a stone’s throw away

Sure, you could hire someone from San Francisco or New York. You could hire the guy from Ft. Lauderdale who did that site for your boss a few years ago. You could talk to them on the phone and go back and forth via email. That might work out great for you. But what if you hired someone with an office in downtown Camden? Some place you can stop by and talk with someone face to face. Someone who might just think like you… someone you might bump into hiking up Maiden’s Cliff or getting lunch at French & Brawn. Someone like me, maybe.


Here are a few questions I get asked regularly. If you don’t find an answer here, or you want to know more, please contact me and I’ll answer all your questions.

can i get a website for around $500?

Not from me. In fact, if someone will do your website for $500, they’re exactly the last person you actually want touching your website. I know I should probably qualify that and say that it’s just my opinion, but I’m not going to kid you: your $500 website will make your friends shift uncomfortably when you show it to them. The ones who don’t shift uncomfortably should be regarded with suspicion.

so how much do you charge for a website?

The smart-alecky answer is: how long is a piece of string? It really depends on the string. A website can be an infinite number of things, which is why I ask interested clients to take a half hour or so to sit down with me so we can talk things over. We’ll talk about your vision for the site, how big or small you see it becoming, whether you want to update it yourself or have someone else do it, whether you need a contact form, video, dancing cats, etc. That conversation allows me to to give you an accurate, written quote and it also may make you think differently about the possibilities for your site.

but can’t you just give me a ballpark figure now?

No. I don’t want our relationship to be based on lies and innuendo.

but can’t you just give me a rough idea?

OK, you broke me down. It’ll be around a million dollars. I’m sure we can shave a bit off that quote, however, if we can sit down together for 30 minutes or so.

what happens after we meet and talk?

The process will most likely go something like this:

  • if we both feel it’s a good fit, I will get you a written quote, generally within 3 days of our meeting
  • if you’re happy with the quote I will write up a standard contract for us both to sign, outlining timeframes, costs, copyrights, etc.
  • we sign the contract and you provide me with a downpayment to begin work (generally 50%)
  • you complete a design planner document that I will provide to you, which is a standardized way for me to make sure I’ve asked you all the important questions
  • once I have the design planner back from you, I will build a design mockup for you
  • once you’ve seen the completed design mockup, I solicit your feedback and we’ll go through successive iterations until you are happy with the design
  • you will “sign off” on the design and I’ll begin constructing the site
  • the site will launch and your competitors will begin to weep inconsolably

do we hire you by the hour or by the job?

Almost every job I do is by the job rather than hourly. I find that an hourly rate on larger projects tends to create an adversarial relationship between me and my clients. I prefer to give you the best website possible without having to watch the clock while I’m doing it.

For incidental work after your website is launched (such as adding forms, database work, creating mass email templates, etc) I charge $75/hour.

why should we hire you and not jane doe or john q. public?

You should hire me because you like the work I’ve done in the past. You should hire me because I value workmanship, quality, and doing right by people who have put their trust in me. I’ll listen to you. I’ll answer the phone when you call. If you want a website that you’re proud of… that shows your work or your product in the best light, then I’m your man. If you want a website done on the cheap, there is always someone out there who will do it cheaper than me and I’m probably not your man. If, however, money is just one of many considerations, then I would love to sit down with you and see if it’s a good fit.

where can we send our request for proposal (RFP)?

If you have an RFP, you can email it to me at info@dougfelton.com. I should mention that I generally do not submit proposals when the request comes via an RFP. Our decision to work together should be a mutual one, arrived at after talking, exchanging thoughts, ideas, hopes, questions, and maybe even a cup of coffee. So if you like my work or have heard good things about the work I do, then send the RFP to the other guys and let’s you and I sit down together and talk.