Frequently Asked Questions

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What services do you offer?
I provide purposeful co-creation experiences in online business strategy, branding, graphic + package design, website design and development. Enter your name and email below to get instant access to my Getting Started Guide. This guide will let you know a little bit more about me, Jamie Leigh—what I do and how I do it—so that you can determine whether we’d be a good fit to work together on your brand, website, and digital strategy.

What is digital strategy?
Business strategy is a part action planning and part accountability. It’s a focused plan that you’ll create so you can stop reacting to your business (or marketing trend or social media fad) and start proactively leading your business in the direction that feels best for you!

And Digital? I’m specifically talking about the unique tools you can use online to increase your impact as an business owner. When you design your digital strategy you get to choose what you want to create and how you’re best suited to connect with your most valuable customers.

What is brand strategy?

Branding is what you do to cultivate and influence the way your audience feels about your brand. Brand strategy is an active process of intentional research, analysis, positioning, and clarity. Your brand is your reputation. And together we'll create a brand strategy that resonates with your right people.

What is web design? How is it different from web development?
Website design is like architecture; it's the careful planning and design of where all of your website elements (copy, video, buttons, images, etc) are placed, kinda like a blueprint for a home. Development, on the other hand, is like the actual construction of the home. It's the stage where the fabulous design transforms into a living, breathing, online presence. I take all of the work we’ve completed in the first two phases and translate it into a website.
What kind of file types do you provide?

I provide all visual asset deliverables in either vector (Adobe Illustrator AI/EPS), print (Adobe PDF), or web-ready (PNG/GIF/JPG) files. In the case of logo files, you'll get vector and raster files. That means you'll have a copy of each file that I create for your brand in the correct format that you'll need it.

How will you hand my project deliverables over to me?

I use Dropbox for file sharing. As soon as you sign your contract, we will begin on-boarding which includes access to a shared Dropbox folder. It will include all of the documents that we will both need to access throughout the course of our project including contracts, documentation, copy, images, visual assets, all your final project deliverable files, and more.

Do you enter all my content into my website pages?

Yes, I will enter all your content into your web pages provided that it is saved to our Dropbox before we start the design phase. 5 pages of content are included in all packages, your project proposal will reflect the amount of pages that are included in your site map.

Please note: Whether you hire a professional writer or not, this will probably be the most time-intensive “to-do.” Your website content includes taglines, text for all pages, keywords, autoresponder + newsletter subjects + content, titles, names, preferred email addresses, and more.

Please be patient and allow for double the amount of time that you expect for the writing to take so that our project is not delayed. (Most web design projects are delayed because content writing took longer than expected.) If our project gets delayed due to missed deadlines for content delivery, late fees will be assessed per our contract.

If you’re working with a copywriter, our project schedule will allow for time to work with them after Phase 1 and I would be so happy to coordinate with them!

Will you train me how to use WordPress?
In the final phase of our project, I will offer you one 1-hour video training session via Zoom which will be recorded for your future reference. I also provide you with documentation that include all the important details about how you can access and manage your new website.

If you require further WordPress training, there are so many amazing resources that I can recommend. That's one of the really cool things about WordPress; the giant supportive community! Check out: WP 101, Lynda.com, WP Beginner, or WordPress for some GREAT learning resources.

Can you design my site on Square Space/Magento/Shopify/etc?

WordPress is my bestie for life. It’s the #1 open-source website content management system (CMS) and has a strong community of thousands of developers who have created so many awesome plugins that extend the already awesome power of WordPress. It’s also very intuitive to learn + manage on your own! I’ve been having an ongoing relationship with WordPress since it was just a blogging platform back in 2004. For that reason, I do not create websites on any platform or CMS other than WordPress and would be happy to refer you to a list of designers/developers who work on your preferred platform.

What eCommerce platforms will you work with?
I work with e-commerce plugins for WordPress. During the discovery + strategy phases of our project, I will investigate what makes YOUR offers unique and advise you on which platform will be a perfect fit.
What about SEO?
I consider Search Engine Optimization best practices when designing, developing, and entering content into your website. I will install a SEO plugin and insert your keywords and meta data that you provide to me. If you require further SEO assistance I can recommend a kick-ass SEO strategist to you!
Do you offer payment plans?
You betcha! My payment plans divide the entire project cost into either 3 or 4 payments. 25% of the project total is due at contract signing to secure our time together, 25% is due on the project start date, and the final 50% is due at project sign-off. You can split that final payment up in two if it works better for your accountant!
How do you accept payments?
I accept all major credit cards through my secure, online payment system. You’ll receive your invoice via email with a link to pay directly. If you live in Canada, I also accept Interac Email Money transfers.
How long will our time together be?
It all depends on the scope of our project and deliverables. Typically we hang together for approximately 5 to 13 weeks.
When we are finished, will I own my site and be able to make changes?
Absolutely. It’s a huge value of mine to release control + ownership of your website once you’ve signed off and made the final project payment. You will not have access to your dashboard while in development, but once complete you will be able to make any additions and changes you’d like to your pages and blog posts. After your site is live for a few months there may be some coding or system changes/additions that you require. I’d be super stoked to support you with those at my hourly rate.
How can I contact you?
These communication policies were developed over many years of working virtually with clients and building productive working relationships (and websites!).

 

Before we work together:

Interested in working with me? Enter your name and email below to get instant access to my Getting Started Guide. Once you read the guide and decide we're a good fit, you'll receive a link to schedule a free 30 min video chat with me!

 

Once we start working together:

My office hours are Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm Pacific Time.

We'll use Asana and Zoom as our primary modes of communication. I’m all about documentation and clarity, and for that reason I appreciate that all our project communication be recorded (and searchable) in our private Asana project management board. I record all of our Zoom meetings and link to them, for our reference, in Asana.

When you contact me I promise to respond to you enthusiastically within 24 hours during the work week.

I get that social media may be a go-to communication channel for a lot of folks, but it isn’t for me. Please do not use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Google instant messaging to get a hold of me. Chances are that I won’t see your message for weeks, and that would suck!

And phone calls or texts? Well, they aren’t so easy to keep a record of. It is for that reason I have an no phone calls or texts policy.

If you want my mailing address, it is:

Jamie Leigh Hoogendoorn
PO Box 21540 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver, BC
V5L 5G2 Canada

Do you have a cancellation or refund policy?
Meetings + Cancellation:

While I understand that life happens and we can't always follow through with our agreements, I ask that you make every effort to arrive on time to all our scheduled meetings. This honours both you, me, and our commitment to your business. If you need to reschedule a meeting, I get that! I honour flexibility and my scheduling system sends out handy email reminders of our meetings where you can reschedule via a link in the email up to 48 hours before our meeting starts!

If you need to reschedule with less than 48 hours notice I will charge the full fee for the meeting.

Contract Cancellation + Refunds:

Once we have signed a project contract together, I do offer a cancellation policy given a minimum 15 days written notice. Because life and things! But cancellation of our contract doesn't extinguish your obligation to pay project fees for the current phase or any pre-approved expenses. In the event that I need to cancel our agreement, I will provide a prorated refund of any overages of fees paid minus any approved, unpaid expenses incurred on your behalf.