I’m Frightened!
Today I commissioned a $2500, scorched-earth rebuild of my entire website. I expected a faint pang of apprehension at this point; now that it’s here, I’m downright scared. I’ve written dozens of sites for clients, but this is different. It’s my site, my brand, my business and my money, um… line of credit, actually.
In short, it’s my a**e online. I’m literally trembling as I type. Will I triumph, or come a cropper? Let’s play the fortunately/unfortunately game to see:
Fortunately I have a good man in my corner. He’s been my IT Guy for a couple of years and his service is second to none. He’s fast and smart and reasonably priced. He’s got offsite backup thingys coming out of his serial port, so that’s got to be good.
Unfortunately my years of experience with web projects have taught me that they’re longer and stringier than the longest, stringiest bits of string. What starts as a five-page walk in the park can turn into a 15-volume Grimm’s fairy tale. Overnight.
Fortunately I did things by the book. I wrote an explicit, four-page plan of what I wanted in terms of content, structure and functionality. I also wrote a creative brief, complete with sample images, to give the designer a clear sense of my vision. I even gave the URL of the site I wish to emulate – a site, ironically, whose content I edited with supreme confidence!
Unfortunately until you see everything on screen, you don’t know how (if?) it’s going to work. And even if it’s all done right and I love it, my clients may not. They range from sole traders to corporate juggernauts; what pleases some may repel others. It all comes down to my professional judgment which, though unerring to date, feels strangely frail today.
Fortunately I have a small circle of gifted, trusted, objective advisors. To these generous people I will send the site mock-ups that precede the main event.
Unfortunately until we go live, I won’t know for sure whether all this time, money and effort will pay off.
Fortunately the Empire is soon to be mentioned in a major magazine and featured on myBRC. It’s possible that hordes of new visitors will give me the feedback I crave.
Unfortunately the site may not be ready in time for this exposure, and these rich, new prospects may hit (and flee) my tired, old site which is so in need of a makeover.
Fortunately if the whole thing collapses in a screaming heap, I’ll at least get some amusing blog posts out of it.
All this goes to show that when you’re reinvesting your own hard-earned cash, even decades of expertise offer scant comfort. Do you trust yourself? Whence comes your confidence?
Your advice, warnings and hilarious anecdotes are invited at this point.
Wish me luck!
Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, www.thefeistyempire.com
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Oh Paul, I can SOOOO relate. I’m having the underneath part of my website and the hosting changed. What sounds just like a walk in the park seems to have turned into a marathon in a foreign language … where even the 2 computer … people involved don’t speak the same dialect! let alone me attempting to translate between the 2!
And what looked good on one host, doesn’t seem to look the same on the new one! Go figure.
Fortunately/ Unfortunately seems to be a great game to play. When I was teaching I used to get the children to write prose on the theme … Good Luck/Bad Luck, we had some hilarious results as you cna probably imagine.
Good luck with your new site!
Leanne Watson
http://www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat
Thank you for sharing your story, Leanne. Isn’t it funny that we sent men to the moon nearly 50 years ago but we still can’t get a : and a ) to make a
on all systems! I’ll certainly keep a record of my journey, so please stop by again.
The whole website thing has been a rollercoaster ride for me too. I did my own without having the first idea about html or web design (this is not to be recommended unless you want a serious headache). I think it’s a very wise move paying someone and a great start doing a four page plan.
No one will be as harsh a critic as you will Paul but I do hope you’re very happy with the end result. And the way things seem to be going in your business you’ll have it paid off in no time! Good luck.
I can’t believe you did your site yourself, Kate! Yours was one of the ones I was thinking of emulating! You never stop impressing. Thanks heaps for your vote of confidence. I’m trusting the universe big time on this one. So far, the signs are good. Watch this space!
Obviously Paul we at the e team aren’t doing something right because you know us well but chose not to go with us this time. Yet because we are completely independent of the technology and know the systems as well as anybody, we are in a unique position to help identify technology that is perfect for your kind of business, budget and skill level. Obviously too Im going to have to do more to convince you of this! But good luck all the same. Craig
the money comes in…the money goes out…at least it is not on something boring like insurance/electricity/rates bills etc!
True, Heather. I can think of better ways to spend $2.5K. Then again, we just spent exactly that on the dog, and we still don’t know what’s wrong with her! Aitutaki seems very far away just now…
Hi Paul,
No need to be frightened!
