Web Design Blog

Kevin Potts recently did a review/critique of wundersite www.99designs.com - which appears to be a simplified spin of other such sites like Elance and what Kevin calls it’s “malignant brethren”. The site, which uses less than ideal techniques to get designers to connect with businesses, requires spec work and encourages horribly low prices. In his article, Kevin removes the usual sales pitch and business jargon and brings out the underlying truth:

Hmm. Yes, by all means, we want to avoid the time and consideration professional designers offer and go right to the lowest common denominator of grade-school dropouts whose portfolio’s crown jewel is a logo for their dad’s wholesale llama manure clearing house. We definitely do not want any in-depth communication. We do not want any understanding of the company, the brand, or the direction and aspirations of the organization.

In a nutshell, this is what you’re asking for if you work with these guys:

• You’re doing the work whether you like it or not. Payment is irrelevant. You only get that if you actually “win” the “contest”.
• Even if you do win, you don’t win much. (They seem to encourage low prices, as stated on their how it works page.)
• You lose your copyright privileges and you apparently can’t even take a public stand if your designs are stolen. Read their copyright page for more on that.
• You’re also asking for a royal slap in the face from folks like me and other real designers.

Freelancers: if you really care about your work and the design industry, do NOT use 99designs or others like it to gain clients. You’re hurting yourself and the rest of us too.

Business owners: if you really want someone who will take the time to get to know your company and present an informed and well-rounded design, might I suggest someone from the Xemion Web Designer Directory?

Here’s Kevin’s article (warning: contains some strong language)

At my last job, we worked right above a hair salon. Growing up, my mother always cut my hair, then my wife when she had time and lately, a local barbershop. But since the salon was a client and it saved an extra trip, I got my hair cut after work. The difference between the salon and the barbershop was unbelievable. At the salon, I was treated by an attractive stylist who remembered my name and how I liked my hair. She talked with me about subjects I was interested in and even remembered our discussions from the my previous appointment! The stylist make recommendations for my hair based on current trends and my hair’s personality (red and very thick). My hair was shampooed, conditioned and I received a very relaxing neck massage. She only used the trimmer for the edges. The salon was impeccably clean and had a very modern decor. It was a little upscale and I liked it. It made me FEEL important, stylish and trendy.

Conversely, the barbershop I was served by an grizzled, old guy who muttered. He didn’t really talk to me and if he did, it would be hard to hear with the TV and the trimmer going. He had no clue I was in five weeks ago (probably because I was helped by someone else, but that even furthers my point) or how I liked my hair. I got no shampoo and the massage was from sort of machine that felt more like a jack-hammer. The decor looked dirty and old. The whole process made me FEEL unimportant.

The barbershop charges a mere $11 for a cut, the salon: $37. That’s a 250% increase for the salon even though the end product, my haircut, was exactly the same. How would you like to increase your rates 250%? The key is providing a customer experience that supports that rate and attracts clients who are willing to pay it (because many won’t). Here are some ideas at improving the customer experience:

• Look upscale. This includes every part of your business, such as invoices, letterheads, envelopes, e-mail signatures and marketing materials. Obviously your location, signage, furniture and decor may play a part. If the client sees it, it has to be perfect and seamlessly match your company’s brand.
• Know the client. Keep detailed records on the client’s likes and dislikes. This includes everything from color preferences to favorite sports teams/tv shows. Some clients prefer phone calls, others e-mails or in-person meetings. Make sure all your staff keeps the notes in the same place. If there’s ever a transition with your team, the client should not have to go through a major get-up-to-speed curve with the new team member. I cannot tell you how many new clients I’ve gotten simply because the previous firm dropped the ball during a transition.
• Be proactive. You are the expert. Come the client with new ideas, even after the initial project is completed. This is also a a great way (maybe the best way) to drum up new sales. Long term, being proactive will increase both customer loyalty and word of mouth.
• Pamper the client. Make the client feel important by doing little things like including SASEs in invoices and hand-written Christmas cards. Give away sports or theater tickets. Even more importantly, make the client feel trendy/cutting-edge and encourage their belief that they made a good decision in hiring your firm. Tell them how great you, as an expert (and your friends/colleagues), think their new website is and what an improvement from the previous site.

