My WordPress Work for Partner Agencies

No! In fact, more often than not, an agency is open with their clients about contracting me for their WordPress work and will often introduce me to their clients. Having an open and inclusive line of communication often increases efficiency and reduces the risk of mistakes that can occur through too many steps in the communication process.

That said, all new updates and work requests come to me via the agency I’m working for, not from the end client.

Building long-term relationships. Working on multiple projects with the same team over a long period of time is great. I typically start to become part of the team, we all make connections on a more human level and I become much more invested in the success of that team and its projects. Plus, when you build things together, it’s just nicer.

Team work makes the dream work. Frequently working with the same people brings a number of advantages to the work. It utilises each person’s skill set for high-quality results within each specialty, we can lean on each other for ideas and inspiration, we develop a routine and rhythm to our working practices, increasing efficiencies and productivity.

It allows for focus. Working for yourself means that you need to wear a lot of hats, in order to meet all the needs of your clients. When I’m partnering with agencies, the agency often takes care of many of those client needs, outside of my primary skillset. This free’s up my time to do what I do best, and give that my full attention.

Every month, the needs of my agency clients vary and I wriggle things around where needed to accommodate. They’re typically broken down into 3 categories:

Monthly scheduled maintenance. This is work that repeats on a monthly basis, typically my hosting, security, and software maintenance packages and similar. I know how long this is going to take me every month and time is allocated for it before I consider other work.

Large design and/or development projects. Typically, large WordPress design and development projects are planned months in advance and during the planning stages, we’re planning a start date for my part of the project. I typically give 50-70% of my time to large projects like this, so I can estimate the time it will take me to complete my part of the work relatively accurately. These projects often have multiple assessment and feedback periods, which fits in well with my time breakdown, and the project is rarely waiting for me.

Ad-hoc updates and maintenance. These can be anything from 10-minute copy changes to multiple-hour design changes and content management. These items take up the remainder of my time and although they are often the least fun for me, they’re typically the most appreciated by my clients.