Have you heard the phrase, “Patience is a virtue”? Well, I think, in my humble opinion, that experience should be one as well. To gather that much coveted experience, you need patience and a lot of it.
I know exactly what it is like to need a specialized service that I know nothing about. Like many people who start businesses, I needed a website and had no knowledge of what this involved. I figured that if someone offered this service, they could walk me through it and advise me on the best way to construct the site and draw clients to it.
I was SO, SO WRONG! Instead, I received service that felt like a tug of war. I would ask a question and my web developer would answer in a condescending way or defend himself. I finally started to educate myself on everything “web”.
I kept him because I felt I had no other options. What a terrible place to be!
The last straw was when I found that he was the one that owned my domain name. I had him purchase it, in fact I was sitting right there next to him when he bought it. I didn’t know that it is poor practice for a web developer to put YOUR domain name in their name. I found that out later when I finally told him I didn’t want him hosting my website anymore.
If things go south between the client and web developer, they own the name and if they want, can keep it and not transfer ownership. Now he owns my name, will not answer my emails AND renewed it.
Be informed before you hire. Google “the best questions to ask when hiring a web developer or graphic designer.” Better yet, check back with me and I will give you my list of best questions for you to ask, on my next post on Tuesday, 9/7/10.
Out of necessity I learned how to customize WordPress websites and took things into my own hands. Not having a developer to rely on for changes is a relief and at the same time I picked up another skill that goes hand in hand with my freelance graphic design business.
Professional Graphic Designs