Avoiding Website Headaches, Part 1
Avoiding Website Headaches, Part 1
Almost all entrepreneurs have some type of web presence these days. It's true, you can still find the occasional hometown expert with a solid, long-term, client base that's never had to advertise, but they are incredibly rare. For the rest of us, the day will come when we must tackle the website question. Putting up your first website, or expanding or changing your old one, can be an intimidating, expensive and if you are not careful, frustrating experience. I decided to interview a technology expert friend of mine about ways to make the situation less painful.
Leah Murray opened byteSMART Strategies in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada in January 2015. Following a career in the Canadian Forces, Leah opened her first technology support business in Oshawa, Ontario. She closed that business in order to work as the Senior Information Services Consultant for the Research & Development scientists of an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Toronto. Several ensuing years in rural Ontario developed her passion for small businesses, agricultural and otherwise.
Today she devotes her energy to helping these enterprises plan, transition and manage their customer facing technology in an ever-evolving landscape. I went to Leah with a list of the most common questions I see from entrepreneurs about launching a website.
Me: What do I need to have ready before speaking to a web designer?
Leah: The short answer to this one is a written scope of work to hand to your potential designer/developer. You should also have a glossary of terms that you understand and which your potential designer/developer understands to mean pretty much the same things as you do. Don't be afraid to "test the pro." Before that first meeting you will also need your realistic budget for the work and possible proposals for trade-of-services, work you're willing to do yourself, and work you think should be included in the basics. These are your negotiating points, so have 'em before you even start the discussion. Finally have three websites you think are dream sites for what you want to do without considering the price tag for any of them.
Me: Are we not considering price at this point?
Leah: Price tags are always negotiable, or spread-outable, or otherwise malleable. Let's be real about this: service prices are ALWAYS a negotiation of some sort. You have need of their time, energy and resources to get this job done, and they have need of your time, energy and resources in order to do it properly for you. Most of the time, the standard rate or going rate asked for a service is the dollar value the offering party has established as a fair return for their investment in your business. However, that doesn't mean that a professional web developer won't be open to more creative ways of recouping their spend on your work. Just be careful to avoid offering "exposure" or asking them to privately tutor you in something they've spent long months and years and dollars learning, though - these two are almost completely non-starters as compensation offerings and mark you out as a very amateur negotiator.
Me: On a side note, offers of "exposure" instead of payment are a chronic issue for coaches, consultants and other entrepreneurs that deal in knowledge and service. So much so, that I've written and spoken about it a lot over the years. I'm sure many readers are nodding along right now.
Leah: Oh, and from the buying side, if nothing is negotiable under any circumstances, negotiate with your shoe leather: walk away and find someone else to work with.
Me: Designers vs. Programmers and other confusing language--How do I wade through the jargon and talk to these technical types?
Leah: By using a glossary of terms - one you develop with the help of a friend, or get via Dr. Google (internet search). Read it, and remember which terms are "continuous bafflegab" to you -these are the ones you just can't seem to ever remember or get. Those bafflegab terms are the ones that will leave you feeling uncertain and therefore in a weak negotiating position, so learn to recognize their appearance in the conversation, and hit the pause button by asking silly questions when they rear their nasty heads.
Me: How can you get a workable website on a solopreneur or small start-up budget?
Leah: I tell clients to first think in terms of: What are fair prices for the components in this year's marketplace? Once you know what a reasonable price looks like, and then use one or more of the following three strategies to reduce that price down to your comfort zone.
1. Think up some possible proposals for trade-of-services. (Note from me: I always recommend entrepreneurs, especially those in the startup phase, look for mutually beneficial expertise bartering opportunities.)
2. Identify work you're willing and able to do yourself and plan to do that. This doesn't have to be the hard, techy bits, but things like brainstorming a color palette with a graphic arts or painter friend, listing all the functions you want included in the web site. Identify work you think should be included in the basics of the website project.
3. Always ask what parts can be later add-ons without compromising the fundamental usefulness of the site, and always ask for terms for the duration of the project - you can always negotiate a trickle of cash over time for a burst of activity on the web site. (Hint: if you can't negotiate anything like this at all, RUN, don't walk, away from the designer or developer. They're not in it for the long haul with you, they're in it for the short term and the ready cash.)
Me: Sometimes it seems like potential website professionals are coming out of the woodwork. What do I do about friend-of-a-friend, freebie, and other very tempting web design offers? And how do I tell if I've got a "real" designer or the right designer/developer for me?
Leah: Say thank you to the referrer if any. Then send their referred designer/developer your written scope of work and ask when you can expect their written response to be emailed back to you. You'd be surprised at how many non-professionals weed themselves out of the running as soon as you turn pro on them. Look the gift horse in the mouth: there's always some kind of payment you'll have to make, whether that's in learning curve, time spent doing things that are REALLY outside your area of expertise/interest, or "upgrade bait" that does the absolute minimum and will cost a lot to make better later. Always get at least three references from those who've taken up the offer, and check them all.
As you can see from this short conversation with Leah, there's a lot to be done before you get started on having your website created, changed, or overhauled. Come back next time for Part 2, when we talk about evaluating the work and what to do if something goes wrong.
If you want to contact Karen about individual coaching or speaking to your group/organization find her @askkaren on Twitter or http://www.karensouthallwatts.com. Those who need Leah's technical expertise can go to http://www.bytesmart.ca/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Karen_Southall_Watts/155314
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9807486
_(By Karen Southall Watts).
