Category: McLane Creative

  • 3 Ways to Help McLane Creative Get Off the Ground

    A few days ago I relaunched the website for McLane Creative to highlight a new thing I’m doing.

    It’s called the Concierge Service. It’s a flat fee deal which helps bloggers take their blog/personal brand to the next level.

    What’s cool about it is that it’s helping people all the way around. I’m helping bloggers. And since I’m hiring a couple other youth workers to help with the work, its helping them feed their families. On top of that, for every blogger I help with this service I’m investing $25 in another entrepreneur through Kiva.org. That’s 3 kinds of help! Crazy.

    I’m wondering if you could help me out? Could you help me spread the word about this new service to as many people as possible?

    Here’s 3 ways you can help:
    1. Download my 1-page description of the Concierge Service and email it to a couple people you know who blog. http://mclanecreative.com/Concierge-Service-for-Bloggers.pdf
    2. Go to http://www.mclanecreative.com/, scroll to the bottom and “like” the home page of my new site. That will make McLane Creative show up in your timeline.
    3. Go to http://facebook.com/mclanecreative and like my business page.

  • Concierge Service from McLane Creative

    I have a little side business called McLane Creative. After we sold YMX in 2008, I needed a category for some of the other stuff I was doing. (Small design projects, consulting, writing stuff, etc.) I figured that if I named it after myself I could never sell it!

    For years I’ve had 3-4 people per month approach me about helping them with their blog. Generally, these are friends of mine in ministry who want to have a web presence but don’t really know how to get started. Generally, these are people with a WordPress.com or Blogger blog who want to move to a WordPress self-hosted blog with a custom look/feel.

    But the reality is that most youth workers don’t have the $1500 minimum I need to make it worth my while. Which meant that every month for the last several years I’ve had to tell a friend who needs help with their blog that I just couldn’t do it for what they could afford.

    Finally, about a month ago, I had an epiphany. If I could just separate the roles, I could put together a standard package to help my friends in ministry out at a price they can afford and also help out some of my freelancing friends. That’s how we got to the Concierge Service.

    What is it?

    It’s a flat fee service that migrates your blog from WordPress.com or Blogger to a self-hosted WordPress blog on your own hosting package so you have full control and can grow your blog/brand/small business. We’ll do all the work, we’ll customize a WordPress theme of your choosing, and we’ll spend an hour with you teaching you how to use everything, answering your questions, and training you how to maintain the site for yourself.

    How much does it cost and how do I get started?

    I’m still nailing down the details, but I anticipate starting this in June 2011 and the cost will be between $475-$625.

    Want to learn more?

    I’ve written a more detailed explanation here. And if you are interested in this service let me know.

    And, of course, if you just think I’m nuts, leave a comment.

  • Common things I say as a creative

    I love naiveté. Not being sarcastic– for reals. For a lot of ministry folks I am the first creative person they’ve tried to hire.

    Here are things you may hear me say when I talk to a prospective McLane Creative client:

    Yes, I will help you if I have time. No, the best stuff in life is actually not free. Yes, I will charge you even if you are in ministry. No, I don’t discount because you are in ministry… so am I. Yes, there is a difference between being available and free. No, my job isn’t to do everything for you, it’s to give you ideas. No, I will not do a proposal since you called me. Yes, I will give you an estimate for free. No, you won’t get anything from me until you pay 50% down. No, I do not believe the concept that  there are no new ideas under the sun… otherwise you wouldn’t have called me. No, I don’t understand why you think it’s OK to ask me for ideas for free. If you are going to get paid for my ideas, shouldn’t I be able to get paid to? Yes, you can call me back after you think about it.

    That said– McLane Creative is growing! I now have  Adam 2.0 on my team. (aka Dave Luke Design) If you are looking for a WordPress solution for your own blog or your organization, average projects are $750 – $2000, contact me.

    Here’s our latest work: The Marin Foundation (Two more sites about to launch)