Initial Consultation

We've worked with businesses with no idea what the internet is, those who are neck deep in it and drowning and others in between.  The first meeting will lay out where you are in your digital business today and where you want to go.

A typical consultation results in an agreement to move forward on a plan.  To get to that plan, we'll often explain all the terms and functions of life on the internet.  Sometimes that means explaining the concept of domains and service providers and how email works.  Sometimes that means looking at your manifest of vendors and explaining what they exactly do for you today [and do you really need them].

We do a lot of listening at this stage, but can usually recommend a path forward at the end of this hour or two hour session.

Results

Usually, the deliverables end up being a list like this one:

• Domain registration
• Website linkage to domain 
• Website hosting vendor selection
• Website creation
• Social site creation and connection
• Business registry definitions and map verification
• Automated marketing solutions
• Training

Often, the list above includes additional needs like:

• Business email vendor selection and configuration
• Mailing and newsletter lists
• Ongoing support

Guiding Principles

First and foremost, Second Story Designs wants to do as little or as much as you need us to do.  We aren't looking for long commitments or big, expensive projects. In fact, part of our mission is to get you on track and self-sufficient as fast as possible.

Additionally, we will always assist you in vendor selection and "decisioning" processes that are strategic and tactical.  This means not just picking the cheapest and easiest solution.  Sometimes the cheapest, easiest and best solution are the same vendor, but it is rare to find a vendor that is able to be described with all three of those adjectives.  Being strategic and tactical means picking vendors and arranging them in such a way that you can replace them in the future with the least amount of impact.  

Costs

Second Story Designs works exclusively on a time and materials basis.  After the initial consultation we will clearly estimate the effort required and also highlight areas where you can save money by doing work yourself.  Our services are based on a scale with these categories:

General Consulting

This is the least expensive hourly rate and consists of meetings and sessions where we are informing you of options and doing training.  

Technical Services

These are things like vendor selection, configuration, content manipulation, etc. 

Custom Software Development

Custom Software Development is rare, but in the cases where a vendor's website or software solutions cannot suffice, we may choose to providing custom development for you.  This is the most expensive of all services.

Most projects as described in the "Typical Work" and "Typical Solutions" pages, consist of a mix of general consulting and technical service work.  Custom development is rare due to its cost as well as the fact that website-building solutions have become capable, inexpensive and easy to use by the novice.  

Costs can be controlled by committing a staff-member to the process to do a larger portion of the technical service work.  However, this may increase the project's time and result in more consulting hours.  For these reasons and as stated prior, most clients will use Second Story Designs for consulting to build the plan and then technical services to implement it.  Their project will conclude with a transition to staff in which the staff is trained and empowered to support your new asset.

For typical projects, Second Story Designs' total charges start around $500 and can grow to $2,500 or more depending upon your needs.  If your solution includes only a website, you can expect a modest cost.