A Day in the Life of a Small Business Website Designer

The Overbearing Client

Lexi — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:58:00 +0000

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). Second, you could respectfully push back on the client and tell them who is in charge of the project and ask that they back down. Third, you could take what the client says, give them what they want, and finish the project as quick as humanly possible so you can move on. So which do you choose?

In my eyes, the best thing to do is to finish the project as soon as you can (without jeopardizing the integrity and quality) and put the whole thing behind you. When it’s done you can always elect not to work with the client again. It may be difficult to handle it that way (especially if you dread the thought of speaking with the person), however you always want to make sure you remain professional in all business situations regardless of whether or not the client is right or wrong. This will ensure that your reputation will always be positive and no bridges will be burned. At the end of the day, your responsibility is to make sure the client is happy. After all, most people are overbearing because they want to make sure the project is done right. Stick with that principle and you’ll be in a good position.

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

Lexi — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:32:58 +0000

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.

When you’re working with multiple clients and multiple projects, it can be hard to take the time to really listen to your client and try to understand exactly what it is they want. Think about how frustrated you would be if the person you hired to paint your house, painted your kitchen pepto bismal pink when you actually wanted mauve. Wouldn’t you be disappointed? This very thing can and does happen with web design clients. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to slap something together that is “close enough” to what the client wants so you can quickly move on to the next client and the next project.

Personally, I make an effort to listen to the client and to really understand their ideas and requests. If what they’re asking doesn’t make sense, I try help them understand both aspects and so we can come to an agreement together. Just because they request something, doesn’t mean they’re not open to feedback and suggestions. Give open communication a try – you might surprise your client and yourself. Shoot – they may even like your services so much, they’ll recommend you to their friends, family, and business partners!

MKB
www.mkbdesignsonline.com

‘Wave’ Goodbye to Email?

Lexi — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:58:30 +0000

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.

I recently watched the keynote demo from the Google I/O conference this year, and the creators of Wave went so far as to say that the idea is for Wave to replace email. This is quite a bold concept. For many, they’re just getting on board with email – so how could Wave replace it? In my opinion, replacing email is an ambitious statement. While I believe that this technology is going to connect more people, make them more productive, and take the concepts of communication/collaboration to new levels – there will still be the slow moving people in society that aren’t as excited about new ways to communicate and don’t like change. I do think that a large following does and will exist for Google Wave but it would be hard to fathom replacing current technologies like email, chat, and wikis. Then again, the Wave sensation could explode and take us all with it – much like what I call the “iPhenomenon” (iPods, iPhones, iMacs, etc.)

Being the uber geek that I am, I can’t wait to get a Wave account. Unfortunately, you can’t just peruse the internet and sign up. Google Wave is in what they call a “limited preview”. You can only get access via invitation (similarly to how gmail was initially offered to the public). I guess we’ll all have to be patient and wait for the day when we can all ‘Wave’ goodbye to email.

To learn more about Wave, watch the keynote demo from Google’s I/O conference this past May http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html#video.

MKB
www.mkbdesignsonline.com

Understanding Your Website Changes

Lexi — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:34:23 +0000

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?

Let me illustrate the scenario for you…

You’re a small business. Your website is about 6 months old and your content is starting to get stale. Business has been going well for the last 6 months and your marketing/advertising/website dollars have been increased so you can start thinking about making changes to your site. Through a fellow business owner, you’ve been turned on to a design firm that is “guaranteed to take your website to a new level”. The design company sends you a proposed portfolio of suggested changes with things like flash modules, new graphics, new look and feel, and all sorts of pie-in-the-sky ideas. You get excited and you decide to let them take the lead in the creative efforts. After you’ve plopped down hundreds (potentially thousands) of dollars, and the design firm is finished with their end of the bargain… you may find yourself asking, “How can I tell if these changes actually did anything?”

