tonydbaker.com

I’ve been doing Tulsa Web Design now for over 15 years.   I’ve also watched the competition for the last 15 years.  It never seizes to amaze me on what people can come up with that you suddenly need.

I’ve seen sites that cost $500 to sites that actually cost $100,000.  And the funny thing, is that sometimes there’s not much difference.

Business owners want to make a good buying decision when buying a web design.  So sometimes they’ll bring in their IT staff to help them make the decision.  Other times, they’ll bring in someone from marketing or sales to help them decide what to do with this thing they keep hearing about called web site design and Internet marketing.

However, 9 times out of 10… the business owners and the staff simply decide who to go with based on the appearance of the person selling them or some cool thing they haven’t seen before.   The IT staff gets caught up in the technical details and the marketing and sales people honestly…  I’m sorry, this probably seems rude, but they don’t really know about Internet Marketing in most cases anyway.

I actually heard about a business owner the other day who said that he liked what the sales person was saying, but that she showed up 45 minutes early and she was wearing jeans and had a pony tail.

Are you serious?  She was early! That’s a good thing. She works behind a computer all day and you have a problem with her wearing jeans and having her hair up in a pony tail?   Apparently you want to be sold by someone who just sells all day rather than hire someone based on actual hands-on experience.

Okay let’s get off the soap box now, and focus on what really matters.  RESULTS.

When it comes to buying a Tulsa Web Design, you need to know what you’re getting yourself into.

1:  What is the purpose of your site.  Forget about the technology for a moment.  What are you trying to accomplish?   Are you trying to get leads?  Are you trying to make a sale online?  Are you simply providing people with a place where they can go and find documents and forms that they can then fill out online or print out?

2:  How important is this? On a scale of one to ten, how much of an impact do you think this will make to your business?  Is this just an online brochure because all of your friends wonder why you’re not online yet?  Or.. If you’re really going full force and expect something amazing out of your website, are you prepared to work it?  That means, fund it to get daily traffic to the site.  That means, update the content regularly, maybe even daily.  That means… it’s not a magic system sitting in cyberspace, but a real tool that someone in your company logs onto daily in order to build, measure, share, and ultimately make it work for you.

3:  Hype, Hype, Hype! Do you really need all those bells and whistles?  Do you really need splash pages, flash, movies, interactive forms, online calendars, and a cartoon or person that walks onto the screen?  Maybe you do.  Sometimes having a video on your page can make all the difference.  However, don’t get caught up in the fads and whims that designers often fall prey too.  Chances are, they’ve caught your attention and sold you on some expensive system based solely on one or two fads that are going to be annoying and unproductive for you in the near future.  Focus on the basics.  What are my customers looking for and what do they expect to find?

I could keep going…

I build websites all the time.  But I’m not going to build one for you.  I’ve decided to focus my attention on building up my own properties and preparing for long term growth.   I’m also focusing on my marketing consultant services which includes Tulsa Internet Marketing and consulting for your Tulsa Web Design.

However, since I’m not selling you web design, you can look to me as an independent trusted source.

• I don’t have any exclusive relationships with any of Tulsa web design companies.
• I don’t take commission or kickbacks for any web design.
• I get paid the same, whether you go with company A or company B, or C, D or E.
• You get to leverage my 15 years of marketing experience.
• I’ll point out the scammers that make something simple seem something magical.
• I’ll point out whether or not the cool new thing is just a fad or something your customers are looking for.
• I’ll help you find the reputations of Tulsa Web Design companies and see what’s real and what’s the deal.
• I’ll look over your contracts for scapegoats, loopholes, dead ends, and uh oh’s! (though I’m not an attorney)
• I’m not trying to make payroll, so I’m not selling you something and taking your money so you can float me a few more days.
• I am excited to be helping you with this!  You’ll have someone who can help you make the right decision because I know it’s the right thing to do, and not just my job for a project that you wont stop nagging about.   I only take clients I want to do business with.
• Ultimately, at the end of the day, you’ll probably save more money than you would ever pay me.

So, if you’ve found this interesting.  Then before you hire someone to build your website, considering bringing me in as a consultant.  I will sit down with you and your staff and we will draw up a strategy that focuses on your needs today, your action plan for tomorrow, and what you expect to get out of your web site design.

My rates are simple.  I used to charge $550 an hour and had clients lined up for it.  Due to the recession, I’m now charging $199/hr for visits, phone conferences and webinars, with a 2 hour minimum. (Example:  1 hour to consult and research for you plus 1 hour to give group presentation, discussion or webinar.)

I charge $1250 plus expenses (if any) for full day consultations.   Chances are, I can save you $1250 in your tulsa web design expenses, time wasted and loss of income. So this is still a great deal!

- Tony Darrick Baker
- Tulsa Web Design pioneer