The Overbearing Client

There will come a time in your website design career when you find yourself working with an overbearing client. You know the type—tells you how to do your job, dictates every part of the project, essentially sucks the life out of the thing you love to do. So what do you do? How do you handle the situation?

There are several ways to approach this predicament. First, you could resign from the project and request the client find someone else to finish it (or you could recommend someone).

Are you listening to what I’m asking, or do you HEAR what I’m asking?

Communciation is a tough thing to master. Often times you’ll be working with a client who is trying to communicate something they want on their website and you may interpret it a different way. This can often lead to disappointment, squashed expectations, and potential loss of client.

‘Wave’ Goodbye to Email?

Many of you have either been tracking Google Wave’s movements, or you’ve started hearing a buzz about it this week. For those of you that don’t know about it, Google Wave is a communication/collaboration platform that combines the concepts of chat, email, wiki, forums, photo sharing, and the list goes on and on. It’s essentially a one-stop-shop for communication and the best part – it’s real time. What does that mean exactly? Well – you no longer have to send an email to a friend, wait for their email server to pick it up, wait for them to read and respond, then send back. When you create a new “wave” and send it to a friend, as they are responding you can physically see the characters show up on your screen! And that’s just your basic email concept. The features are endless.

Understanding Your Website Changes

Technology. Yes – it can be truly amazing and can make even the most non-technical person excited about the possibilities it can offer. The internet and websites aren’t any different. There are so many things you can put on a website – so many features – so many options. The possibilities are endless. Here’s the trouble: When you’re making changes to your website, how do you know if the changes you’re making are having an impact on your target audience?

Exciting News – MKB Designs Listed as Featured Expert on Yola’s YEP Program!

A few months ago, Yola started a program called “YEP” (Yola Experts Program). It’s a special program for members of Yola that are experts of the site builder and want to get the insider scoop from the company, network with other YEPers, and tons of other benefits. It is relatively new and more of a pilot program right now, however it is proving to be quite an excellent resource and community.

The official YEP site launched today (http://yep.yola.com) and MKB Designs has the honor of being listed as the “Featured Expert”!

They May Think They Know – But They Don’t

More often than not you’ll work with someone; for someone; or near someone and will run into precisely this issue. If they’re a client, they’ll think they know exactly what they want and they’ll tell you exactly how to do it; and if they’re an authority figure they’ll think and do the same thing. Want to know how I cope?

iPhone: Changing How Designers Build Websites?

It’s only been a two years since the beginning of the iPhone craze. (It actually seems longer to me.) When it all started – people would stand in line for hours to get one; put their names on wait-lists; and even beg, borrow, or steal to get the new device. Apple couldn’t keep up with the demand. We’re now two years later and the number of people who own iPhones has increased dramatically.

You Spent $5,000 on a Website?

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a networking event for Crave DC. The event was centered around social networking and putting it to use for your business. As we began introductions around the room, one of the members in the group mentioned that for her first website she spent $5,000. She then mentioned that a user couldn’t find it right away in a Google or Yahoo! search and that they’d have to know the URL in order to find the website.

A Day in the Life of a Small Business Website Designer – The Beginning…

Hello Folks – if you’ve visited www.mkbdesignsonline.com, you’ve seen our previous blog (The MKB Blog). We’re retiring that blog and moving on to “A Day in the Life of a Small Business Website Designer”. The purpose of ADITLOASBWD (perhaps I should get a smaller acronym) is to share my experiences, knowledge, and resources. This may turn out to be anything from tips and tricks to projects to random technology articles, etc. The idea is for all users (regular Joes and Janes, small business owners, friends, etc.) to learn about MKB Designs and about myself.

Thanks for taking time to check us out! More to come…

MKB