Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of working on a lot of small gigs as a result of my plugin, Supersized, and our company, One Mighty Roar. I currently average about 3-4 small projects a week, most of them with new clients. Through these experiences, I’ve learned quite a bit about how to run through this process as smoothly as possible.

Our Rules

1. Projects under $1,000 are paid in full before work begins
2. Hourly rates are preferred to project pricing
3. If the project was misrepresented, refund and reapproach
4. Negotiate scope, not price
5. Save time by including a next step in every email

Projects under $1,000 are paid in full before work begins

This is a great way to avoid being held hostage by scope creep.

While it may be different for you, this number represents a little over a days work, which means it should be a relatively quick and painless project. I used to do a 50% deposit and 50% on delivery, but I found myself running into a lot of “Oh, I forgot to mention…” scenarios where additional features are requested and the final payment was withheld as a result. By taking the full deposit initially, you can re-approach any additional requests at a fairly valued rate, rather than have to cram them into an existing budget.

Projects over $1,000 would require a contract, and are a different story entirely.

Hourly rates are preferred to project pricing

There is some debate in terms of hourly rates vs project pricing, but for small projects, there are very few situations where I would feel comfortable with a fixed project price.

All quotes are hourly, this avoids being stuck with hours of unexpected QA beyond what was intended. If you are on a project price and their site code is a mess, you risk facing the “you touched it last, I hired you to make this work on my site, so you need to handle it” moment.

When integrating with their existing site, there is a risk being presented with unusable code which could add to time needed – or worse, be viewed as a problem you caused. For this reason, I always keep original copies of the pages I edit in case they need to be referenced later in the project, regardless of whether or not the client has their own backups.

If the project was misrepresented, refund and reapproach

This should happen the moment you realize you are not looking at what you expected, before you do any work. I have had scenarios where I was expecting to integrate with a static website, only to find it is WordPress and the expectation is that I create a custom plugin to work with an existing format. In most cases, thorough questioning and a clear scope could avoid this scenario, but you can never account for what clients view as”standard” and therefore fail to mention in your email exchanges.

When this happens, I alert the client and offer a refund, unless they wish to allocate additional hours. I typically get a “thank you for being up front with me” or a “there’s no way I’m paying for that, it’s not what we talked about”.

You win some, you lose some, but the important part is that it’s not your job to make the original hour estimate if it requires more work than anticipated.

Negotiate scope, not price

“I’m a startup with limited funding and am not looking for anything fancy – I just need this one simple thing…”

This line really only serves one purpose, it communicates that they are budget-minded, which means if the costs exceed what they were hoping for, it’s time to negotiate scope. It’s your job to inform them of the costs for the project, and if you’re so inclined, potential options within their budget.

Your hourly rate and time spent do not get discounted as a result – wanting more than you can afford is not a problem that falls onto the vendor. Outside the world of service based companies, it would be laughable if a BMW salesman was faced with a person would really “needed” a BMW, but could only afford a Mitsubishi. These debates should not happen and are a waste of time, if you have a simpler alternative, offer it, otherwise give yourself the luxury of declining the project.

Save time by including next steps in every email

Whenever possible I try to include as many questions and actionable items in the initial exchange with a new contact. Often I’ll receive a vague scope, which requires some clarification, but I still make an attempt to quote if possible. If I have a simpler or alternate way of approaching a project, I am sure to include that as an option as well – part of your job is to educate.

“If you meant the following… then it would be X hours. If this is not what you are aiming to do, then could you clarify…”

Giving the potential client a sample of your rates early on helps you avoid a series of project scope emails, only to find out they aren’t on the same page cost-wise.

Red Flags

We have a few red flags that that cause us to disengage with a contact and cut off future work. Every item on this list is backed with multiple personal experiences that could have been avoided – simply put, they are not worth the headache.

1. In-depth questions regarding refund policy.
2. Insisting on a project price with ambiguous scope
3. The promise of a donation if you add functionality specific to their project.
4. Hostility and feeling of entitlement

In-depth questions regarding refund policy

If you’re working at an hourly rate in a service based business, there is no refund policy. Extensive questioning regarding refunding should make you more uncomfortable than a person being a little too curious about your local bank’s security system. If someone has an odd number of questions concerning refunds, don’t engage with that person.

Clients need to respect that they are buying your time, and the results within that timeframe are a byproduct. If they run out of funding or become too ambitious for their budget, they can’t be allowed to view their project as incomplete and therefore demand to refund.

Insisting on a project price with ambiguous scope

Accurate project scope is a must. You wouldn’t expect an accurate quote from a contractor if you said “I want a house with a kitchen, bathroom, and living room – how much will that cost me?” (thank you to our Director of Business Development, Chandler Quintin for this one). The same is true when it comes to websites – I always clarify incoming projects with a simple bullet point list, to ensure nothing is overlooked.

Secondly, I am wary anytime a person requires a fixed price for a small project. While I can appreciate the need to allocate a budget, there is a certain amount of realization that comes with any project. I’ve walked into scenarios where the site code was unusable and would require hours of reworking to get where it needed to be. Even though the scope was clear, I couldn’t have factored in the state of disrepair of the site – something that is easily solved by explicitly stating projects are on an hourly basis.

Hostility and feeling of entitlement

When a potential client becomes abrasive upon hearing your hourly rate or estimate, even if they accept, it will not be a fruitful relationship. If they are greeting your initial estimates with hostility, imagine the reaction if additional QA or hours resulting from scope creep are needed. This is not a parking ticket, they can choose whether or not they want to agree to your rates – and if they do, it should not be a continued point of contention. Almost every time this has happened, the client escalates their expectations beyond what you arranged, based on the fact they are paying more than they anticipated.

