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Not Following Your Own Advice<\/h3>\n
A common theme that came up when talking to several developers was a tendency to not follow your own advice. So, while these developers and designers might advocate for a variety of things for their clients (and maybe even write blog posts about them), when it comes to implementing similar strategies for their own businesses, it just doesn’t happen.<\/p>\n
Lack of time could certainly be a factor here. I mean, when you’re spending most of your work hours completing client work, it’s hard to allot time for your own business. Even so, it’s almost refreshing when experienced professionals don’t always tick off every “must-have” box.<\/p>\n
Laird Sapir, owner of the boutique web design firm, Memphis McKay<\/a>, always codes her client’s sites from scratch but when it came to her own website\u2026not so much.<\/p>\n “I put that baby together in like the 30 minutes I had free last summer,” she says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The “do as I say, not as\u00a0I do” well runs deep, it seems. Sapir also makes it a point to get her clients “firmly on board with getting an email list,” she says. But does she have an email list? A one-word answer will suffice. “Nope.”<\/p>\n Another developer admits that after 13 years of building websites, she’s never had her own. Though she still manages to be “run off [her] feet.”<\/p>\n Many developers have their business practices nice and tidy but the small details slip them by. Typos were a common theme that came up among the devs I\u00a0talked to. And though that’s the sort of mistake that pops up across numerous industries, it can make for a very prominent “oops” when featured in a completed design.<\/p>\n Stephenie Van Doleweerd<\/a>, a web designer and developer, once made a header for a client’s site that read “Embrace your life’s inner porpoise.” She blames a lack of coffee that day for the error.<\/p>\n Jason King, a developer who builds WordPress sites for non-profits, has a similar story. “I subcontracted some work to a graphic designer,” he says, noting the assignment was to create a banner that said “Ecumenical Council.” However, the finished banner read “Ecumental Council,” and he ended up sending it to the client, “without noticing the mistake.”<\/p>\n Sometimes, developers’ biggest confessions simply have to do with how they approach client communication. That is, it might not always be “all business” behind-the-scenes.<\/p>\n Take Telly Ipock, for example. Principal at LinearTech<\/a>, a web development firm, relayed a story of how her team was once working on a site for a client. Specifically, they were completing the mobile view of the site. “We haven’t heard from them on any feedback for a long time,” she says, so instead of pushing it further, her response was golden:<\/p>\n “If they are not responsive, their website doesn’t need to be either.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Being a developer or a designer means spending countless hours at the computer, poring over every little detail for your client’s sites. However, sometimes things \u2013 especially administrative or personal business things \u2013 are lost in the shuffle.<\/p>\nNow, That’s Just Unfortunate<\/h3>\n
What’s Said Behind Closed Doors<\/h3>\n
Forgetting the Essentials<\/h3>\n