August 30th, 2010 §
When your website doesn’t seem to be getting you the return on your investment that you had hoped, it is possible that your expectations were a little amiss. It is often said that a website is not a like the baseball diamond in Field of Dreams – you cannot simply ‘build it and they will come’.
Think of your website as a purebred racehorse.
You are the Owner.
You’ve invested in the horse, but there it sits (or stands) in the stables, looking beautiful and full of potential. It’s fit, well fed and ready to go. But you aren’t making money. It’s a fantastic horse, and all your friends tell you so, but it’s not doing its job.
Your site needs to show up in search engines using the keywords that you or your designer have chosen and your site has been built around. One of the most important and effective ways to get your site noticed is with backlinks, or links on other sites pointing to your site. Social media is one way to do this – Twitter links are indexed by Google and count as links to your site.
The Trainer.
Owners who aren’t going to train their own horse hire a trainer. In the case of the website, this could be the web designer or developer. They know your site already, and probably have a good grasp on marketing your site, using search engines and choosing keywords. If your website guru doesn’t do these things, find one that does. At the very least, you should have a list of keywords that you or someone else can use to promote your site.
The Jockey.
The jockey is the one who does the work! Promoting your site is not the job of a web expert or a marketing specialist, in the same way that you wouldn’t hire a lawyer to collect your dry cleaning. A virtual (or real) assistant can help create inbound links by posting on other sites, take care of your Twitter account, update Facebook and write new blog posts for you, leaving you free to do what you do best: running your business. With a modicum of supervision (it is recommended that Tweets and posts be approved before posting) an assistant can, for a moderate outlay, promote your site, gain inbound links and get you the publicity you need online.
Where is your horse? Still in the stables, or helping your business win the online race?
August 24th, 2010 §
Design, brands and beautiful scenery.
My family and I just just returned from a trip to the Okanagan Valley and Sunshine Coast. The Okanagan is situated in southern British Columbia and boasts one of Canada’s warmest climates. Combined with a higher humidity, it also happens to be one of the best places to grow vineyards. If you’ve spent any time (five minutes would do) in a liquor store you will notice that many companies seem to take particular pride in the design of their bottle labels. But, as I found out on our mini-winery tour, there is more to a brand than a label.
Also Ran.
The first winery we visited was Mission Hill. A large, well established name, with healthy prices to match, the grounds of the winery are very impressive. After negotiating a cramped and poorly laid out parking lot, we walked past the vineyard (proudly signposted to ward off ‘Unaccompanied’ guests) and through a very large stone archway. The large courtyard features a contemporary styled bell tower and exquisite architecture. Beautiful, yes. Welcoming, no. While other vineyards and wineries were more than accomodating to their guests, we were never once welcomed by anyone. We may have got lost in the sizeable crowd of tourists on the grounds, but we still evaded any attention while spending time in the extensive wine shop and other retail areas. Apparently, we weren’t dressed well enough to expect the attention. Big mistake. We love wine and we buy wine. Lots!
Best Brand Award.
The Dirty Laundry Winery in Summerland ran away with the best branding award. Named after a ‘service’ started by a Chinese immigrant who wished to expand his laundry business, the winery applied the slightly risqué story to everything from labels to wine names. The logo features surreptitious shapes that resemble figures emanating as steam from an iron, and one bottle (‘Hush’, a rosé) features quotes from the likes of Mae West. Say no more! The store even sells rather, erm, brief garments. A free wine tasting, complete with story line to take you from one wine to the next, and a beautiful patio on which to enjoy your by-the-glass or bottled purchases make the entire winery more of an experience, rather than just a place to buy wine. Rather than being a stuffy brand that wants to charge high prices to pay for a ridiculously over-archeticted fake monastery, Dirty Laundry is a fun winery, with style and taste. Beautiful labels, a fascinating history and warm welcome make this brand a winner.
Best Welcome Award.
