You know, sometimes there are times things need to be validated by members of the industry and this is one statement that I need to validate. Being the President, Founder and Lead Designer for a successful Multimedia company I have to get a few things off my chest.

“Web designers” are everywhere, anyone with a copy of front page and the internet are calling them selves web designers, seeking out clients to make a living from selling their services. Everyday while surfing the web I come across FrontPage built sites with stick on animated gifs and bloated Microsoft html code. There was obviously no thought to the end user or design principle while these sites where in development. Open new word document >slap in some stolen gifs from the web > save as html and WHAMMO you are a web designer. NO YOU ARE NOT.

Too many times I meet with a prospective client and they show me a horrible site that they paid obscene amounts of money for and I mean obscene, some of these sites are 3 times what my company charges and they look like they were done by a no talent hack in the basement of grandma’s house. Seriously how do you sleep at night ripping people off like that. My rates are not cheap but my portfolio is large and I have a steady flow of referral business coming in. I even have repeat customers that have multiple sites. No wonder there are so many clients that I meet that get visibly sullen when I show them my company portfolio and quote them on a new site. How can I blame them? They paid more than double what I am quoting for the mess they have now. Many of these poor people convince themselves that they have a great site because their “Web Guy” told them that it was a great site and they got a good deal on it.

I spent years in school and training in art to do what I do. My credentials include a Multimedia Diploma with Honors, Certificate of Business Admin. Marketing and Sales Major, Sales management experience, 15 years of art training and practice. During my training I spent time learning about Humane Interface design, optimization, scalability, graphic design, color palettes and more. These are some of the many tools that a true web designer has in his or her arsenal. I am a registered Adobe client using the latest in graphic design software, my companies programming principles are strict and clean and we write our own code. (Some times we write out code in notepad just to make sure we don’t get reliant on WYSIWYG editing.) We know where the code editor is in Dreamweaver and understand the differences between different versions of IE, Firefox, Opera. We understand color wheels, beta testing, bandwidth, image optimization. This list could go on forever I think you get the point.

I am going to explain what a true web designer/developer does when dealing with a new client. Before I start on any project for a client I have a FREE (YES I said FREE) consultation meeting with the prospect. Instead of spitting out some arbitrary number to them and telling them what their site will do. I have a full interview with the client and educate them to the benefits of a website. Take the time to introduce them to new technologies available for websites such as blogs, news, CMS, flash etc. After this meeting which usually take 1hr or more, I thank the client for their time and let them know I will work out a quote for them and email it later that day. If the client insists that I ballpark a quote. I will ask a few more questions and ballpark a range based on other sites that I have developed that are similar. Once the quote is approved I layout a project guideline for the client with milestones and payment schedules at each milestone reached. This helps keep things scheduled and gives the client piece of mind throughout the process.

To those guilty parties out there, you should be ashamed of yourselves. You are preying on people that want to grow their business or are just starting out. All you are accomplishing is helping these poor clients fail. Before you start demanding exorbitant amounts of money for your services try going to school and taking a few art classes, at least now you will do your clients and your reputation justice. To anyone that is out there looking for web sites PLEASE do some research and make sure that your choice in designer is based off their experience and previous work. If they have no work to show you then you are well within your right to ask for a mock-up before signing on to have them launch your web site project.

Us multimedia people are not all rip off artists and if you find the right one for your business you could be developing a long standing relationship for the better of both parties involved. As mentioned earlier I have many repeat clients and referrals making it unnecessary to advertise. No newspaper ads, no billboards, no mass emailing. My advertising consists of a small link on clients sites that allow it, linking to my main company site. My phone rings from new clients and 9 out of 10 times it is because they got my info from someone who I did work for.

Here are some other posts that give prospective clients some insight into the minds of web developers.

choosing-a-web-designer
artist-vs-programmer

My company site is located at www.mk2solutions.com if you click clients there are links to work that I have done. For other samples you can always contact me through the contact form as I have lots of sample layouts etc that are archived. As busy as we are I am always open to meeting a new prospective client to discuss their project. Worst case I will put a team together to develop it while I oversee each phase to insure the level of quality is at a level that I accept.

Posted in Business, HowTo/Tips, Personal, Rants&Thoughts, Why & How | No Comments »

Well after a 3month hiatus from playing this spectacular game that I enjoy so much I returned to the course today. Expecting high scores and lost balls I went into the round with a clear mind and no scoring expectations.

I step up to the first tee and take a few practice swings. Everything feels great, just like riding a bike. I teed up the ball and made my first swing. It was clean and solid just a little right but a safe play.

My game continued like this for most of the round with only the odd bad shot. I was a quite happy with my self until about the 8th hole when things were falling apart. During a wait at number 11 I was thinking about my swing and realized that I had started to speed up my back swing and was loosing control of the club face coming through the ball.

I slowed my back swing down again and I was flying true and straight, even getting a little draw with the irons. I guess the lesson here is after being away from the game for so long you tend to be a little more cautious when you step out again . That caution is what allows your body to swing correctly without having your ego and your brain get in the way.

Now if only I could keep myself from trying to kill the ball I would be able to break 80. As my confidence increases so does my swing speed and exponentially my accuracy goes down. On a side note a smooth clean swing will always produce a longer and straighter shot than a wild full out swing. Well at least at my playing level it will.

Golf Lesson: No matter how well you are playing or how much you want that extra 10 yards, always keep you swing smooth and easy. 10-20Yards shorter but in the fairway is better than even 30 yards extra and unplayable. Don’t let you confidence and your mind get in the way of a natural smooth swing.

Posted in Golf, HowTo/Tips, Personal | No Comments »

I don’t normally rant publicly about things that bother me, usually I just wander aimlessly about the house and yell at inanimate objects. Frustrated at the idiocity* of the human race. However this particular thing that bothers me about people is worthy of posting so here goes.

*Idiocity - YES I know this word is not found in the English dictionary. Read the following as I believe it should be entered into both the medical journals and dictionary.

id-i-oc-ity /idiocity/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[id-ee-uh-sit-ee]
-noun

1. the disease which cause people to be idiots.
2. Psychology. a person of the lowest order in a former classification of mental retardation, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25.

[Origin: Derived from the -noun IDIOT idiocity is a mental disorder that plagues a large percentage of the general population. Relief from the symptoms can be found in education, listening and study however there is no cure beyond that of common sense]
-Synonyms 1. fool, half-wit; imbecile; dolt, dunce, numskull.

The Rant Read Full Post >>

Posted in HowTo/Tips, Personal, Rants&Thoughts | 1 Comment »

Useless facts Part.3

• The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.
• No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven! (7) times.
• Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.
• You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
• Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age or older.
• The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.
• No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven! (7) times.
• Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.
• You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
• • Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age or older.
• The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley”s gum.
• The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
• American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class.
• Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.(Since Venus is normally associated with women what does this tell you!)
• Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
• Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.
• The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. So did the first “Marlboro Man.”
• Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
• Pearls melt in vinegar.
• The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
• It is possible to lead a cow upstairs…but not downstairs.
• A duck”s quack doesn”t echo, and no one knows why.
• Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush. (I keep my toothbrush in the living room now!)
• Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first U.S. president whose name contains all the letters from the word “criminal.” The second ? William Jefferson Clinton (Please don”t tell me you”re SURPRISED!?!!)
• And the best for last….. Turtles can breathe through their butts.(I know some people like that; don”t YOU?)
• The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
• American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class.
• Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.(Since Venus is normally associated with women what does this tell you!)
• Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

Posted in HowTo/Tips, Humour/Jokes | No Comments »