Looking for People Who Get It

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Permalink Reply by Rae Kridel on June 10, 2008 at 4:18pm

Theresia,

Give me a call, 840-9711. I do print and design and have my own company. It's small, but I have a constant stream of work. One thing that drives me crazy, and delays projects, is waiting for clients to get their act together and write the text for their sites. I do write, it's actually where I started, but I writing copy just isn't something that I enjoy doing, so I never offer clients my services as a writer. (I prefer fiction and screenplays.) I have two sites that I can't complete because I'm waiting on text, one since last October!!!! I'd LOVE to have someone to connect them with who they could hire to do their writing for them, who understands the attention span of a Web site user, how to construct sentences that don't lose people, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Frank Corsi on June 10, 2008 at 10:16pm

Hello Theresia,
I do understand this 100%.. I have seen many wannabe professionals that act like they are the answer to anything. Some can outsource the work and get the job done, but most dont.

I have been behind the scenes of the internet since 1990. I was lucky to have access to the technology early on, and learn as I was using it. I never say I can do something, If I cant.

If you need someone to build database driven applications, I can do just about anything. I operate my own servers, I am a DBA database admin, I also can automate standard procedures.

I would love to get involved in some cool projects.

I am now involved with the virtual worlds. It is what I see as the next generation of the internet. A 3D look at some things makes a big difference.

What do you want to chat about? I will try my best to offer good conversation.

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Permalink Reply by Theresia Whitfield on June 12, 2008 at 3:38pm

Frank,

I work with web designers who often try to take on the task of writing when they plainly shouldn't. I'm looking to get connected with more web designers like Rae Kridel (who I just spoke to) who know their limitations with time (and/or talent) and that of their clients. I love writing copy for web sites and would love to do more of that, given the opportunity. It sounds like what you do is a bit different but I appreciate your post! (And certainly correct me if I'm wrong!)

Take care,

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Permalink Reply by Frank Corsi on June 14, 2008 at 10:08am

Hi,

I am not doing anything different, when you talk about building websites.
I may understand websites and the internet more than most "web designers" can ever dream about.
I am not sure what you see as "web designers". Building websites is what i have done for over 10 + years. I have built over 12,000+ websites. I own the servers I host my websites on. I am not a reseller of some other service. So many "web designers" use other web hosting companies and are only resellers of some other service. This is a weak link in many web solutions.

Are you looking for anyone to build, host or create websites, or is this just a topic of discussion?

Today most websites need to be database driven, to capture and display data.

Also 3D Virtual Worlds are the next generation to the 2D static websites of today. I always try to stay on the leading edge of technology. Over the next few years you will see alot more 3D Virtual World applications. Back in 1990, people didnt think the web would ever be like it is today. As in 1990 when I started, I can see past today!

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Permalink Reply by Frank Corsi on June 14, 2008 at 10:35am

As an example, not to say anything bad about anyone.

If Rae Kridel (who I dont know) has a great web project, and then out of the blue InternetNamesForBusiness.com located at 500 East Broward Boulevard Suite 1700 Fort Lauderdale, goes broke and closed down, then where is her client? Dead and offline.
Being from Ft Lauderdale I know 500 East Broward Boulevard is an office suite.

So many times people think they have a good "web designer" and as good as they may be, it is the other related companies that can cause big problems.

Using a web form that will submit to a database, will collect more data and the data will not get lost. Using an email link, most will not use it or can get lost in bulk mail or spam blockers.

BTW nframe.com does look like a professional web hosting group. Good choice for your website.

Your correct, Many "web designers" dont get it!!

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Permalink Reply by Rae Kridel on June 14, 2008 at 11:32am

Wow, you made that pretty personal, picking on me and my hosting company of choice. I chose them because of their excellent customer service and their reliability. Their servers are in Toronto (they have additional offices in Ft. Lauderdale) and their backup generators are impressive. When the east coast had that huge outage a few years ago, their servers stayed up (as did their clients' sites).

And for the record, a web designer isn't the same as a web developer.

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Permalink Reply by Frank Corsi on June 14, 2008 at 12:08pm

Hi Rea,

I only used you as an example, since you were mentiond in this discussion.
And to make note about " It sounds like what you do is a bit different "

My point was to say many people who make websites dont have control over the other parts of the puzzle. I have had many hosting companies in my datacenters over the years, and have heard the horror stories when they crash. Many times I had to clean up the mess of the other web hosting companies.

I have servers in Ft Lauderdale, Plano Texas, Dallas Texas and Manchester England. And just about all locations have had problems over the years, but never all locations at once. The carriers do have outages, and we cant control that. But we have a dedicated fiber connection from Plano - Dallas that I can fully control.

Maybe a small website, dont need to be online all the time or collect data using a database, but anyone running a large scale business online will want to use a database and be in multiple locations with a company that has full control over the website.

I guess there are alot of TITLES made for people building a webpages now.

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Permalink Reply by Noah Coffey on June 14, 2008 at 10:11pm

The point of all this is knowing what you're great at and what you're not so great at--and getting someone else who is great at it to do it. There are indeed a lot of "titles" for people who contribute to the development of a website. Many companies expect their "web person" to do everything when in reality a team of people should be managing it. Front-end designer, front-end programmer, back-end programmer, database administrator, usability expert, copywriter, marketing strategist, web server admin, and more. Sure, it is not uncommon for someone to be skilled in more than one of those areas. However, even an expert in every area would lack the hours in the day to properly execute in every area.

For example, I design and develop websites. I lease a dedicated server that is managed by another company. They handle monitoring, server upgrades, and pretty much everything I need on that end. I can email, chat, or even pick up the phone 24/7 and talk to a tech about my server. If I had to do all that myself, I'd barely have any time to do what I'm great at--designing and developing.

I was lucky enough to land a day job with a company that values this concept. I'm a Web Designer in the marketing department which also employs marketing specialists, copywriters, graphic designers, business analysts, etc. This means I get to focus on (and continue to get better at) my specialty.

The best copywriting you can ever get from a designer is Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet!. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Kyle Lacy on June 11, 2008 at 8:12am

Count me in. :)

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Permalink Reply by Erik Deckers on June 11, 2008 at 1:49pm

I get it. And it kills me when people think they do, and they are so far from getting it, I start to wonder if we're even talking about the same thing. I used to work for a guy who thought he knew marketing. His approach was that since he bought things at the store and saw ads on TV, he must know marketing. (He actually said that to me once. I was too stunned to respond.)

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Permalink Reply by Theresia Whitfield on June 12, 2008 at 3:38pm

Yeah, that's pretty sad! That's like someone saying, "I went through first grade so I'm a writer!" UGH! You get it, Erik, and I appreciate that about you!!!

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Permalink Reply by Bob Sullivan on June 14, 2008 at 2:26pm

And on the flip side, how often I go to answer an advertised "copywriter" or "communications writer" position in the posted headline only to read as a qualification "must know HTML" or "Ability to work with [insert graphic art program] required." Very frustrating.

Let's talk, Theresia. Email me at bob@copybob.com and we'll network.

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