Remember, shifting to a more upscale market means changing your target market…..at the end of the day, I’m still a cheap sucker and I’m going to the barbershop

When I look around at web designers’ sites these days, I am a bit surprised when I come across one that doesn’t have a blog. Web designers seem to understand that having a blog can be helpful in marketing themselves. Unfortunately, when I look at the content of those blogs, it often becomes apparent that they don’t know exactly why a blog is helpful.

The most common types of problem blogs I’ve run across are the “day in the life” blog and the “I haven’t written anything for three months” blog.

Why are these problematic? Because the only way that a blog can help you market yourself or your business is if it is actually providing something of value to its readers.

There’s nothing wrong with an occasional “day in the life” post, but if that’s the primary content of your blog, it probably isn’t doing you much good. Likewise, there’s nothing wrong with taking a week or two off from blogging, but if you go months without posting anything new, who will notice when you finally do post?

I think that a significant portion of both problems are caused by the fact that the authors don’t know what to write about. So here are three ways to write valuable content for your web design blog, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

1. Write about web design for non-designers (and non-developers for that matter)

When writing for a general audience, you don’t have to go into technical details, but you may have to explain things that you think of as simple because they aren’t as familiar with the field. The biggest advantage of writing for a general audience, though, is that you have more opportunity to sell your services since they probably don’t have the knowledge to do things themselves.

2. Write for other designers and developers

Writing for others in your field means that you won’t have to explain most basics, but you usually have less opportunity to sell yourself, since your readers are likely your competitors. You do, however, have the chance to sell services which complement those of your readers (for example, back-end development to front-end designers). And when you write on technical subjects you’re more likely to learn from the feedback of others in your field.

3. Write about related subjects

Writing about related subjects is a good way to interest both a general and technical audience. Good articles can also help you to demonstrate that your knowledge extends beyond just web design and that you are a well rounded business person.

What sort of related subjects should you try? Posts about marketing, business practices, and yes, even blogging, can work quite well.

Which to try?

Personally, I think the most effective approach for most web designers is to write a mixture of these types of content. Start with the sort you feel most comfortable with, and gradually start writing the others. A good mix of valuable content is the most important step in getting a good mix of valuable readers.

Do you have any suggestions for writing in each of these areas? If so, let us know in the comments!

Something like 75% of businesses bust in the first year of operation. Who knows why? It could be a myriad of things: bad timing, no business plan, improper marketing (or worse–none at all), or maybe what they thought was a good idea really wasn’t. All of these could end a freelancer’s career, too.

But more likely, none of these things will. In my career as a freelancer I’ve watched numerous other freelancers rise and fall, step out and immediately lose their footing, or get off to a bumpy start. I must admit, I’ve made the same mistake a time or two: misconception.

I’m not talking the kind of misconception that happens when a client expects a $2000 website for $200 or that they figure their new e-commerce site will be as successful as Ebay overnight. The misconception that I’m speaking of has been widespread ever since the dot-com bubble burst and every 5th grader and their dog became a “webmaster”.

It lies in our communication: Bob decides to start a beef business. He gets a loan from the bank, a building to house the business in and even takes out an ad in the paper and the phone book. What’s missing? Bobs-beef-business-dot-com, of course!

Opening the phone book again, he flips through it, pausing and grinning at his wonderful 1/8th page ad. He continues flipping until he reaches the W’s. Let’s see… aha! “Web Design”. He picks up the phone and begins to call.

An hour later, he calls the “webmaster” that was fifth on his list, because they can do it for the least amount of money. He doesn’t need to check his website or his portfolio. The bottom line is all that matters.

The misconception happened between the lines. Bob called and said, “I need a website for my new business. How much?” The designer said, “We have starter packages that include 5-10 page web design for $500″. Bob says, “Great! You’re hired. When can you have it ready?”

