Clients Past & Present

Project Simplify

Shawn Tuttle of Project Simplify (Nevada City, CA) was my first real freelance web client. There is a LOT more to say about our many years of working together in a million different capacities. Suffice it to say, Shawn helped me get started, and I helped her get started, and it was awesome and multi-faceted and transformative, and despite me having many awesome clients since then, she’s my Favorite Client Emeritus. Shawn stands fully on her own two feet these days, web-presence-wise (at The Natural Professional), but the Project Simplify site remains as an archive of awesomeness. (Not the least of which are the back issues of her great e-newsletter The Simplifier, which I’m honored to have been a part of for its 6-year run.)

SCO Planning, Engineering, & Surveying

SCO Planning, Engineering, & Surveying in Grass Valley, CA was one of my earliest design projects, and I think it remains one of my nicest designs. (I don’t really consider myself a designer.)

VJ’s Salon and Day Spa

VJ’s Salon and Day Spa was another early design adventure–and remains one of the few round web sites I’ve seen. :-) VJ’s has also been a pretty steady coaching and support client, and eventually I built them a fresh new design. (My first redesign of a site I designed years earlier!)

Gold Country Roofing

Gold Country Roofing was a fun early project in part because of how quickly their new WordPress-powered site rocketed them to the front page of Google search results for local searches in their industry. (And they stayed there for years afterward!)

Mark Davis Plumbing

Mark Davis Plumbing was (I think) my first WordPress conversion project, where I took an existing (non-WordPress) design and created a custom WordPress theme that replicated that design–so that Mark could control and edit his own content rather than being dependent on someone like me to do simple things with his company’s site. (And, of course, get to Google’s front page for local searches in his industry.) Mark Davis retired in 2012, and passed the torch on to Craig Johnson Plumbing in Grass Valley. He also passed me on to Craig Johnson Plumbing, and I helped them launch their first real site (which landed on the first page of local Google search results in their industry. :-))

Debbie Costa CKD

Debbie Costa CKD was my first collaboration with a graphic designer. Louise Preston had already been working with Debbie Costa on the design for her branding materials, and with the web site being part of that, we were brought together, to merge her design vision into a WordPress theme. The result is another of “my” more beautiful sites, but I can’t take any credit for the beauty. Just the functionality. ;-) Louise Preston and I got along so well that we became friends, and later, she would hire me to help teach her WordPress, and that would gradually morph into a web design partnership, wherein I became the “WordPress guy” part of Preston Design Group.

HeartMatters.pro

HeartMatters.pro was–at first–another WordPress conversion project (and the beginning of a great friendship with the awesome Robin Mallery). Our work together continued into some coaching and support, and sometime later, a total design overhaul, with a new WordPress theme created collaboratively with Robin herself!

ABT Plumbing, Electric, Heat and Air

I’m happy to have been there to help launch Andrew Twidwell at ABT Plumbing, Electric, Heat and Air into the dynamic world of WordPress and easy self-publishing (with a theme design that has long since been replaced by something much sharper ;-)), but he deserves all the credit for actually going out and doing the work of blogging and making videos and providing great information to people and all the other stuff that lands you at the top of the search results for nearly every town in your area. Which is exactly where ABT landed, thanks to Andrew’s own hard work. :-)

Abt Plumbing, Heating, & Air Conditioning

Juliet Erickson

Juliet Erickson’s site was another conversion of an existing design to WordPress. (It was kinda starting to become my thing, if you couldn’t tell.) There was some coaching & support along the way as well. Juliet later revamped her site with a new design by Nathalie Lussier Media (still on the same WordPress-driven core, though!)

On Track Business Management

On Track Business Management is another basic WordPress conversion from years back–possibly the most seamless conversion I’ve ever done, where the client couldn’t tell the difference between their original site and my WordPress version of it. :-) On Track later got a fresh design from LOJO Group (but is still using WordPress, like every client I’ve moved to that platform.)

Alta Sierra Mini Storage

Alta Sierra Mini Storage is probably a close second to On-Track Business Management’s site in the Most Seamless WordPress Conversion race. Aside from the addition of a blog, and the code behind the scenes, I don’t think anyone could tell their site had switched from an old school HTML site to an easily-editable, updateable WordPress site. (As I mentioned elsewhere, that was kinda my thing for a while.)

