Question: How much do you charge for websites?
Answer: Most of my sites are in the $1,500 to $3,500 range.  I’ve created sites that cost much more and sites that cost much less.  However, most of my sites fall in this price range.  Pricing a site depends mostly on what you want the site to do.  Is it an information based website? Do you sell things on your site? Do you want to be able to update it yourself? Will you have audio and video?  Do you want a blog on your site?, Are you interfacing with Facebook? All of these are elements to consider when pricing out a website.

Question: How long have you been building websites?
Answer: I’ve been building websites since 2001.  When I started building websites the only way to create pages was to use raw HTML code written out in Note Pad.  This old style of coding still helps me today in troubleshooting the more sophisticated software programs such as Dreamweaver and open source applications such as Joomla and Wordpress.

Question: Did you go to school to learn how to use computers?
Answer: (short answer) No.
(Long Answer) The most important choice in my working career was to take on a job at Kinko’s in Kahului, Hawaii.  Before working in the tech and marketing industry I was a concierge at two hotels in Wailea, Hawaii. I quickly came to the conclusion that I did not want to spend the rest of my life working in a hotel, but did not have any type of college degree to fall back on.  I quit my hotel job and took on a job at Kinko’s making approximately half the pay.

It was at Kinko’s where I was introduced to the coolest boss any one could ever want named Will.  It was here I was taught to use such programs as Photo Shop, Page Maker, Quark Express, Microsoft Office and many more.  One of the benefits of working at Kinko’s was free use of the rental computers after work.  Border’s book store was right across the street from work.  After work, I would crash at Borders for an hour or so with the latest Photo Shop book.  I would read the books at Borders and then come back to work after hours to use the computers and practice what I read at Borders.  This process, in addition to help from my cool boss named Will, co-workers Leonard, Jano and Brock was what got me started in learning how to use computers.

Question: How long does it take to build a website?
Answer: This depends greatly on what the site will do.  Generally speaking I budget 30 days from start to finish, but I have built sites in as little 3-4 days based on emergency request from clients.  Much of the time involved in creating a website is spent interfacing with clients in regards to reviews, changes and waiting on text content.  I do my best and take time to help organize clients’ thoughts and ideas on the front end so information and communication flows smoothly and efficiently.  Doing this makes my job as a designer easier and the client happier in the end.

Question: What do you think of the “build your own website" companies?
Answer: There are dozens of these companies.  Some of the more popular ones are Intuit.com, godaddy.com, wix.com and many more.  I actually had a client pay me to build him a website using one of these companies because he was sold on it based upon talking to a sales person on the mainland.

I found the biggest challenge in using these types of companies was the amount of time it takes to learn their software system and finding styles that fit the look and feel of a business in Hawaii.  When I ran into trouble or had questions, it was very time consuming and often difficult to interface with their tech support, which was either on mainland time or out-sourced to someone in India with a very heavy accent making it frustrating and difficult to understand.

The bottom line is the time required to learn and use the new software in addition interfacing with the tech support department was much more costly than if I had built a custom site myself; which would have also allowed me to create a far better looking and easier to use website.  It is also important to reconfirm the bottom line cost in hidden monthly hosting fees and add-ons, such as additional emails, tech support, no to mention your time in regards to getting the site that you want to represent your business.

Question: How do I get started?
Answer: I offer a free 30 minute consultation at your place of business to answer any specific questions you may have and to help you understand the components and process of creating an effective website.  This process also helps me understand your business and its needs with the goal of creating an accurate proposal and site plan.

Question: How do I contact you?
Answer: Click here, email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or me on my directly (text or voice) at 808.357.4563.