Q. Do you host web sites?
A. No. We concentrate solely on content development but we do work closely with local and interstate hosting providers.

Q. Do you provide dial-up connections?
A. No. Local providers include IIG and Ledanet.

Q. Are you in Port Douglas?
A. No. It's a long story but after 3 years in Port Douglas (1995-1998) we moved to Yorkeys Knob on the Northern Beaches of Cairns, and then quickly found out how hard it is to change the name of a business. We gave up trying, and kept the name.

Q. I have a web site but it's not working. Can you give me some advice on how to make it better?
A. Yes. Please refer to our Pricing page for consultancy rates.

Q. How long will it take? How much will it cost?
A. It depends on the size of the site. Please refer to our Client Checklist and Pricing pages for more info.

Q. Do you write my web site text for me?
A. No. We can put you in touch with a copywriter if you need assistance, but since nobody knows your business, your products and your clients the way you do, preparing the body text is something that you will need to do. Please refer to our Client Checklist page for more info.

Q. Can I edit my site myself?
A. Ummm... Yes and No. If you have the in-house technical expertise that you expect us to have, then sure, but we don't jointly manage sites with our clients - it's a case of "too many cooks". There are many good books and training courses on how to use Dreamweaver for those who want to look after their own site, but whether you're able to manage the broader issues associated with looking after a web site depends on your own skill base, and desire to do so. There's a bit more to it than just HTML and image editing.

Q. Will you take equity in my web site/business as payment?
A. No.

Q. Do you have any second-hand web sites for sale?
A. A surprising question when it was first asked, but from time to time we do have sites available for resale. This is an emerging market, similar to selling a business as a going concern, so please contact us if you are looking to buy or sell.

Q. I got somebody cheap to build my site. Can you fix it up for me?
A. These requests are treated on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately there is a perception that our charges will vary based on the amount already spent with a previous developer. This isn't the case, but often it works out cheaper to start again than to patch up a poorly structured or badly coded web site.

Q. Will you overhaul my web site because my current developer isn't much good, and then let them take over the on-going maintenance on it because they're cheaper?
A. Yeah, right!

Q. You appear expensive?
A. This is often the reason why people who ask us the previous question originally went with a "cheaper" developer. Our rate is inclusive, we know what we're doing, and we can get the job done more quickly and to a greater degree of precision. I've often thought about offering a significantly cheaper rate to compete with the cheap guys. Unfortunately the flip side would be that I would have pretend that I had no idea of what my client did for a living or the small business process, I would need to charge for fixing my own mistakes, I would have to take a full-time job somewhere so that I only had weekends and evenings to build sites (slowly), and (worst of all) I would have to forget everything I've learnt from building sites full-time for the past 11 years. In this way I would be the same as the "cheap guys" and could charge $30 per hour, but I prefer to provide value for money and a real committment to ensuring that you get a good return on your investment.

Q. You're in Cairns and I'm not. Will this be a problem?
A. No. Once you have a web site you will be dealing with people remotely as a matter of course. Think of the process of doing business with us long distance as a practice run for doing it yourself in future with your own customers. We have interstate and overseas clients we've never even met, and we can guide you through the procedures involved.

Q. Do you do HTML email stationery?
A. No. Even though it's an "internet thing" it's more something you'd ask your printers to do than your web developer. Also, in these days when more and more businesses are being charged by the Mb for their internet connections, it doesn't make sense to drive up the costs of people you do business with by including an extra 100Kb of letterhead graphics in every email you send them. You quickly get a reputation for being uncaring about other people's bandwidth regardless of how "sexy" your emails look. HTML newsletters, however, are something else again and more info is available on our Add-Ons page.