Blue Wave Concept's Blog

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

No one wants to be immortalized on a website like Clients from Hell, which documents the worst of clients from the web designers’ perspective. Partly because no one wants to be that guy, but mostly because happy designers will produce better work. While some of the things you’ll find on that site defy logic and should be easy to avoid, there are a few general rules you can follow to keep the designer-client relationship harmonious, productive and conducive to getting good work done.

I spoke with a few designers to find out about their worst client experiences and what could be learned from them. Below is a series of anecdotes and lessons that can keep you from becoming labeled a disaster client.

1. Honor Your Commitments

“The worst client experience I can remember,” recounted freelance designer BJ Heinley, was a person trying to build a local website. “I had a few concerns early on after the client (a) balked at my hourly rate, (b) promised much more work later if I could give him a killer deal now, and (c) offered me a ridiculously generous offer of equity in his company. This seemed like a great deal, some would say too good to be true.”

It turned out to be just that. “I worked really hard for this client: I bent over backwards several times to ensure success, introduced him to people in my network, took time away from my family to meet sometimes unreasonable (and arbitrary) deadlines, and essentially did everything I could to help the company succeed,” said Heinley. But in the end, the client try to renege on their written agreement because he had introduced Heinley to other work. “[The client] told me that he felt we were now ‘paid up’ because, after all, he had delivered a new client to me! Of course, this was ridiculous. He was trying to get out of paying me.”

The lesson: The clear lesson for clients is to always honor agreements and pay on time. “Don’t be surprised if a designer doesn’t deliver final assets unless your checks are clearing,” said Heinley, who also warns designers not to work for stock unless you’re certain it will have real value (or it already does).

2. Always Communicate Clearly

“I’ve had a few experiences with ‘bad’ clients,” said designer Niki Brown, who said disaster clients are usually just uneducated about the design process — they’re not bad people. “One in particular was just a hound about money. I quoted the project at XYZ hours at $XYZ price. This included several rounds of revisions and plenty of meeting/discussion time before the design phase started. My contract states that anything outside the defined ’scope’ of the project will be billed extra at an hourly rate of $XYZ. After the discussions with the client defining their brand and their objectives they had a ‘freak out’ and decided to take the project down a different path than what we defined in the scope. I informed them that this would cost extra (because we were basically starting over) – which they didn’t take very well and canceled the project.”

The lesson: The lesson here is to always communicate as clearly as possible. Brown said she always tries to keep clients in the loop about how the project is unfolding. But clients should also be communicative through the design process — if you have a problem, say something. “Contracts aren’t always set in stone and you can usually work out something in the end – but they are necessary as a starting point to define cost, scope, and price of a project. Clear communication can solve or prevent most ‘client-designer’ problems,” said Brown.

3. Establish Clear Roles

“Going way back to one of our first clients, I can remember being such a yes-man that I’d failed to establish any boundaries along the way,” said Trent Walton, the founder of design firm Paravel. “When a few to-do items on a punch list turned into 30 non-billable tasks and I found myself on the phone troubleshooting e-mail and printer setups,” Walton knew that he had to end the relationship with the client.

The lesson: “Needless to say, we don’t work with the client anymore, but I quickly learned how important it can be to hash out relationships and boundaries with clients from the get-go,” said Walton. “Sure, their expectations were probably too high and they weren’t willing to pay for the amount of time the project required, but I have to believe that a few extra favors on my part here and there compounded the problem.”

Walton’s advice should be heeded by clients as well: determining roles before beginning the design process is a smart way to avoid headaches down the road. Designers should be clear about what roles they expect to play and how much that will cost, and clients need to be equally clear about what they expect the designer to do. Deviating from those definitions will necessarily incur added time and expense, so both clients and designers should be ready for that.

4. Let Designers Design

“One time, I had this client that wanted a website made; the deadlines and expectations seemed reasonable for the size of the site, and all seemed to be going well,” designer Daniel Waldron told me. “The client then stated that they wanted to see progress throughout the [design process] just to make sure things were on track and on course with the look and feel that they were trying to achieve. I was totally OK with that since this was the first time we were working together.”

