The Emperor's New Clothes
Since becoming involved in the web design business back in the 90's, it's often dawned on me that trying to sell web design services is a bit like trying to sell the Emperor's new clothes.
After all, what we create is made from invisible strings of code and can only be accessed thanks to a binary series of zero's and ones, and much like the Emperor's new clothes,
web pages/sites rely on the viewers gaze for their existance - I can see it, therefore it is (so to speak).
Much like music (and this is perhaps why so many musicians become web designers), the web designer's end product is produced through technical knowledge, but isn't tangible or tactile, you can't live in it, drive it, eat it, or wear it, and yet somehow we are supposed to convince potential clients to
part with their hard earned cash to purchase it.
At the end of the day it comes down to trust between client and designer,
but as with all industries (let's not mention the banking sector here) the web design industry
has it's fair share of SHARKS and COWBOYS, not least with regard to the Content Management System (CMS).
A CMS is literally a means of managing content. My understanding of this term means an 'automated' means of managing content,
i.e., one where the client logs into a system (usually through a browser) where text is typed or pasted in directly, which then 'automatically' updates the client's web site.
However, a broader definition of the term 'Automation' has at times been employed by a few unscrupulous web designers to effectively mis-sell their products.
I recently heard of a very large public institution that was sold a "so called" CMS package for a five figure number as part of an ongoing maintenance package.
The CMS in question basically involves the clients emailing the text to the web designers who then update the site, which is a service we provide openly and honestly, for a tenth of the cost.
Similarly, we try to inform and therefore empower our clients with jargon free speach (wherever possible),
because to a certain extent all web design is like selling the Emperors new clothes, but old fashioned principles like "an honest days work for an honest days pay"
need not to be forgotten"!
Bizbro Web Design
Smalls House
Dinefwr Courtyard
Llandeilo
SA19 6RT
01558 822 033