“Well fine, if I’m paying that price I expect this to be done within the next 24 hours and you will provide a warranty if there are any problems with my site.”

We have something called the “headache tax”, which is reserved for folks that complicate the process by adjusting timelines, changing project scope, or being high maintenance in general. If you’re spending a good chunk of time fielding emails and phone calls regarding the project, be sure to factor that into your estimate – project management time is not free.

Promise of a donation in exchange for work

I will speak to this only in the context of custom work for an open source project, as it has been covered more than adequately for web design as a whole.

I frequently receive emails that go something to the tune of this:

“Hello,

If you add in this [insert project specific feature here] to Supersized, I would be happy to donate”.

Thanks.

As a general rule for Supersized, when time allows, I add in features that would benefit everyone, based on number of requests I receive for certain functionality. This is free for two reasons: 1) I dictate when I am able to work on it and 2) the features benefit everyone. As soon as either of those criteria are removed, it becomes a paid project.

If you do a few hours of work in exchange for the promise of an unspecified amount of money, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Donations are fantastic, but are not leverage to have discounted labor done. You wouldn’t do a job for free in exchange for the promise of future work, and prospective donations are no different.

What Are Your Rules?

While this list is entirely based on my own experiences, I’m curious what sorts of rules you have established for small projects. I’ll look forward to hearing what you folks have as guiding principles in the wonderful world of client work.

Just to be clear, this isn’t a call for mediocre work. I’m sure that we can all think of “234 Reasons Why Rushed Design is Bad”, and this article is certainly not an excuse for it. Instead, this is an invitation to start your projects with a focus on completion rather than un-actionable wish.

What do I mean by un-actionable? Suppose you were asked to do one of the following:

1. Build a complete website and launch it within 5 weeks
2. Design a website that is a carefully constructed masterpiece

Some of you may be leaning towards the second option while thinking to yourselves “That’s an easy choice, of course I want to create brilliant designs. Not so fast. While it’s admirable to set a goal of “pixel perfect” design for each project, it should almost never be the guiding principle. At least, not without some other goals to provide substance.

Why Perfect Isn’t Practical

Consider the two goals given above. In the first, we’ve given ourselves a concrete goal by which to act. A website must be completed by a given date. There is a specific end in sight. In the second instance, we’ve started with some much more subjective. At what point does a design become high quality? Based on this, when are you actually done?

Learn from Agencies & Startups

If the work of agencies and web startups are any indicator, projects are judged on more than a pixel by pixel critique. A design can be “good enough” but still wildly effective for a campaign. Especially timelines are consistently met. Successful projects are measured in a number of ways beyond pure design, and many of them carry more weight than the end aesthetic.

Yelp’s website, for example, is successful despite having a layout that lacks the polish that the web design community might prefer to see. It’s usable, but in a way that you might say “I could polish this up”.

Video: Daniel Burka (Designer at Digg) gives a great presentation on this idea of “Just getting it out there” in his talk at Webstock 2010. It’s a long video, but well worth the watch.

Good Enough to Launch

When I tweeted about this a while back, one of our followers pointed me to a quote by Voltaire. “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” It simply means that people focus too much on reaching a perfect solution, and it prevents them from making solutions that work well enough. If you focus on pixel perfect before shipping, you won’t get very much done at all.

A modern day version of this idea was presented in a quote from Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn:

“If you’re not embarrassed when you ship your product, you waited too long” – Reid Hoffman

Being known as the firm/freelancer that delivers can be much more profitable (socially and financially) than being known for a specific kind of perfection. Especially when good design is often in the eye of the beholder. Deadlines aren’t. Some of the best reviews that our team at One Mighty Roar have received have nothing to do with the product, and almost everything to do with our execution.

Dribbble with Caution

I’m a huge fan/advocate of Dan Cederholm’s Dribbble community, but there’s a problem that comes up when you spend too much time on it. It’s an unavoidable issue, and chances are that you’ve fallen into the trap before too. When you look at tiny snippets of things that look incredible, it’s easy to feel like you need to restart and scrap whatever is already done. For your own sake, please don’t.

Dribbble is a community built on designers who consistently produce “That’s Awesome” responses to 400 x 300 pixel shots. This is a great way to pick up on trends and tiny design details, but it can be paralyzing when used as a constant reference. The mistake of comparing your own work to that of such a mix of shots is that it’s not an even playing field. Your design may not be (in your mind) as inspirational, but the important thing is that you’re working on it.

The Jason Conundrum

To use a fairly well known example, let’s take a look at the current work of Jason Santa Maria. He’s consistently cited as one of the leading figures in design, and speaks about it across the country. Now let’s take a look at his first website from around 2000. Almost immediately, you notice that it’s not amazing. His second site design from 2004 shows progress, but still isn’t mind-blowing. The third version follows a similar trend.

Does this cheapen Jason’s design ability? It shouldn’t. What it should do is help illustrate a obvious (but often overlooked) point: it takes time and experience to get good. People seem to forget this in an effort to become the next legendary designer who builds incredible work by age 23. You have to complete projects in order to grow.

Developing web designers often feel the need to compare their work to the folks who have been at it for years. Stop comparing yourself to the best out there. Learn from them instead.

Practice Makes Pixel Perfect

I convinced myself a while ago that the designers I looked up to were bonafide prodigies. That they had somehow managed to always have a high level of talent that set them apart from everyone else. But that’s not the whole story. In reality, many of these designers started with the same frustrating designs that left them feeling like more could be done. The difference is they spent more time on it.

Ryan Sims (of Virb and The Big Noob fame) has an eloquent argument to just this point on how “Practice Makes Pixel Perfect” from the 2009 Build Conference. It’s another video that won’t waste your time.

