If you have been working at a job, involved in an organization or just been accustomed to a traditional way of doing things you may be in an innovative slump. In my business I hear a lot of assumptions for those I meet with in networking meetings, friends, family and potential clients. A fairly short list includes;

• Macs are good for graphics
• You need a top of the line expensive camera to take good photos
• Blogging is only about people writing about “nothing”
• You need expensive software to design a web site
• To make more money you need to work more hours

Those are just a few example of assumptions I hear every day and none of them are entirely true. Yes, Macs are great computers for graphics but what do you mean by graphics? Many people for some reason think you can’t run office productivity software on a Mac and not only is this not true you in fact have more choices! While it’s nice to have advanced camera equipment to have more choices and flexibility you can take stunning photos if you plan ahead, have proper lighting and smartly edit them. While a lot of “tire kickers” often blog about daily mundane thing more and more business people are using the technology as a way to update content on their web site, encourage repeat visitors to web site. You can design or rather put together a web site with as little as a free basic text editor like notepad in combination with a basic image editor. While you may get a bigger paycheck for working more hours you are not making the most efficient use of your time.

All this was brought to mind when reading an article called, What’s the Ultimate Creativity Killer? on Copyblogger.com in which the writer gave some quotes by very famous and influential people who were completely wrong in their assumptions such as;

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” ~Ken Olson, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” ~Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. ~Western Union internal memo, 1876.

“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” ~Michael Dell on Apple, 1997.

The lesson and tip of the day is don’t rest on your assumptions. The above quotes may sound crazy today but at the time they all may sense from a certain perspective. Western Union knew the telegraph was proven as opposed to the experimental telephone. As much as I love Apple products and think Michael Dell was crazy for saying such a thing I probably wouldn’t blink an eyes of somebody said something similar about another computer in financial trouble. Are you making assumptions about your business, marketing strategy, etc. Try this. Take those assumptions, turn them around and see what happens.

The official story we have on this web site only tells the official part of our business in recent years and doesn’t go into the very beginning of when I first started exploring web design as a new skill I was learning in the mid 90’s. I created two web sites almost back to back. The first one was my first attempt at starting a business or service online. The web site was called, “The Creation Station” and it was my intent to offer custom writing services. I had intentionally first bought my computer as a tool to working on and store creative writing, photography and graphic design projects.

I had first learned about the ability to design web sites via someone I meet in a chat room on the service known as “Talk City” which I learned about from a friend of mine. I think the first service I started learning web design on was called Angelfire one of the many “free” services that started springing up at the time. I soon became dissatisfied with the limitations of Angelfire and discovered Geocities. This was before Geocites was acquired by Yahoo.

The site I developed on Geocities was called Bridging the Gap. By this time I had learned about how to incorporate images, layout a site in table and add other features like forms and other more, “advanced” features. Today Bridging the Gap would be called a “personal development site or maybe a personal development blog. At the time I was interested in the whole concept of developing the whole person; mind, body and spirit.

The technology I used back them pales in comparison to what I have learned since then but another thing I have learned since then has nothing to do with technology but rather more along the line of being a more focused person. Both the Creation Station and Bridging the Gap had very high ideals but they were also too broad in scope. In some ways I am doing the Creation Station through this web site and business by providing custom web design services, photography and graphic design with a focus on compelling content that is optimized for both search engines and the minds of potential customers.

Bridging the Gap is another story. If I was relaunching Bridging the Gap today I would do in the form of a blog and only focus on some key areas. Instead of exercise in general I would probably focus hiking or maybe even a more niche area like suburban or urban hiking. Instead of an overall mental development I would probably focus on something like business innovation, strategies to keep ones brain young by thinking like a child, etc. Instead of a general spiritual focus I would probably focus on prayer, evangelism, etc.

One of the key things I remember about Bridging the Gap was an image I found elsewhere online of a couple people walking across an bridge at what appeared to be an old college campus. I’m seriously thinking about creating a set on my Flickr account where I can post my own custom photos of people crossing bridges of various types.

Some of these early attempts at “web design” were basically “kicking the tires” but I’m glad the services were available for me to explore and learn the technologies. Not long afterwards I started setting up “real” web sites under domains I could fully control. What were some of your early explorations in Internet technology and what have you learned as far as skills and even your mindset since then?

In the past 10 or so years the term “web design” has gone from describing an almost mystical trade to an over saturated term often misunderstood among those not in the “industry.” I go to networking meetings and often that have one to three types of businesses represented more than any others, real estate agents, insurance agents and web designers to the point a guy stood up at a recent event in Greenville,SC and said, “We should rename this group as the insurance-real estate-web designer network.” While it’s true that getting into those lines of work may involve a very minimal cost to enter in terms of equipment or office space their is still a lot of issues in regards to constant education that you don’t see.