Just outside Salmon Arm BC is Larch Hills, Canada’s northern-most winery. Due to the lack of humidity in the region, Larch Hills has produced a rather unique range of wines. They have become particularly proud and known for their whites, which have also won numerous awards. But the wine is only part of the story. Hazel and Jack run the entire operation with only one hired hand. Three people. One winery. That’s dedication, hard work and determination – and it shows. The wines are delicious, but the family-run atmosphere and warm welcome add to the pleasurable experience. Of course the wine has to be good, but a snooty, exclusive brand just puts people off.
I know which wines I’m going to be buying or ordering when I have the chance. It’s not just because of the taste. Buying from a winery is an experience, and the brand enforces or detracts from that experience. Whenever I taste a Dirty Laundry wine, or sip one of Larch Hills’ selections, I will remember the experience I had on holiday. And that is how a brand can influence buyers, long after the purchase.
In case you were wondering, my favourite wines were Dirty Laundry’s Unoaked Chardonnay and Bordello, and Larch Hills’ Pinot Gris and Siegerrebe.
*Photo Credits:© Nick Burman, 2010
August 20th, 2010 §
The story goes something like this (and is subject to the rules of Chinese Whispers, but the idea remains the same):
Pablo Picasso is dining at a restaurant when a passer by recognizes him and asks the artist for a favor: a quick sketch. The aging Picasso finds some paper and a pencil and spends a few minutes drawing something to please his fan. He hands over the finished piece and says ‘That will be $10,000 please’. The passer-by, stunned by the high price tag exclaims ‘But it only took you five minutes’, to which the painter replied ‘No, it took me 25 years’.
While not all graphic design jobs can be undertaken in just a couple of minutes (most jobs will take a lot longer than expected or often budgeted for), it is not necessarily the time you are paying for, but the expertise. Pablo Picasso had spend many years honing his craft, making mistakes and discovering what worked and what didn’t. Graphic designers too spend many years, that you will not have seen, in training and developing skills.
The flip side to this story is that many jobs require much more time than expected. Design is not an event, but a process. To correctly create a commercial piece (print design, web design, multimedia, etc) requires research, time and space. Research of the customer’s field or industry; time to work through all the wrong answers and ill fitting solutions; and space to process the research and other data to produce something truly creative.
Most graphic designers charge a little less than $120,000 and hour, but they will still have many years of experience that they will put to work for you and your business.
*Photo credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pablo_picasso_1.jpg
July 24th, 2010 §
99 Designs Wins Webby
I’ve commented before on the danger and widespread damage that competitive crowd sourcing can wreak on the design industry. Yet, some deemed it necessary to give some of these cowboys an award for their work.
But that’s Ok. Every industry has an award or two for what they deem to be the best of the best. Some are voted by the people, some are elected by peers. Some people welcome them with loving arms, while others prefer to stay home and shrug. “Hey, I was just doing my job.”. I, for one, would jump at the chance to demand being called Sir, or have some useless trophy clutter up my mantel piece, but some people wouldn’t -
- Keith Richards didn’t want CBE after his name. Maybe he thought it was an Inland Revenue trap.
- Marlon Brando was offered an Oscar for Best Actor in 1972, but it was an offer he actually could refuse.
- Sinead O’Connor declined to accept the award for Best Alternative Music Performance for “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” in 1990. And she didn’t get what she didn’t want.
- David Bowie turned down the opportunity to be called Sir David Bowie in 2003. Perhaps he didn’t want to change the lyrics to ‘Sir Ziggy played guitar’…
… and the list goes on, with a different real reason for each. So it would appear that getting an award is not as prestigious as it may appear. After all, these people have already been rewarded for the work they did. One more figurine in a basement cardboard box has little meaning.
I’m not going to get bent out of shape about it. And no, I’m not jealous! However, when I saw who else has been awarded Some Kind of Better Than You thing at the Brit Awards, I felt a whole lot better.
If Lady Gaga can be deemed Best International Female Artist, then I can live quite content with the idea that thousands of designers will not get paid, while one website gets an award for bringing mediocrity to the masses.
Meanwhile, it is very important to note that Spec Work hurts clients, it hurts designers and it reduces the quality of customer service and brand building that is essential to your business.
Find out more about Spec work, right here.
