Web Developer
About Me » My Ethics
As a freelancer/small business owner, I believe in ethical business practices. Here's a highlight of my ethics.
I believe in high quality work. Not only does this include logical HTML and efficient JavaScript or server side code, but it also includes good communication with my customers and offering advice for improving the quality of a design.
Google already has "Don't be evil," but it's the same idea. I believe in making an honest living, without doing harm to others, be they competitors or clients. For clients, this means no false advertising. If I contract out work to another person, I will make it clear that I'm doing so. If I'm not comfortable with a technology, I won't try to take on a project that makes heavy use of it. For competitors, this means not slandering them, but instead acknowledging that, while our skills may overlap, we all have our place and role in the economy.
This also means giving back to the community. From donating old computers to Freegeek Columbus to volunteering for non-profit organizations, and improving education at all levels.
When working with clients, I consider our relationship as that of equals. As such, I respect my clients as equals and expect to be treated the same. For the sake of not only myself and those who may work for me in the future, but also for the sake of my craft and its sister craft (designing), and businesses in general, I will not stand for disrespect toward me, or my fellow designers, developers, and entrepreneurs.
But what about "the customer is always right"? Simply put, I don't believe in that maxim, because it results in poor customer service and is bad for business. This section, however, isn't the place to go into detail about why, but this article has great reasons why the maxim of "the customer is always right" is bad for business, and I wholeheartedly agree with it. This doesn't mean that the customer is never right, but being a jerk just because you think you can be so and still get work from me is only going to get you my recommendation to go elsewhere.
I believe that everyone is equal, regardless of race, sex/gender, sexual orientation, creed, national origin, political alignment, or any other label one may give oneself or another. What jobs I take are determined by the nature of the job itself, as well as how I'm treated.
I am bound by US law, as well as personal and business ethics, to not support certain causes. As such, I will not provide work or any other support for sites or organizations that participate in the following:
* In the United States, the legality of Marijuana is being debated. As such, I will consider sites that provide information on Marijuana, provided that information is accurate.
I will, however, provide work for the following, somewhat controversial, projects:
For controversial topics, particularly those not listed here, my consideration of the project will be determined by the content of the individual project (in other words, if you have a project of a controversial nature, but it's not listed here, it doesn't mean I won't consider it).