Monthly Archives: July 2009

Part 2 of …

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Picking up where I left off in my last post — Websites as a Service from the perspective of a freelance developer.

When I started out designing websites as a side job, I loved the idea of being able to just hand over a design to a client and not have to worry about it.  Hosting, domain registration, upgrades and uptime were not issues for me.  I began to realize, however, that most of my clients didn’t need just a design; they really needed someone who could manage their website.  I started to get calls asking why a site was down — “did you pay your hosting bill?”  Then it was calls about adding a web form here, and adding a log-in page there — “I’ll have to invoice you for it…”  Many decided it wasn’t worth the extra money, because they had already spent “alot” up front and a few couldn’t understand why the extra work couldn’t just be included in what they already paid.  In there minds, they had bought a product — why should I pay more for a product that I already own?  I’ve seen a few of these clients move on to a new company or freelancer to redesign their site, and only time will tell if the cycle will continue.

Websites as a Service — the idea here is to change the relationship between developer and client.  If a website is a service, the developer is no longer the salesman, but a service provider.  Few small businesses own the server they host their site on, they pay monthly (or annually) for the service.  Even the ones who do have to lease the line which provides them with internet access — so services are not a new concept for businesses.  Really, the concept of a website being a service rather than a product isn’t new in the business world either.  Most large companies have multiple people working for them to handle their web development and design needs — they understand that maintaining a website is an ongoing process.

Small businesses rarely have the resources to hire a full time web developer, so an entire web team is out of the question.  This is where a service oriented freelance developer can help by providing the same services that an in-house team would — just on a smaller scale.  As a freelance developer I often wear the hats of designer, developer, consultant and system administrator all on one project.  This allows me to offer clients full service web development to clients that need more than a site hosted on GoDaddy.com but can’t yet afford a full time developer or development team.

Can it really work?  The need is definitely there;  I think it can!  I’ll keep you posted :-)

I hate blogging…

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That’s not really true, but considering I’ve only posted three entries last month and NONE this month, my actions are speaking louder than my words.

I blame it on the heat.

Last night the LOW temp was 79 degrees…  it’s throwing me off.  The only time I can reasonably get in a run is around 7am which I would be okay with if I could convince my body that 3am is NOT an appropriate bed time.  I mean, the late hours are great for my “work” life but they pretty much reck havoc on the rest of my life.  I need to work on balance…

Note: Here’s where this post takes a sharp turn.  If you enjoy reading about web development and freelance businesses and the such, please continue!  If you normally skim through my posts on the mentioned subjects, skim away!  If you considered never reading my blog again because of such topics, stop here :-)

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I’ve done a lot of thinking about web development and content management in the past few weeks and have come to a few conclusions:

1 — Clients know what they want, but seldom know what they NEED.  Most of my job is listening to the client to figure out what they actually NEED.

2 — Very few clients can successfully manage their own website.  The IDEA of being in control of your own website is appealing, until your domain expires, you forget your password, your site gets hacked (because you set your password to your birthday or pet’s name) or you want to add a new feature that SHOULD be easy to add (and it is for people like me who enjoy reading hours worth of documentation).

3 — Clients want there website to last forever.  You know, “set it and forget it!”  This is how the cycle goes:  you hire a developer or company to build your site.  They successfully sell you on X,Y and Z technolgies which are ligitimently “new” technologies and meet your list of wants.  A few months later your site is up and everything is great — exactly what you wanted.  A year later, your site is starting to look a little dated, that blog you wanted is getting fewer and fewer updates — you’re kinda wanting something “new”.  Year two rolls around and everybody else’s site is looking way better than yours — you decide that the developer/company sold you “old” technology and you’ve been had.  Now it’s time for something “new” again and you (once again) find the “perfect” company to completely re-design your site…

Okay, so part of that was ranting which I do not apologize for — I mean, *I* feel better, and that’s what matters.  More importantly, these frustrations are helping me help my current and future clients.  You see, the cycle I described in #3 really isn’t so much the client’s fault as it is a flaw in the model.  This model makes a website a “product” and every product has a limited shelf life.  Sure, you can upgrade the product, but after awhile your 1988 Pontiac Sunbird isn’t going to cut it — regardless of what you put under the hood.  The alternative?  What if your website wasn’t a product, but a service?  Google (and other companies) have made the idea of Software as a Service (SaaS) popular over the past few years, why not try the same idea with websites?

I’ll admit, this is in no way a new idea, but for some reason it’s not a very popular one for small business websites.  Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, WordPress, Flickr, Twitter — all services.  What is nice about these services is that nobody is stuck with “old” technology with these services;  everyone benefits from the latest and greatest upgrades.

So how can that translate to the realm of paid web development?  For those of you already bored, you’ve suffered through enough.  For those of you on the edge of your seat — wait for the next post!