Author
Feb 15th, 2021
Ryanzarb.com is my first real Freelance build, and it was a great experience. The most exciting part was not having complete control of the finished project. However, I did share many of my opinions, but most decisions were out of my hands.
About The Project
This project was for a local Real Estate Agent, Ryan Zarb. He wanted a place to display his most recent sales, client testimonials, and a contact form. Easy enough, right? As usual, I had many ideas during the planning phase, most of which were not used. Naturally, I had reservations, but it was nice to step back and build according to the client's needs, not what I thought would be a "great idea".
StrapiVercelGraphCMSTailwindSome Project Details
The Freelancer
I had many questions as a freelancer going into this project and have many more after finishing it. When planning out this build, both Ryan and I settled on the best "user" experience for him, and I would figure out the best post-development experience for myself. After a few talks, I decided on GraphCMS would be an excellent fit for Ryan. The UX is easy enough for almost any non-technical user, and after one walkthrough, Ryan was confident he'd be OK at updating his website.
I then took all this information and would build his site with this in mind, which was straightforward. The most challenging part, which I didn't anticipate, was who would manage the code after the build was completed. The repo lives in my Github, but he's controlling all the dynamic content. If Ryan decides to change his "Hero Component" down the road, he can't without involving me. That's true of all the static content, we did discuss this before I published the site, and he's aware of this, but it's not the developer experience I wanted.
I will need a better freelance build guide for future projects, but I'm happy Ryan is more than pleased with the site and has a place to send his new clients.
Brainstorm, Research, Prototype, and Build.
Conclusion
This project is the first of many that I've done that someone wanted to call their own. I have done a ton of work for prospective clients; there is the initial excitement, then more often than not, it's radio silence. I don't take it personally, but I couldn't be happier with this build. Sure, It's uncomplicated and seems novice, but that part wasn't up to me. It was up to the