You should take comfort in the fact that by actively participating in the design community, you’ll be a better designer by this time next year. Now put out your next milestone and prove it.

Recommended Reading

1. Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky
2. Linchpin by Seth Godin
3. Fear of Shipping
4. The Truth About Shipping
5. What Would Jason Santa Maria Do?
6. Focus on the Big Picture to Fight the Perfectionist Trap
7. Iterative Design Strategies talk by Daniel Burka

I never liked the term customer service. It’s become a buzzword that describes any type of customer communication. I’m all for the concept, and companies like Zappos are an inspiration to anyone looking to build a customer-driven community. One of the major points in customer service today is that you don’t always get your way. If you called Zappos and asked for a pair of shoes to be sent to your house free of charge, they’d probably politely refuse.

Customer service is more than saying yes at all costs, it’s about building a sustainable positive relationship with customers (or clients) over the long run. If by giving away free stuff today, you’re jeopardizing your chances of being around tomorrow, it’s not really customer service. What good will a defunct company be to a customer? Issuing a refund is very different than marking down the cost of a web application’s development by $10,000.

Everyone in business wants to be friendly if it means a discount. The phrase “please be flexible” is a euphemism for “make it a bargain”. We’ve found this to be true just as much for national brands as local businesses.

Room to Breath

The problem with customer service that relies on financials is that it makes cornering yourself incredibly easy. When you don’t have much breathing room to start, it’s harder to solve problems down the road.

A relationship that has the excuse “I already did you a favor by cutting costs” isn’t benefiting anyone in the long run. It will always be overshadowed by the initial deal. It’s funny how fast a client will forget that it was a one time deal, especially when they come to you with an identical project (budget and all) for round two.

I think that financial benefits are something that have to be earned. Obviously, if cutting a project estimate by 5% is the difference between closing a deal and losing, that’s a different story. It’s just as important to let a client sit with their uncomfortableness. Being told no is an asset, and it builds mutual respect. Cutting costs substantially to build a relationship might work occasionally, but it’s helping the client’s business at the expense of your own. Again, if you’re not around in a few months, who’s benefiting then? Learn to adapt instead of settling.

Do More, Not For Less

Offering something for free or at a low cost is easy. It makes us feel like we are doing something to strengthen the relationship between ourselves and the client. Financial customer service is the fastest way to offer something undeniably valuable. At least, that’s the case at first.

Instead, why not offer more in terms of execution, attention to detail, and quality assurance? We’ve worked on a lot of projects where step one was “fix what the last guy did”. There’s a huge demand for people who know their stuff and can execute it efficiently. It’s the type of customer service that doesn’t depend on the economy.

Give the type of customer service that won’t be mistaken for a coupon. You’ll end up with a better business in the long run.

Further Reading

1. Bloodhounding Budgets
2. Our 5-part Pricing Bootcamp series

We’ve all had it happen before – you put a ton of work into a fantastic idea, proposal, and/or meeting with an awesome potential client and it goes swimmingly. You’re excited, they’re excited, you’re even more excited since they’re excited.  The endless cycle of excitement is the best right? When this situation has a fairytale ending paved with productivity, a portfolio builder and some cash, it’s awesome!

But, how many times has that excitement turned into disappointment when further talks go nowhere? Next thing you know, the client has simply said “No” or “Sorry, we’re no longer doing this project” or even the classic, “We’re going with someone else on this one”? Well, whether you’re in digital design, marketing, or any sort of sales, it has probably happened more times than you count. The client rejection is the nature of the beast, but what does a rejection really mean? No means no, or does it?

You can take “No” the way everyone else does…

Taking a “No” as if it means “No” goes something like this: The client opportunity falls through, and you inform your support system. You know, friends, family, Twitter, your significant other, whoever. Your friends and family will tell you it probably has nothing to do with you and that the rejection happened for a reason. Your colleagues will tell you that the client wasn’t worth working with anyway and that your time is coming.

As laughable as it is, your significant other will be the one to come up with as many negative things to say about that potential client no matter how ridiculous they might be – come on, admit it, you’ve been there! Some of what your support system tells you will be true however, most of it is just a pillow for your ego to land on. Oh well, they said “No”, right? Wrong.

You can take another “No” approach…

Similar to how a toddler takes the answer “No” and finds a way to change the answer, there is an approach that seem crazy but can seriously work. The approach? Ignore the word “No”. What does this mean? Well, it doesn’t exactly mean ignoring the word “no” and doing the client work anyways without their consent – it means, “try again”. They’ve said no to your first plan, so you’re going to send them something new.

You’ve already poured hours upon hours into the proposal, so simply send them something adjusted based on their reason for “no” or your gut feeling for what went wrong. If they actually liked your proposal but it was something as simple as budget, see where you can cut costs, and send them a new revision. If it was relevant references, see where you can dig up some more references through clients of clients or even someone you might have missed. If it was a portfolio problem, see where you can respond with other capabilities or more work that might weigh on their decision. If you feel like the client felt you were not capable, send them a compelling one-pager addressing their concern upfront and prove yourself.

Did I mention budget? Sometimes, the budget can “fix” other problems, if you know what I mean. If you were too expensive and the portfolio simply can’t justify, but your idea was really solid, you may find that the client is more willing to take a small risk at your lowered pricing. Cutting monetary corners isn’t just something you can do as a offensive move – cutting monetary corners is a defensive move potential clients can do to get the job done at a lower risk from a 2^nd choice contractor.