Yet, as the project went on, the client started asking to see daily progress reports. “I then realized that the client was expecting finished elements on every mocked-up page that was being shown. I tried to express that this was a work-in-progress and achieving the desired effect often takes a lot of tooling around and experimenting,” said Waldron. “The client was looking at the works-in-progress and making changes and critiquing what was unfinished and not really ready for client eyes, in my opinion. ”

As a result, the design process ended up taking twice as long.

The lesson: “The lesson here [is] to let designers design. That is why you hire them in the first place,” advised Waldron. Deciding on a deadline then asking to see updates every day or before the designer feels comfortable showing you the work is not a good idea.

“It creates unnecessary stress for the designer,” Waldron said, “and it results in an end product that is not up to par. Take time choosing a designer whose work fits with the style you are looking for, and let them do their thing. If you feel you cannot trust them to do so, it might be best to not do business with them at all.”

5. Don’t Refuse Criticism

“One of my most memorable nightmare clients was one that considered themselves a jack of all trades (master of none),” said designer and illustrator Pasquale D’Silva. “It was a two-person company that was trying to do too much poorly instead of one thing well. It was the type of mediocre that was so mediocre it hurt. Since they were friends at the time, I bit my tongue and just worked on the project.”

Over the course of their working relationship, D’Silva tried to convince the client not to use the same outdated font and color scheme as part of a refreshed company image and not to use a poorly lit photo as their company logo. However, as D’Silva explains, his client was one of those people who “decided that one day he’d just be an art director.” In other words, the client wanted D’Silva to essentially follow a blueprint to the letter, without much creative freedom. In the end, D’Silva lost that battle with the client.

The lesson: You hired a designer because of his or her expertise — that’s why you should just let the designer design — but that also means that when offered, you should allow and seriously consider their critiques of what you’re asking them to do. “Direction is usually always welcome to provide a good base and generality of style,” said D’Silva, but your designer knows design, and clients should cede some control to the people they hired to design. Trust your designer’s judgment and listen to his or her criticism.

We’re in the process of redesigning three of my client’s web sites.

http://www.wwglassresource.com/new_site/

http://www.puminc.com/new_site/

http://www.radata.com/new_site/

People in my business frequently receive solicitations to compete for new business by responding to requests for proposal (RFPs) that range in length from a few paragraphs to a few chapters.  One hundred percent of the time, the information provided is absolutely inadequate to propose anything — except that the author engage me or one of my colleagues to have another go at it. I’m betting that my physician, attorney, financial advisor and accountant haven’t received a single RFP this year — or ever for that matter.  But if they did and they were like those I see in my profession, the one my physician would receive would tell her the symptoms, the diagnosis, the course of treatment, the prognosis and conclude by asking “What would you do, by when and for how much?”  Oh, and we need it next week.

The RFP circulating among my colleagues at the moment, for example, asks for a “comprehensive communication plan” that “should be as complete as possible, with the year broken down into phases — with price ranges attached to each segment.” But as background, it provides nothing more than two sample messages that only a tone-deaf CEO could love because, we are lectured, “consistent messaging is a central component of successful communication campaigns.”

The intellectual property I have to sell in 15-minute chunks is as informed, specialized and valuable as any other professionals’. But few of them are ever asked to give away their core competencies in a bid to win new businesses.  Among my professional colleagues, the most valuable service we have to offer is precisely the service that RFPs would have us give away: the ability to understand a client’s situation, bring education, science and experience to bear in a rigorous, thoughtful planning process, which ultimately answers the what, by when and how much questions.  And quite a few others like “Where do we stand now?”, “How will we know if we’ve succeeded?” and “What haven’t we thought of?”

It’s easy enough to ignore these ham-handed, amateurish RFPs.  And we do.  But what is of deep concern is the fact that these RFPs-to-ignore have been written by people who are responsible for protecting the reputations, being the social conscience, engaging the employees and selling the products of the organizations they represent.  And they clearly do not know what they are doing, not even by any standard that would apply to the rawest new graduate from any of the excellent university programs that train our new professionals.

