Since I already have a full-time job and have lots of things demanding my time outside of work, I don’t freelance for money or do anything requiring me to take on a lot of responsibility. However, I am willing to undertake some pro bono work for charity or for causes that I am interested in, at my discretion.
Here are some of the sorts of people I’m most likely to be interested in helping:
- Friends
- Small charities/non-profits/NGOs.
- Small businesses, particularly those undertaken more for passion than for profit.
- Churches and Christian ministries of whatever form. (See my Christian website for more on aid to these groups).
I won’t promise to take on your request, but it never hurts to ask. The worst I can do is say no. Keep in mind that it is also possible that I know someone I can recommend who may be interested
The things I do
Web development
In much the same way as Henry Ford was happy to offer cars in any color so long is it was black, I am willing to develop websites in any way so long as they are built by the Hugo static site generator, use my Hugo theme, are hosted on GitHub, are automatically deployed via continuous integration on Netlify, and use Netlify’s Content Management System (CMS) for the content editing interface (if desired by the client).
This may sound stifling, but it really shouldn’t be in particular. I have put a lot of thought into the way I do things so while it is true that I am opinionated, you won’t be forced into something substandard. In fact, the entire reason I mandate all this for projects I undertake is that it is exactly what I use myself for my sites (StevenTammen.com, BibleDocs.org), and is what I view as ideal. So I am not only competent in the workflow (that’s part of it, it is true), but I am also convinced that this is the best way for the vast majority of all websites to be constructed.
Further, the way I do things for clients, you will end up owning all of the accounts—GitHub, Netlify, etc.—necessary to make the system work (in case you wish to ditch me in the future), and you will have no upfront or recurring costs aside from the $10 a year or so it costs to have a domain name registered. You will also never have to touch anything technical if you don’t want to. The best part? The resulting static site is not only substantially faster and more secure than Wordpress and equivalents, but also essentially free to own and operate.
Product reviews and design feedback
I review things I buy or am thinking about buying regardless if the manufacturers/producers ask me to or not. However, some of the most interesting conversations I have had to date have been with small business owners who are passionate about their products and willing to talk about the nitty-gritty design details. Shoutouts to Steven Ascher of Cyclete, Daniel Souza of Thundrblade, Leon Basin of Wizard Skating, and David Jackson of Speedboard.
If you want detailed feedback about your product, I can probably talk your ear off. I certainly never promise positive or favorable reviews, but I will say that responsiveness to customer feedback usually rates high on my personal weighting schemes.
(Fair warning: I ask lots of questions. Or so I’ve been told).
Writing and editing services
If you need technical documentation or explanations written for why you do things a certain way or how a process works, this is exactly the sort of thing that I enjoy writing about. I am not a particularly unbiased judge as to whether I am good at it or not, but you can get an idea of what my writing is like from the content on this site.
While I am willing to take on a degree of editing responsibilities as well, I typically prefer to have a hand in the content myself to at least some extent, otherwise I generally feel like my hands are tied. This is not to say that I will mutinously take over any projects sent my way, more just that I work best when I am used as more than a human spelling and grammar checker.
I don’t really consider myself a marketer (and am in fact not at all fond of advertising and marketing), but if you want my take on what value your product or service brings to the table, I am happy to provide some feedback to jumpstart the sort of value-pitch that is essential for ethically marketing any product.
Coaching and counseling
I am not a financial expert, a doctor, a psychologist, a lawyer, etc. but I am happy most of the time to give advice in whatever humble capacity I can—whether over email, a phone call, WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom, or some other medium.
Of course, I can talk more knowledgeably about those things that I have background or experience in—such as succeeding academically in college (particularly in the fields of Computer Science and Classics), dealing with a double or triple major, dealing with prolonged heavy stress and pressure, and so on—but this doesn’t mean that I won’t have anything to say in other areas.
I tutored single-variable calculus multiple semesters in college and served as a University-sanctioned peer study group leader for multivariable calculus, which involved not only content review, but also a fair bit of academic coaching in such areas as efficient study habits. (I was in fact required to take a class centered around teaching and coaching to hold my position). All this to say, I do have formal background in academic coaching at the college level.
I would hasten to add that I am happy to talk about more than just maximizing academic success—even things on the other end of the spectrum, like talking through problems. I’m no therapist, to be sure, but not all problems need professional medical help to work through.