I’m sure that your line of credit will be suitably compensated with the additional revenue generated from your improved web presence!
Its fantastic that you have predetermined goals, ideas of what you want to achieve and how you want to deliver the content. Often we have people come to us for a website but they haven’t considered what they actually want to do with it. Sometimes determining this can be more stressful than the development cycle itself!
The sky’s the limit! Your website has seen a huge increase of traffic over the last few months and with a forecast to increase again, it seems like an ideal time to take your website to the next level!
We’re looking forward to this project
Andrew Hurl
http://www.silverdimension.com.au
What a guy! With you in my corner, Andrew, how can I lose?! Thanks for adding your voice to this story; it’s the icing on the cake.
Thank you for your well wishes, Craig. You did a fabulous analysis of my site many moons ago. I’ve since recommended your excellent service to several of my clients. And you’ve lately seen me supporting your blogging and Twitter initiatives. You are indeed a Righteous Dude in my book!
There were, however, a few technical issues that you were honest enough to admit were not your forte. When Andrew took over my domain hosting and email handling, I learned that he owned all the gear and was able to do all the advising AND all the nutting and bolting. For an anxious chap like me, it was a one-stop, end-to-end package with a price I couldn’t ignore.
I do hope you’ll continue to track this story, Craig. Your counterpoint opinion would lend much authority to the debate. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
This post is a really interesting debate…I was listening to some academics from Deakin on Wednesday talking about the lack of professionals who can help small businesses not just build their site from a technical perspective, but actually work out the strategy and business objectives for their site…develop content, advise on appropriate functionality, analyse web stats…there’s a real dearth of middle people that have experience in creating websites that are business tools.
Something of a passion of mine…perhaps one day I’ll get there!
Thanks, Megan. I’ve got one client (a new business) who needs exactly what you describe. I’m keeping them posted on every step of my journey so it doesn’t have to be so stressful when their turn comes. I think Andrew is quite brave to operate under such intense public scrutiny!
I’m not sure I have any relevant comments to add to this discussion. So, I’ll go off topic. I absolutely LOVE the turtle drawing you used for this post! It is adorable and, I think, completely conveys what you’re feeling inside.
I can’t wait to see your new site, I know it’s going to look amazing!
Thank you, Wendy! That’s exactly how I’m feeling, though I do feel a lot better since this discussion began. Clipart sure has come a long way since I were a nipper. I found this cartoon by searching ‘fear’ within Word. No mess, no fuss, it’s free and, best of all, free to use! Nice one, Microsoft!
Hi Paul,
Before putting my site together I phoned up about 15 website design companies. I was quoted anywhere from $500 to $20,000 for the same thing!!
I went with Melbourne IT in the end and I am happy with the site but it could be better. We can continuously work on our site and try to make everyone happy but in the end, as long as we like it then that’s all that matters. That’s just my opinion though.
I agree with Kate, wise move to get someone to do it for you. We can’t be chief, cook and bottle washer. We have to admit when we need assistance!
Good luck with it all
I like your site a lot, Yvonne (notwithstanding the italics, which I always advise against on the basis of readability). That was a huge range you were quoted. There’s so much voodoo in this field; I hope this excercise can dispell some of it. Thanks for your return visit!
The whole website thing gets me insane. And I get that way because of how things line up. Follow me here…
My positives:
1. I can write strong content (for posts).
2. I can write, perform and produce strong audio work.
3. I can write, perform and produce strong video work.
Negatives:
1. I don’t know squat about website terminology.
Wendy and I put together my first cgabriel.com through a company called Homestead. It worked great for the first year but we always knew there’d be a redesign.
I went to a strong, mid-level company here awhile back with a detailed plan (similar to yours) for what I wanted from my next website. A $6500 (USD) bid later and I was out the door heading for the nearest tavern. For that matter, I was dizzy BEFORE I got there.
A few looks around and I discovered several templates through solostram.com and Thesis I liked. Are they my dream fit? No. But will they do? Yes. For now. AND, most importantly, for our budget.
The hosting thing scares the fish-droppings out of me…Greek people have fish-droppings…it’s very complicated.
I narrowed down the relatively small pool of hosting companies from 11,324 to three. Finally, I chose. Did I choose correctly? How would I know? I’ve got nothing to base it on. Homestead was a very unusual company in that their service was all-inclusive. It wasn’t HTML-based, but drag and drop.