From time to time, the subject of licensure for Public Relations practitioners burbles up in our ranks. Despite that pesky First Amendment and its protection of free speech, the idea has made it to several state legislatures in the past decade or so.  In principal I heartily agree that there needs to be a reliable method for distinguishing the charlatans and amateurs from the professionals who are educated, experienced and have committed to a code of ethical behavior.  (I have spent a good deal of my professional career holding and promoting Accreditation in Public Relations, the most viable candidate.)

Perhaps on a state-by-state basis we’ll come up with a system similar to those that license real estate agents, beauticians and psychologists, in which professional organizations certify competence, the state endorses the certification and limits the use of certain terms — such as psychologist — to those who are certified. But I’m betting that the states have some other issues on their plates at the moment that may have higher priority.  So meanwhile, the RFPs I receive will continue to go into the recycle bin.  And there are no free samples forthcoming from me and many, many of my colleagues.

Redesigning three of my clients web sites and redesigning a site that has been farmed out to us. I will post screen shots when they’re ready.

One of the crucial components of a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign is the landing page that visitors are taken to when clicking on an ad. Since the landing page can significantly affect the conversion rate of a campaign, we recommend that advertisers take time to optimize and test their landing pages.

Here are a few of the key elements we recommend that all PPC landing pages include:

* A clear, relevant headline. When a visitor lands on your PPC landing page, the first thing they should see is your headline. In order to improve the users’ experience, we recommend that advertisers create unique landing pages specific to each product or service they offer. By doing so, advertisers can customize the headline and message of the page to best fit the users’ search query. Headlines should catch the users’ attention and stimulate them to read further.
* A concise bulleted list. A well-constructed PPC landing page will provide visitors with the information they’re looking for in as few steps as possible. Since many visitors won’t take the time to read through lengthy paragraphs, we recommend that landing pages contain 5–10 bullets highlighting the main points you want to communicate to the visitor. These bullets should be concise and focus on the main product features or unique selling factors of your product/service.
* A short form. If the goal of the site is to collect lead information, incorporate a form directly on the landing page. To achieve a higher conversion rate, keep the form short by including only the fields that are absolutely necessary.
* A clear call to action. Each PPC landing page should possess a clear call to action. No matter what the conversion goal, the action you want visitors to take should be clear. As you test different landing pages, try testing different calls to action—you may be surprised by what a big difference such a small change can make.

Additional recommendations:

* All content should be above the fold. In keeping landing pages concise, pages should be short with all of the relevant information above the fold (meaning that all content should be in the visible area of the screen without causing users to scroll).
* Visitors should be given limited options. One of the benefits of customized landing pages is that advertisers can direct users exactly where they want them to go. Consequently, it’s often a good idea to remove all other links from the page to better funnel the visitor to the conversion goal.

Optimizing landing pages is one of the most effective ways to improve the conversion rates of your PPC campaigns. Here at Web.com, we’ve seen lifts in conversion rates of over 35% through continued landing page testing. If you’re interested in landing page consulting or just looking to improve the conversion rate of your PPC campaigns, feel free to reach out to a Web.com representative.

P.S. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

The era of the all-powerful search engine is waning. In its place, the power of the publisher and the content provider is rising again, just like it did in the early 19th century — only the players will be very different.

Back when “Web 2.0″ was still a shiny new moniker, search engines had unequaled power. They were the gatekeepers between content producers (like newspapers) and the eyeballs of readers, so much so that publishers like Rupert Murdoch came to think of search engines as “plagiarists” and “content kleptomaniacs.” If you were putting content online, you had essentially one option: play to search engines by SEO’ing like crazy and buying ads on Google (GOOG). It was, as some histrionic pundits termed it, the “death” of the destination website. If you didn’t play by Google’s rules, the penalties were harsh: getting bumped down in Google’s PageRank has killed at least a handful of startups.

But in 2010, Google won’t be the same Web Zeus we’ve come to revere. How can we tell? Lately, the search giant has shown an unprecedented spirit of compromise, to put it diplomatically: as BNET reported earlier this month, it caved to pressure from paid content providers like News Corp. (NWS), promising to index only article previews, not entire articles, and to end its first-read-free system. It also given publishers more control over how their content is viewed on Google and Google News. A year ago, when Google was still at the heights of its power as content gatekeeper, these concessions would have seemed unthinkable. “There are people who think we are plenty full of ourselves right now,” said Google Technology Director Craig Silverstein to MSNBC in September 2008, as the company rolled out products like Chrome and Google Books.

