People with unique names should not get undressed in a glassy web
by Joi Murugavell / Joi Design
I have a little habit that many people have. I google new people/businesses I’ve met. And I’ve learnt quite a bit from my Google adventures. Many people I’ve spoken to about this remarkable way to get to know someone or a company say they do it too. So watch what you do on the web, especially if you have a unique name like mine. It’s probably something you haven’t thought about too much? its best to think about it now, you don’t want to leave a trail that causes you to lose business.
Obviously I googled myself and there’s nothing dodgy there or you wouldn’t be reading this now :). It’s an amazing and disturbing fact that nearly everything you need to learn about is on the web. 90% of the time, when our intern asks me a question, I tell her to google it, today I realized I must have been telling her that a lot, as she asked me a question, then turned around and googled it with a smirk on her face - before I could answer.
The web is amazing. It’s also unforgiving when you make a mistake. Leave some nasty trails on the web, and it remains there for a very very long time for your potential clients to find. Because people can hide behind a screen, there seems to be a growing number of people who leave nasty remarks on blogs and forums, all that anger and pent up frustration should be written on a punching bag not the web, as it’s very glassy and googling someone’s name is pretty common.
What prompted this topic is a bit of information I found out last week that definitely swayed me towards not using a particular printer. I spoke about the power of transparency last month, it’s great, it works, but only when mixed in with some common sense.
I was hoping to reveal my personal blog this month, but as is always the case, personal projects always suffer when work gets in the way :) My new business, Oodlies, should be live next month as I add finishing touches like talking to courier companies and sorting out the little things that add up.
In the meantime, here’s a blog entry I made on Monday.
18-Jun-07 - Should you charge your friends?
I met up with a friend who is a writer (a very good one) today. It must have been a Friday thing, as I found him constructing sentences in a very strange and lazy way, I joked that as I writer I guess he didn't bother speaking in proper sentences unless someone paid him. We laughed - it made me think.
As a designer I can't remember how many times I've designed without getting a single cent. A friend needs a logo, a friend’s sister needs a website etc. Of course it's only natural that most people like helping their friends. But if you run a business, you're busy, free time is scarce, just how many billable hours should you be giving away? It depends I guess on how close a friend, do they actually have an idea that’s fantastic but they can’t afford to pay a designer at this point (that’s how I determined when to offer my services for free). I feel very differently now.
The problem with giving something away for free from my experience:
1) It’s not appreciated as much – you didn’t charge for it, so it’s not as valuable, this isn’t good for your friend or you. My most difficult customers have been non paying ones, when it’s free, you’re not the ‘expert someone paid because they are not experts’ - your authority on the subject diminishes slightly.
2) The person who receives your free service feels like they are taking advantage if they ask for changes. As a result, no one gets what they really need or want – because no one will ever say anything.
3) You may not give them the same level of service you give your paying clients, especially if you’re really busy, who do you serve first? Your friend may end up feeling a little let down, even though you are being so nice and not charging them. It just ends up being a half baked good deed.
If you can’t go all the way and treat the ‘free’ job like you would any high paying job, don’t do it. As no one will get anything good from it. Good intentions are just that, an intention that is only made good when we stick to our promise.
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