Posts filed under 'What's Happening Here'
I want to dispel myths that some people may believe about Web designers. If you don’t recognize these myths, it could be because I’m the only one who ever believed them. I can only speak for myself!
- Web designers are super creative types who see visions, dream dreams, and make remarkable designs appear out of thin air.
Rebuttal: Web designers must have the ability to hear their client’s requests, goals, and personality through verbal and nonverbal communication and translate it into a tangible design. This is not magic, but a process based on careful thought, improvisation, and client feedback.
- Web designers are super smart.
Rebuttal: Again, I can only speak for myself! I’m certainly smart enough to add and subtract, but I am human and make mistakes from time to time.
There is no substitute for feedback from a client. Questions that challenge a designer’s assumptions can be extremely helpful to the process. Try asking, “Why did you make the logo that size?” or “What message do you think that color scheme sends?” etc. Non-designers need do little more than ask questions and offer direction to get an above average design from an attentive designer.
- Web designers can’t take criticism.
Rebuttal: Perhaps there’s some truth here. At my company, which is myself and any sub-contractors needed, we work hard to take a non-defensive posture. Depending how sleep deprived I am, my ability to respond with class may be diminished. However, constructive criticism is the lifeblood of good design. Good designers know this, and treat criticism with respect - even if it hurts.
I hope the lighthearted tone of this post comes through. I enjoy working on design projects and the give and take that it requires.
February 15th, 2006
This post assumes you read part one of the series.
If you are a small business contacting me for Web design services, you will receive different treatment than a corporate client who comes knocking (by email of course!). Why is this? By experience, I have learned that I need to make some assumptions about types of clients.
Assumptions About Corporate Clients
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The first assumption I make is that a corporation knows its marketing challenges and that it has already set a direction for advertising/marketing/promotion that is working. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have the budget to call me.
- My second assumption is that my feedback to a corporate client will deal with content suggestions and design approaches exclusively.
Though these two assumptions may not prove to be universally true, they have been a relatively reliable guide. Usually, if a corporation has a marketing challenge their budget allow an expert consultant to advise them in a particular area. This takes the load off of me in regards to their success and failure and allows me to focus on my core competency, which is after all, Web design!
Assumptions About Small Businesses
- What small businesses usually need is a marketing solution. While I can’t offer all pieces of this, I can help them think through their product offering, their likely allies, and we can research together what experts might need to be consulted to reach their goals.
- Small business clients (at least those just getting started) rarely have clearly articulated, measurable goals. I will try to determine if these goals are in place and how a Web site might help reach those goals.
Once we have an idea of what goals are set and what challenges there will be to their achievement, we can begin working on a small business Web site.
Without very clearly articulated goals, most small businesses do not continue to maintain a Web site and will not likely gain much from having one. Since I am invested in the success of my clients, this is something I want to avoid.
I love working with small businesses, it is where the greatest rewards can be had … and the greatest heartbreaks and losses. This is why, potential small business client, when you open a dialog I am likely to tell you hard truths as I see them and ask you tough questions before I ever design a Web site.
February 11th, 2006
Fresh out of college with a BFA in Visual Communications, I thought what every client needed was an attractive Web site. The only real problem with the Web, I thought, was that it was filled with poorly designed, outdated Web sites that had navigation problems.
Imagine my surprise when I began to turn out Web sites for clients that met my standards for quality, design, and navigation and yet did not achieve the level of sales or public acclaim that I expected.
At Design Delineations, I am processing the fact that clients rarely come to me for a Web design or redesign even though this is their stated objective. They come for a marketing solution. As a small company with many small businesse clients whose budgets do not merit a marketing department, it is incumbent on me to learn how to deliver these solutions, and learning I am!
Some of this post’s content has already revealed my reluctance to partition roles, concepts, and processes rigidly. Most Web designers would just say that marketing is the responsibility of the marketing department or client, and it is. Yet, there is something in me that demands I try to draw it out of the client.
On occasion, there has been an assumption that a Web site IS a marketing strategy. Perhaps it can be such, but not if it is simply assumed. The days of the field of dreams have come and gone … at least as it pertains to the WWW.
Here is a question for passers by, clients, and potential clients: How can I chart a course for Design Delineations that will help my customers use their Web sites as part of a marketing strategy?
By the way, I define Marketing Strategy as a plan to achieve a specific customer response.
February 11th, 2006
This post was sparked by a thread on Jim Boykin’s blog where I’ve also posted a comment or two.
I resell Web services from site5.com and have found that they work quite well for many of my clients. There are always trade-offs in Web hosting, especially for those with limited budgets. Another hosting company I use is United Hosting from the UK.
My take on what to ask a Web hosting company is this: Ask them for features that you really must have (PHP/Mysql, Stats Reporting if needed). Then, of the companies that have those features, ask for uptime statistics and some referrals from hosting clients.
Usually, at the low end you either can get fairly decent stability with very few features (Hostasaurus) or many features with occasional stability problems and excellent customer support (Site5). Another notable hosting provider that has occasional stability problems but does everything they can to minimize them is 5 Dollar Hosting.