Nothing to lose, everything to gain

As mentioned above, you’ve already put the work in, so what do you have to lose? The only thing you need to do is figure out a new approach and give it another shot. What’s an hour of contemplating your bottom line, making a few calls, or putting a couple more pieces together? Certainly don’t try a second time if you were certainly off-base, but don’t miss an opportunity to make things right if you felt like you were almost there. With nothing to lose, you’d be making a huge mistake and missing an even bigger opportunity by not trying again. The worst that could happen is another “No” which you’ve already digested once – is it really going to hurt the 2^nd time? The best that could happen is that you’ve got another client under your belt and a huge opportunity to prove yourself.

The odds of success

Ignoring “No” and trying again does not mean you’re betting on a sure thing. In fact, you might not even get a response. It’s more like a game of roulette – it’s a black (let’s talk), a red (another no), or a green (straight up yes). If you know about roulette, you’ll know hitting green is rare, but hitting black is nearly 50-50. If your services or ideas were spot on and the potential client has a lot of candidates to chose from, you’ve got a great shot.

You’ll find that more often than not, a client is willing to listen if you got something new to show them especially if they liked you. Like your family said, it’s nothing personal – they should give you a 2^nd listen. Take a chance. Your odds are great, in fact, not sending a 2^nd try is just as bad as not sending a first.

This post has a little background to its inspiration.

At the start of Summer 2009, we started Officeal as a way to showcase the offices of companies that “get” creative culture. The numbers are slowly increasing, but it’s ended up serving a more important role. We’ve seen the kinds of things that make companies more than just a place to work. These are the types of companies that create lifestyles you want to be a part of.

As some of you may know already, Sam and I also run a web and creative company called One Mighty Roar. (Build Internet was originally developed as a side-project after a few years of small-to-mid range client jobs as a way to contribute back to the web design community.) Since then we’ve expanded in both client base and number of people involved. Put simply, we’ve seen a lot of growth this past year from the business side of things.

Somewhere along the line of these internet crusades, we started to look at what all of this meant to us. After a while, we realized that we kept revisiting the same big ideas:

The Big Question

What makes an awesome company on the inside? My answers will probably not be the same as yours. With that in mind, I’d like to share the philosophy One Mighty Roar has developed over the past couple years. If by the end you’d like to share your own insight, please feel free to treat us to your ideas in the comment below.

Our answers so far…

You’ll find One Mighty Roar’s philosophy-in-progress below, broken down into the big ideas:

Always Have a Lead that Excites You

Do you have something to look forward to? We like to always have a reach goal or project that excites the hell out of us. A reach lead keeps us excited with a constant chance of landing something extraordinary. Even when we work on smaller projects, we know that something bigger could be on the horizon. This could be a big brand website, a long term project with a steady budget, or just something with fascinating possibilities to grow.

Is this easier said than done? Absolutely. But it’s also motivation get moving and network with the right kind of people.

Nobody is an Island

The Internet is build upon the ability to create communities and extend social connections. How the hell could a company based in web be any different? If you’re a web design company in our area, we’d love to meet up for lunch. You have a side-project you’d like to talk about? Awesome. We’re not in the business of cutthroat competition. Collaboration breeds creativity, and we’re all for networking to do so.

Professionals do not have to be good at everything. Learning from the work of others gives an opportunity to fill gaps your own company may have.

Know Who Does It Well

Building off the last point, we have a lot of role models in the web industry to whom we look to for motivation. We’ve met several, but most have no idea we exist. For years we’ve watched as some of our favorite companies have landed larger clients, launched huge projects, and gone through general growth.

Good Ideas are Universal

When it comes to the startup culture, industry is not a limit for inspiration. I will never sell shoes online, but Zappos never ceases to amaze me with their take on customer service. David Heinemeier Hansson of 37Signals has redefined how I look at simplicity and metrics for success. Collis Ta’aed is the type of accessible and transparent entrepreneur that we can model communities after. Even though a company has a different focus, there’s almost always at least one thing to learn from it.

Congratulate Brilliance

Let’s rephrase this slightly. Congratulate the brilliance of other people. I’ve started to turned my “Why didn’t I think of that?!” frustration into motivation to build something just as great. If you frequent the design communities online, it’s easy to forget that good design is not as common as it appears. With millions of websites out there, a truly well-designed website is statistically worth recognition.

The Compliment Challenge

Here’s a challenge that you can start today: The next time you find someone’s blog, design, or idea that impresses you — let them know! You’d be surprised how many networking opportunities can be found in a simple “Nice work!” email. Genuine compliments rarely get old.

Entrepreneurship is a Constant

When an idea succeeds, the entrepreneur that brought it to life shouldn’t magically go through a change. We believe the best CEO’s are the ones who never lost touch with the excitement of pushing through a new idea. Entrepreneur is not an entry level title for the yet unsuccessful — it’s a full-on personality type.

We gravitate towards people who have ideas in the making. Collaborating with big ideas only inspires bigger ones. The self-described entrepreneurs are the ones who will get fresh ideas realized, rather than maintain those that already exists.

Choose Clients that Motivate You

By this point, many people (myself included), have made Clients from Hell a daily read. While we laugh at the stories, the reality is that there are plenty of clients out there that rub companies the wrong way. They make us irritable, and turn an otherwise cheerful culture into a pile of stress and “get it over with!”

While there’s no foolproof way of avoiding these kinds of clients all the time, it still helps to know who will bring out the best in your company. As business grows, and you have the luxury of turning down jobs, aim for the right attitude. We think that in many cases an awesome client is worth more than a high budget headache.

Closing Thoughts

This is our manifesto so far. It will probably not be the same a month from now, but that’s perfectly fine. We learn as we go, and that’s part of what makes us excited to land the next project. Business is sometimes serious… business. These are principles we strive for. Does this mean we’re able to practice them without compromise from time to time? Of course not. They’re called ideals for a reason, after all. If T-ball taught us anything in school, it’s that the ongoing effort matters most.