Almost all entrepreneurs have some type of web presence these days. It's true, you can still find the occasional hometown expert with a solid, long-term, client base that's never had to advertise, but they are incredibly rare. For the rest of us, the day will come when we must tackle the website question. Putting up your first website, or expanding or changing your old one, can be an intimidating, expensive and if you are not careful, frustrating experience. I decided to interview a technology expert friend of mine about ways to make the situation less painful.
Leah Murray opened byteSMART Strategies in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada in January 2015. Following a career in the Canadian Forces, Leah opened her first technology support business in Oshawa, Ontario. She closed that business in order to work as the Senior Information Services Consultant for the Research & Development scientists of an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Toronto. Several ensuing years in rural Ontario developed her passion for small businesses, agricultural and otherwise.
Today she devotes her energy to helping these enterprises plan, transition and manage their customer facing technology in an ever-evolving landscape. I went to Leah with a list of the most common questions I see from entrepreneurs about launching a website.
Me: What do I need to have ready before speaking to a web designer?
Leah: The short answer to this one is a written scope of work to hand to your potential designer/developer. You should also have a glossary of terms that you understand and which your potential designer/developer understands to mean pretty much the same things as you do. Don't be afraid to "test the pro." Before that first meeting you will also need your realistic budget for the work and possible proposals for trade-of-services, work you're willing to do yourself, and work you think should be included in the basics. These are your negotiating points, so have 'em before you even start the discussion. Finally have three websites you think are dream sites for what you want to do without considering the price tag for any of them.
Me: Are we not considering price at this point?
Leah: Price tags are always negotiable, or spread-outable, or otherwise malleable. Let's be real about this: service prices are ALWAYS a negotiation of some sort. You have need of their time, energy and resources to get this job done, and they have need of your time, energy and resources in order to do it properly for you. Most of the time, the standard rate or going rate asked for a service is the dollar value the offering party has established as a fair return for their investment in your business. However, that doesn't mean that a professional web developer won't be open to more creative ways of recouping their spend on your work. Just be careful to avoid offering "exposure" or asking them to privately tutor you in something they've spent long months and years and dollars learning, though - these two are almost completely non-starters as compensation offerings and mark you out as a very amateur negotiator.
Me: On a side note, offers of "exposure" instead of payment are a chronic issue for coaches, consultants and other entrepreneurs that deal in knowledge and service. So much so, that I've written and spoken about it a lot over the years. I'm sure many readers are nodding along right now.
Leah: Oh, and from the buying side, if nothing is negotiable under any circumstances, negotiate with your shoe leather: walk away and find someone else to work with.
Me: Designers vs. Programmers and other confusing language--How do I wade through the jargon and talk to these technical types?
Leah: By using a glossary of terms - one you develop with the help of a friend, or get via Dr. Google (internet search). Read it, and remember which terms are "continuous bafflegab" to you -these are the ones you just can't seem to ever remember or get. Those bafflegab terms are the ones that will leave you feeling uncertain and therefore in a weak negotiating position, so learn to recognize their appearance in the conversation, and hit the pause button by asking silly questions when they rear their nasty heads.
Me: How can you get a workable website on a solopreneur or small start-up budget?
Leah: I tell clients to first think in terms of: What are fair prices for the components in this year's marketplace? Once you know what a reasonable price looks like, and then use one or more of the following three strategies to reduce that price down to your comfort zone.
1. Think up some possible proposals for trade-of-services. (Note from me: I always recommend entrepreneurs, especially those in the startup phase, look for mutually beneficial expertise bartering opportunities.)
2. Identify work you're willing and able to do yourself and plan to do that. This doesn't have to be the hard, techy bits, but things like brainstorming a color palette with a graphic arts or painter friend, listing all the functions you want included in the web site. Identify work you think should be included in the basics of the website project.
3. Always ask what parts can be later add-ons without compromising the fundamental usefulness of the site, and always ask for terms for the duration of the project - you can always negotiate a trickle of cash over time for a burst of activity on the web site. (Hint: if you can't negotiate anything like this at all, RUN, don't walk, away from the designer or developer. They're not in it for the long haul with you, they're in it for the short term and the ready cash.)
Me: Sometimes it seems like potential website professionals are coming out of the woodwork. What do I do about friend-of-a-friend, freebie, and other very tempting web design offers? And how do I tell if I've got a "real" designer or the right designer/developer for me?
Leah: Say thank you to the referrer if any. Then send their referred designer/developer your written scope of work and ask when you can expect their written response to be emailed back to you. You'd be surprised at how many non-professionals weed themselves out of the running as soon as you turn pro on them. Look the gift horse in the mouth: there's always some kind of payment you'll have to make, whether that's in learning curve, time spent doing things that are REALLY outside your area of expertise/interest, or "upgrade bait" that does the absolute minimum and will cost a lot to make better later. Always get at least three references from those who've taken up the offer, and check them all.
As you can see from this short conversation with Leah, there's a lot to be done before you get started on having your website created, changed, or overhauled. Come back next time for Part 2, when we talk about evaluating the work and what to do if something goes wrong.
If you want to contact Karen about individual coaching or speaking to your group/organization find her @askkaren on Twitter or http://www.karensouthallwatts.com. Those who need Leah's technical expertise can go to http://www.bytesmart.ca/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Karen_Southall_Watts/155314
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9807486
_(By Karen Southall Watts).
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