Sometimes information technology professionals and creatives don’t connect. They are busy in their respective industries, but need to make time to collaborate as they both depend on each other for success . This is why you need to meet Sam Meier. He gets it. Not only does he have a technical background, but a creative one as well; and he strives to blend his experience and passion for helping others succeed into all the work he does. And when it comes to designing websites, you can see why authors and business owners turn to his expertise. This young designer is growing in success and demand for his work in developing eye-catching websites that grab attention and engage followers. Meet Sam…

What is your book craft? The services that I offer are web design/development, search engine optimization, and marketing guidance. For authors it is important to have an easily accessible and well-crafted web presence that reflects the quality of their own work. I can design a website that fit the needs of this profession and help authors get the exposure they need to help increase conversion. I can help my clients accomplish their goals and meet their needs whether it be a simple author bio or a platform where the author can post consistently, interact with their readers, and sell directly from their site. I am also able to work on existing sites to modernize them. That could include increasing their ranking in relation to search engines, adding ADA compliance for users with disabilities, adding ad space, and/or modernizing the user interface and overall design of the site to present content in a current way. I also offer marketing advice and can connect clients, including authors, with the right people to accomplish their marketing goals if they so choose to use marketing techniques that involve another medium outside of the web.

How did you get started offering these professional services? Although I’ve been working as a developer for over six years, I started working professionally as a software engineer for a marketing and advertising firm in Detroit shortly after graduating in 2016. I have worked for a couple different marketing firms since then and have built up a portfolio that includes both smaller business local to the Detroit metro area all the way up to large international companies such as Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, AP Moeller Maersk, and Wells Fargo. Being able to work with so many different sized companies has shown me how tailor marketing and web presence needs to niche businesses in a way where it can easily scale with their success. My approach is always to build upon and highlight the work of my clients through the skillset I have in a way that allows them full control over how they are presented. I like to think of it as simply building the tools they need to have a strong web presence and giving guidance and support when requested.

What fulfills you most about working with your clients? Well first off, I truly do enjoy what I do so having an opportunity to help someone else who is also passionate about their own profession is kind of the perfect meeting of two worlds. I am always curious about other professions and it’s a satisfying process to identify the areas of a growing business that I can help along.

What is the ROI that your clients can look forward to by working with you? My clients can expect a personal approach to the work that I do with them. I treat each business as if it was my own because your success is my success. Clients can expect timely responses to all inquiries, open and honest discussion about all aspects of the work I would be doing for them, and transparency and timely updates throughout the entire process. With the majority of marketing being in the digital medium now, it is very beneficial for an author to have a way to promote themselves, convert sales, and interact with readers on the web and I can build that for them.

What makes you, and your services, unique? I have a good amount of promotion experience and pay close attention to what product and/or service my client is offering and trying to build exposure to. I also make myself available for support well after the initial work is done to make sure everything continues to run smoothly for my clients and that their expectations are met.

Who is your ideal client? I love working with creative people who are passionate about what they do. It’s always great to have some insight into another person’s profession and I find I get that a lot with these kinds of people. Having someone to work with who is eager to share with you the specifics of what they do and the process behind it helps make my job easier and deliver higher quality results.

How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals that you set forth? Organization and planning are an important part of my process. I like to start by making an overall high-level plan that includes all the deliverables I will provide the client first. I then start turning that into a timeline and breaking it up into smaller manageable milestones that I can present to the client sequentially. This allows me to periodically give them updates on where I’m at with the project and get feedback and make sure things are going as expected.

How can people get started working with you? People can reach me through my website or through my email smeier842@gmail.com. Getting started will involve an initial discussion about your wants and needs for the project and a follow up meeting including my estimates.

Image Courtesy of Sam Meier