We’re a Fortunate Group

The creative and marketing industries a lucky breed. They don’t have to worry about the seriousness and stresses of client insurance policies. They don’t deal exclusively with people at their worst times (e.g. auto repair shops). This doesn’t necessarily mean we’re living in a dream world, just that we’ve been given the opportunity to create “corporate cultures” that reflect the creativity of our work. We’re in the business of ideas, and it’s refreshing lifestyle and people (not cubicle structure) that promote more of them.

Going Further

There are plenty of blogs out there that focus on the day to day business of freelances and small ventures. The sites and resources below have a different kind of approach. Many of them focus more on the big picture rather than the intricate details. I’ll warn you now: not all of their purposes will be immediately apparent. Take some time to read an article or two from each, and you’ll hopefully begin to see where the value lies.

Sites & Blogs

1. The Netsetter
2. The Blog of Tim Ferriss
3. Seth Godin’s Blog’
4. LifeDev
5. TED Talks on Business
6. Signal vs. Noise

Books & Reading

1. The 4-Hour Workweek
2. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
3. Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
4. Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application
5. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
6. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

That’s our take. What about yours?

A management professor once told me that in business, the only thing you need to know is one special shape. This meant absolutely nothing to me until he began to show me how every fundamental business practice boils down to a basic geometric shape.

Here I am paying $50k a year and we’re going to learn about one shape – a classic equilateral triangle. You know, that guy with 3 sides, 60 degrees each angle, and 180 degrees to go around. Yup, the simple, classy, equilateral triangle. 3 sides, no frills, all business. A Harvard MBA teaching other MBA’s about triangles?

I’m skeptical to say the least.

A $50,000 Triangle

As it turns out, the professor is spot on. Without getting technical, the geometry of thinking takes complex ideas and generates them into solid variables. Statistically, take on any more than three variables, and you’ve got a huge pile of worthless information with far too many options. Take on any less than three variables, and you’ve just induced tunnel vision. Three is the magic number because it’s just enough form with just enough chaos to actually yield real information. Basically you take a big idea, smash it into three variables, and voila – you can now use your triangle for a myriad of things.

At this point, it’s alright to be puzzled, luckily this concept is about as simple as the shape itself. Here’s what I call “Triangle One” and how we use it to determine our strategy for beating out competition when pitching to clients.

First Corner – Economic Quality

The first corner of “Triangle One” is your firm’s economic quality: In terms of cost, how expensive is your firm compared to the next guy? Does your cost reflect your quality? On an apples to apples comparison, how does your firm stack up?

Use this corner of the triangle when you’re up against a firm who’s only difference is their sheer size. They’re better because they’re bigger… or are they? Let clients know you’re scalable, flexible, and you don’t have to pay a 40-person staff their comfortable salaries.

Second Corner – Interaction Quality

The second corner of “Triangle One” is your firm’s interaction quality: Are you more personal with clients than your competitor? What’s the demeanor of your interactions? What sort of relationship do you build?

Use this corner of the triangle when you’re up against a firm who takes projects and disappears. Let the client know you’re a phone call away from their idea, rather than a few unanswered phone calls, unread e-mails, and a few unheard voicemails away. Trust us, it makes the difference. Make yourself available, but don’t give up control.

Third Corner – Differentiation

The third corner of “Triangle One” is your firm’s differentiation: Simply, why are you unique? Why chose your firm over another? What makes your firm stand out like a sore thumb (assuming a sore thumb is something awesome)?

Use this corner of the triangle when you’re up against a firm who you can’t quite beat on economics. Let’s be honest, you have to justify your costs sometimes too, make frequent use of this corner. Why your different is why you’re in business and the “firm” down the street isn’t. Show your uniqueness and show it well. Everyone’s watching.

Go Ahead, Pick Your Corner

Inside “Triangle One” lives your firm and the location of your firm is pulled and pushed by each of the three dimensions. The more you show towards one quality, the closer you are to its corner. It’s up to employee, client, and even personal evaluations to place your firm inside the triangle.

Most major firms tend to pull away from interaction and settle somewhere between economy and differentiation. The more centralized the location, the better.

Smaller firms tend to sit right in the middle; however, smaller firms have the advantage because they have the flexibility to stretch their home as close to the corners as they want to. However, never spread yourself too thin, but that’s another triangle for another time.

Next time your smaller firm is pitted up toe to toe against a bigger, “better” competitor, try to explore ways to exploit their “Triangle One” and capitalize on your “Triangle One”. Beat any big firm in at least 2 of the 3 corners and you’ll get more shots than MTV’s Jersey Shore (If that pop culture reference went over your head, consider yourself lucky). Show that you in fact can compete… and do a damn good job doing it.

Source

(c) 2010 Robert W. Keidel. The Geometry of Strategy: Concepts for Strategic Management. Routledge.

Being based online has its share of advantages. Clients are plentiful and easy to come by, your company can operate from anywhere in the world, and with enough promotional efforts you can easily create a long-term client base that brings in recurring income and major projects. When it comes to ultra-low operating costs and simple marketing, running an online business is the way to go.

However, a number of online service businesses are in a unique position. Rather than sticking exclusively to online business, they have the ability to pitch to local clients in their area for extra income and major projects. From local online marketing clients to web design and development, the opportunities for online businesses that aren’t afraid to approach offline clients can be huge.

These four rules aren’t exactly rules – you’re free to break them if it works for you – but they’re high quality guidelines for transitioning to the world of offline business. Local clients can be highly valuable, especially when approached in the right way, and as a beginner it’s best to use these rules to structure your offline pitches, local client queries, and potential projects.

