Let’s connect about your website!

Hi Danny, Thanks for getting back to Shirley! I’m Greg from Web Design Mechanic and I’d be happy to connect with you about refreshing your personal website. I would love to hear what you have in mind and go over how we can give the site a fresh, updated look while taking advantage of the 40% offer. Let me know what time works best for a quick call. Best, [Email Signature_Greg Ellison]

Hi Danny, Thanks for the detailed response and I have to say, the “’90s oil field brochure” description made me laugh. I completely understand why you’re ready for a fresh look. Just to clarify, the 40% offer applies to both the design and development of the new website, not just the design phase. There’s no specific minimum page requirement for the redesign; we can determine the right structure based on what you’d like the new site to accomplish. I’ll also have two mockup concepts ready to show you during our meeting, so you can get a feel for the different directions we could take with the site. Thursday or Friday evening works on our end. Before I lock in a time, could you confirm which time zone you’re in? Once I have that, I’ll confirm the meeting time with you. Looking forward to speaking with you! Best, Greg Ellison Web Design Mechanic

Hi Danny, Thanks for the details! I really like the idea of bringing some of that old oil-field character into the design while still keeping the website clean and professional. Yes, we can definitely explore one of the mockups with that classic industrial feel, retro oil-rig elements, warm textures and bold typography. I think that could give the site a really personal touch without making it feel dated. And absolutely we can discuss adding a short video section as well. A behind-the-scenes clip or Houston-area video could be a great way to make the site feel more personal and connected to your story. I have you down for 7 PM Central Time on Thursday. I’ll have the two mockup directions ready for us to review and we can go through everything together. Please acknowledge this email so I have the slot booked for us. Looking forward to it! Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Absolutely. For the overall vision, I’m thinking of building the website around you, your experience and the work you’ve done rather than making it feel like a traditional corporate website. The design will combine a clean, modern presentation with subtle elements inspired by your oil-field background warm textures, strong typography, industrial details and imagery that reflects your story. The website itself would focus on three key things: Your Story: giving visitors a sense of who you are and the experience behind your work. Your Projects: showcasing your past work and accomplishments in a way that builds credibility and trust. Your Personality: using photography and a short 60 - 90 second home-office video to make the site feel personal and authentic. The goal is for someone to visit the site and immediately understand who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and why they can trust your experience. I’ll show you the two visual directions on Thursday, and we can use those to decide which style feels most like you. We can then fine-tune everything from there. One resource that can help us tremendously would be if you could send you current personal website, if you have one. If not, and this project will be from scratch, then we can use our expertise to provide you with an effective personal website. Looking forward to showing you what we’ve put together! Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Absolutely. For the overall vision, I’m thinking of building the website around you, your experience and the work you’ve done rather than making it feel like a traditional corporate website. The design will combine a clean, modern presentation with subtle elements inspired by your oil-field background warm textures, strong typography, industrial details and imagery that reflects your story. The website itself would focus on three key things: Your Story: giving visitors a sense of who you are and the experience behind your work. Your Projects: showcasing your past work and accomplishments in a way that builds credibility and trust. Your Personality: using photography and a short 60 - 90 second home-office video to make the site feel personal and authentic. The goal is for someone to visit the site and immediately understand who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and why they can trust your experience. I’ll show you the two visual directions on Thursday, and we can use those to decide which style feels most like you. We can then fine-tune everything from there. One resource that can help us tremendously would be if you could send you current personal website, if you have one. If not, and this project will be from scratch, then we can use our expertise to provide you with an effective personal website. Looking forward to showing you what we’ve put together! Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Absolutely. On Thursday, we’ll go through both designs in detail. Each direction will have its features clearly highlighted, so you’ll be able to compare them side by side and see how each approach works for your website. As for the video, there’s no need to rush it before the meeting. Our website projects have a 5-working-day lead time, so we can discuss the video concepts and direction together on Thursday. That gives you enough time to record the footage, have it edited and have it placed on the website. We’ll also be specifically reserving space on the website for your videos, rather than treating them as an afterthought. Once we have the designs in front of us, they’ll actually give us a better idea of what type of video content will complement the website. I would also like to approach the videos through a storyboard, so they’re not just clips of you working. The goal is to create a relatable persona and an immersive journey that allows visitors to connect with your story and experience. Looking forward to Thursday, I think you’re going to enjoy seeing how everything comes together. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Thanks, Danny. The previous website will definitely be helpful to review, so please send it over when you get a chance. While we’ll be designing and developing the new website from scratch using the latest web tools and technologies, seeing what you currently have will help us understand your existing content, projects and overall direction. For the videos, we’ll discuss the storyboard during our meeting. The videos will be designed to work alongside the written content on the page, so the visuals and the story complement each other and create a more engaging experience for visitors. We can decide the specific scenes and flow once we see how they fit into the designs. Just to clarify, I’ll be showing you the designs first-hand during our meeting at 7 PM Central on Thursday, and we’ll go through the different features and compare the directions together. We’ll also use the designs to determine exactly what type of video content will work best. For editing, we use professional tools such as CapCut and Adobe, depending on the complexity of the project. We can also handle the editing for you, so you don’t have to worry about producing everything yourself. Looking forward to Thursday. I think once you see the designs and how the storytelling can come together, the overall vision will become much clearer. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Absolutely. If you have old PDFs, documents, photos, or anything else from your work, I’d love for you to send them over. They don’t need to be organized or polished at all. More importantly, I’d like you to include the achievements, projects, experiences, and personal stories that you feel really represent your journey. Even the smaller details you mentioned about your time in the field can be valuable because those are the things that make the story feel real. Having that material will help us do more than just design the website. It will give us a better understanding of your story and how we can build the content around it. It can also give us a foundation for future marketing content, videos, social media, and other pieces that can all work together to build your personal brand. Once we have that, we can start shaping the website around a custom storyboard-style experience, where the content, visuals, projects, and videos all connect naturally instead of feeling like separate sections on a page. And definitely send over those environmental compliance photos. If they fit the story and the direction we develop, we can find a place for them. We’ll go through the designs together Thursday at 7 PM Central, and having some of your material beforehand will give us even more to work with. Looking forward to seeing your story come together. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, I really like the way you’re thinking about this. The details you’ve shared about your time in the field are exactly what can make the website feel like your story, rather than just another polished professional site. And yes, when I say “storyboard-style,” I’m thinking along those lines, a natural journey where someone comes into the site, gets to know you and your background, sees the work and experiences that shaped you, and ultimately understands the impact and value you bring. We’ll shape that more specifically once we see your content and the designs together. For the photos, don’t worry about formatting them. Just send them as you have them. JPEG, PNG, original files whatever is easiest for you. Our team can handle the optimization and sizing for the website. As for the video storyboard, I would rather not create something generic before we’ve seen the actual direction of the website. On Thursday, we can look at the designs, talk through your story and decide what moments and scenes would fit naturally. From there, we can build the storyboard around the website instead of trying to force the website around the video. So for now, just send over whatever you feel represents your journey the photos, achievements, projects, notes, and stories. It doesn’t have to be perfect or organized. We’ll take it from there. I’m looking forward to Thursday as well. I think once we put your story together with the right visual direction, we’ll have something that feels genuinely personal to you. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, I really appreciate you sharing all of this. And honestly, those small details from your time in the field are exactly the kind of things that can make the website feel genuine. For the photos, raw and unedited is ideal because it gives our team more to work with. But if you only have compressed versions, that’s completely fine too — we can work with what you have. For each photo, it would also be great if you could give us a couple of lines of context — where it was taken, what was happening, or why that particular moment is important to you. The same goes for your projects. Even a few points about what the project was, your role, the challenge, and the outcome would give us a lot to work with. As for the videos, they don’t all need to follow a strict story format. We’ll already be building a storytelling element into the website itself. The videos can then highlight the most important parts of your journey, achievements, experiences, and the things that establish your credibility and trustworthiness. Here’s how I see the process working: Thursday: We’ll first focus on the website designs and decide which direction feels right for you. Once you’re onboarded: We’ll spend more time learning your story and identifying the moments we want to bring forward. From there, we can provide you with simple video scripts, you record them, and our team can handle the editing and place each video where it makes the most sense within the website. We can also build out blogs around your experience, projects, and journey. Our team can help write them, and you’ll have the opportunity to review and verify everything before it goes live. The content throughout the site will also be SEO-optimized, so we’re not just telling your story — we’re giving search engines more meaningful content to understand your expertise and helping the website build visibility over time. Then, once we identify the strongest parts of your journey, we can look at extending those stories into social media and other marketing channels, so your website becomes the foundation for a much larger personal brand. So for now, just keep sending whatever you have — photos, project information, notes, achievements, and stories. They don’t need to be perfectly organized. We’ll help turn the pieces into something cohesive. And yes, the milestone timeline you mentioned can definitely be part of the story. We’ll decide on Thursday whether certain milestones work better as a timeline, project stories, videos, or other sections of the site. I hope that clears everything up. If there’s anything I missed from your questions, we can cover that as well on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing everything and bringing this together. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, That sounds great. The environmental compliance photos, especially the ones showing how you handled challenges, could add a lot of depth to the story. For the project notes, bullet points are perfect. You can simply include the project name, your role, the challenge, what you did, and the outcome. A few sentences or even rough notes are completely fine as we’ll shape them into polished website content later. For the photos, just send the original/raw versions if you have them, along with a couple of lines explaining the context and why the moment is important. If you only have compressed versions, we can work with those as well. For the meeting, since you’re in Houston, we’ll be working with Central Time, so we’re confirmed for 7 PM Central on Thursday. Our team is based in California, so we operate on Pacific Time that will be 5 PM for us. We’ll start by reviewing the designs, and then we can go deeper into your story, projects, videos, and the content we want to build around them. Looking forward to it, Danny. I think those real experiences you’ve been sharing are going to make the website much more memorable. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, As we are only creating the mockups, these mockups consist of multiple rounds of edits and revisions to make sure you get the perfect version. We will be working alongside gathering information as we go along. The main focus of the meeting on Thursday is to get to know your vision and your goals for this website get you onboarded and start building the website that best matches your vision and expectations. You can just send us some general info in a document so we have a better idea of your vision and stories so our designers have a concept to work with. I would advise you to send the document today during working hours so we have time to create something good for Thursday. I am happy to answer more concerns and discuss more strategies and experiences after we get you onboarded. Thursday is just the start of the process. Let me know when the earliest you can get me the document so I can have my team working on it. Thanks, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, That works perfectly. A Word document (.docx) is absolutely fine for us, so feel free to send it in that format. There’s no need to overthink how you organize it. Start with the projects, achievements, experiences, and stories that you feel best represent your journey. If you have photos, feel free to include those as well. The environmental compliance work and milestone timeline you mentioned would both be useful, but I’d especially like to see the stories and experiences that you feel define your career and build trust in your expertise. We can organize and develop the content from there. Sending it by 8 PM Central today works perfectly. Looking forward to reviewing everything and then walking you through the designs Thursday. I’m excited to see where we can take this. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Thanks for sending the project notes over. I did check my inbox, but it looks like the Word document didn’t come through as an attachment. Whenever you get a chance, please resend it. If it’s easier, you can also upload the document here: As for the timeline, I think a chronological flow will work best for your overall journey, while individual projects can be organized around the different phases or challenges within them. That gives us both the bigger story and the detail behind your experience. For client names and locations, only include what you’re comfortable having publicly shared and what doesn’t create any confidentiality concerns. If certain matters need to remain private, we can tell the story without identifying the client or specific details. The goal is to make the experience feel real without compromising confidentiality. And I really like what you said about the quiet moments between decisions. Those personal details are what can separate this from a typical professional website. We can look for those moments throughout your material and see where they naturally fit into the story. Once I have the document, I’ll review it, and we’ll go through the mockups together on Thursday. From there, we can start connecting the design with the content and the story we want visitors to experience. Looking forward to it, Danny. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Thanks for sending everything over. I’ll keep an eye out for the Word document, and once I receive it, I’ll get it started with the team so we can move into the design phase. If the morning works better for you, 12:00 PM Central on Thursday works perfectly. I’ll lock that in. I really like the direction you’re thinking about for the site. We can tell your story chronologically while highlighting the key turning points, challenges, and achievements that shaped your career. I also think using some of your natural voice in the copy will make it feel more authentic and personal. We can take that a step further with short videos of you speaking in your own voice, sharing your perspective, demonstrating your practices, or even giving directives. That can really help visitors connect with the person behind the experience. We can discuss the best way to incorporate those on Thursday. Looking forward to reviewing the document and going through the mockups with you. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Thanks for the update. I checked again, but unfortunately the Word document still didn’t come through as an attachment. Whenever you get a chance, please resend it. As soon as I receive it, I’ll get it started with the team for the design phase. For the videos, I’d actually prefer something natural rather than overly staged. Your office would be great, and even a simple setup with your GoPro can work as a starting point. We can guide you on the framing, lighting, and audio once we get to that stage. And yes, I really like the idea of including one of those quiet moments in a short video. A 30-second clip of you talking about what was going through your mind before making an important decision could add a lot of personality and authenticity to the site. We can go over the video concept and the mockups together on Thursday at 12:00 PM Central. Looking forward to it. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, That sounds great. I think those quieter moments you’re describing can add a lot of personality to the website, so definitely include them if they feel genuine to you. We can decide on Thursday how best to incorporate them. For the video, the GoPro can work as a starting point. Once we get to that stage, we can guide you on the setup, lighting, and backdrop to make sure everything looks and sounds professional. Also, the sooner you’re able to send over the Word document, the sooner our team can start working with the content and get the mockups prepared. Even if it’s still a rough draft, send what you have and we can build from there. I have you locked in for 12:00 PM Central on Thursday. Looking forward to it! Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, No worries at all, I know things get busy. I’ll look out for the document and get it moving with the team so we can continue toward the design phase. For the videos, I wouldn’t limit everything to 30 seconds. 30–60 seconds gives us enough room to capture a meaningful thought without losing the viewer’s attention. We can also have a mix of shorter clips and a few slightly longer moments depending on the content. For the backdrop, I’d keep it natural and authentic. Your actual office would be great, as long as the background isn’t too distracting. We can also use a neutral setting when the focus needs to be more on you and what you’re saying. And I definitely wouldn’t limit the video to just decision moments. A short opening shot of you walking into the office, reviewing documents, or simply getting into your work can help establish who you are before we get into the more important stories and experiences. Honestly, the fact that you’ll be in your flannel and glasses is perfect. We want this to feel like you, not like a staged corporate production. We can go through all of this Thursday and decide what works best with the overall design and story. Looking forward to it, Danny. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428

Hi Danny, Sounds good. For now, I’d suggest focusing on getting the Word document over to us as soon as you can. Since we’ve shifted our meeting to 12:00 PM Central on Thursday, I want to make sure our designers have enough time to review your material and start working on the mockups before we meet. Once we have the document, we can begin shaping the design around your story, experience, and the authentic elements you’ve been sharing with us. The office walk-in, coffee, and dry well log ideas are all good possibilities, and we can discuss how to incorporate those into the video and website once we have the initial design direction. So, if possible, please prioritize getting the document over to us tomorrow morning so I can get it in front of the design team right away. Looking forward to Thursday, Danny. Best, Greg Ellison (708) 395-7428