend. Check of my emails…lot of urgent ones. Will work on them after morning duties.
7:15am – woke up my kids. Assist them with getting ready for school. We discuss the Atlanta Braves game, Atlanta Falcons final cut downs, and some college football highlights. Cereal for one child, toast and eggs for another, and fruit/milk and a bagel for me.
8:00am – drop my teenager off to school. Took my other to her day program. Stop by my business mail box to pick up a few bills and non-important mail. Went to Starbucks for a cup of coffee, felt the need to treat myself. I knocked out about 25 low impact emails this morning.
Then an unexpected schedule meeting
8:45am – back in my office. Looks like my urgent emails are around 50. Knocking one after another one out. See where a client wants to discuss upcoming launch. I have a 10:00am slot open, but have another meeting (call) schedule for 10:30.
9:30am – Second cup of coffee (actually third, but Starbucks was a treat for me). Receive an email from one of my clients. It is a faith based client, and one of the sermon’s had a few errors in the content. Not the one who handles the graphics, I need to re-upload the new sermon. Emailing the graphic’s department to let me know, when the new sermon was ready to be uploaded. The email came from the Senior Pastor. Only spoke to him once, and it was very short introduction. Will make sure the issue is fixed by lunch time today.
10:00 am – Meeting with client. Client acknowledge the hard work, which was done over the weekend. The site is not ready for launch, looks like one of the executive wants a more global approach. This should have been handled during the planning stages. Will overlook that issue, and make a mental note for future projects. All decision makers need to give input during planing stage. Client will provide a list of new changes, hopefully we will be able to launch in about a week. Noted in client’s folder about possible changes. Will send change of scope to client before today.
10:40am – Meeting (call) to my inspirational and motivational speaker client. Some search engine optimization (SEO) is needed on their site. Check the speed of site, site map, and latest blogs. Will work with ghost writer to populate more content in line with the keywords and subject matter.
11:00am – Work on Faith based site. Upload latest sermon. Place a few upcoming events on calendar. Work on prayer request page, the emails are not populating correctly. Minister provided an incorrect email. Life is good. Had to create an graphic image, done. Email the senior pastor and let him know that his site had been updated.
11:30am – Upload blog post for inspirational and motivational speaker client. Check with keywords and uploaded the blog post. Worked on another client, faith based organization. Uploaded latest bulletin. Reviewed Facebook account to make sure all the latest events were present. Need to spend more time on my social media posts…was a goal of mine in 2019.
Lunch time means rest
12:00pm – Lunch. I made a quick run to bank and stop by Publix, a local supermaket. Got me a salad and gatorade drink. Took a short nap, feeling very tired. Before I took my nap, review all my upcoming task. Work on a couple of emails.
1;30pm – Worked on client reports. They are going out tomorrow. Should go out on the 5th… Check on outstanding invoices. Have a few…and sent out reminders. Email and/or call is needed by 15th or site will be taken down, if payment can not be made.
2:00pm – Received an email from a client about my support program. The client really needed to redesign his site, but did not want to pay for redesign of his site. He has requested 10 changes within 25 days. My general policy is if you need over 10 changes, generally you need to redesign your site. Called the client to set up a meeting. He advised that while the service was fast and super, he had hired another web designer to redesign his site. Thanked him for the opportunity…will review process. Looked at his file and my notes…did advised him that he needed to redesign his site. He did not have the funds at that present time. Will check in a couple days to see what his new site looks like. It was a leads generation site, built on a old WordPress Theme. I had advised him that in order to get donations, he would need to have a really well designer site. Weird thing did not feel bad about losing this client…weird.
3;00pm – Head out to pick up teenager. Quick stop to Wendy’s to see how difficult his life is…and for a couple of Wendy’s four for fours. Burger, nuggets, fries and drink for $4.00. Best deal in town, and always makes me look like a hero in his eyes.
The day is almost over (in my dreams)
3:45pm – Created Facebook ad for Physical Therapy Client. Their having some training sessions during the Fall of 2018, and we want to generate a buzz for the training sessions. The client loved the ad, but wanted to change the content and image. Not a big deal, will have the ad ready to go by late this week or early next. Email change of scope letter to one of my client.
4:30pm – Clear out my email list. Check the status of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) for a client, and cpanel login. Set up an email for one of my clients (Yes, I do provide emails for this client…do not know why. Hate it…) Work on Podcast. Will re-launch on Friday. Just need to do my sponsorship.
5:30pm – Email faith based organization, working on a project for them. Did some research and gather a list of about 10 faith based organization with no website presence. Will send them a introductory email in the morning.
6:30pm – Wife called to dinner. Got a chance to see what was going on in everyone’s life. Made sure everyone was okay. Family wanted to check out a movie around 8:00pm tonight. Asked my teenager about homework. He showed me that it was done. Made a quick call to my college student.
7:30pm – Sent out introduction letter to 10 faith based organization with websites Log off. Time to watch a movie with my family.
If your interested in a web site, or brand development, then I am available. I can be reached at info@jdswebdesign.biz or 678-718-5489.
Image courtesy of William Iven.
JDS WebDesign is a Web Design and Brand Marketing Agency located in Marietta, Georgia. We create AWESOME on line presence for Start-ups and Influential People/Organizations. To learn more about us or how we can help you and your organization, you can contact us or schedule a meeting.
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