We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tom Benway. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tom below.

Tom, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

Web design and development is still such a wide open field as far as quality and costs – it can take time to find where to fit in. Corporations can sometimes charge outlandish rates, but also have huge teams, whereas as a freelancer, you’re working with much more limited resources.

It can be hard to find a margin that feels right and is also acceptable to your customers, especially when starting out. It can be ever harder to raise your rates, especially if you’re working with long-term customers. Last, it can also be hard to justify costs with customers when the product is somewhat intangible.

I like to offset these issues by staying really transparent with my customers about what costs and why.

I also spend a portion of my time consulting with bigger companies when possible – this way I get to see what choices people make with bigger budgets and it also helps justify my freelance costs.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been a web designer, developer and graphic designer for over 20 years now. I started with a degree at the Art Institute of Colorado in both design and computer science.

I quickly learned that web design and development has a lot of different parts, and rather than specialize, I’ve learned a bit about every aspect of digital marketing.

My biggest leg-up is in efficiency – I take pride in how my brand provides fast and easy-to-understand solutions for my customers, and I’ve built enough quality relationships to always offer a referral if there’s something I can’t provide.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve always thought that the best way to ensure stability in your business was to obtain long-term customers on retainer.

I’ve learned over the years that it is far more important to only get into long-term relationships with customers you have the best rapport with, and it’s OK to finish the job and move on with the rest.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I’ve created my own NFTs, tried to market other’s NFTs (even for big names), and I’ve worked in marketplaces.

I think the big bubble has burst or is going to soon.

But the technology is 100% here to stay. Blockchain, crypto currency, and DAOs are the future of the web. Much like the dotcom boom of the 90/2000s, where I originally got my start, too many groups have invested in unstable technology and claimed its the golden standard too quickly.

Once these platforms are widely accepted and more stable, this will be the direction of all digital marketing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tombenway.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwc4/
• Other: https://vectordefector.com