* Do things as low cost as possible while providing the easiest and friendly user experience you can.
* Help clients become independent and manage the program/system/website on a day to day basis without you, allowing them to maintain control over their stuff.
* Be available to help and educate clients, and provide support when needed.
* Avoid monthly service fees where possible.
* Try to set deadline and expectations so that you can meet and exceed expectations as much as possible.
* Be honest and up front, even if the news isn’t what the client wants to hear. You can work with the truth, and it always comes out anyway. People are almost always more understanding than you think they will be.

This pretty much sums up my core beliefs.

Complicated is not always better.

Letting people control their own destiny is preferable to co-dependence.

Keeping costs under control, and designing projects so they can be built out over time, as time and money allows, lets a business grow at its own comfortable rate.

Sometimes, many small clients can be preferable to one big client, leaving all your eggs in one basket.

Reputation is everything.

I get paid to provide my expertise, my knowledge of tools, and for helping people get up to speed and implement these tools on their own.

I talk to businesses about their goals and where they want to go, and how to engage current and potential customers, using both web-based and traditional tools.

I help businesses understand the social web and start to think about opportunities it creates for them, through listening and engaging with their audience.

I look at myself primarily as an educator and as a strategist.

I look at the web and the tools in my arsenal as my lab equipment, and by using the right tools, you can create something pretty amazing. It also involves experimenting, trying, measuring, failing and trying again until you get it right.

Success online is a long term strategy, where you shouldn’t expect instant results, but to build relationships over time, just like starting any new business venture.

Breaking down the wall between you and your customers or audience is important. You need to talk with people, not at them, as much as possible. This means you have to find your business voice, and know who you are.

This is not a typical blog post, but I hope it helps you get to know me a little better, and know what I believe in.

For a long time, I have been running the majority of my blogging and social media activity through my blog, Reading Whitney, over at www.whitneyhoffman.com. As my consulting business continues to grow, it’s become clear that having a separate business-only site is important as well.

On this site, you’ll find links to my personal social media sites and platforms, links to presentations I’ve done, projects I’m working on, client recommendations and more. There will be a contact form to submit any questions or information, scheduling appointments, and the like.

If, for any reason, I do not get back to you within 24 hours, please drop me an email at LDpodcast (at) gmail.com or hoffmandigitalmedia@gmail.com.

For a long time, I have been running the majority of my blogging and social media activity through my blog, Reading Whitney, over at www.whitneyhoffman.com.  As my consulting business continues to grow, it’s become clear that having a separate business-only site  is important as well.

On this site, you’ll find links to my personal social media sites and platforms, links to presentations I’ve done, projects I’m working on, client recommendations and more.  There will be a contact form to submit any questions or information, scheduling appointments, and the like.

If, for any reason, I do not get back to you within 24 hours, please drop me an email at LDpodcast (at) gmail.com or hoffmandigitalmedia@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to helping you integrate social media and digital media projects into your overall marketing strategy.