So where’s the power going? To content silos like Facebook and Twitter, who are controlling more and more of the data we, the users, consider valuable. Facebook’s power lies even beyond its own URL; the company has made itself the “new gatekeeper” with its Facebook Connect login system and its portable comment system, which other websites can use. (Over 80,000 independent sites are using Facebook Connect, according to our sister site, CNET.) Google and Bing have made haste in co-opting this data by striking real-time search deals with Facebook and Twitter. Facebook hasn’t reciprocated the compliment; though it has close ties with investor and ad partner Microsoft (MSFT), the company apparently hasn’t saw fit to stick a Bing Web search box anywhere in sight. Who needs search when you have the Web’s new goldmine in your own backyard?

Older tech giants are privy to the growing power of content providers, which is why many of them are tailoring their businesses to replicate (or dovetail with) Facebook’s and Twitter’s products. Apple (AAPL) is one salient example: the iTunes maker recently acquired streaming music service Lala, which allows users to backup their music libraries online and serves them new music they might like. (Google indexes Lala’s music in its new Music Search feature.)

Music isn’t the only theater for Apple’s new role as content silo. It’s also working hard to become a hyperlocal content silo. This summer, it purchased map software startup Placebase, and several of Apple’s patent filings this fall suggest it’s interested in location-aware mapping frameworks. Microsoft is following suit. The company announced this month that it was building a user-generated 3-D mapping system in Bing Maps. The always-tardy print publishers have also gotten wind of their newfound power: Hearst, Conde Nast and three other publishing companies have created a content syndicate to build a kind of “app store” for digital newspapers and magazines, instead of going through existing app stores like Apple’s.

No company has anticipated the power shift better than Google itself, which looks more and more like a content provider with every passing week. It ditched map-data provider Tele-Atlas and is developing its own hyperlocal map database. It’s trying to buy Yelp, which hosts a massive database of user-generated restaurant and business reviews. As one analyst told the New York Times: “Google doesn’t need any technology that Yelp has to offer.” Instead, he says, Google is looking to own “content, a community” and a localized sales channel.

Google is also trying to turn search itself into a form of content. Earlier this month it rolled out “personalized” search results, explained in the YouTube video below, which industry blog SearchEngineLand calls “the biggest change that has ever happened in search engines.”

So why is it so valuable to be a content silo, anyway? Because hosting all that stuff means you have a lot information on your users — information that can be acutely monetized through super-targeted advertising, something right up Google’s alley. This is how the publishing companies rose to power, too. In their heyday, magazine and newspaper companies were, as TechCrunch aptly notes, really just customer database companies that could command big ad money.

Now Web companies are deploying that same business model, with a more advanced customer database — status updates, profile information, comments, “likes,” photos, music — than the print-media publishers ever dreamed of. The print folks will have a chance to redeem themselves for missing the whole “Web” boat the first time around. If they don’t, the new content silos will once again outfox them to the tune of billions.

1. Time to focus on your day-to-day business, instead of managing your project and Designer. An experienced Designer works without supervision, manages the Design process, and keeps the Client updated and involved when necessary.

2. Knowledge of what Marketing strategies will work for your business. By recommending tried-and-true Marketing strategies that have proven successful for other Clients, an experienced Designer can save you from wasting time and money on creating pieces that do not produce results.

3. A strong strategic vision for your business. These Designers are trained to solve complex visual communication problems, and together with a Marketing Strategist, can present you with a long-term plan for marketing your business.

4. The ability of doing more with less. Everyone is trying to get the most for their money these days. And, a Designer who has been in the industry for awhile knows the “tricks” to stretching your dollar. An experienced Designer can recommend design, web and printing methods that will save your business time and money.

5. Creativity. Duh.

6. Innovation. Experienced Designers keep up with the latest technology and marketing trends. That way, you can be confident your piece will not become quickly outdated and difficult to update. And, you don’t have to do any research yourself.

7. Adaptability. Marketing goals and project requirements change. An experienced Designer expects this, will roll with the punches, and keep the project going with an enthusiastic smile.