Start with an Email, and Keep Things Casual

Email pitches are low friction. If potential clients aren’t interested, at least they won’t be annoyed by your pitch.

Companies with long-term potential are pitched all the time, especially through the annoying salesman-in-the-office style hustle. There’s nothing most local businesses hate more than an aggressive cold call, which is why you should avoid it entirely for your first approach.

When you spot a local business that could benefit from your web design and marketing abilities, check first to see if they have any kind of web presence. As a designer, you’re in a much better position if they already have a website than if they don’t at all. Businesses with a somewhat effective online presence understand the potential of the internet for the business; those without it typically require explanation before they’ll consider one.

If they have email listed on their website, send them one. If not, call them personally, ask to speak to whoever is in charge of online marketing (if no one is, ask for the owner or local manager) and introduce your services gradually.

Sell the Benefits, But Not the Website Itself

Steve Jobs is a master of selling the experience, not just the technical product. Focus on the business experience that a website can deliver.

Most companies understand what a website is, but few understand why and how they’re so valuable. Most local business websites are, for lack of a better term, horrible, and completely ineffective from a marketing perspective. The relatively incompetence and lack of value amongst local business websites isn’t a bad thing – as a designer it’s very much a good thing for you.

Explain to your clients how a website can help them. Even a simple action-driven static website is enough to increase the bottom line for a lot of local companies. Explain the potential leads that a favorable SEO presence can demonstrate. Instead of boring potential clients with technical sales talk, explain exactly how a website can introduce more value to their business.

Arrange to Meet in Person

Coffee, some projects notes, and a quick chat can go a long way towards developing long-term professional relationships.

In-person meetings feel a little foreign for online entrepreneurs and freelancers. We’ve grown so accustomed to eating at our desks and arranging projects over email that lunch with a client feels like a business scene from the 1950s. Still, the vast majority of online clients will want some form of physical meeting before committing to a project – especially if it’s a long-term marketing project or large scale design task.

Be prepared for any offline meetings with physical copies of your online materials. If you’re used to marketing your design business online, transition to offline marketing with your own business card and basic summaries of future projects. Remember that most offline clients are unfamiliar with the value of internet business and marketing – reassure and inform them with clear project schedules, projected costs, and the overall benefits of the project.

Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

Fail. It happens. Don’t let it hurt your offline marketing; let it refine and optimize it.

There’s a slight emotional barrier that pops up when the majority of your client communications happen through email. Every ‘no’ feels like less of an issue, every turned-down proposal is a minor deal, and success is easily manageable. The world of offline business moves significantly slower, but it also carries a much greater emotional impact.

Getting the old ‘no thanks’ email is nothing compared to having a potentially giant client turn you down in person. There are going to be times when your offline marketing efforts will fail, and with that failure comes the chance for you to do two things: pack up and leave, or concentrate and improve your efforts.

A large portion of offline clients simply don’t understand how valuable an online presence could be for their business. When you get turned down for a major project, it’s not a jab at your skills or your business. Instead, it’s a failure of your own marketing abilities. Focus on being able to sell the service to offline clients, and use failed pitches as a chance to refine and optimize your sales message.

“Looks great. Let’s just move the main content down and change the font to a brighter red and Papyrus…”

Have you ever dealt with a client who suddenly flipped on “design mode” mid-project? The expectation is that you are an expert, and you act as a filter between the client and a (successful) finished product. Web design is more than just coding a client’s vision.

You’ve spent the time honing skills. Now let’s reclaim your artistic license while keeping professional.

Pixel-Pushing versus Design

To keep from going in too many directions at once, let’s assume two things:

1. The project budget is not a concern
2. The original designs you’ve submitted are undeniably more successful

Some of you may think that these two conditions are rare, but it allows us to focus on the real issue: clients who seize control of design.

This article is a discussion on keeping communication open at all points of a project. This helps prevent the dreaded “pixel-pushing” phase, where a client gains full control of revisions without any real reason behind the changes. This can lead to a poorly designed site with usability or visibility conflicts.

What’s the problem?

The designer in a “pixel-pusher” relationship is a tool and not expert. Think of it like a translator: I may not know Russian, but I can still communicate effectively through a translator. But in the case of web design, there is much more going on than just direct translation: actual design and internet background are needed to make educated decisions.

The biggest issue in this kind of relationship, the designer loses the ability to use their own judgement. They are left to scale down font sizes and column widths at request. Instead, it’s expected the designer convert the client’s ideas into a functioning website. All sense of artistic license is lost. You’re now the temporary employee of an apparent visionary.

This wouldn’t be a terrible situation if the client actually had design experience to base their decisions on. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case.

Who’s the Expert Here?

Clients who flip on designer mode halfway through a project have the potential to cause more problems than they realize. The Oatmeal captured the conundrum perfectly in a recent comic.

One thing that makes this comic so accurate is how the client asks for the revisions. The language is passive. “It would be great if”, or “Please just…” don’t seem as threatening, and it’s this mitigated language that starts the communication conflicts. If you’re starting to hear revisions piling up, take some time to ask the client about their intentions. “What level of involvement did you want to have in the project’s design?” is a good start. This will allow you to plan moves accordingly.

As we’ve said before, designing for the internet is designing for other people. The actual audience is (usually) not the client themselves. Are you more in touch with the expected audience’s habits? Or is the client? The client is an expert in certain aspects of the website (e.g. topic), but not all of them.

Revisions Should Not be Arbitrary

Typically clients request a change because they assume it is for the better. By demanding changes, there is no discussion about the thought process. This is a problem for most successful client-designer communications.

