WwWW – Working with Winch Websites

Office Hours & Communicating

I work ‘in’ the business Monday-Thursday, 9am to 4pm.

Fridays are for working ‘on’ the business ie. learning new things, catching up on paperwork, developing my own marketing etc. Practicing what I preach 😀

To collaborate with you, I use a small number of online services and tools to make it as easy (and convenient) as possible. Email is the preferred communication channel so we can both fit things into our day – I do my best to reply to all communication regarding active projects the same day (during office hours).

If you’d like to talk, you can schedule a call with me. Scheduling calls keeps my work from being interrupted and allows me to focus on your project.

All larger projects eg. website revamp will have a weekly email update sent to the principal contact outlining what’s been done, what’s being done next, and what we need from you.

What’s Included?

I want you to be clear on just what it is that Winch Websites is providing to you, so you don’t get unwelcome surprises where we are giving you something and you are expecting something quite different.

Most of the time we will send you a formal proposal that details exactly what is going to be done and what you will get, and the investment(s) required. Acceptance of that proposal defines our ‘statement of work’ ie. what we will be doing for you. Smaller projects will be agreed and defined by email. Either way it will be in writing.

At any time, get in touch if you have questions about your project or think it needs to change. This may mean adjusting budgets and payments, of course.

It’s important to note that projects and work are definitely not open-ended – we’re running a business and need to be profitable, just like you we have limited resources and time. Please make yourself aware of all constraints involved eg. timeframes, deadlines.

It’s also important to note that we have a preferred suite of software products that we know and use. Which ones apply to your project, we will be deciding – these are generally included in the project, and note that there may be ongoing fees involved depending on the project and how much Winch Websites continues to be involved. We aim to make things as easy for you and ourselves, so the tools we prefer are selected on the basis of our experience, ease of use, value, and industry approval.

We do aim to avoid ‘lock-in’ as much as possible – in other words, we want you to be free to switch to other solutions, other providers, without having to destroy or recreate what we’ve done for you. There may sometimes be technical restrictions around this, but freedom to choose, freedom to move is a central value for Winch Websites. You stay with us because you want to, not because you have to! 😀

If you have special requirements for software, systems and/or tools, be sure to bring that up as early as possible as it’s an important consideration before beginning work.

What I Need From You

The web marketing services provided by Winch Websites generally need to be fitted to what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for.

This means your input is crucial. You will be asked to provide information and assets such as logo, photos, images, and text, and also to review what’s been done. You will also be asked to review things, to ensure we’re on the same page and heading in the right direction. Constructive feedback is a necessity, for website projects we provide a feedback tool that makes it quick and easy.

Your timely response keeps the project moving, on schedule, and on budget. Inordinate delays may mean your project is subject to scheduling delays behind other projects, and in extreme cases may incur a re-activation fee.

Also, committees are great for collaboration, idea brainstorming, strategic direction and formal approvals – however, they can be ineffective for decision-making on specifics. We will expect to work with a designated contact who has the authority to make guiding and final decisions, for example colour scheme, background image, wording, layout approval. How you work things within your organisation is entirely up to you, but it’s best if you don’t expect Winch Websites to be at your team discussions – hourly charges may apply if so.

Testing is also an important element for you to be involved with. Be that online forms, online purchases, automated tasks, website navigation, display on various devices – we do our best to make everything work everywhere, seeing things from your end is highly recommended so that you can be sure that people are getting an experience you want them to have.

Our Process

The overall process varies a bit from project to project as you would expect, but the timeline below reflects the major milestones and we’ll do our best to stick to it. We’ll let you know if your project will be significantly different.

• Before the project begins – we agree on what is to be done, what investment is required, and any special/unusual requirements. A proposal or statement of work is sent to you. A 50% initial payment must be made, 100% for mini-projects of less than $1,000. Allow around a week for this.
• At project commencement – we schedule the project, and you will receive onboarding emails explaining our tools and what we need to get going. You provide information and/or assets as requested through our online tools or by email. In the meantime we get on with behind-the-scenes preparations. Allow around a week for all of this.
• During the project – we will provide a weekly email update (what’s done, what’s next, what we need from you). You may well receive automated nag emails if we’re still waiting on some things! You’ll be asked to review and provide feedback, again online so you can do this at your convenience and to your schedule. Typically 1-3 months for all this.
• At project completion – you undertake a final review, and any final modifications, corrections and adjustments are made. If appropriate, we agree a launch/publication/activation date (during office hours). Allow a week for this.
• At project launch – almost always, to actually put a project ‘out there’ in the wild we need to make a number of changes and activations. This particularly applies to a website which may need some of the changes to ripple around the world to take effect, and this is the time when speed & image optimisations etc are switched on (they get in the way during development). Allow a week for this to be done, although you may not see anything obvious happening!

Payments

We require a 50% project initiation payment up front (100% for mini-projects of less than $1,000).

The balance due is payable at project completion ie. (the required work has been done and the project is ready to be published/launched/activated) or 60 days after project initiation whichever is sooner.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will my project take?

Simple answer – “it depends!”. It does really depend on how much needs to be done and the size of your project. I can say that most website projects take 1-2 months all up, and most mini-projects (eg. a single sales page) take 1-2 weeks. 

How much will my project cost?

We don’t operate off a fixed-price menu, because the very nature of web marketing is that it is different each time. As a guide;

• $2-3,000 for a straightforward 1-page website
• $5-8,000 for a ‘full’ website with home page, contact page/form, half a dozen product/service/organisation detail pages and an about-us page
• $6-12,000 for an e-commerce website with online shopping cart