July 22nd, 2010 §
I’ve been thinking about Flash, and about how Flash is not always the best things to use when it comes to portable devices. The only instances I can think of where it’s a problem is with iPhone and iPad, which makes this an Apple (or more specifically, Steve Jobs) issue, and not a Flash issue.
Another issue some have with Flash is that they believe that many functionalities of Flash can be reproduced with HTML5. HTML5 will be great, when all browsers support it. If designers are still making allowances for Internet Explorer (IE)6, then how long will we be excusing those who do not support HTML5? At the moment, browser support (and hardware support) for Flash seems to be much broader. I look forward to your comments on that one…
The other issue is devices. Since when do we need one device that does absolutely everything? This comes down to expectations. If we stop thinking of a portable device as being the be all and end all, we won’t worry about compatibility.
An iPhone, Blackberry, or whatever you use (let’s keep this to smartphones) is not the same as a desktop, so stop thinking of it as such! It doesn’t have to do everything that your laptop or desktop computer can do. Statistically, most people who own a mobile phone, own a smartphone. The number of people who own smart phones and do not own a desktop or laptop computer is probably very very small. Practically negligible. And most definitely smaller than the amount of Internet Explorer 6 users.
So, if we can stop thinking of portables as our only devices, we’ll stop worry about compatibility.
The most obvious restriction to portable phones, in particular, is form factor. No matter what you are using them for or which website you want to visit, you are limited to using a comparatively small screen. On the iPhone, for instance, the best way to view any website or search for anything at all is to use a specific application (that is, an App). I tried this recently searching for a restaurant and found it much easier to use Yelp! than to use Safari and Google. Naturally, if I was on a desktop, I would be using Google. But with a phone, apps are the way to go.
My prediction is that browsers on phone will be replaced by real, device specific apps that work correctly on the form factor, then we’re back to mobile websites, which is what many apps end up as anyhow.
It all comes down to expectation from the user. If we can expect devices to not need to do everything under the sun, we will see fewer complaints that a particular new phone doesn’t have certain capabilities. Mainly, because the mobile won’t need it! I know that looking back and seeing technology in hindsight is a cliché, but it does seem that users only demand new functions because they can. What if hardware developers said no?
Consider a cordless drill. It doesn’t have a circular saw blade, a hammer head and a vacuum cleaner stuck on it! There are other tools for those things. If we can think of portables as being specific kinds of devices and taking things that we would want to do while we’re mobile, rather than trying to cram everything into our pockets, software developer can concentrate on making more useful PORTABLE content.
A portable phone with portable content. Desktop devices with desktop applications.
I’m all for pushing technology to see what really can be done (such as my recent post on using the iPhone as a portable office), but if the lack of compatibility means that everyone suffers – that is, Flash isn’t available on iPhone so nobody should use Flash – I’d rather leave the thing at home! So if we can be happy with a portable device that does only what it needs to do, it won’t matter if it doesn’t support things like Flash.
Do you REALLY want to watch a newly released movie on a gadget small enough to fit in your back pocket? Isn’t that what the 52″ LED Screen in your living room is for?
June 28th, 2010 §
Anyone who owns a laptop will tell you that the portability is a beautiful thing. You work at home, on the bus, at Starbucks, in bed, in the bathroom… it’s great. But if anything should happen to your beloved ‘book, you suddenly feel isolated. Chained. Like ‘those’ people. You know, the Laptopless People.
Recently I joined the sorry crowd that is sans-laptop. My MacBook Pro suddenly suffered from failed logic board and portability was no longer in my life, except for my iPhone.
So, I set out to see exactly how much I could do with my iPhone. One of the problems as a graphic designer going from a fully functioning laptop for portability to depending on an iPhone is the shortage of apps. That is, real apps. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Transmit, Illustrator… Basically, everything design related.
But I found a selection of apps that have enabled me to login, download and create webpages, create photographs and upload them to the website (after editing, resizing and cropping) and make changes to any existing website. I now had a real, and practical way to be a designer on the road. Print design is another story, but I’m not sure I would want a pre-press app on a hand held screen.