8. Integrity. In a recent study conducted by Graphic Design USA (Aug.12, 2008 ENewsletter), integrity ranked higher than creativity, as the single most essential quality that people seek in a Creative Leader. An experienced Designer will always have the Clients interests in the forefront of their minds.

Branding is, above all and foremost, a discipline. It is a thought process, an idea, a personality. It is a concept that transcends the physical, visual and emotional.

Branding is a relationship, and a foundation stating who you are, what your business is, what you offer, and how you are and should be perceived.

When beginning, growing or modifying a brand, your goal is to increase or create conceptual ownership and mindshare. Mindshare is like owning a piece of the pie; of course, you want to have as much of the pie as you can.

It is important to recognize your mindshare as your audience, and to discover exactly to whom you are marketing. Then, with your brand strategies, you’ll want to positively increase your marketshare by increasing awareness of your brand.

How? First, keep in mind that everyone has a brand, even individuals, governments, retail stores, etc. But what makes up a brand?

There are several key components:
BRANDING COMPONENTS
IDENTITY

Comprised of your basic visual elements (such as your logo, colors, fonts, etc.) the identity is a pictorial or iconic representation of your brand. It is the vanguard of your brand, often the first thing your audience recognizes and often how they remember you. Examples are Target’s Bullseye, McDonald’s’ arch, etc.

PERSONALITY

After your initial contact visually with your audience, you begin to develop your brand personality. This is the “feel” of your organization. This is the environment in which you want your audience to participate. This is the emotional aspect of your brand that causes an experience-based relationship. One way to figure the personality of your organization’s brand is to ask, “If my company was a person, how would I describe them?”

VALUES

Once you have established your personality, you have to explore your brand values. These are stated (and sometimes unstated) distillation of how you offer your services. Think of it as a sort of mission statement for your brand.

PROMISE

It’s probably the most important component of your brand— your promise. It’s your desired intent on which you must deliver. As an example, Burger King promises you can “have it your way.” Hardee’s promises that theirs are the best burgers around. A brand promise is a guarantee of what you offer. It’s most important because you have to constantly deliver on your promise. If you do not, the rest of your brand integrity will crumble.

CONCEPT

With your brand concept, you have the boiled-down ideal of your brand. Some times, your slogan acts as your concept, some times just what the public identifies as “you.” Volvo is “safety.” Maytag is “dependable.”

PUBLIC OPINION & YOUR BRAND

The important thing is to have the public opinion of your brand to be in line with your efforts. For instance, a few years ago, Hardee’s had a poor brand image. They then introduced their Six Dollar Burger and began to positively change their image.

IMAGE & PUBLIC RELATIONS

Speaking of image, that’s a good way to think of branding— as your public image. And that’s also why in this day and age, public relations is much more important than pure advertising. There are many companies who do not advertise, but who spend great efforts on their PR. And that is key to keeping a positive image.

BRAND DIRECTION & GROWTH

Once you have all of your branding elements in place and are solidified in your brand direction, you can implement these things in your marketing and advertising, utilizing stationery, ads, brochures, radio commercials, web sites and more. And never forget that a brand must grow, change and expand, always being sure to alter your visual brand to match your goals and your environment.

Again, branding is a discipline that is all-encompassing and has to be reinforced at every moment—even down to what your employees wear to how you answer your telephone. It’s EVERYTHING that the public touches and interacts with. It is your brand. It is you.

What happens to design during difficult economic times?

From The Pro Designer

It is often the case that design is the last thing companies are thinking about during and economic downturn; even though this is something that could really benefit a company in the long-run. Those companies who fail to see themselves as a brand miss a really chance to bring a lot of benefit to their company.

If a company wants to connect with an audience then it must excite and inspire them. These days the customers are part of a global market and then get their products from practically anywhere in the world. In order to add value to your product or service you must have a brand that educates, builds, drives, informs, grows, and creates demand.

If a company has a good design it can give them a strategic edge over rivals. A design can influence the value you give your customer and determine the position of your brand. It can help you to rise above the competition by adding value and weight to your brand. Design must be an important part of your business strategy no matter what the size of your company.

How does design benefit a company?