How many of you have made this mistake? I know I have. A few of the new freelancers may not even catch it. As freelancers, we very often have to wear different hats to survive. If we can’t cut it in sales, accounting, customer service AND design, we won’t eat. We’ve perused the internet for many hours and we know what looks good, what gets a good rank in Google and what keeps people coming back. So why do we continue to convey ourselves as just another name in the phone book? The solution here is we need to position ourselves as industry experts rather than hired help. We’re not just good at making websites, we’re darn good at it. Any Joe Blow can create a website with Dreamweaver and a GoDaddy account. Why should they hire you if they don’t understand the importance of getting a specialist involved?

Sure, we all have faults, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them. Like Jim Wideman likes to say, “I never make the same mistake twice, there’s enough different ones I can make every time!”

Sometimes, it takes awhile for a mistake to become a mistake. When the internet was still in it’s infancy, not a lot of people had an email address. The phone book was still pretty popular, and usually, the easiest way to get more information on a particular company was to call them. As a result, there weren’t a lot of contact forms on websites. A simple mailto: link would suffice. As another supporting factor, not too long after email got popular, so did spam. Junk emails flooded our inboxes to the extent that we quit seeing email as a huge step forward in communication and began to see it as a necessary evil.

Thankfully, that’s changed. New steps taken by Google and others in their email services have put spam in it’s place for the most part and made it fun to have email again.

And still, the mailto: link hangs on. It’s everywhere.
Why? It’s outdated and inefficient. When you click on the “contact us” link of some site that is coded with a mailto: link it will open up that user’s local email. Or at least, it will try to. For those of you like me–who keep their email on the internet–it may not respond at all or may even freeze up your browser.

Now you, the business-owner who owns that domain name–what sort of impression do you think you just made on that potential client/customer?

Many of you might think this is just a rant against substandard code and my personal experience on certain websites, but underneath it all lies the single principle that we all need to remember.

Harvey MacKay had an interesting way of showing ties at the mens suit store he worked at: He picked the three that would look the best with that suit and let the customer pick from the three.

Keep it simple, folks. Make every decision as easy as possible for them and their decision to hire or buy from you will be just as easy.

Are you merely wandering around looking for clients or do you have goals and targets for your company? For your team? The importance of goals has been covered many times as well as methods of goal creation. Here are some specific areas to create both short-term and long-term goals for: (Read more…)

After running the Xemion Directory for several years, I’ve seen my fair share of web design company websites. I’ve noticed four elements that many companies leave off their website which negatively impacts sales: (Read more…)

No, this is not another post about some online time-tracking app. Although they are good to have, and plenty of them to go around, they are not as important as time management. This isn’t a GTD post, either. There are far better qualified folks than me to write about that; I’m talking about the real, down-to-earth disciplining yourself kind of time management.

You may not even know you need better time management. If you work in the creative industry, you probably do. Here are some things to ponder:

1. Do you always seem rushed when nearing a deadline?
2. In an effort to keep the client happy, are you stretching yourself thin and doing plenty of “little things” that you’re not getting paid for?
3. Do you find yourself getting sidetracked, either by other people or other tasks you’ve suddenly remembered?
4. Are you lacking in goals for business and financial success? Are you just rolling with the punches and taking what comes?
5. How often do you find yourself forgetting things and breaking your word because you’d forgotten to do something you said you’d do?

First off, you need to understand something: Time is a non-renewable asset. That is, these minutes that I’m spending typing out this article-I’m not getting them back. The time you spend dealing with that belligerent client or working those “pro-bono” cases-you aren’t getting that back either. “Wasting time” takes on a whole new meaning when you understand this.

Secondly, we freelancers need to realize that our time is our time. Why did we become freelancers in the first place? Tired of working for the man and wanted to be your own boss? Realized you could make more money working for yourself? You just like meeting new people? Great! It amazes me how many freelancers still work like they’re working on someone else’s time. Understanding that your time is your time is both liberating and horrifying. If things bust, you can’t blame your manager. If you can learn to say “no” when you really don’t have time, you’ll get things accomplished and let other people know that your time is valuable. Keep this in mind, though-If you have to say “no”, suggest a later time; time management isn’t about blowing people off and being selfish.