As an experiment, to see just how much I could live without a laptop, I created a website using nothing but my iPhone. You can see it here: Built on iPhone.
Here is a list of apps that I’m using for web design.
Not only does this app login to a webserver and create folders and files like a desktop FTP client, it also includes a text editor. Create a file, type in the HTML and CSS, save to the server and you have a webpage.
Photos on ‘Built on iPhone’ were taken on the iPhone, but I had trouble uploading with FTP On the Go. FTP Pic Up does one thing – it uploads pictures to a preset FTP server. But it does it well, and easily.
Yes, there’s a portable version of Photoshop. Of course, it’s not a patch on the real thing, but it’s from Adobe and it does do some simple editing and colour correction.
The one thing Photoshop for iPhone doesn’t do, however, is resize. Odd. So I had to find another app for that, which is what Simple Resize does. This app does just one job, but it’s an essential one when it comes to creating your own websites on the go. By the way, the website is entirely in Japanese – if you find it in the App Store, that’s all you need to know. It resizes pictures. There is no manual!
Here are some apps that I use for other business duties:
Paired with the desktop version (I actually replaced the MacBook Pro with an iMac, incase you were wondering) Things is a very powerful project management program. I can keep on top of clients projects and to do lists and sync individual tasks with iCal. I simply couldn’t work without it.
For invoicing, Billings is another app that has a desktop version. From creating projects, adding billable items (both timed and fixed price) and emailing invoices, most tasks possible with the full version are available with the app, except for things like making custom invoice templates. Easy to use, highly flexible and good looking too.
Along with the desktop version, Bento helps me keep stuff organized. It’s a database program that doesn’t feel like a database. I can now sort and edit project lists, lists of social media messages, project ideas and contact lists.
Address Book
Everyone needs an address book. But one of the most useful aspects of Address Book is the ability to just click on an address and get instant directions in the Maps app. I might never get lost again!
Mail
Using Mail and IMAP settings, I can see which emails have already been opened by the desktop version. And of course, being able to email on the go is essential.
Safari
Well, I’m not going to get far without a browser, am I? I’ve tried a few other browsers but always come back to the default Apple one. It just works. What else do you need? Portably, it’s a great way to check on the status of clients’ websites.
Instead of carrying documents locally on the iPhone (and forget to transfer the ones I really need), keeping files on iDisk – part of MobileMe allows me to look up essential files quickly.
Word processing, nice and simple. But along with iDisk, I can upload Word documents, edit them on iPhone and save again, instantly syncing with my iMac.
The app I’m using right now! if I”m going ot keep up with business away from the office, I’m going to have to keep blogging. Open the app, select the blog, select a post and type away.
My most useful tweets are stored in Bento (usually the ones with links to my blog posts and website landing pages) so all i have to do is copy/paste into Twitter. Twitter is essential for telling about new products, new website launches and portfolio updates. it’s also a great community for testing sites, second opinions, moral support and networking.
The effects of updates and changes to a site can be easily tracked with Google Analytics. The app also tracks keywords, visitor details and other metrics. The number of charts and figures is quite dazzling, but once you know which ones to keep track of, GA can be a vital tool.
Accept invoice payments, send money requests, transfer money to a bank account – even transfer money to another iPhone by bumping. No more messy, awkward checks or drives to the bank.
These apps (along with the phone and text messaging) help me run business while on the road, at the coffee shop or just away from home for whatever reason. Obviously there are a lot of tasks missing – my iPhone is not a laptop – but on the upside, I get to actually spend time with my family while on holiday!
How about you? Which apps have you found to be essential in using your iPhone for business?
June 22nd, 2010 §
Portman Road, Home of the team from my home. Any takers?
It has long been recognised that being the home team in almost any match gives you an advantage. Is it the vast majority of fans calling/singing your name and wearing your colours? Is it the familiarity of the environment? Perhaps it’s the promise that your Mum could be in the crowd…
Studies on testosterone in players and the differences in venue shows that goalkeepers in soccer are more ‘pumped up’ at home. In his post on Suite101.com, John O’Connor states that the “Home advantage appears more important in team than individual sports. Why is it more apparent as a team phenomenon?”