Studies have demonstrated that all the most successful companies understand the importance of good design and give it an important role in the continued growth and development of their company. These companies can see how design can benefit every aspect of their company from product design to branding. Other studies have found that as much as two-thirds of companies witnessed a direct link between their increased sales and focus on design.

During difficult economic times, design can work well to create opportunities for businesses by increasing their market share, and opening up new markets. They are able to set themselves apart from other companies and add value to their price. They can even reintroduce outdated products by repackaging them and giving them a new branding.

Developing credibility and gaining loyalty is really imported for the success of a company. It takes a long time to build these qualities but it is these that help a company make it through rough economic times. When customers are worried about money they are less willing to take a chance and will tend to choose a reputable company that they can trust. Large companies are able to do this by investing large amounts of money into advertising. The way the small company does this is by telling the customer the story behind their brand, and by building a strong relationship with the customer through communication.

Is your brand strong?

The unfavorable economic climate that we currently live in means that it is vital that your brand remains strong. When a brand is weak companies will need to offer price reductions and offer promotions in order to create interest; price is the only value where they can compete. On the other hand, a strong brand is able to weather the storm. The competition may be afraid to invest money in branding so this is a great opportunity to reinforce your brand, and increase its strength and recognition. You should really seize this opportunity to get ahead of the competition.

The different elements that will distinguish you as a strong brand,
Personality of your brand

If your brand is strong it will have its own clearly defined, unique personality. You need to decide how you want your customer to think and feel about the brand and you then need capture this. This personality will determine how your company expresses itself. Your personality will be the thing that causes people to remember your brand and it will be your means of connecting with the customer.

Creating desire for your product

Connecting with your audience is what a strong brand is all about. If you want to increase the demand for your product then you need to connect with the customer’s hopes and aspirations. The way that companies do this is through their branding.

Differentiating yourself from the competition

If your brand is strong it will stand out from the competition. You will add value to your brand if you can demonstrate what makes your product special or unique.

Authentic brands

A strong brand represents itself honestly. Your brand should never promise things that it can’t deliver and that it sounds believable. If you are honest you will gain trust from the customer.

Consistency within your brand

For your brand to be strong it needs to consistently be represented in the same manner. This means not swapping and changing styles, so that people fail to recognize your company’s personality; things like tone, typefaces, and colors. You can still be creative, but you need to do this within the company’s framework.

Repetition of the brand

Your brand should be seen constantly by any customer or potential customer. You must continually reinforce your brand through whatever means possible using things like newsletters, brochures and questionnaires. You need to ensure that any communication from your company to the world is branded.

What should you do next?

In order to build the strength of your brand you should use the information provided above and examine which areas you can improve upon. If your brand is strong then it will mean that you will not only compete well now, but also in the years to come. Your brand needs to transform and grow along with your company as it transforms and grows. This is something that needs to be evaluated regularly.

Website Optimization

Has your website been optimized recently? Whether or not your website is old or new, if it hasn’t been optimized, you could be missing out on new, prequalified leads every day. In the online world, website optimization is the key to a successful web-based business. These days, an average site and ranking just won’t cut it; if you want great results, you need great web optimization.

Our SEO specialists know exactly how to boost your search engine ranking and improve the overall success of your website. With our knowledgeable and experienced team members, we will give you the edge you need to vault ahead of your competitors.

Does My Site Need Web Page Optimization?

The answer is yes! We know this because every website needs page optimization in order to achieve its full potential for success. From title tags and keywords to links and domain names, almost every aspect of your website can affect its natural ranking.

When our SEO experts look at your website, they can recognize which of the site’s components are potentially harming your search engine ranking and can advise you on how to remedy any problems.

With maximum website optimization you’ll enjoy better rankings, increased traffic, and greater brand awareness. So why wouldn’t you want to optimize your web pages?

Free Site Analysis – Limited Time Offer

We normally charge $200.00 for a site analysis. But as a year-end promotion, if you request a site analysis between now and the end of the year, we’ll do it for $100.00 With this in hand, you can determine whether or not you want your website optimized. And just so you know, an optimization program for your site won’t break the bank.

For more information about this offer and our website optimization services contact Scott at sales@bluewaveconcepts.com or 704.274.5485