A word of caution about using returned phone calls as a barometer of reliability: Most hosing companies use email for support requests and handle them swiftly. For anything other than high-dollar hosting such as Rackspace, you will be hard pressed to speak to anyone on the telephone for support issues and really don’t need to anyway since email works so well. Of course during the inquiry phase, you are also judging the responsiveness of the sales department and not the support department.
Another way to go is with a hosting middleman like myself who handles phone calls and gets the tech support taken care of. In addition, someone like myself adds value by actively watching the servers for outages and submitting support tickets even before my clients call (though not always!).
Other recommended hosting providers are Dreamhost and Media Temple.
February 8th, 2006
Because I make my living by helping small entrepreneurs with their online marketing efforts, I am predisposed to resonate with the comments of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos as reported in Grand Forks Herald. In his comments at Marketplace for Entrepreneurs in Fargo, ND he said, “You can physically be anywhere as you do it, and you can affect the entire world with what you build.”
Of course, I doubt Bezos said that online marketing was free of risk or of trial and error. What he did say is that a small entrepreneur can have global impact from any location. I like that!
A local organization that is working to connect local businesses to the global marketplace is the Northern Adirodack Trading Cooperative. Though I may be biased by the fact that I have done some work for them, I believe their goals are worthy of support. Let’s support local businesses in their online ventures and see what world changing impact they can have.
Regional businesses that have made inroads online are:
There are too many to mention, some of them among my clients. Let’s support these innovators and see what positive changes they bring to the north country economy.
A Related Article, Can Tech Save Smalltown America? is available on Slashdot.
January 21st, 2006
On friday, I attended a Dale Carnegie training event at Canton Potsdam Hostpital. The past year has been one of growth in both the size of projects and the number of clients here at my Web design company and I hoped that this class would help me make better decisions about how I use my time.
Larry Heron, the presenter, offered a number of very useful pointers but the highlight of the event was the interaction between attendees. I found that, though I was one of the few who owned their own business, my stresses and challenges were identical to most of the others.
Here are a few of the challenges we identified:
- Eliminating wasted or duplicated effort
- Keeping a clean and organized workspace
- How to handle interruptions and minimize lost productivity
- How to avoid unproductive procrastination
- How to prioritize (Of course, the famous 80/20 rule)
- How to break the stress cycle by interpreting events more accurately
- and, how to delegate effectively
A quote Larry used that stuck with me is this one from Ed Foreman:
“Winners are those people who make a habit of doing the things losers are uncomfortable doing.”
… Not that life is a big contest! It just is a reminder that success doesn’t come from taking the easiest or most apparent path.
January 21st, 2006
For anyone interested in Christmas gifts for the hard-to-please nature lover should consider a maple syrup gift basket from Golden Maple Shanty. Why? For one thing, I just redesigned their Web site and it is easy to use and easy on the eyes. For another, their maple products are pure New York State Grade A - the real deal.
Another client who offers great holiday gifts is Adirondack Rug Braiding. Artisan Helen Condon offers hand braided 100% wool rugs that will grace your floors for generations.
… and thanks for supporting my clients.
December 14th, 2005
A few months ago I made the switch to Vonage from Verizon and it saved me a bundle. I now have a telephone line for pennies on the dollar and can call all over the globe with very little added to my monthly bill. I am happy as a clam.
Lately, however, there has been some buzz about Skype. This brings me to my question. Will Skype Become a Telephony Replacement Service?
When I made the decision to choose Vonage over standard land-line service, I looked into Skype. At that time, Skype-Out was in its infancy. Skype-Out is the Skype service that lets users call standard land-line numbers. I had hoped that Skype-Out was what I needed and that I could save even more money that Vonage saved me.
I was wrong. At that time, Skype did not offer a true telephony service. It did not interface with 911 emergency dialing for one thing. No incoming calls were available from landline phones for another. Browsing their Web site today I noticed that this disclaimer is still in place. “Skype is not a telephony replacement service and cannot be used for emergency dialing.”
Now, Skype offers another component of telephony replacement: SkypeIn. Now Skype allows customers to receive calls, with their own phone number, as well as make them. Skype offers voicemail as well. What’s left before we no longer need a telephone or more advanced service?
Sweetening the deal even more, the Skype folks recently launched a beta service that adds video conferencing to its growing suite of services. With their considerable investment in features and upgrades since I last looked seriously at them, it seems that the only piece of the telephony replacement puzzle that is missing is emergency dialing.
It looks to me like Skype may be a viable telephony replacement service in months. Perhaps it already is for some small businesses.
… now off to Skype to try another download and test …
December 1st, 2005
After two years working out of the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce offices, Design Delineations is now located at 4 Prospect Street in Norwood, New York.
The move came after two years of participation in the Chamber’s business incubation program. Many thanks to the team there for their guidance during that time!
October 6th, 2005
Last week, a client dropped by my office and made an unusual request. Develop a web site in a hurry to get some information out, do it basic, fast, and barebones. Miles Manchester of snowtubeigloo.com sat with me and in a few hours, we had his basic web site done. If you have young kids and live with an abundance of snow, you may find this web site a useful aid in relieving your winter boredom!loans ca teacher aloan mortgage alabamahealth loan professions 2007 repaymenthotels 97 value for to loanloan farm 10th credit district lossloan acceptance corp40 dollar loan million401k property loan investment Map
March 3rd, 2005
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