Thursday, April 24, 2008

What do I do?

Today's post is inspired by a challenge from IttyBiz. The author, Naomi Dunford, reflected on how many readers aren't aware - through no fault of their own - of what we blog writers actually do for a living. So, the challenge was to answer five questions to introduce ourselves (again) to our readers:

What’s your game? What do you do?

By day, I'm a web developer working for a major government contractor. By night, I'm a freelance web designer, artist, and writer.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

I love web design. It's the perfect melding of programming, art, and writing.

Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

Most of my clients are game companies. I've done artwork or websites for a fair few people as individual commissions too. Usually, the people interested in my services are those looking for a friendly face and an understanding of the game industry that just isn't there for the majority of web design companies.

What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?

I don't know what a USP is, but I'll say this - I'm the guy who knows what I'm doing, and I know what my clients are doing too. At the end of the day, I'm a gamer as well as a designer!

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

Right now, Mana Trance Creative - the name I do business as a freelancer under - is pretty low on my list of priorities. I take a new client once every three months or so, much reduced from when I was just out of college (and unemployed). However, over the next year I'll be slowly building up MTC. My goal is to be self-employed at roughly the same standard of living I have now by December of 2009.

So, if any of you reading this needs a website (or art) or knows someone who does, shoot me an email (manatrance@gmail.com)!

1 comment:

Naomi from IttyBiz said...

Hey Ben,

Thanks for joining in the fun! A USP is a "Unique Selling Proposition", something I probably should have made clear. It's what makes you different from your competition. Yours is that you're a gamer AND a designer. Very cool.