Sometimes you do not need a rebuild. You need a second opinion, a training session, or a plan before you spend money.
Consultations are booked by the hour and scoped to a specific question or decision. You bring the question. I bring the experience of having answered it many times, and the willingness to tell you when the answer is “you do not need me for this.”
A word about second opinions in the age of AI
More people are running their quotes and their plans past an AI tool before they call anyone. That is a sensible instinct, and I would not talk you out of it. Ask a chat assistant to review a web development quote and you will get something genuinely useful: the line items explained, the jargon translated, a list of questions worth asking. It costs nothing and it takes five minutes. There is no reason not to. So use the tools. Run the quote past them. Then, for the decisions where getting it wrong is expensive, talk to a person who has been through it before. That is what this service is for.
The human part matters in smaller ways too. A consultation is a conversation, and conversations go where the questions actually are. You mention in passing that your site gets traffic but no inquiries, and the conversation changes direction entirely — because that is a different problem than the one you booked the call about, and it is worth naming. An AI tool answers the question it was asked. A person notices the question you did not think to ask.
What a consultation covers
- A 60-minute call (video or phone) to review your site, your analytics, or your project plan
- A written summary of recommendations within two business days
- Optional screen-share training on WordPress, the block editor, or your forms
- Vendor and plugin recommendations with realistic cost estimates
- A straight answer on whether the quote in front of you is fair, thin, or padded
What you get
The review call is the main event. You send your site link, quote, or plan in advance, and we spend the hour on the specific decision you booked for. It is not a general tour of your website. It is a working session.
The written summary exists because the best insight of the call often arrives ten minutes after it ends, and because you will want something to refer back to when the developer’s next email lands. It is short — usually a page — and it names the things we agreed were worth doing and the things worth leaving alone.
Screen-share training is for the “I would update it myself if I understood it” problem. An hour of being shown where things are in your own site is worth more than a week of documentation, and you can ask the question you would be embarrassed to ask a course.
Vendor and plugin recommendations come with real numbers, not “it depends.” If a plugin costs $99 a year, I will say so, and I will tell you whether you actually need it.
The quote review is the newest and fastest-growing use of this service. Send the quote and the scope before the call. I will tell you what is missing, what is overpriced, and which questions to ask before you sign.
Common reasons clients book a consultation
- You have a site but are not sure whether to rebuild or fix it
- You inherited a WordPress site and need to understand what you have
- You want a second opinion on a quote from another developer
- You need training on updating your own pages and posts
- You are planning an ecommerce or event registration project and want a realistic budget before you commit
- You have already asked an AI tool about the quote, and something still feels off
What this does not include
- Hands-on implementation during the call (available separately as Website Maintenance or a retainer)
- A full site audit with a formal written report (available as a separate scoped project)
- Copywriting, design work, or development
- Ongoing availability outside the booked time
The line worth reading twice is the first one. A consultation produces advice, not changes. If you want the changes made, that is a separate booking, and I will quote it once we know what the changes are.
Pricing and timelines
Rate: $150/hour, billed in 30-minute increments. Prepaid blocks of 5 hours are available at $650.
Most consultations fit in a single hour. Quote reviews usually run 60–90 minutes if the scope document is long. Training sessions are often booked as a block of two hours, split into two calls if that suits you better.
How it works, step by step:
- Send a short note describing the decision you are trying to make, plus your site link, quote, or plan if you have one.
- I confirm scope and a time. If your question is answerable in fifteen minutes, I will tell you that and you will not be charged for an hour.
- Pay in advance. Consultations are prepaid, which keeps the calendar honest and means the hour is yours once it is booked.
- We talk. You leave with a straight answer and a written summary within two business days.
Payment terms:
- Prepaid in full to reserve the time.
- Rescheduling is free with 24 hours’ notice. Less than 24 hours, the session is forfeited, because the slot was held for you.
- If I cannot answer your question — genuinely cannot, not “would need a bigger project” — the fee is refunded. This has happened twice in ten years, and it is the fairest way I have found to run it.
Who this is for
Clients who want clarity before committing to a build, a second opinion before signing a quote, or targeted training rather than ongoing support. It suits people who have already done their homework — including the homework an AI tool can help with — and who want the last mile of judgment that homework cannot supply.
If you are not sure whether you need a consultation or a build, say so in your note. The first conversation is free, and I will point you at the cheaper option if it is the right one.
Frequently asked questions
Can you review a quote I got from another developer?
Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons people book. Send it before the call. I will tell you what is fair, what is missing, and what to ask before you sign. I will not badmouth the other developer. Sometimes the quote is good and I say so.
I already asked an AI tool about my quote. Is this still worth it?
Often, yes — but not because the AI was wrong. It was probably right about the general case. A consultation is about your specific case: who is quoting you, what they are likely to deliver, and what the scope is quietly missing. If the AI’s answer satisfied you completely, you probably do not need the call. If something still felt off, that feeling is usually worth an hour.
Will you tell me not to hire you?
Regularly. If your site is fine and the problem is that nobody updates it, I will say that. If your quote from another developer is fair, I will say that too. A consultation that ends with “you do not need to spend more money” is a successful consultation.
Is a consultation enough to plan a whole project?
For a straightforward brochure site, usually yes. For ecommerce, event registration, or anything with payments, it is a starting point rather than a full plan — those projects need a scoped proposal, which is a separate step and is quoted separately.
What if I need the changes made, not just advice?
Book the consultation first, then we quote the work. Implementation is billed hourly through Website Maintenance or covered by a Monthly Retainer if the work is ongoing.