Archive for the ‘Industry News’ Category
Hourly Billing & The Treadmill
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012I’ve been running a lot more lately, not because I like it, but because I need to. I do some of my best thinking while I’m running and today I realized that hourly billing and the treadmill have a lot in common
The goal today was to run for 30 minutes. I don’t like to run for time, I prefer to run for distance. When you run for time, there is no incentive to go faster or at a higher incline. The goal is simply to run for 30 minutes. Now “running” for 30 minutes at a 4 mph pace is very different than running at a 7 mph pace. But if the goal is to just last 30 minutes, there is no incentive to go faster because it’s going to take 30 minutes regardless of how fast you are going.
I like to run for distance because it pushes me to get done sooner. You can run 3 miles in 30 minutes or you can take an hour to do it. I’d rather get it done and over with. I’d rather do it well than drag my heels all day about it.
Hourly billing is just like this. Some folks take an hour to do what another can do in 10 minutes. Should the person who can do it in 10 minutes be paid less than the person that takes an hour? Absolutely not. That’s why VALUE billing (or project billing) is far superior to hourly in most cases. While the amount of time something takes can sometimes indicate the value, that’s not always true. The experience and expertise of one person can allow the project to be completed in far less time which is actually of MORE VALUE than taking longer to do it.
If you’ve never run, you can’t just jump on the treadmill and run 3 miles at a 7mph pace though, it takes time and experience. The more you run, the better you get at it and the faster you can knock down the miles. This goes for all kinds of work too, the more experienced someone is and the more time they have invested in a skill, the better they are at it. As a result, they can often complete a task much more quickly than someone who is newer.
Value billing is more specific, you get X for Y, there is no guessing involved. Same thing goes for the treadmill, if someone says they’re going to run for an hour, that doesn’t mean much unless you know how fast they can run.
Now I know that value billing or project billing doesn’t always work. If the scope of the project is very loosely defined or it’s a long list of maintenance type updates, hourly billing may be the only way to manage it, but for most things, we prefer value billing because we’d rather get it done and get off the treadmill.
2012, here we come!
Saturday, December 31st, 2011Wow, what an awesome year. 2011 has been marked the twelfth straight year of growth for Design Extensions. We’ve been blessed to grow our staff and work with many great clients around the country.
We’ve had the pleasure of launching OVER 100 websites this year and working with countless other projects from logos to brochures to banners and more.
When we started, we just did basic websites. Our range of services is much larger now, from graphic design to websites and online marketing. This year, we’re going to be improving our online marketing services and offering some comprehensive plans that are not only affordable, but trackable and effective. We want to help our clients take their businesses to the next level and believe we have the tolls to make that happen.
There is lots of turmoil in the world right now… Politically, socially, religiously jobs, etc. There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on, but we still believe in what made this country great. Individual exceptionalism, team work, community, faith, and family. We believe that 2012 will be the year of startups, where people decide to step out and make something happen.
We are ready to help be the partner others need to grow and expand online and off.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to our clients, partners, friends, and families who have made our continued success possible. We couldn’t do it without you and wish you all the happiest of new years.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
We are not the best. (Did I really just admit that?)
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011It seems like these days everyone is claiming to be the best at something. You hear it every day, best wireless network, the best hamburger, the best whatever.
I’m going to say something you won’t hear from many business owners, I don’t believe we’re the best at what we do. WHAT?! Who says that? I do.
Let’s be real though, there are better web designers than us, there are better graphic designers than us, there are better marketers than us. We live in a time with a lot of ridiculous talent in our industry. Don’t get me wrong, I care about quality design, clean code, and all the latest industry standards, but we don’t always deliver perfection on every project, there is always something that could be done better. That’s called reality. The truth is that there is almost always someone better at you or your business at what you do — and that’s OK!
But here’s something else, I don’t believe you have to be the best to be the best choice. Like many things, I believe it’s about balance. We provide a high level of experience (we’ve been doing websites since the internet started), we have a large portfolio (from plumbers to plastic surgeons), and we care about people (our clients, our staff, our families, and others) — those things matter.
We’re not the best and I’m ok admitting it. What matters to me is that we are able to provide what our customers need at a price that provides a high level of value for the services provided.
My advice? Stop trying to be or pretending to be the best. It’s ok to not be the best. Be what you need to be, what your clients need you to be, and not what meets someone else’s arbitrary standards.
We’re not the best, but for our clients and many others, we were the best choice for them. I’m thankful for that.
The Case Against QR Codes
Thursday, November 10th, 2011Fact: It seems like everywhere you look there is a QR code popping up.
What’s a QR code? It’s those strange, square, barcode looking things that marketing agencies and “pr gurus” everywhere are telling their clients they must include on everything. I even saw a company with a GIANT QR code on a billboard this week, who’s idea was that?
There is no question QR codes are being used more and more by advertisers, but the big question is, are they being used by users?
There are all kinds of statistics out there, but here are some facts that drive me to believe QR codes are not actually being used by most mobile users currently.
