Dan Mann
You work directly with the person doing the work.
No account manager and no game of telephone. I want to understand the problem, agree the useful outcome and get the work done.
A straightforward way to work together
You work directly with me from the first problem to the finished work. That keeps the brief close to the person investigating, building and checking the result.
What that means in practice
Some jobs need a few focused changes. Others need an investigation before anyone can sensibly quote for the fix. I'd rather be clear about that at the start than promise a neat answer to a problem I've not looked at.
Start with the problem, not the software
Tell me what is happening and why it matters. Perhaps the product data is unreliable, the website keeps timing out or the SEO report looks busy without explaining much. You don't need to arrive with the technical solution.
A useful first conversation covers the current process, the people involved, the source information and what you need to be different.
Agree what the job includes
My preference is a defined piece of work with a clear outcome. That might be an audit, a staged import, a custom reporting tool or a particular website improvement.
Before work starts, the scope should say what is included, what depends on you or a third party, how we will check it and what happens if the brief changes. A fixed fee only makes sense when the work is understood well enough to price it.
Build, check, then decide what goes live
I'm comfortable using code, spreadsheets, imports and existing plugins together. The point is to solve the problem, not prove I can make everything from scratch.
Changes involving live data need a suitable test, a backup and a way back. The exact checks depend on the job. A product import and a contact form need different acceptance tests.
Tools are part of the process
I use AI where it helps with drafting, code and repetitive work. I still need to understand the result and check it against the brief. An answer that looks convincing is not the same as a working solution.
My experience running shops also shapes the questions I ask. A technically correct change is not much use if it makes the daily job harder.
Be clear about support
A one-off project does not automatically include indefinite monitoring, updates or emergency support. A supplier feed needs different ongoing attention from a single cleaned spreadsheet.
We should agree responsibility for the finished work rather than discover the gap when something changes. An import and an ongoing sync are different jobs.
Where I'm likely to be useful
I'm a good fit when the problem crosses websites, data and business operations, and you are willing to share enough context to get it right. I'm less useful when the brief is simply to promise a ranking, bypass a supplier restriction or keep adding unrelated work without changing the scope.
Have a look at my areas of work or what to send with a project enquiry.
HAVE SOMETHING AWKWARD?
Tell me what is slowing you down
Send me the URL, what is happening, what you have already tried and what a useful result would look like. A small anonymised sample is enough to start - do not send passwords, credentials or sensitive customer data.