Besides a lower price and a faster turn around time there is really little difference between Web Rock Star and a larger professional web firm. I use the exact same professional web development and design software, same types of computers (in fact in all my work history my own computer has been far more powerful than my computer at work) and the same website hosting services.
Building a professional websites involves many skill sets which are typically held by individual people. The strategist creates the overall vision and objectives of the site. The developer writes the code which makes the page come to life in a web browser. The designer creates the overall look and feel and layout of the website. The SEO (search engine optimization) specialist ensures the website will rank well in search results. In my own experience there is a tremendous amount of ‘back and forth’ between these people since these areas are so tightly integrated.
Furthermore, most web firms (like most businesses) operate during the usual 9-5, Monday to Friday. As you are well aware, your website is online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Although I am not available 24/7 
, I am available at most off hour times to resolve any urgent issues which may come up. All of my clients have my personal cell phone number which they can call should any of these urgent issues arise.
Similarly, I have also heard horror stories of clients trying to resolve an urgent issue when working with a large web firm. Their issue gets routed to an individual who in turn has to pass it along to 2 or 3 other people before it reaches the person who can actually solve the problem. In some cases, the firm is in the process of hiring a new manager, or the usual person is on holiday, etc. This can result in your issue getting lost. There are some great large web firms out there that can manage large projects very well. As with most things in life there is an opposite as well, and there are many web firms out there that are not managed well at all.
Working With A Specialized Individual
From my own perspective working at web firms this felt a lot like driving – but with one catch. I was only allowed to steer. Another person was only allowed to control the brakes, another on the gears and another was only allowed to control the gas pedal. We all had to coordinate our efforts and drive the car. I am sure you can imagine how cumbersome and frustrating this process would be.
Unfortunately, many web firms have no choice but to operate like this. It is simply very rare to find someone with all of the necessary skill sets rolled into one person. For some industries, delegating tasks to different team members makes sense and offers a great benefit. For almost all web projects this is not the case, unless it is an extremely large scale project, the website is part of a larger marketing campaign or will be aligned with various print materials. Even when a web project does call for multiple team members, there is still great benefit in working with someone who can see multiple perspectives at once.
Imagine if you hire an ice sculpting company to carve a beautiful sculpture for a big event you are having. The ice sculpting company may have different sculptors as employees. But the quality and individual characters of the sculpture will vary depending on the sculptor. If one person starts it and then leaves half way through the project, it may be difficult to transfer the vision of what that person had in mind to another person. You may end up with an end result which does not look good (or in terms of websites, looks good and functions properly).
For some industries, there is no problem having one employee take over after another leaves or to do the work in shifts. In fact, in many cases it works out better that way. Retail employees, restaurant servers, dental hygienists, plumbers are a few examples. Although these jobs are very important in today’s society, simply due to the nature of them it is easy for another person the be interchanged with them with few issues (in most cases). When you are dealing with a field that involves a large amount of visual and technical creativity, you do not have this luxury.
Summary
By working with someone who has a diverse and inclusive web skill set you naturally get a better product. I can see ‘the big picture’ right from the start rather than just a fraction of it. During initial meetings and scoping you are talking directly with the person who will be designing and developing your site. This allows us to truly build something that will support and grow your business or organization without missing anything due to communication breakdown.
The results speak for themselves. If you look at my portfolio of work you will notice features and functionality which are typically not found on other sites. By being able to see the project from all perspectives at once I can see opportunities which other web firms may miss.