- iOS Devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, etc.) take up over 60% of mobile web traffic. (Net Applications Mobile/Tablet Top Operating System Share Trend Nov ’09 – Oct ’11)
- No iOS device comes pre-installed with a QR code reader, meaning users need to download an app to scan and use QR codes.
- The highest ranked, free, QR code reader in the app store is #35. There are only 2 QR code readers currently in the top 200 apps!
Based on this data, it seems pretty clear that the majority of mobile users are NOT using QR codes on a regular basis.
Maybe that will change in the future, but in most of the current examples I have seen, QR codes are not a huge time saver and seem like a clumsy solution to quick input of data and sharing information.
With that said, QR codes are very easy to setup. There are tons of web sites and tools that will let you create free QR codes and put them on anything you want. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing they are expensive or complex to create.
That’s just our opinion, what’s yours?
Skitch: Free & Awesome Screen Capture and Notation
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
If you are a Mac (or Android) user looking for a great way to take screenshots and mark up notes, comics, or sketches on those screenshots or images, look no further than Skitch. It’s a FREE tool that we use everyday and love.
They were recently acquired by the also very popular EverNote app. It will be interesting to see what kind of integration happens with these two products in the coming months.
You can check it out at http://skitch.com/ You can thank us later (or in the comments).
5 Things You Want to Know About Your Web Designer… Before They Touch a Single Pixel
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010If you feel like it’s getting harder and harder to find the right team to design, or redesign, your company’s website, I can empathize. In the eleven years I’ve been in this business, the number of firms offering web design and online marketing has exploded. The increasing number of options – not to mention specialties, fee ranges, and levels of quality – has made it hard for companies to find the right fit.
You can still find the right designer, though, if you know where to look, and what to look for. Here are five things you definitely want to know about any web design team before you hire them:
- 1. How past clients feel about their work. It’s one thing to look through a designer’s portfolio, but if you really want to get the story, you have to make a few phone calls. Talk to former clients and see what their impressions of the work, and the design process, were like. Whether you get good feedback or bad, these are things you want to know before you sign on the dotted line.
- 2. If they will still be able to help you tomorrow. Your site might be basic right now, but there’s no guarantee it will stay that way. In fact, if your launch is a success, it’s probably not going to be long before your company needs help with online videos, secure site areas, databases, content management systems, and search engine optimization to name a few – services that smaller or newer firms might not be able to offer.
- 3. Whether they have a bottom line vision. This is more important than most business owners realize. These days, when you hire a designer, you shouldn’t just be getting a layout and some HTML code – what you need is the first step towards a comprehensive online marketing plan. Be sure that any designer you work with can help you integrate your new website to search engines, social media, and more. You’ll need that exposure to gain new customers over the Internet.
- 4. What their fees are… Obviously, the numbers are going to be an important part of the discussion. Be aware, however, that quality always costs more, and that more than one web design client has been burnt by falling for bid that was “too good to be true.”
- 5. … and what those fees include. Web hosting, updates, content, and add-on features are just a few of the things you might want for your web design team, but might not be included in their rock-bottom bid. Find out exactly what you are paying for before you agree to any work. Or better yet, choose a vendor with a long reputation of quality work, no one that’s going to nickel and dime you at every step of the process.
There might be more web design companies to choose from than there were in the past, but that doesn’t mean that the right decision has to be any less clear. Take the time to do a little bit of research and get the answers to these five crucial questions – it’s not as easy as choosing the lowest bid, but it’s going to leave you a lot happier, and more profitable, in the long run.
(Republished from our recent article in Valacious Magazine in St. Augustine, Florida)
Mobile Websites, Mobile Apps, and The Future
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010Design Extensions founder, Jay Owen, recently spoke at the NetWorth Technology Summit in Jacksonville, Florida. Check out a brief snippet video below. The full DVD of the event will be available at http://networthjax.com/
Why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Works Best for Small Companies
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010Small business owners tend to think that search engine optimization – like most other forms of marketing – can be an uphill struggle against industry behemoths, and they’re right… up to a point. It’s certainly true that pouring all kinds of money and personnel into an SEO effort can give you a huge advantage.
But that doesn’t change the fact that smaller companies have a big advantage on Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Why? The answer has everything to do with efficiency. Fortune 500 Companies, and even their medium-sized counterparts, have to cast a wide net. For them, a dozen extra sales – even really good ones – doesn’t make too much of a difference, and so they have to concentrate on the high-traffic, high-competition areas.
While there isn’t any reason smaller marketers can’t compete and win in those same keyword groups (that’s the beauty of online business), the truth is that the easiest sales (and the ones with the higher profit margins) are found elsewhere… in more specific, lower-volume keyword markets where a lot of the bigger retailers don’t bother showing up.
For an easy way to understand what I mean, imagine that you have a company that sells air conditioners. You could use “air conditioners” as your main keyphrase, or “Jacksonville energy efficient residential air conditioners.” Sure, the first one is likely to get more traffic, but which search term is more likely to find a buyer? And how much competition will there be?
Search engines give small businesses a huge advantage – if they compete in the right places.
(This is being republished from our original submission to Valacious Magazine in St. Augustine, Florida)
