Maxwell Men Business

[goldbu]

I don't know if this has been posted about before - I didn't find anything in a search. Long story short, I came across this tonight: swiftotter.com/

 

Looks like the boys do other work than just working for Daddy Maxwell. According to my programmer husband (phd in computer science and has his own business making apps), Joseph could easily be charging twice his hourly rate.

[Marian the Librarian]

Well, well, well! Great sleuthing!

Maxwells can run, but they can't hide... :lol:

[SPHASH]

So Joe has been programming since 2000 when he was 11? Whatever. And they have a grand total of three clients, one of which is Tits2.

[kpmom]

Good find!

I too found their portfolio a bit skimpy. Three whole web sites!

And Joseph's writing is just as awkward as Sarah's. Small business ranks second, right after being saved by the blood of Jesus, or however he wrote that very strange sentence.

[Hane]

Good find!

I too found their portfolio a bit skimpy. Three whole web sites!

And Joseph's writing is just as awkward as Sarah's. Small business ranks second, right after being saved by the blood of Jesus, or however he wrote that very strange sentence.

Yep---first thing I look for in a person I hire is that he be saved by the blood of Christ. *takes a seat in handbasket*

[FloraDoraDolly]

And this business does what exactly?

[Jana814]

And this business does what exactly?

I always wondered what their business did.

[johnhugh]

Gosh it looks like a rent boys website:

'Standard: $115 per hour

High volume: $80 per hour"

Haven't we been down this road before with maxwell and sons construction, ay Stevie?

[goldbu]

Yep---first thing I look for in a person I hire is that he be saved by the blood of Christ. *takes a seat in handbasket*

Yup. When I showed the website to my husband and asked him his thoughts, the first thing he said was "They'd probably get more business if they got rid of this first part up here about Jesus." I told him that they're the crazy Maxwells and can only work with Christians.

[sparkles]

So far, Joseph's had a construction business that seemed to go nowhere and web development business with three clients, one of which is dad. Either the Maxwell boys are very bad at promoting themselves and keeping their client list up-to-date or they really suck at what they do.

I'll have to tell Junior Sparkles to keep an eye out for a Joseph Maxwell on stackoverflow.

[goldbu]

And this business does what exactly?

They make e-commerce websites (sites for selling stuff online).

As to only having 3 websites in their portfolio - my husband said that isn't really indicative of anything. He doesn't have any type of portfolio on his website. A lot of the time there isn't anything in it for the client to let you use their name on your website so they won't allow it.

Although, as nutty as they are, it's very possible they've only had 3 clients and 1 is their Dad...

[salex]

OK, it took me several reads to figure out WHAT this business does and I'm not 100percent sure. First off, the "about" page should be about the company, not about the person. There could be an "our people" page if needed to give the fluffy bio/christian testimonial.

If for some reason I got to this page, and read it as is, (and stayed long enough to read it) I would first think..

Hmm, a minister. Why did that come up on my search.

Second, i'd think he was a management consultant. (The importance of solving business problems for small business is very generic consultese)

Then, I get some bit about programming. Still, not sure if he is a contract programmer (which we use at our company) or an ap developer (which we have used, at our company). and as a marketing person for a small company, who might have been looking for web site developers, nothing in the first page before scrolling down tells me they do web page development. Only that he is going to heaven, he cares about the challenges small businesses face and he has two employees/partners without last names who do things at the company (again, put this on the "our people" page.)

Only when we get to "below the fold" ie, have scrolled down a lot do we learn Hey, We develop websites! We learn this after their pricing and over explanation of their pricing. They say this after confusing potential clients about what they do. Then, they give TMI and an odd explanation of their processes.

The bit about how they will "attempt" to understand the client need.... well, that is good to know. They will "assist in whatever it takes" to understand my product. Again.. wonderful but isn't that more or less the least they can do.

After reading their site, I do have to ask. Who writes my copy if they create the site? Because after reading this, it can't be them.

So, the set up of the site and the writing on the site all work against luring me to buy their services. Since i am in marketing for a small business, that is a bad sign.

[SPHASH]

Good find!

I too found their portfolio a bit skimpy. Three whole web sites!