Jim Wideman, one of my mentors on time management, has this to say:

If you can’t manage your time, you’re always stuck reacting to people and situations. You’ll never be effective. You’ll never be a strong leader. But with time management, you’ll amaze even yourself.

He also points out that managing your time isn’t just about getting lots of stuff done. It’s about getting the right things done. If you’re like me, then you might remember things best when you write them down. In this case, I’d highly recommend Remember The Milk, or RTM for short. It’s a fantastic application that integrates well with Gmail, too! Actually looking at your tasks and seeing what you have to do can not only give you a better picture what to say “no” to, but it can increase your productivity by prioritizing as well.

Lastly, I believe every successful freelancer is only as good as their name. I believe that a good name is worth more than money in the bank. If you are constantly saying things and then forgetting to do them or having to do them later than you said, you are indirectly being dishonest. Too many people chalk their tasks up to “I’ll get to it when I get to it” and never take a good hard look at what they’re doing and whether or not it’s effective. I think this is one of the primary causes of burnout-people do so many menial tasks that they lose their sense of self-worth and lose sight of what’s important.

I could go on and on about all the great tools that I use for time management, but I’d like to hear from you: what are you using to get stuff done effectively? Let’s hear it in the comments.

Today I attended a luncheon hosted by the BC AIM with Tom Leung, a product manager at Google. Tom is the product manager for Google Website Optimizer. I have attended a few webinars, etc.. about Google Website Optimizer so I was quite familiar with it. I also have used it a number of times. I thought I should share some of my take aways from the luncheon.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Google website optimizer, it is a web-based testing tool which helps website owners increase visitor conversion rates. Basically it allows website owners the ability to serve up different pages to the different visitors. It also tracks who saw what page and if they converted.

At the luncheon Leung really focused on converting your visitors instead of just bringing in more visitors to your website. Leung stated, the usually 2 - 3% of visitors will convert and that  Google website optimizer is cheap way to increase your ROI without throwing a bunch of cash at an expert, let you visitors tell you what they like.

Landing pages were one of the main topics at the luncheon. Landing pages for those of you who are unfamiliar, are defined by Taming the Beast as a specialized page that visitors are directed to once they’ve clicked on a link, usually from an outside source such as a Pay Per Click ad. The page is usually tightly focused on a particular product or service with the aim of getting the visitor to buy or take some form of action rapidly that will ultimately lead to a sale.

And of course we were talking about how to optimize them and use Google Website Optimizer as a tool.

Landing pages are the most important page of the conversion tunnel, because people have clicked a link or whatever to land on the landing page. Once they have gone onto the next page of the conversion tunnel, they have already shown some interest in your product/service. But the landing page is either make it or break it for visitors. If a landing page contains information that is irrelevant to the visitor or the page is too cluttered, a visitor who might have converted has closed the browser. If the landing page is a pleasant and there is a simple call to action the better the chance the visitor moves on to the next page.

So ready to use Google website optimizer?

As a designer, you might not use this information on every site, but Google website optimizer is a good tool to have  in your toolbox for potential clients. When they want to do something silly with their website, you can say, “Ok” and then test the page against the one you have created. You might be surprised at the results.

You might be curious as to what to test. Leung gave us a great start by saying that you can compare a text heavy page vs. a quick and to the point page, a left layout vs. right layout and a facts vs. aspirations page. This is just the beginning, there are many things you can change on a page, that might influence if the visitor converts or not.

Interested in getting Google website optimizer?

Google website optimizer is available to everyone. All you have to do is sign up for an adwords account - no you don’t need to use adwords or spend any money. Just sign in there and click on the website optimizer tab. From there you have all instructions you need to start optimizing your website.

Good luck and happy optimizing.

This is the biggest question when you start working for yourself. How do you find web design clients? Where do you find clients? And that is the question of the day….

