SiteCrafting Blah Blah Blog
Oct. 8, 2007 at 9:52am
Pirates != Web Developers
Unless they work here
Unless there's a Seahawks, Huskies, or Mariners game going on, it's pretty rare that I listen to the radio in my car, let alone anything on the AM band. Saturday was the exception as I was driving toward Seattle right after the Atlas Foundry explosion. I kept flipping between the local AM news stations, hoping to hear of any updates as I was just down the street visiting some friends about 10 minutes before the explosion. Hearing any updates required sitting through weather and traffic reports, as well as what seemed like an endless parade of commercials. One of those commercials hit upon one of my pet peeves.
The spot was for one of those big box office supply stores claiming to make your life easier. Featuring a pirate and a perky, but oh-so-helpful salesgirl, the ad was fine all the way up to the point where the pirate asked if he could get business cards printed as well. "Why do you need business cards? You're a pirate." "Aye, but I'm a web developer too."
Stop it. No you're not. Just because you can operate Dreamweaver, FrontPage, or Word doesn't mean you're a web developer. Yes, web developers can build sites using those tools, but the majority1 don't. There is more to web development than just a copy of Dreamweaver. I can change the oil in my car, but that doesn't mean I'm a mechanic all of a sudden.
Back in the day when SiteCrafting was just Brian, Ken, and I, we would have to justify our prices to potential clients. "$2500 seems like a lot of money. The kid down the street can build web pages too, maybe I'll have him do it." I don't know how many potential jobs we lost that way, but it seemed like too many. We've grown a lot since then, both in size and in the type of work we do. We don't experience those kind of clients as much anymore, but they are still out there.
When you decide to get serious about your online presence, talk to someone that has been around the block few times. Someone that has been doing web development for years and knows the ins and outs of the online world. Someone that will be there to provide the service your business needs, and not just any old pirate.
1 in my mind at least
Posted in Odds 'n Ends by Mike Ash
Comments (4)
Joe says:
You never know... perhaps that pirate was a trained PHP developer. Maybe we should hire him!
1 | Oct. 8, 2007 at 2:41pm
Nick says:
Yarrrr! I be thinking you hit the nail on the head matey (Mike)! I be aplogizin' if my typing seems a bit messy, 'tis hard to type with a hook for a hand!
On a more serious note, I think this disconnect largely stems from people still holding a view of what the web used to be. While the web has transformed dramatically behind the scenes, the end-user experience has not changed as much. I think many people haven't realized that much of the web has changed from static HTML "brochures" to dynamic and complex web applications. The web is much more a collection of software applications that happen to use the web for a GUI than what it was back in the early 90's.
I think as time goes on, people are going to become more aware of this and realize that when they ask for a website, they're really asking for a software application rather than a handful of HTML files.
2 | Oct. 11, 2007 at 12:49pm
I have had too many of those meetings. Nick pretty well summarizes a period of web development that required little more than basic knowledge of html. Now days, website visitors expect an experience, not a term paper. However, at one point I was the kid down the street just trying to get my feet wet.
3 | Left by Garth | Oct. 12, 2007 at 11:22am
Kevin says:
"...I was the kid down the street just trying to get my feet wet."
You mean peg leg, right? ;)
I think among our clients and others they refer us to our skills aren't at all sold short (thankfully). Half the reason they refer us in the first place is because we're able to make such complex and useful online apps.
4 | Oct. 12, 2007 at 1:58pm