Lost in Translation

In his blog post, Paying Not To Be First, Jonathan Fields discusses why paying more for a service is better.

He makes a fair point: you’re paying more for a service because you are paying for the individual’s experience.

Reading this reminds me of a few things I should share about web designers and other freelancers. Remember, I base this on working in the field for 10 years; I’ve seen my colleagues do a lot of interesting things.

In his post, Jonathan has the “you get what you pay for” mentality. Bear in mind that this is often true. However, it can be equally false.

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A video was released just a few days ago by musician Dave Carroll about his frustrating encounters with United Airlines policies and customer service. Apparently, United broke an expensive guitar and the airline refused to replace it or reimburse him. In his final encounter with a United employee, Carroll told the airline representative that he would write 3 songs about his bad experience. So he did.

Mr. Carroll became a media sensation and has been overwhelmed with support, with even Oprah’s people calling him.

By the next day, the musician was contacted by United who made an offer to correct the situation.

And what does this have to do with you and your business? Everything.

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Creating a web site involves a lot of factors. For many business owners and managers, the volume of information out there is overwhelming. Many well look at the latest trends and/or what their competition does, and run with that. Often, a design is chosen simply on what is appealing to the person calling the shots.

But what if the trends or competition is wrong for you? Or what if you just aren’t sure what approach to take? And are you 100% sure your customers share your taste?

When in doubt, think about your target audience. Who is your target demographic? What kind of person does your organization cater to?

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Although I’ve been a web designer professionally for almost a decade, I was working on a college degree for far longer. That’s right, I learned this stuff before you could major in it. As a result, I decided to go for an e-business degree because I had no desire to sit through months of basic web design classes. Surprise! I already knew about 99% of the e-business material too.

But this meant I got to participate in some interesting classroom discussions and once again see how other people view the Internet.

In several classes there was confusion among students as to the difference between blogs, wikis and forums, what they did, and when to use them.

To add to the confusion, they each do have some similar functions. Yes, all 3 are web-based applications that allow people to communicate with each other. However, this doesn’t mean they are all ideal for the same needs or projects. (more…)