About Regional Web Developer

Hi, my name is Jason Greenlees, I live in regional NSW, Wagga Wagga, married with three kids and moved here in 2004 to escape the city.

Living in Sydney, almost twenty years ago I worked at a digital agency using my skills as a web developer. When I moved to Wagga I worked with a mate who was a graphic designer and later became my business partner. I put my development skills to good use for many years working for a government department.

While working for "the man" I really wanted to help people with digital marketing of their own regional businesses.

We both started a side gig working outside business hours and slowly but surely simply by focusing on doing good work we became more and more business. In 2015 we great to the point that my partner had enough work to go full time. 

After a few years, I scaled down my hours at my main government job until I was comfortable with how big the business had grown and if it could sustain my family and lifestyle. 

Its story’s similar to many creatives and marketers moving to the country and pursuing digital marketing work. Many of us are lucky enough to have connections with city agencies and work remotely. For others, it's a fresh start to break into a local market that becomes who's local and who can you trust and not what you know or even what you've done.

During 2020-2021 like many of us during the pandemic, I found I needed something a bit more that could make a bigger difference to not only myself but to others. Our agency was busy despite the pandemic but I started contracting to other agencies needing help with development. 

I formed a number of different philosophies by listening to podcasts, reading books from various authors that all added up:

• The majority of businesses in regional Australia will die a slow horrible death unless they fully embrace and invest in a digital strategy like they were stranded out at sea and it was the only life raft available. Putting a week into someone's lifeboat that was going to sustain their business as a one-off for only 2.5k should seem like a joke because it is.
• I wanted to help to make sure others were not wasting their money on digital cowboys, doing them a disservice, ripping them off. RWD focuses on quality processes and using a regional local specialist for different parts of a project. We would also cut straight to the "why?" in every case during our discovery.
•  I would help to establish digital teams throughout regional areas that had a shared purpose "to do good work and to only take on a project if they could see a clear result for a client"
• I strongly feel that digital marketing should be more regulated. Many of us have gone to university or spent many years training our skills and when compared to other industries that are regulated and protected we are not valued to the same level for our skills. We are seen by the masses as what we do, anyone can do.
• We undercut each other trying to get jobs because if we don't we need to survive off marketplaces like Fivr and Freelancer building those businesses up and essentially working for "the man" yet again. Imagine if we did the same for doctors, plumbers and electricians. I even know of cleaners that get paid more than web designers.  
• As I'm a developer I am in no way able to deliver training on every skill I'd like RWD to offer and so growing a network of people I would like people to believe in building something bigger than themselves. People that can see the benefit in working, sharing and growing together to be successful across regional Australia. 

My ideas around these change and expand every day.

How do I feel about contributing to something bigger than myself? Something that will change and transform the lives of regional people running businesses across Australia for the better? Provide value and returns while being transparent around time and effort.

Super Excited and I hope you are too!