Sooooooooooo…..yes, we’re finally coming to an end…
I have a suspicion your $2500 clams on the halfshell will be well-spent. My biggest worry about giving up design control — is not having design control. I know exactly what I want and can articulate it quite thoroughly. But, that doesn’t mean it’ll manifest itself that way from another designer’s head, and I don’t care how good he/she is. And the thing that scared me off from going to a company: Being nickel and dimed for re-do after re-do. And, the “You can update free for one hour per day…after that, it’s….” I don’t remember the fee, but it was insane.
I wish you the best. You have a good head on those shoulders and I’m sure things will turn out great. Can’t wait to see it. Who knows, maybe I’ll be coming to your IT guy at some point.
As we used to say in New York City, “Don’t-choo worry – I gotta guy…he’s good…cheap…like family…you’ll love him…he don’t talk much, but he’s good…clean………….niiiice.”
Your comments are so good, Christopher, I’m going to pass them off as my posts and pretend my posts are your comments! Your stories add great colour to this arena, so thank you!
I’m getting very good vibes from Andrew, so fingers crossed. And if he happens to score a trans-Pacific punter from this excercise, that’d be beaut!
Thanks for the link Paul, boy are things clearer, not! I figure if I stay focused on the outcome I want to acheive and work my way backwards from there. I’m not strong in any of the above mentioned criteria’s yet I know what needs to be acheived. I’ll be checking in to see how it is going for Feisty Empire and may need to employ your services to proof read Treehouses page contents, your astute business eye as described with the Bendigo Hotel would be a great addition. When is your expected live date? Thanks for the RT also.
Tracey
It just occurred to me to give the website Craig Reardon from The e Team did for me: http://www.liferal.com/ Craig was fast, friendly, helpful and well priced, as my testimonial on his site… attests! http://bit.ly/uzIam
Hi Tracey! If you think it might help, email paul@thefeistyempire.com and I’ll send you the four-page site structure I gave my IT Guy.
We’re shooting for a mid-May go live, but I’ve told the crew not to put speed ahead of quality. Rest assured there’ll be announcements here and on Twitter.
I’d love to proof your content when you get to that stage, but please be sure to sort out your horse before you hitch any carts to it! Otherwise, you could be in for an expensive ride!
Hi Paul,
I had a great technical team who are the kings of code but not really great on the design side.
After the site was completed last week I compiled a list of design rules which if followed could have saved me all those design headaches in the last few weeks. I realised took these design rules for granted and assumed my website team would be aware of them. Obviously rules are meant to be broken but it’s good to know the rules before you do. For user-friendly, professional looking design and readability these rules apply. Next time I shall include the below rules in my template notes and hopefully save myself time so I can concentrate on the business strategy and content.
– Images used are always be at least 72dpi and appear clearly with good resolution
– The spelling is correct
– Navigation is clear and consistent from one page to the next
– There is consistent use colour and shape in images, boxes and type
– Things are lined up as much as possible – horizontally and vertically
– The same font is used throughout the site
– Coloured text only ever appears as a heading
– Pictures have at least .5 cm (half centimetre) of blank space all around
– Headings have at least a few blank spaces before and after and an amount of space above and below
– All headings are in the same case
Dear Angie, I’ve been footling around with websites for years, and NOBODY has drawn my attention to such a simple-yet-vital list! You just named all the elephants in the room. I just had a call from Cirque du Soleil, and they don’t even use elephants!
Megan, I think you should ask Angie whether she’d be willing to do one of your downloadable, co-branded template thingys.
Thank you, Angie, for your elegant wisdom!
I hope Andrew from Silver Dimension (my IT Guy) won’t mind if I post the link to my development site. This is waiting for my content, which I will strive to provide this weekend.
It’s so ironic. For years I’ve gone crook at clients for not keeping up with my high speed of work. Now that I AM the client, I’m keeping Andrew waiting! This has been quite a journey for me.
Anyway, designwise, I couldn’t be happier. Check it out here: http://www.dev.thefeistyempire.com/
PS: There’ll be heaps more pics when we’re done. And the current content will change completely. I just need to find the TIME!
Nice blog Paul, it expressed almost exactly what we went through with the recent re-branding of our site.
It really highlights the importance of having the right businesses on board when you bring in expertise.
Cheers,
Mark
http://www.expertmagnet.com
Thank you kindly, Mark. Your site certainly looks very clean and professional. I’ve had nothing but great service from Andrew, so I feel very lucky in my choice of expert. Hope to see you here again soon!