i just got done meeting with a woman named asma (ozma) who wants me to design and maintain a web site for her, which will mean a bit more money than has been happening in the past, but at this point i’m not sure how much. i’m supposed to call her on 4th june to make an appointment to take pictures of all the stuff in her shop, and then put together a web site where she can sell her stuff… except that she doesn’t currently have a computer at all, so i would be doing it all locally and then uploading it to whatever host service she decides to go with. r4l is the place where i intend to register her domain, and they’ve got a “5mb for free” hosting solution that will probably be the one i go with, unless she’s got a ton of pictures, which i don’t think she has. also she wants paypal on her web site, but since she doesn’t have a computer, that may be somewhat difficult. i suppose, as the web designer, i’ve got to come up with a solution for her, but all the solutions i can think of start with her buying a computer and getting email so that she can open a paypal account. i’m perfectly willing to be her web designer and web master, but i’m drawing the line at being the person responsible for printing out the orders she gets and giving them to her because she doesn’t have a computer, or being the person to relay all of the flack that’s stirred up when she doesn’t get around to filling somebody’s order as fast as they want her to… 8/
i’ve already got a kubuntu disk copied and ready for her, but it may take a bit more convincing than that, because, apparently, she’s already had a negative experience with ubuntu and says she “doesn’t like it”… which i think is probably horseshit, but i’ve got to tread carefully anyway. so far i’ve managed to steer her clear of vista…
one thing that i realised last night is that i own 60 pop email addresses, with which i can do what i please… including sell email services.
i’m not sure she’s never owned a personal computer, but i’m betting that regardless of whether she’s ever owned one or not, there’s a good bet that there’s some hand-holding to be done, and i plan on charging her for that, as well as the web site planning, design, uploading and maintenance… but i’m still not going to go so far as to print out emails for her, because i’ve had a job where that was one of my duties in the recent past and it’s just not worth it… the customer has to know something before i’m willing to work with ’em.
My “landlady” (and friend) Gyan is relatively computer illiterate. I set up her laptop with Ubuntu Linux and, for her computer use needs, it’s rocking for her.
I expected a lot of visits (she lives downstairs but is mostly at her boyfriend’s place) for support issues but there have been none.
Take her to rePC, get her a decent “trailing edge” box and set her up. Charge for it, of course.
HH
Congrats on the job. Although I think you’re right; I can’t really see running an online business without the ability to get online.
Of course if this person has never had a computer, ever, then they may require a lot of hand holding just running their own personal computer. If they’re willing to pay for it, it could be another source of $$ as well.