Volume 02 // Number 01
January 2008
In this issue
- New Year, New Stuff
- Be Aware of Foundations
- Find of the Month
This email newsletter comes to you in HamiltonBerchman’s never-ending pursuit of helping our clients and friends succeed because your success is our success.
New Year, New Stuff.
Welcome to the end of the first month of the New Year. Although it started out slowly for the first couple of days, the pace of January quickly picked up. We had a host of meetings for new business, and new proposals—which is great—and has lead us to the topic for this months issue of DesignDetails, Foundations. Let us get right to it.
Be Aware of Foundations.
All projects, no matter what the medium, need to be based on a solid foundation and this is never truer than with the Internet. Technology advances daily and improves on current standards, and new technology is constantly in development. Building projects for Internet distribution requires investigation into what technology choice will best solve the issue at hand, and more importantly choosing technologies that will not require complete overhaul when things change.
The impetus for the topic of foundations actually stems from my recent experience budgeting web-based projects. Projects range from website designs, database programming, or email campaigns. When prospective clients approach us with a project we sometimes find they have no budget. Not that they haven’t planned, rather this is usually due to not knowing what web-based projects cost. This is understandable—its not every day you go shopping for a web specialist to help you out.
After asking questions to understand a projects parameters, we develop a proposal or simple estimate. Our proposals/estimates are based on previous work similar in scope and scale. There is very little voodoo in pricing the value of specific projects when all the questions have been answered well.
Typical Responses
Once the prospective client has the proposal in hand we typically receive one of four responses:
- “Great! Lets move forward.”
- “We have some questions. Can you explain “X?”
- “Wow this is more money than we expected. I’m afraid we can’t do this now.
- “I have a friends, uncle’s, cousin that will do this for… (insert any amount less than $150.00)”
The responses to focus on here are number 3, and number 4.
These two answers are either missing or forgetting the importance of solid foundations. For answer number 3 they need to understand that although they may not be able to afford the entire project, they should figure out what they can afford. Then come back with a question stating, “We can only afford ‘X.’ What parts of your proposal could we do for that amount to build a foundation then complete the rest of the work when our budget permits?”
The key here is in understanding the value provided by a professional who does these types of projects for a living. This is where number 4 is missing the boat entirely. You would never decide to go have your “friends, uncle’s, cousin” work on a cavity with his Dremel set just because he’ll do it for $25 whereas the dentist would charge a few hundred. I realize that is an extreme example but I am trying to stress the point of having a professional—a specialist—work on your projects. They may cost a bit more, but their knowledge, expertise, and training are worth it. They can help you avoid the pitfalls of not building a solid foundation and doing a project right. In the end this will cost you more.
So if you approach a project and receive a proposal/estimate for the services and its surprises you, be sure to ask what you can do for what you can afford. It is always smarter to build a foundation that will not have to be completely thrown away.
Finally, Find of the Month
In every issue I share an Internet destination I have come across that has some application to doing business, getting things done, or just plain cool. This month it’s a website called Catalog Choice. In an effort to be green this website helps by allowing you to eliminate catalogs and other unwanted items that you receive in the mail. The best part is the service is free.
Wrap up.
That’s it for this month and year of DesignDetails. Let me know if you have any questions about any of this content.
I am always on the lookout for article ideas. If you have a challenge or question you are facing relating to the Internet or design and would be willing to share, let me know. I can answer your issues here and share with everyone—with anonymity of course.
Do you know a friend or colleague that may find the content of this newsletter interesting?
I’ll talk to you again in February 2008.
Happy Holidays!
Bert Mahoney AIGA
Publisher, DesignDetails
Principal and Creative Director, HamiltonBerchman Design Group, Inc.
details@hamiltonberchman.com
Director of Internet Strategy and Services
AIGA Santa Barbara
AIGA | the professional association for design