Rincon Del Rio

Rincon Del Rio was referred to me by Suzie Daggett. I met Carol from there at a Nevada County Online meeting, and she quickly became one of my favorite and closest clients. That stayed the case for years–I could not say enough good things about Carol and the whole Young family. (I’ve since helped their other family business, Jardin Del Rio, get a basic WordPress site launched.) Carol already had a beautiful new WordPress site designed for her when we met; I helped her with site tweaks and changes, behind-the-scenes support, blogging and social media coaching, and anything else I could pitch in on. :-)

Suzie Daggett / Insight Lectures

I provided support and coaching to Suzie Daggett for her WordPress-based Insight Lectures site (and, to a much lesser extent, her Joomla-based Insight Directory site). When I moved across the state, Suzie switched to someone local who could continue to be hands-on–though she thoughtfully passed my name on to the new owners of the Insight Directory when the time came, in case they needed help with that Joomla-based site. (On top of already having referred me to Rincon Del Rio.) Thanks Suzie! :-)

The Magic Theatre

The Magic Theatre already had a gorgeous site design when we came in contact; I helped Celine there on-and-off with coaching and support on that (WordPress-based) site, as “The Magic” worked to accommodate their growing needs within their very specific and defined site design.

Kathy Sheffield

I helped Kathy Sheffield get a basic WordPress site off the ground in 2011, with a design we co-created. We later worked together on the next version of that site.

How to Thrive in the New Economy

How to Thrive Now in the New Economy is a collaborative effort by Jonathan Robinson and Arjuna Ardagh, who brought together a host of prominent authors, coaches, and positive thinkers in a free 12-week course on (you guessed it) how to thrive in the new economy. Terrilyn Chance (of T.A. Chance Design) brought this project to me and created the design; I turned that design into a WordPress theme and implemented the project in a live site.

Music in the Mountains

The Music in the Mountains website overhaul was coordinated by Stephanie Camp, designed by Kial James Design, and WordPress-ized by me. With a number of custom page templates, dozens of plugins, and over 100 pages, it was one of the most extensive WordPress builds I had taken on at the time. The design has undergone a few changes since its launch, but the structural underpinnings I built are essentially still there. It’s an awesome site for an awesome cause!

Vistelar

I worked on a LOT of sites for Al and the folks at Vistelar–including some cool stuff redesigning the WordPress dashboard area, and a whole bunch of Joomla theme customization and site creation–over the course of a very busy 6 months or so around the turn of 2009/2010. Al Oelschlager is one of the few people I’ve met who might have even bigger plans than I do, and it was enervating and highly educational to be a part of it for a while. I eventually shifted my focus more toward my own one-on-one work with solopreneurs and local businesses (whereas my work with Al & Co. was more like full-time work-at-home for a fast growing start-up), but that single six-month stretch accounted for a sizable chunk of every site I had built up to that point, working alongside Al and the Vistelar super-posse. :-) A partial list of what came out of it: eInnov8 Marketing, Verbal Defense & Influence, Manage Bullying, and Vistelar Group. (This list could go on for a quite long time, especially if their many client sites were included; those will give you a good place to start.) And an extra tip of the hat to the remarkable Al Oelschlager.

eInnov8 Marketing - Internet Marketing - Local Business Marketing

Jonathan Robinson’s How To Tools

I did just a few changes to Jonathan Robinson’s How To Tools site (now Finding Happiness), after connecting with him through my work on the How to Thrive In the New Economy site project. (“How to Thrive…” was a joint project between Jonathan and Arjuna Ardagh. See above.) His site was later totally revamped and (I’m happy to see) moved all the way onto the WordPress platform, by Nevada County SEO super-guru Coryon Redd.

Arjuna Ardagh / Living Awakening

I helped author/coach Arjuna Ardagh (of, among other things, Living Awakening) with a number off issues relating to his WordPress-based sites after connecting with him through my work on the How to Thrive In the New Economy website project. (“How to Thrive…” was a joint project between Arjuna and Jonathan Robinson.)

Gold Country Estate Planning Council

I helped convert the Gold Country Estate Planning Council’s website over to WordPress, preserving the existing design and using custom post types (and a bunch of customization) to bring their member directory into the WordPress dashboard, while generating a customized printable version for site visitors.

Positive Travel USA

I created a custom WordPress website for Positive Travel USA, which included a member login and an area with exclusive member content. I also provided coaching and support after the site launched.

Kanaga System Krush Records

I added a bunch of products to their PHP web based store and did other HTML/PHP tweaks and additions over the course of a couple years. I also did the Chris Berry – King of Me album website design and creation.

Fuzzpops

I helped fix some tricky display issues in their site and did some other HTML and CSS tweaks. I also turned them onto WordPress (though they had a friend of their actually create their WordPress site)

Jackie Mason – Somasynci/Move to Excel

I created an original WordPress theme for Jackie’s Somasynci site (with her guidance on design), and provided her with subsequent coaching and support. We later worked together to create her second site, Move to Excel.

Nevada County Escapes

I converted their existing site design into a WordPress theme, which involved extensive custom page templates and CSS design work.

Darren Staley / Dylan Brody’s Neighbor’s Couch

I set this site up for Darren’s awesome comedy podcast, imported his Blog Spot posts into it and created a custom theme for him based on the Ultimatum framework. Site has since been retired.

