BrokenglasseDigital Interactiive

We often get requests to assist firms or individuals for building their websites, no surprises there, for we are a web designing company! But it so happens that most of these requests often need to be translated as they are as if some form of Klingon or other alien languages and it feels as though the prospective client is just making a fleeting visit to planet earth!

We often get enquiries from enthusiastic entrepreneurs (that’s what they call themselves) with ‘web design projects’ like, starting a website for online advertising business that would allow them to generate money when people surf their web site (Rather ‘Enzine’ in their Klingon way). Latest was, “I want to have a web, graphic and search engine software for my website. But, if you can’t come up with the software, how about you providing me with a search engine quote? I just want 5 pages and I will do the rest. I am a web designer so I find it difficult to design a search engine for myself.”

And of late, many wish to have their own Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and EBay clones or a shopping cart like Amazon.com.

It becomes a tough job to make people accept the fact that there are certain wonders a website can or cannot do. Although it wouldn’t be impossible to create such websites, the time factor and the budget are the keys that determine its providence.

Making ‘money online’ is not a Joke

It is a difficult task to ‘make money online’, at least way more difficult than what people think it is. It is because of a few online marketers and online gurus that the common man believes that making money through websites is one of the easiest things ever. But, the cold truth is that turning profit from a website is really, really difficult, especially one that is aiming high. Even wildly successful internet endeavors such as Facebook and Amazon took years to show profits.

Not knowing the Basics

In many instances, a prospective client does not know enough about the Internet and how it works to start up such a venture successfully. And they do not accept this fact.

By this, we are not belittling people who wish to start up such ventures. We all have to start somewhere, and even Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg at one stage knew nothing about the Internet or websites, but come on… there is a wealth of information available out there today as well as sites that can be used as case studies!

Budgeting is important

When people approach us for Facebook clones they do not realize how much funding was required to implement this social networking giant. It is known that angel investors poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the site! People should understand that the same level of functionalities is not possible with a limited budget. It is not that a social networking site cannot be created with limited budgets, but the clients also need to realize the limitations of these websites and the fact that it cannot be an instant hit among the masses!

To create the Website is just the beginning

The web site owner sometimes tends to think that the process ends once the website is built. They suffer from the typical ‘build it and they will come’ myth. There is no clear understanding among them of what it takes to get visitors to a site, or how to market the site either online or offline.

All the above leaves us, as a web designing company with a few ethical dilemmas. Do we implement the site as per the client’s whims and fancies, (despite knowing that is may not make his website a hit) which is a version of ‘take the money and run’ concept, or do we tell the client that his brilliant idea is just never going to fly? Unfortunately, doing the latter means that we will probably go out of business as nearly 50% of the websites we build are forced to be based on someone’s crazy business ideas.

The only other alternative is to act not only as a web designing company but also as a web consulting firm, dispensing advice, coaching and guiding the client, enabling him to see success and satisfaction through the built website.

After all, that is what we are ideally supposed to be doing, right?

While I was writing this, someone called me and asked, “Why don’t you try working out the costs for a ‘cool’ version of existing social networking giants by launching a ‘YouTwitFace’ (Youtube, facebook and twitter)?” Oops what do I say??