First Impressions
Let’s start with you. It’s important when you’re just starting out to put your best foot forward. To get clients you need to be professional. You should look and act like a professional. Professional dress depends on your niche market. If you’re looking for clients in the legal field (lawyers), you’ll need to appear in business dress suitable for a courtroom. If you walk into a lawyer’s office expecting work dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a rock band shirt, you’re probably going to be disappointed. A lawyer isn’t going to take you seriously. That being said, if you walk onto a cutting horse trainer’s ranch in the clothing you’d wear to visit a lawyer you’ll look like a “city slicker” and not get the kind of respect you’d need to land the work.

Start With a Network
One of the biggest ways that web designers get new clients is through word of mouth referrals. This is normally done through happy clients who refer new clients to you. If you don’t have any clients then you’ve got to come out of the dark and be seen. People won’t know you’re doing web design until you tell them. And no one will refer clients to you if they don’t know what you do or if they haven’t heard of you. Since web design is a service that requires trust on the client’s behalf, word of mouth is the norm.

If you don’t have an extensive network of clients to refer you to new clients then you need to expand the number of people you actually know. You can start with family and friends. This depends on how well they understand what you do. I still have my mother’s words ringing in my ears “It’s just a little ole website.” Um yeah Mom…. Right. It’s not to say that family and friends can’t help you out but be sure they actually understand something about what you do for a living.

After family you’ll need other resources for meeting people. Some good places to network are your local Chamber of Commerce, various clubs and associations in your region. You can also join organizations like Business Network International where networking and lead generation are the primary pursuits. The Toastmasters organization is a good place to develop your speaking capabilities which can parlay into speaking at your local Chamber of Commerce. You’ll need to have a nice business card when you go to these events so that you can pass it out to everyone you meet. There are excellent business card companies online that will allow you to inexpensively create a business card. The real key is to get some visibility.

Niche Market Networking
All of the above works fairly well. If you think about marketing itself, like commercials, you’ll have an understanding of what I’m talking about. Take for instance a commercial for a toy. Where would you find that commercial? Typically on a TV channel that shows cartoons and children’s shows. The target market is children. In marketing you’re trying to put your product in front of your target market. If you’ve defined toy-makers as your target market then you need to go to the events they attend and advertise in the magazines they read. It’s about being where your target market will see you.

Online Networking
Local networking is a great place to start but you should be doing a variety of networking. Participating in online forums like Xemion’s forum is a great way to network with other web designers and developers. The more you help your fellow web designer/developer, the more authority you gain. I know most think in terms of the signature links seen at the bottom of the posts for search engine optimization purposes but we’re not talking about SEO right now.

The key is to become an authority. Blogs will help lend that air of “authority” to your overall impression. You might think that helping other web designers/developers is counterproductive. The fact is that helping others can lead to virtual teams of designers and developers who develop symbiotic relationships doing subcontracts for each other. In this day and age, no one is an expert at everything. It’s important to realize that concentrating on specialized skills will make you more money over time. As you write about your particular specialty more work comes your way.

James just posted a nice article on LinkedIn. It’s one of the places you can network with online individuals. Some of my best clients and partnerships have been gained through online connections. Facebook, MySpace and others like it can contribute to your finding online connections for more work. The key is to participate and interact in these networks.

Show Them What You Have
I don’t think I can emphasize this enough. You need a portfolio. If you don’t have one, start making one. Build websites for nonprofits and/or dummy sample sites. Make up a city and build a site for each typical business in a city. People won’t know what you can do until they see it.

Advertise
People won’t come unless they know you’re in business. Networks and referrals are generally where most clients will come from but don’t leave out advertising. Lots of businesses don’t know anyone who knows someone doing web design and development. It’s hard for them to find a web designer. A few suggestions are things like putting out fliers at local businesses, running newspaper ads and setting up a yellow pages advertisement. The one thing you will want to do with any kind of advertisement is track where your new clients are coming from and pour money into those advertisements that are producing while cutting out the ones that aren’t producing clients.