And Joseph's writing is just as awkward as Sarah's. Small business ranks second, right after being saved by the blood of Jesus, or however he wrote that very strange sentence.

I noticed the writing was disjointed as well. It says Chris does the client interactions, does that mean he prostelyzes to them? And Jesse is the Frontend person. I wonder what their clients would think if they knew Jesse has to run to his mommy and have her unblock a website he needs access to.

[sparkles]

My daughter is starting a new job tomorrow as a front end developer for a company that does content and e-commerce solutions for some real heavy hitters (none of which, apparently had any problem being listed as clients). Her LinkedIn page alone (which is how she got hired) gives far more information about what she does then Joseph's entire website. Everything the Maxwells write is so stiff and stilted and out of touch.

I'm actually kind of surprised that Joseph would be on stackoverflow. I wonder if Elissa has to monitor his activity there now that he no longer has to have mommy review his web wanderings.

[Coco]

Congratulations to your daughter, Sparkles!

[MamaJunebug]

This makes me a sad panda because I love otters.

And whoever drew the otter did a nice job.

The rest of the website is very nice. They shouldn't change a thing. I'm certain that all kinds of clients with proper mindsets and a love for the L*rd will find them and hire them.

Just keep on doing what you're doing, Steve & Joseph.

[thoughtful]

Oh, for the love of Mij!

[anjulibai]

What an odd name for them to pick.

Didn't he have another website that he made relating something similar to this? It was made with someone else?

I wonder if these websites are him testing skills out.

[ksuheather]

I wonder if they realize the Marlow White folks are Catholic?

[DutchMommy]

My name is Joseph Maxwell, and I take the lead role here at SwiftOtter. I am a Christian - saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, so I can spend an eternity in heaven (John 3:36). Very close to second to that in rank is seeing small businesses be successful. I believe that this type of business is the core of America, and thus greatly delight in optimizing their processes as much as possible.

Bolding is mine.

Everyone, raise your hands if you think Sarah wrote this.

[Palimpsest]

Joseph's hourly rate may be half what people usually charge but he probably doesn't get much done accomplished in an hour. He has to pray before every keystroke.

He also hasn't "had time" to post on stackoverflow.com since Jan. 2014. Business must be booming.

The Maxwells all talk in that stilted awkwardly phrased way. I think Joseph probably wrote this himself. The Maxwell and Sons Construction site was pretty bad too and John's little irrigation design site was an exercise in grammatical errors.

At SwiftOtter Studios, we usually take it on ourselves to build a completely custom, responsive website - a tremendous asset to your ecommerce website’s impact to mobile customers.

What's with the "usually"? Joe, you are charging money for a service so you should always "take it on yourself" to deliver a decent product. BTW, I don't care whether you greatly enjoy your work or not -- just do it competently and earn your pay!

[PrairieGirl]

So, who wants to contact them with a question in regards to a naughty website? At first I was thinking someone who runs a sex toy shop, a homosexual dating site, tattoo parlor, etc. But then I remember it is the Maxwells. A naughty website to them would be run by a bookstore, a carnivorous burrito company, a Pepsi vendor, a woman......

[treemom]

Oh god the writing. I work in interactive/digital. And the writing is so bad.

[uber frau]

Oh Lordy,it's the bastard love child of fundie and corporate speak.

Not necessarily. I think it wouldn't be that unlikely that they'd use the same turns of phrase. They have exactly the same things influencing them,and are constantly around the same group of people.

I remember reading Joe's writing before. IIRC, it's bad but not on par with John's or Mary's. It's more like Sarah's.

Maybe the love of the passive sentence is a general Maxwell trait.

[nokidsmom]

Went to the site and don't get the name but I like the logo with the otter mainly because I am partial to otters.

Anyhoo, I gotta ask why being active on stackoverflow is being presented as if it's a qualification. And why would he link to his answers presumably for the same reason? Personally I would expect that a programmer would be active on such a community as a matter of course, not something that would have to be a selling point.

Also and while I know that he's trying to attract the right guilible client but I would think advertising his faith as another type of qualification would come off as offputting and/or irrelevant to a lot of others. Especially in a tech oriented service.