We believe straight talk is what sets us apart from our competition. Let's start by talking about the risk involved in any business relationship. How do you know that you'll get what you are paying for?

There are steps you can take to minimize your risk. First of all you can evaluate us by looking at our completed projects. You can also get an idea of what we are like to work with by reading the testimonials we have listed. If you are still unsure, we can supply you with a list of our clients who have kindly agreed to let people contact them who are evaluating our services. Next you can review our contract and terms to see if they are reasonable. And last but not least, you can talk with us to get a feel for who we are. Compare us to other web designer companies and you will see that very few match our level of transparency.

On our part, if we feel that yours is a project that is not a good fit for us, we will tell you up front. If we enter into a working relationship, here are some ideas we have found helpful as part of a basic agreement.

For website design, we normally work on a project basis, with payments split into three parts. The first payment is due upon signature of our simple plain-English contract. As described in above in our Design Process, this is when we consult with you to work out the basic look and feel of the home page and internal pages. The second part is due when 2/3rds of the project stands completed-- meaning the look-and-feel and more than half the pages are finalized. The final payment is due after launch and your final approval.

During the first phase, it should become evident if there are any issues such as problems in communication, unrealistic expectations, or disconnects of any type. Problems may arise if you (the client) are not able to make up your mind and have an unreasonable amount of change orders. If we feel that we've done our level best to please you and have created several custom designs for you (at considerable investment of time on our part), we reserve the right to terminate the agreement, at which time we will refund half of the initial payment. (Although this "worst case" scenario almost never happens, we like to clarify this up-front.) If there is any doubt as to whether some of the problem or misconception is on our side we will return the full amount.

The next issue is when the second payment stands due. We normally leave it up to you to decide when the 2/3rds point has been reached. The majority of our clients are so enthused at the progress that they need no reminders, however some do need a friendly "nudge". We expect you to uphold your part of our agreement, which is based on a good-faith understanding. The final payment is only due after you have fully tested the launched website to your complete satisfaction.