Players of individual sports still show that advantage, but not to the degree that team players do. Nevertheless, there is a difference.
Perhaps this advantage can translate to workers at home too. You are working in a familiar environment, familiar coffee and familiar interruptions. Yes, there are disruptions, but it’s ironic that those ‘interruptions’ are normally the reason you work from home anyway! However, you are free from plenty of negative effects that the office (or team) environment brings:
- chatty co-workers
- seemingly trivial meetings
- requests of help outside of your own workflow
- co-ordinating lunch breaks
- more meetings
- no vuvuzelas
There are also the common and well known advantages, such as zero travel time, flexible hours and coffee or background music to your taste. I certainly don’t miss the ‘which one is decaf?’ discussions.
So really, in all, there is a huge advantage, production and quality-wise. Simply being at home, it seems, could be the advantage that a home based business has versus a traditional office based business.
Do you work from home? Have you seen any direct advantage in business, other than the relaxed dress code and flexible hours?
Photo credits: © Sascha Drenth
June 21st, 2010 §
No, you can't borrow my studio.
Everyone loses things from time to time. A key for the garden shed; a receipt for a pair of shoes you meant to return; then lens cap off your camera when you’re on holiday. It sucks.
But when somebody else TAKES something from you, it hurts more. The thought of some desperate nuisance deciding to take what isn’t theirs, willingly, is a stinging feeling. It makes you angry, resentful, and somewhat overcautious for a while.
If I lost my phone, the thought of someone else wandering around using MY phone, with MY apps, would be maddening. I paid for that phone, so I should be the one enjoying it. Not them. How dare they? I bought it with my cash, and I deserve to be using it.
So when I have bought software (which can, for something like an Adobe suite, run into thousands of dollars) and I hear of someone else using a copy they downloaded for free, I take it personally. Why should I (the one with a conscience) have to pay for something that other people (without consciences) get to enjoy for free?
Of course, I answered my own question. I like to live with a clear conscience. I like to work (and record music) legally. I like to be able to proudly phone or email tech support when I have an issue, and be able to get all the help I need.
On their website, Adobe have something to say about the effects of software piracy:
Illegal distribution of software affects the worldwide economy. With an estimated 36% piracy rate globally, the economic effects are significant. In 2001, according to the Business Software Alliance, piracy cost the global economy over US$13 billion dollars in lost tax revenues that would benefit local communities. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in software and related industries were also lost.*
In other sources, that figure is as high as $50 billion, but I think $13 billion is high enough. That’s still a mountain of money. Adobe also admits that piracy hinders further development by crippling the revenues of software companies. They go on to state:
Pirated software can carry viruses or may not function at all. Unlicensed users do not receive quality documentation and are not entitled to receive technical support or product upgrades, patches, or updates. Organizational productivity also suffers when employees use pirated products. Pirated software often leads to version control problems that prevent employees from efficiently sharing files, while driving up IT support costs.
Even for self-interest, it would make sense that anyone interested in using a particular piece of software for any length of time would be interested in investing in it’s longevity. As an example, I was using Smultron for some time before it ceased being developed. This was actually due to the developer didn’t “have the time to spend on the applications that they deserve.” Still, I was little upset that there would be no more updates, so when it came to looking for a text editor that had more functionality, I went with a paid option. Imagine if other software would cease to be simply because pirates had stolen revenue from the developers?
Even if you think you aren’t hurting anyone, consider this. You didn’t pay for that software, and you don’t have the right to use it. You’re also hurting the working professionals with a conscience (and need for support and further upgrades) by potentially raising prices.
Honestly – if you’re not using much of this software in your business, you don’t need most of the features anyhow. Here are some free (or cheap) alternatives to software that pirates may be using:
Now you have no excuse to steal!
* Adobe Source
June 16th, 2010 §
Your website needs a few cuts. Give it a trim and make it work for you!