Our philosophy at One Mighty Roar is that revisions which request a major design change should try to solve a problem. This isn’t an attempt to be difficult, but it does sometimes challenge clients to make decisions on more than just a whim. If you consistently make revisions without cause, you risk losing consistency of overall user experience and efficiency.

It’s not necessarily your fault. I know from personally experience that it’s easy to convince yourself that the design was inadequate to begin with. Stubborn is different from confident, just like collaboration is different from dictation. Limiting the number of revisions that can be made within a project’s budget is a great way of keeping the requests from going overboard.

Does it benefit the audience?

Treat personal taste carefully. It is ultimately the audience that has to appreciate and use most sites, and reasons like “I just like the way this looks” glosses over this point. How would the expected audience react to your changes? What problem(s) does the current design present?

Educating the client on your thought process is part of the job. Colors look different based on background contrast, certain fonts increase readability, etc. Bad design is commonplace. This leaves some people desensitized to components of good websites. That’s where you come in.

At the same time, we’re not always creating to impress fellow designers. This is a hard fact to swallow, especially when the latest round of revisions requests “more bright orange” and a primary font of Papyrus. Sometimes the interest of the client and the interest of prestigious portfolio piece don’t cooperate. Be professional for the right reasons.

Reader Response From Twitter

I asked our Twitter followers “What do you do if a client starts demanding design changes that would hurt the site?” Thanks to everyone who took time to respond. I’ve highlighted some of the big ideas below:

@LaserRedWeb: All you can do is offer advice and guidence, if the client still doesn’t listen then do as they say it’s their money

@Delltar: Clients are for designers like parents for a teenager,sometimes they are annoying,they don’t understand, but he needs them :D

@mindsmiledesign: I’d show them some options, including what they suggested in one option. Then, pray they see its inferior to other options.

@bornfamous: Sadly, I cave in and let the site go to hell. Then I drink.

@jctatme: I try to find stats, UX test results, anything concrete to convince client their design changes are hurting the site

@Phillysoul11: [I] kindly explain why the changes would hurt the site, and then offer alternatives. If they persist, give in or drop the client.

@doublelama: It’s their money so the final decision is up to them. (Of course you keep a copy of the ‘good’ version for your portfolio.)

@FWebDe: Educate them about why it’s a bad choice. After all, you probably know more about design than they do.

You Won’t Always Win

Ultimately, the client will have the final say. No amount of debate can change this.

On the same note, you’re not required to put all work into a portfolio. Sometimes it’s best to just let work fade into the background and move on. Even though it betrays what many designers stand for, the outcome may not always make you proud. The primary role of a web designer is to create a website that meets the clients goals. The client might not always agree with the approach, but the best you can have is intention.

What about you? Do you have a foolproof approach to dealing with clients with poor design eye? Share your expertise in the comments below.

Further Reading

1. How To Explain To Clients That They Are Wrong
2. Rules for Successful Client-Freelancer Working Relationships

Banner image photography found via el patojo on Flickr. All other photos used in post link to the pages of their respective authors.

The internet is full of brand new proof of concepts and ideas just waiting to be implemented on exciting new projects.

Actually getting the approval to use these features is another story entirely. Some of the most interesting ideas turn out to be hard sells when putting them into to practice.

So what’s a web designer to do when clients insist on stale ideas?

Know Your (Actual) Audience

Your client can mean the world to you, but the world is not your client. The world audience does not always share all of your client’s needs and direction. Success (in most cases) is built on the ability for other people to interact with the finished product, and not just the client’s approval of color scheme.

It’s not easy to tell a client that their idea isn’t going to work out, but unfortunately it’s sometimes a necessary part of the job. If you hired an architect to build a house, they wouldn’t build something that would fall down (even if you insisted). Web design is the same way.

Three Facts of Client Work

As a web designer, it’s important to make note of a three main points. As simple as they may be, it’s easy to overlook them:

• The person funding the project may not always know what’s best
• You’ve been hired as the professional
• The Internet is a big place

So what now? At which point do you, as the web professional, try to stop clients from pushing a project in a misguided direction?

Don’t Get Discouraged

Be careful about simply accepting a client’s disapproval without further questions. This does not mean that you should become overly-confrontational, but sometimes clients don’t know how to communicate the real problem at hand. It’s up to you to dig further in and get to the real problem.

Does the client not like a design because of personal taste? Or is it actually because their screen resolution is set unusually low? Expect further questions to come out of each round of feedback. If you’re able to pick up the underlying issues, you’ll be much more productive in revisions.

It’s your job as the designer to bring a person up to speed. This doesn’t always mean forcing them to upgrade their machines, philosophies, or business practices — but does involve a certain amount of education about the rest of the internet. If a small part of their market falls into the same pitfalls (e.g. screen resolution), it’s not always a good decision to plan for the lowest common denominator.

Ask Good Questions

Let’s say that your client requests a menu change that would cause a lot of confusion for users trying to navigate. Especially if they love a bad idea, how do you guide them in the right direction without being overly-forceful?

Give your client an opportunity to come to an answer by themselves. Rather than insisting “This menu will work better”, ask them “How would the user be able to find their current location”, or questions leading to the problem. The best person to have on your side is the client’s own mind.

Food for Thought

The goal of an argument is not to win. It is to get the other person thinking differently. Once you’ve done that, they’ll fill in the rest of the gaps on their own.

Using the example above, a good food for thought example would be “How would your intended audience like/use this?” This does two things:

1. Presents the issue at hand (User experience)
2. Forces the client to look from a new perspective (and not just their personal opinion)

Even though a client starts the project, the client is rarely the target audience. Designing for the Internet is designing for other people.

