Learn to build your own site

Today I had someone ask me how much it would cost for me to teach them how to build and update a website. I quoted them my hourly rate and they thanked me and told me they would consider it and call back.

They won’t call back, and that is probably a good thing – my providing private tutoring is a waste of money for them and a waste of time for me. First, because there is a very good chance they will have no affinity for web design or development. Second, because all the information you need to know in order to build a basic website is easily available, on the web. Someone who would enjoy and do well at building a site, would probably already know that at this stage.

If I could help someone realize their goals by teaching them to code, then I’m all for it. But if it turns into a long and expensive lesson in frustration for them – then that’s revenue I don’t want.

I’m a great teacher – I have lots of patience and can quickly assess a student’s ability level and tailor my teaching accordingly. The fact is that web development (even basic HTML) makes most people’s brains numb – it can be tedious and boring and there is ALWAYS more to learn and better ways to do things.

I love building websites and web applications. I love the constant learning and pushing boundaries. I love building applications that make people’s lives easier and I even like making web pages render just right, which can take hours of troubleshooting.

I’m going to gather some materials together for the hard core do-it-yourselfers out there, so at least they can poke around themselves.