Spam Magnets
If you have a link that opens a new email for you (in Outlook, Thunderbird, Mail, etc) then the chances are you spend most mornings deleting invites from foreign dignitaries and shady pharmaceutical companies. The reason for this is that people building spam contact lists will scour websites using mailto links. Talk to your designer and get him/her to use the contact form instead, or just use an image of your email address.
Blur
Damon Albarn can stay, but that lack of focus is going to – hey look, it’s raining outside. I bet the grass will – is that the time, or did I forget to put new batteries in my mouse? Lack of focus will confuse your visitors. Where are they meant to go? What should they click on next? How do they buy right now?
Fake Budgets
Stock libraries are great for adding clean, well lit images of exactly what you need to illustrate your point. But they have to fit! If you are a one person business, it is really obvious that you are not likely to spend thousands of dollars hiring models, renting or scouting a location, hiring lighting and a photographer for one tiny little image. That office space full of beautiful people doesn’t make your website look more professional. It’s just a lie.
Glory Days
You went to school where? I googled it and I don’t think it’s there any more. The chances are pretty good that most of your prospects care less about your schooling than you do. OK, you went to school. What have you done since then?*
You WILL Read the Ad
Many sites, particularly the most prominent technology blogs, feature ads that very cleverly pop-up right over where I’m trying to read. I want to read the article. If I wanted an Audi, I would read the ad in the sidebar. Now, let me read the article!
Bigger is Badder
Websites are clever little fellas! You can upload pictures straight from your 8MP camera onto your computer, upload them to your site and just tell the browser to display it really small, so it’s fits on your web page. Brilliant. Now you have a picture the size of your dining table being squished into a tiny little space that is going to take the time it takes to read this entire sentence to load. By the time it loads, I’ve forgotten why I was even at this site. All pictures on your site should be ACTUAL size.
Your ‘Puter Sucks
The site looks great. But, the designer only tested it in Internet Explorer because that’s what most people use anyway. Market share says that the vast majority of people use Windows, and all those people have Internet Explorer. So, he/she put a note at the bottom saying ‘This site is optimized for use on Internet Explorer’. Not only does this exclude a LOT of people, it makes users feel that they need a new browser just to view one site. But worse than that, it makes the designer/developer look super lazy.
Web design is not just about making a site aesthetically pleasing. It’s also about knowing what to avoid, and what to include in your site. These are just a few ways you can make your website more honest, clean, efficient and happier in general. If you have any questions about web design and how your site (new or existing) can be build to help your business (rather than hinder it), email me.
*By the way, if you want to know where I went to school and what I studied, just ask. It’s no secret!
May 31st, 2010 §
Your Business is an Elephant.
Once upon a time (as all true stories begin) there were four blind guys visiting the zoo. When they come to the elephant, they ask the staff if they can be allowed into the pen to feel it. Once inside, they each take a part of the elephant to find out exactly what an elephant is like. Later on, they get together to discuss what they found. One guy felt the trunk and said ‘An elephant is a long, snake-like animal’. Another fellow felt the legs and reported ‘No, an elephant is more like a tree’. The guy who inspected the animal’s side contested ‘An elephant is a huge, leather clad hill’, while the one who had stood at the rear said ‘What are you all talking about? An elephant is just like a piece of rope.’
Who was right?
OK, it’s an old illustration, but it still works. If you talk to a number of professionals about your business, each one will have a different bias towards a different aspect of your business. Some professionals will be more open minded than others, but you will still often hear emphasis placed on different aspects.
One consultant will say you need a blog to market your business. Another will say content is king. A third will say that without great design, nobody will give your materials a second look, while another professional will boldly state that what you really need is search engine optimization.
Who is right?
Yes, you need a blog, but it may or may not replace a website that is capable of so much more. Of course, content is necessary, but it’s important to note that massive amounts of text are wasted on an online audience. Design is only important if it supports the brand and enforces the message, and SEO is vital as long as you are optimizing for the correct keywords (by the way, there are more ways to reach your website than using a search engine…)
Don’t be blinded by one point of view. Get as much advice as you can when it comes to promoting and marketing your business. While many professionals are biased towards their particular offerings, it’s important to keep all aspects of marketing in balance.
