Written By: Patrick on February 26th, 2010
I hate spec work. Spec work is work that is performed for free, in the hope of getting paid if the “client” likes it. Spec work is a huge problem that formerly was confined to only the most desperate, untalented web design firms. But now, thanks to a tanked economy in many areas and unscrupulous clients who are asking for it, it’s spreading to design firms who should know better. Some say web design companies who submit spec work to a potential client are “showing initiative”. The reality is, they’re showing that they believe their time and ideas- the very things they sell to clients- are worthless.
Then again, maybe spec work isn’t so bad. Maybe we should start treating all our business interactions that way.
Next week, I plan on bringing in three housepainting companies. I’ll tell them this is the deal: paint my house, and if I like it I will pay for it. I won’t give them direction, such as what color I may like. I won’t ask them to educate me about the different types of paint and how they may wear over time. Nope. I’ll just have each painting company paint my house, and when I see a paint job I think I like, I’ll consider paying them. Or not.
Next, I plan on stopping by the auto mechanic. I’ll tell her I want her to make my car more high performance, and if I like what she does with it I’ll consider paying for it after the job’s done. If I don’t like it, I’ll just drive off.
Finally, I plan on stopping by the local farmer’s market. I’ll grab some awesome fresh produce, and instead of paying the farmer I’ll tell him that I’ll take all the produce home and eat it, and that I’ll pay him later, but only for the produce I liked.
Yeah, that’ll work.
Ten Reasons Spec Work Is Evil
Why We Will Not Do Spec Work
Another Article About Why Spec Work Is Bad For Business
Why Spec Work Hurts
Written By: MK on February 26th, 2010
Hey, MK here. Welcome to another edition of Social Media Marketing Friday! In this edition, we speak of Harvard’s recent assertion that social media rocks. It gives me a tingle to read things from Harvard. Let’s all go to HARVAAAARD! Brings up memories of watching Saved by the Bell when the guy who owned The Max (Max) pretended he was a Harvard recruiter so Jessie would look better and the people from Stansbury would take a look at her.
But I digress.
I just read an article, backed by Harvard research, regarding Facebook and how effective it is as part of a marketing plan. Heck YES it is! I like to think that social media brings out the conversation in people in an online discussion. A Facebook fanpage is an excellent place for this….especially with the “discussion” tab and comments in general.
In fact, our own Facebook fanpage work has produced great results for our clients. Two recent wins include new business for our adoption client, and a huge uptick in first-time callers for our psychic client. These results were reached only after a few months of a solid social media campaign that included a Facebook fanpage and some time dedicated to working the fanpage.
That’s really key- you must be willing to devote time and resources to your Facebook marketing. It’s not magic. It takes effort. But the payoff is incredible.
Of course, as stated in the Harvard article, “Social media marketing must be employed judiciously with other types of marketing programs.” This is a no-brainer. it’s true with all forms of marketing. You must also be prepared to go both online and offline (omg i said offline!!!!) to reach the masses NOT on the Internet or at least those that don’t do the social networking thing. Depending on the client, we at POINC figure out a complete digital marketing package, it’s the only way!
Harvard Says Facebook Rocks
Written By: Patrick on February 24th, 2010
Typography is important. Blame it on sIFR- the original scalable Inman Flash Replacement for text on websites. It was a little clunky, it was often hard to implement, but it looked freakin’ cool. Web designers everywhere began implementing text replacement in the headers of their websites, and suddenly the web looked a lot better. Plus, it degraded pretty well if your browser didn’t support Flash. First, do no harm, right?
These days there are other text replacement alternatives that are a bit easier to use, like Cufon and Typekit. We use them both, depending on the client and their audience. These technologies let designers take typography on the web to the next level, and they help bridge the “design gap” between Flash-based and web standards based website designs. And that’s a very good thing, seeing as Flash-based websites kind of suck from a usability and maintenance standpoint.
If you’re a designer, you need to know about typography on the web. Go beyond Arial and Verdana, get creative, and watch your websites blossom!
Gap photo by The Lab
