We Have A's to Your Q's

Why should I use a blog as my website? Is that professional enough for my company? 

We have found that using a blogging platform as the foundation for your main website is extremely beneficial because it allows you to regularly update and inform your audience, draw in new readers and potential clients, and showcase more of your creative life and style. This keeps your website fresh and interesting, because your readers are entertained, they check it often which keeps them regularly informed and captivated by your brand. Blogs are also heavily favoured by search engines when they index search results on a topic, so if you have an active blog it's much easier to stand out and gain an audience.

Traditional websites can be very expensive and often become stale because the owner has to pay their design company to maintain and alter the content. Using a blog as the basis for your site means that you're in control. New visitors will have no trouble navigating your site and your fascinating, on-going blog content will remind them to visit regularly and stay connected with your brand. Your design can look exactly like a blog or nothing like a blog- but using the blog framework means we can reduce the amount of development time we need to charge clients for and our websites are much easier to use behind the scenes!

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How does the booking process work?

Each person who is interested in working with us is required to send in a complete order form. Once we receive your order form, we will check the availability of the designer(s) that you have requested, and see if they are compatible with your style. Once we determine who is a good match for you, we will contact you to confirm which package you would like to purchase, and request your permission to charge you for a deposit. Once your deposit has been paid, we will confirm your sequence in the designer's queue.

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What how much is the deposit and what is it for?  

The amount of the deposit is $100 for our Blog Makeover, Blog as a Website and Big Cartel packages, and $500 for Shopify packages. The deposit that we charge is to secure a place in the sequence of your designer's client queue. In our business the deposit helps to cover all the assistance we give to clients in chosing their packages and designer, along with the internal record keeping and communication that goes into booking a project.

This deposit will be applied to the cost of your blog package, but if you decide not to move forward it is non-refundable. Should you choose to cancel your booking after paying any part of your project, your project will be considered abandoned and will be used to offset the time that we've put into your project behind the scenes. 

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How long does each project take?

Once a client starts working with their designer, each Blog Makeover & Blog As A Website project takes an average of 5 weeks from start to finish. If there are added elements or longer communication times the project may take longer. Projects for A La Carte items or smaller pieces like blog design can take from 1 to 3 weeks. 

Overview of Design Process Timing:

• Submit order form, designer & package confirmed, deposit paid (approx. 1 week)
• Move through designer's client queue (approx. 1 - 3 months)
• Receive homework & complete with style inspiration (approx. 10 - 14 days)
• One-on-one design process with Designer (average process: 5 weeks)
• Site launch & wrap up (approx. 2 - 5 days)

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What happens during the design process?

When a client is ready to book a design with Freckled Nest, they complete an order form, found on our Contact page. Their answers are submitted to the designers they requested, and if the designer has the availability to take on new clients & there's a style match then the project is ready to go forward! The client will place a $100 deposit and be given access to their designer's secret client queue page so they can check in on when their project is coming up whenever they like. 

Two weeks before one-on-one work with the designer begins, clients are contacted with one of two "homework" assignments (one at the start of the process and towards the end). During the design, our process centers around collaboration between the designer and client through e-mail, phone calls, online chat or video calls- whatever works best for their relationship. For a complete blog or website, the design process usually takes five weeks to complete and is customized according to their package's elements. If the client would like more customizations they can add illustration or design elements from our A La Carte menu until their design is perfectly tailored to their needs. For e-commerce and larger custom projects the timeline can be slightly longer.

For each design, our goal to create an instant visual impression that communicates who our client is, and intuitive navigation that leads their audience deeper into their online world.

We ask that clients reply to design related emails within 48 hours so that their design process can stay on track and the goal of our designers is to produce new design work to show you every 3 - 4 business days. Our designers always try to inform the client of the next steps in the design process so they have a sense of the overall process and of what's coming next. 

As our designers work with their clients, they create elements that reflect each client's style and will show versions of those elements as they're developed. As each design piece is completed it's added into a demo- a final preview of the design that the live site is built to match.

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What's the difference between the Blog Makeover and the Blog as a Website? 

The biggest difference between the Blog Makeover and Blog as a Website comes down to the extent of the branding you're looking for. The Blog Makeover gives your blog or website a style refresh, but the branding doesn't extend into the content and the sidebar elements are more limited in their scope then the level of polish and high level branding available in a Blog as a Website.

The Blog as a Website adds more sidebar customization on top of the Blog Makeover package, extending the design into the content of additional pages that your designer will style and format for you to create a seamless experience. The right package for you really comes down to the level of customization that you'd like from your design, your price point, and the level of branding presence you desire for your site.

The Blog Makeover is a great choice for those wanting a new design and layout for a blog with basic & beautiful purposes, and the Blog as a Website is a fantastic package for those wanting to create a professional impression online, using a blog that acts like a website.

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What if I don't know what package to purchase, or which designer to work with?

That's alright- we can help you! As long as you have an idea of the style and amount of content you want your design to accomodate we'll be able to develop your vision and find out out which package would work for your needs. Contact us and we can assess your needs by e-mail or over the phone.

If you're not sure which of our designers you would like to work with, we would be happy to match you. We  use the question in our order form about the style of your favourite websites to match you with a designer who has complementary style.

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Are you hiring?

We make a point to grow slowly, so we're probably not hiring the moment you read this, but we love to meet talented people and keep resumes on file for when we are hiring. You're welcome to send a resume to hello [at] FreckledNest [dot] com and make sure to let us know what you do, how you came to do it and attach any portfolio samples.