Dylan Brody's Neighbor's Couch - Comedy on a Cushion(1)

Ruth Schwartz / High Performance Advocates

Ruth was my second official client from way back in the day and referred many a project my way (including Mark Davis Plumbing, Gold Country Roofing, Debbie Costa, On-Track, VJ’s Salon, and SCO, ). I created her first huge WordPress site and got her blogging, and she has really taken the web presence bull by the horns since then!

Business Leadership Coaching High Performance Advocates - Home of Business Leadership Coaching(1)

Preston Design Group

For several years I was the resident WordPress Wizard and technical advisor at Preston Design Group, alongside Louise Preston and Ed Hensley, mostly in collaboration with Louise (who was in charge of the design side of things). Together we developed around a dozen websites for PDG clients, mostly small business owners in the Nevada County, California area.

Water Heaters Only

I helped Yana and the folks at Water Heaters Only get a better understanding of WordPress in their early days of using it.

Randall Sherman / New Venture Research

I helped Randall with his pre-existing WordPress site (and his overall web presence) starting in 2011. I also converted his MMI site from old style HTML to the WordPress platform.

New Venture Research - market research for emerging electronic technology

EBE Ensemble

I helped the EBE Ensemble theater group by making changes and updates to their site from 2012 until the group retired in late 2013. (PHP tweaks and site changes; some coaching and support)

Cannon Law, PC

(coaching and support on a pre-existing WordPress theme)

Griepp & McRee

WordPress site conversion from an existing design; coaching and support

The Stuarts of Virginia

Basic WordPress design co-created with the client Sharon Stuart McRee

Lisa MacCarley, Attorney and Mediator

I created a custom WordPress theme for Lisa so that we could move her site over from it’s existing HTML based design while seamlessly preserving the original look.

BajaGirl.com

Baja Girl is MacCarley’s for-fun-and-friends vacation site. I converted it over to WordPress, using it’s existing design.

Craig Johnson Plumbing

When Mark Davis (see Mark Davis Plumbing above) retired, he handed the mantle over to Craig Johnson of Craig Johnson Plumbing. He also handed me over by way of referral. I helped Denise and Craig launch their new site and get it to the top of Google for their local search terms. We continue to do coaching and support calls on a regular basis.

Barrett Property Management

I helped Amelia move her new site to WordPress, and then helped coach her on her way up to the top rankings in Google for her market. She was one of my best “students” with her well trafficked blog and the other resources on her site. That humble local blog cracked #30 in the world for Property Management blogs!

I went on to build two more sites for Amelia, plus sites for two of her associates–making a total of 5 sites for the Barrett PM family! :-)

“I give all my kudos to Lance Brown, The Internet Sherpa who has not only built all THREE, yes THREE of my websites (BarrettPM.com, BarrettPMCommercial.com and BarrettREServices.com (coming soon)), but has taught me everything I know about blogging.

Thank you Lance! Cheers to this success we share together! ~Amelia”

Orange Drive Hostel

I converted Orange Drive Hostel’s website over from the existing HTML based design that they had, and I have continued to help them by coaching and supporting them on their journey to fully embracing the power of the social web.

James Mottern, Writer / Director

coaching and support; original theme co-created with client

Chris Berry – King of Me

original WordPress theme design

John Krol / OneEighty Media

coaching and support on multiple sites; multiple WordPress conversions of existing designs

Rebecca Corry / Stand Up For Pits

WordPress blog set up for RebeccaCorry.com; original theme design for StandUpForPits.us, co-created with founder Rebecca Corry

Norm Ely

various CSS, PHP, and WordPress help; multiple mutual client projects/collaborations

Ariflower Images

WordPress coaching and support

Stormy May / OurHorses

coaching and support; site redesign of OurHorses.org, modifying a pre-designed theme

Elizabeth and Gerry Rawson / Who Cares? Caregivers

modifications of client-designed theme; coaching and support

Who Cares- - A Companion Guidebook for Caregivers and Their Families

Berkshire Money Management

I was brought in to work on BMM’s old custom-designed WordPress site, and I helped them out with coaching and support for a couple years, as well as creating the site for their Pay it Forward, Berkshires! campaign.

When they decided to redesign their main site to be mobile-friendly, I managed that transformation and created a new modern site using the Genesis WP platform.

(They’ve since grown big enough to have a full-blown agency managing all of their public-facing efforts, and they’ve created a new WordPress theme to match their updated branding.)

“Thank you so much for all of the great work you’ve done for us. It has been a real pleasure working with you!”

-Barbara Schmick, Berkshire Money Management

Puma Construction

custom theme creation

The Good Earth Organics

conversion of site from a Drupal theme to WordPress; ongoing coaching and support over several years

R & B Electric

custom WordPress theme/site creation; coaching and support