Web design as a business model
February 23rd, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Today’s market for creative agencies has been in a state of flux for what seems like a very long time, the introduction of new technologies and hardware has meant that the professional practitioner constantly feels that his craft is under attack and further levels of justification are needed just so that he can stay in business. Nowhere is this situation more apparent than with the “web design’ agency.
Web agencies [by this I mean designers, marketers, and publishers] now face an array of low cost and free competitors, with WordPress taking over as the principle publishing tool for simple website production and low cost solutions like www.supersimpleshop.com providing cheap, simplified e-commerce. Add to this equation the fact that the people most in need of good quality “web design” are the SMEs, the people with restricted budgets who need their site to work for them quickly and easily.
So what does the traditional “web design agency” do to make its bottom line and how does it survive? the answer is not as simple as just switching to a new technology or platform as the same situation will present itself again and again. The solution lies in educating your client sympathetically and gaining their trust, understanding what they are looking to achieve from the “big picture” business point of view and not just “doing their website “
Seth Godins recent post “what’s the use case” - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/02/whats-the-use-case.html explains this paradox brilliantly, particularly having spent numerous hours in meetings with confused clients and frustrated designers with the whole room pulling in different directions.
So the focus needs to shift, forget about the idea of selling a folder full of digital files [called a website] and work towards selling knowledge, trust and experience. Move away from medium and focus on content, concentrate on saying what needs to be said and removing the barriers. A bit like the famous quote about writing “take half the words out and if it still reads its a good story”.