Explain the Purpose

It’s easy to get caught up in explaining the concept of a new feature, but don’t lose sight of the goal. What is the purpose of the new idea? If you’re only explaining the concept, you’re more likely to deal with existing bias. Hold on. Bias? How can you be biased against an idea?

A Tale of Two Networks

What’s the difference between MySpace and Facebook? Technical things aside, it’s actually a tough question. Both are social networks that allow people to connect and maintain online relationships.

If a client isn’t up to date with the technology happenings, it’s easy to assume that the audience found on Facebook is the same angst filled teenagers on which MySpace built its reputation. This same problem appears for sites like Twitter (e.g. pointless updates) and a number of other useful (but not always recognized) web services.

Consider the two options below for selling the idea of Facebook:

• Facebook is a portal to network with millions of people.
• Many companies have used Facebook as a way to connect to young people in their everyday life. Company A ran a campaign that boosted traffic to their website by 300% last month.

The first statement explains, but it doesn’t stimulate the same business enthusiasm as the second one. Simply pointing out a potential audience isn’t enough, you’ve also got to lead them with concrete examples of success and application.

First One in the Pool

Not all businesses want to take on the risk of being the first to “test the waters.” You’re up to speed with trends (reading this proves it!), but there’s no guarantee that the client is on par. Show them the other companies that are already succeeding, and it will make your job easier.

Conclusion

Have you ever had problems persuading a client to go with an innovative idea? How did you handle it? Does your web design organization have any strategies that work well? Share them in the comments below.

Light bulb icon used in banner image via DarkGlass

Keep in mind: This article is intended primarily for a U.S. audience. Service availability in other countries is not guaranteed.

Email is a wonderful invention, but sometimes you need the instantaneous feedback of a conversation. This is where having a business phone line comes in handy. With VoIP services, even freelancers can have call handling that mirrors corporations.

The main goal of this article is to show you how to have multiple points of access via phone lines, while keeping it separate from your personal accounts. Unless you enjoy interruptions, your existing cell phone is not a primary business line. I’ve outlined my preferences below, but feel free to tweak it to suit your own needs. I’m not everybody.

Open a Google Voice Account

There’s a reason people love Google. Google Voice (formerly Grand Central) is one of those products that further cements this idea. In short, i allows you to register a number (of your choosing) for free, and then forward to whichever phones you’d like. This will help us put a filter in between business and personal.

One of the other useful features of Google Voice is the ability to sort through incoming calls by contact. I could, for example, set it so when Brendan (our Officeal editor) calls the number, he is forwarded to a personalized voicemail. These filters can be applied by a number of criteria, including people or time of day.

It’s also nice to have a log of all calls, including the ability to record and add notes to specific ones.

It’s Not a Free Phone

Don’t get overly-excited just yet, because this is not a calling plan. While you can send and receive SMS for free, it’s essentially just a way to organize and forward calls to a single number. As Google explains, it’s “…a phone number that is tied to you, not to a device or a location.” Especially for traveling web entrepreneur types, this is incredibly useful in and of itself.

Buy a Calling Plan with Skype

If Google Voice is the face of this arrangement, Skype is the backbone. If you’re unfamiliar with the company, Skype is a VoIP phone service that allows you to make calls directly from your computer.

It makes discussing a design on your screen easy, because the window is already there. Going over revisions is much easier when you don’t have to balance a phone on one shoulder.

Why is this worth the money?

I’m all for saving money when it comes to business expenses. But as Seth Godin pointed out in a recent blog post, spending money is not always a bad thing. In this next section I’ll outline how to take a Google Voice number and link it to a Skype account.

There are plenty of utilities out there that can do this in one way or another, but this route will save you a lot of headache by keeping things simple. I recommend that you buy a second number through Skype. Doing so will enable you to directly forward Google Voice calls to your Skype account without involving any third parties.

What am I buying?

The funding for the basic Skype set up break down into two parts:

1. Unlimited US & Canada Calls 12 months – $30
2. Online number, 12 month subscription – $30

At a rate of $60 yearly for the full package, it’s not going to be a huge dent in your business’ wallet. If you’re like me, you find yourself on the phone with clients fairly regularly. Most of these conversations occur during daytime hours, which can cause overages on cell phone minutes or long distance fees. Having a VoIP line solves both of those problems.

As an added bonus, since this Skype number would be considered a business line, it is also entirely tax deductible.

Mixing Services Together

At this point, some of you might be wondering why Google Voice is needed at all. Here’s five reasons why it pays to have Google act as middleman:

1. Free phone number
2. Transferable number
3. Free SMS messaging
4. Call filtering and scheduling
5. Recordings and text translations of voicemail

Splitting the Roles

With both services up and running, you’ll now have two separate numbers at your disposal. The public number should be from Google Voice, while your “behind the scenes” number was purchased from Skype. Linking up Skype is as easy as adding an additional phone to the Google Voice forwarding system.

You can set up additional phone lines once logged in through the Settings>Phones screen.

Google Voice will be responsible for the voicemail, SMS, and overall number. Skype will be responsible for the phone and unlimited domestic calling plan. Playing together as a team, how about that?

Phones in Action

We’ve recently made the switch to this set up for One Mighty Roar. Since establishing a single centralized number, Sam and I have been able to manage our communications much better. Because both Google Voice and Skype are integrated through the computer, we find ourselves using them much more out of convenience.

I’ve put together a rough outline of our current set up below:

For those of you feeling particularly social, go ahead and leave us a voicemail. It can be a comment, suggestion, or even a simple hello. Give it a go!

Links and Resources

• Google Voice Sign Up
• Skype Calling Plans