How much do your services cost?
Billing is by person-day, at a rate in line with what senior consultants charge. It is lower for non-profit work than for commercial work. I will name the rate and an estimate of how many days your project needs in our first conversation, binding, before you decide.
Small pieces of work with a clear boundary I will bill at a fixed price if you prefer. I will tell you which of the two comes out cheaper.
We are a large company. Would you deliver a project for free, for your portfolio?
No. The larger a company, the more likely it can afford to pay for work. And if the brand turns out to be less well known than assumed, it does not help my portfolio either.
I am just starting out. Can you meet me on price?
It depends on what you are looking for. If you want a professional service, I may be the right person; if you want to try something out, probably not.
A substantial part of my work is advising on scope: even on a small budget a project can be built and tested, provided the scope is chosen accordingly. Where that is not possible, I will say so before any money moves.
I have big plans. Is one person enough?
To begin with, usually yes. Small teams are faster and cheaper than large ones, and one person who combines consulting, design and delivery saves the coordination between three.
When a project grows beyond what one person can carry, I bring in developers, consultants and designers from a network built over years. Responsibility for the result stays with me.
We are a non-profit. Do you work pro bono?
In principle yes, on one condition: I will then claim influence over the project, including beyond the original brief. That is the only way I can make sure the time is well spent, mine as well as yours.
If that is not welcome, convince me of the project itself. I am open to that.
You favour open source. Do I have to?
No. I work with proprietary systems too where they fit the project. Where there is a choice, I recommend free and open software, because it makes you less dependent on a single vendor and keeps long-term running costs down. The decision is yours, and I will set out the reasons on both sides.
Do you only work for money?
No. Whether a piece of work is worthwhile weighs more with me than the fee, and for projects I consider important I usually find a way. Money is mainly practical: it makes agreements binding.
What does a digital consultant actually do?
It is not a protected title, so here is what I mean by it.
I help organisations decide on digital projects before they build them: what is this for? Who is meant to use it, and how do we know? What happens if nobody does? Out of that comes a scope that fits the available means, and out of that, if wanted, an implementation.
In practice that usually means: survey what exists and what is needed, involve the people affected, write requirements, select software, build a prototype, test it with real users, and record the results so somebody else can build on them.
What I do not do: advertising campaigns, search engine optimisation as an end in itself, and digitalisation whose only reason is that everyone else is doing it.