I think however both real estate and insurance agents can agree with me in that they are a lot of myths and misconceptions in regards to their work. I’m sure a real estate agent does more that give tours of houses a few times a week, insurance agents do more than sit in an office waiting on someone to buy a policy. In the very same way those who provide web design services should be doing the following’

• Keeping up with changes in technology
• Being aware of and adhering to legal issues, especially in regards to communication law
• Studying usability methods that make a web site easier to understand by site visitors
• Optimizing a web site for search engines
• Working with the client to have the best content in terms of images, text, audio and video on the site
• Making security a top concern from good passwords, secure servers, secure back-end code
• Knowing the difference between proprietary software that get a site up quickly vs. a full-featured site the adheres to Internet standards
• Giving clients the ability to make site changes via an easy to use content management system (CMS)
• In addition to knowing good design principles know good development principles

Those just a few of the things you may not thing about when hear some says the are a “web designer.” I’m sure others could chime in with things clients were surprised that needed to be done. For all practical purposes the “design” is the easy part. Yes, we can get something up relatively fast to start with but if you want to sell items online or integrate a secure content management system be prepared for the process to take longer. A web designer doesn’t just draw up a pretty picture you can see on the web, a good web designer is also draws out a process. What have you been surprised by? As a company that provides these services what would you like to learn more of less obvious services?

Yesterday I attended the business before hours at the Greenville Commerce Club as a Chamber of Commerce networking event. Their was a significant number of companies represented that you would say are our competitors. Some of the companies in their introductions stated they were specifically “web design” companies, another company said they offered “total marketing solutions” but their solutions included web design, audio visual production which we also provide. In addition they also were quite a few photographers in the room sharing the specialities.

To a point there is almost a fear of our message getting lost in the sea of competitors but I was thankful we had a unique message that stood out. I was thankful that we were given as an example in another companies presentation when our RSS services like blogging and podcasting were mentioned. Yes, being in the same room with competitors can often be nerve racking but if you play it right you can gain from such an event. It was interesting the hear that each company representative gave a unique slant on their business and even playfully played off their competitors.

Among the companies who focused on web or new media in their introduction one focused on custom design, another mentioned search engine optimization and content management and we used our motto, Harmonious New Media to explain how our web services are the center of a hub of services that include podcasting, photography, blogs, business cards, logos, etc. and how we integrate those into a consistent branding strategy.

The photographers present also gave unique slants on their services. One mentioned how did not do wedding but specialized in arial photography while another made the point that he did provide wedding photography services and yet another made a big point to say his company had a full service studio.

What did I learn this event and hearing from competitors in the upstate South Carolina market? I learned that our motto and visual imagery of what we do stuck in the minds of others present based on networking conversations after the breakfast. I learned that we need to mention the marketing services we provide so companies can effective market themselves and achieve greater success. I learned that I need explain the distinctives of our web services like our user friendly content management system and commitment to compelling content which improves search engine results.

I had the chance share my own photography niches but since Heather spoke for our company I remained seated. Next time we will agree that both of us will speak but will give unique presentations on what we do either to break up our one company presentation so it is not as long or the showcase the different marketing services we provide for our clients.

The important thing above all is to listen so you can understand your competition but most importantly yourself. How are you using your listening skills in networking events where you are faced both by competitors as well as potential customers?

When people talk about computers and what they prefer, they will stand firm by the platform they use be it Windows, Mac or Linux. Interestingly enough all three also have web server software that host web sites, e-mail and other Internet applications. All three also have browsers and other programs that enable you to access the web via their respective platforms. Finally, you can find web development software available on all three platforms and this is where a lot of problems can occur.

For years Microsoft made a very popular, yet flawed product called, Frontpage. I admit when it first came out and was available I was attracted to it and its ability to manage a large number of pages as well as making it possible to design a web site in a visual format. However some of the biggest disadvantages of that program were that most people would use pre-installed themes making it easy to spot a Frontpage-designed web site quickly. Also, the code it created was become extremely bloated and hard to edit from a programmer perspective. Apple however has a current product, iWeb which sadly suffers from the same issues. While iWeb creates web sites that look way more beautiful than anything I ever saw designed by Frontpage, you can still spot from a mile off that the site was created from a basic template and has features unique to the product. In addition, the code it creates is way more complicated than it needs to be.

If these programs are so bloated and the results are so apparently uncreative from the perspective of the one who created the site then why are they sold? For one, both Apple and Microsoft sell those products as an added feature to increase sales and yes, they can be quite easy to get something up that is “quick-and-dirty”. That’s not always bad in some cases, but when it come to creating web sites for clients that communicate to a wide global audience we adhere to web standards, not Microsoft or Apple standards. Standards that can be created and produced in such a way that they work exceedingly well for the Mac, Windows or Linux desktop user. Another web standards issue to consider is the need to consider the different connection speeds of various web site viewers. Yes, a lot more people have high speed connections but many out there are still on dial-up.

For example, we design web sites for churches and agencies of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, a denomination that has many churches in rural areas without access to high speed connections. As a result, keeping our code clean and images optimized to load quickly are considerations to which we are committed. The current ARP agencies we have developed web sites for are World Witness and Outreach North America . We have also developed and currently maintain the sites for Unity ARP Church, Travelers ARP Church**, The Bridge ARP and Huntersville ARP. We hope to design and develop more web sites and podcasts for churches and other ministries within the ARP*. If you’re an ARP Church or ministry contact us and learn how we can create web projects that adhere to web standards so you have have the greatest outreach in your community be it a large metropolitan area or a very rural area with limited internet resources.

*This is not a site we have done but of course we would love any future opportunity to help with it’s development.
**Our home church - site is done “pro-bono” as one means of giving