This can easily happen to anyone. In today’s ever-changing society, businesses are constantly thinking about how they can “one-up” their competition. Trouble is, without knowing the impacts of your “one-ups” – you can potentially find yourself spending unnecessary dollars on unnecessary changes. Here are some things that can help prevent that from happening:

1.) Before you begin making changes to your site, analyze your website reporting. If you have a website designer, have them run a report in Google Analytics (or similar reporting platforms) and really work on understanding the data.

2.) Once you have a good understanding, determine what your goals are going to be for the changes you want to make. For example – do you want to increase site traffic, increase conversion rates, have more requests to be added to a mailing list?

3.) When you’ve figured out the goal – write a short list of ideas that you think will achieve the goal. For example – if your goal is to increase conversion rates, maybe one idea is to promote a particular service/product you offer with an exclusive coupon.

4.) Finally – get your creative team involved (whether its a graphic design group, web design group, etc.) Make sure you share the findings in the first 3 steps so they are completely clear on your goals and objectives.

Following these guidelines will ensure you’re spending your money on the right things to accomplish your business goals.

MKB

www.mkbdesignsonline.com

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

Lexi — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:31:24 +0000

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”!

Thanks Yola for this amazing honor! If you’re a small business or NPO looking for a website designed with Yola (or in general)- go with MKB Designs!

MKB
www.mkbdesignsonline.com

They May Think They Know – But They Don’t

Lexi — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:19:34 +0000

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?

In all seriousness - it can make you downright crazy! The truth of the matter is, most people just want to make sure they’re happy with the end result. If you take the time to sit down with the person (who is ultimately responsible for turning your hair gray) and explain to them what they want versus what makes sense in a calm, logical manner, they may be pleasantly surprised and thank you later. Of course, you’ll still have those “problem children” who won’t ever compromise and will constantly make things more difficult by trying to be overly involved. But (generally speaking) there are ways to overcome this predicament. This saying is a perfect example…

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~Victor Frankl

iPhone: Changing How Designers Build Websites?

Lexi — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:50:46 +0000

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.

One of the features that ROCKS (as far as I’m concerned) is the full Safari web browser. Most phones don’t have a full browser and website designers have to pretty much build a second version of a website and make it “mobile friendly” to be able to work on a cellphone. I know for many designers (myself included) this tends to be a nuisance.

This week I was in the AT&T store chatting with a sales associate and I asked him, “Have you been selling more iPhones here recently?” I was curious if there had been a difference in sales due to various promotions and recent ads for the new 3GS models. He said that the iPhones are “flying off the shelves”. In fact, he said that within the last 6 months or so about 70% or more of their new phone sales have been iPhones. (Of course this is just one store.)

This got me thinking. While people are switching to this fantastic technology with a full web browser, web designers won’t have to worry about creating mobile versions of websites anymore. We’ll still have to make adjustments for websites to work in different browsers, but (here’s hoping) the need for a mobile site will be obsolete within the next 5-10 years or so.

MKB

You Spent $5,000 on a Website?

Lexi — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:03:19 +0000

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. My first thought was, “if I spent $5,000 on a website – it better be the first one people see!” Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this happening. In a saturated market like website building and design, how can you know that you’re spending money on the right person for the job? Here are some tips that might help.

Do Research
It’s ok to find a website designer on the internet (after all that’s the point, isn’t it?) – you just have to make sure you do your homework. Find out about them; check out their portfolio; contact previous clients and ask about their experience with the company.

Request Quotes
Most website designers have the option for you to request a quote. This should be a free avenue for you to find out what it will take for that designer to create what you need for your business. It will also give you the opportunity to shop around a bit. See what other designers are offering and what skillsets they have.

Ask Around
Talk to some fellow business owners and find out who they used for their website. Ask them what they liked, didn’t like, if they would recommend the company for your website, etc. In most cases, it may be more comfortable for you to work with a website design company that you know through someone else.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Many web designers take advantage of the fact that most people aren’t technical and don’t understand the lingo. You’ll know you’re working with a good designer if they take the time to explain things to you in a way you can understand.

Follow these guidelines and you’ll know you’re spending the money on the right company for the job.

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

Lexi — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:40:37 +0000

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