Getting Their Names
Building a list of potential and previous clients is one of the most important ways to build a business. These are people who have prequalified themselves by buying from you or supplying their contact information to you. Obviously you need to keep in touch with past clients. This keeps you fresh on their minds when someone asks them for a referral. The other side are new people for whom you haven’t yet done any work. How do you get new contacts on your list? One way is to create a survey. You can survey them about what they know about web design, how they found a web designer if they have one or even if they think they need a website. Normally you’ll have to sweeten the pot with something to entice them to fill out the survey otherwise they may not supply their contact information. A simple one page site from a template with their content pasted into the site is a good way to get the ball rolling. You could also end up with a much bigger client. The key is to get their contact information.

Once you build your list, it’s important to develop a habit of contacting them. Contact them when you have a new website in your portfolio or a new service to offer. You should also contact them about topics in web development that might interest a business. Things like SEO and website marketing. Think about what concerns your current clients might have that you’ve answered. Use that information to create interesting articles to send to your list. Once the people on the list know how much you care, the more likely they are to hire you. It’s part of building trust.

Offer Something Enticing
When I offer services or develop a proposal, I always hold something back. This gives me something that I can offer to a client as a “freebie”. We all know how good we feel when we get a “gift”. It makes us feel special. Making your clients feel special is probably one of the top things you can do for your business.

Clients like good service. If you aren’t responding to their needs daily, you’re not doing your job as a consultant. Over delivery and quick response is part of what will separate you from the competition. It’s also what clients will spread by word of mouth. It’s that fast customer service that can make a difference. You don’t want your client thinking you’re too busy for more work do you?

Job Boards
I’ve played around with the job boards in the past. I’ve actually gotten a few clients off Craigslist. I want to caution you about these places, the clients are generally cheap. They are looking for a bargain. Micah stated before that you can get away with discounts and kickbacks to clients so that you can get your name out there but at some point you do have to stop. The bidding system that works on the job boards like elance can really degrade your morale. Use these sites with caution. You’ll have to be cheaper than the other guys to start out and risk being known as the cheap guy.

I’ve gone over most of the methods I’ve ever used or learned. If you’ve got some other methods that might help other web designers please leave a comment.

Web Out
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I mentioned in a previous article how an airline saved hundreds of thousands of dollars per year by removing a single olive from their salads. It’s a little thing that made a big difference. What little things are you doing to help your clients, your business, your productivity? If you’ve not found out already, it’s small things that can sometimes make the biggest differences. Here’s a list of mine (but they don’t have to be yours).

Screencasts. Most of my clients use a Content Management System for their websites, so I’ve taken the time to create a number of screencasts that would help them out in performing simple to semi-complex tasks involving updating their website. It’s a small thing that I’ve been thanked for over and over again.

Passwords. I make it a point to hang on to passwords that my clients give me, whether it be for ftp access or the CMS or whatever. On more than one occasion have I been requested to retrieve said password because too long had gone by since the client had used it.

Chocolates. I distinctly recall reading an article while in college about an Art Director in charge of hiring a junior designer but coming up with no real contenders. He remarked something to the effect of: “I know it’s nothing to do with talent, but the hopeful-designer that brought me cookies would at least be remembered.” Being the sponge (and fountain) of useless knowledge that I am, I hung on to that tidbit and remembered it the next time I was applying for a job. You never know. That brings me to my next point…

Details. I spent several years in a large volunteer youth ministry. Amidst the thousands of kids there, there were a handful that I saw each and every week. I cannot tell you the look in their eyes when you call them by name. If you can sneak it out of them, catch your client’s birthday, or one of their kid’s names. If you go through the trouble to remember (or jot down) little details about the client, they’ll be more helpful, advertise you more, and be more likely to forgive you if you screw up.

So those are a few of my little things that make a big impact. What are yours? Let’s hear ‘em in the comments.

Networking –

This is an obvious one. As a freelance designer you need connections. Now don’t think just because the conference you are going to will be filled with you competition, you can’t network.

For example I am heading this week the Web Directions North conference, here in Vancouver, BC and I am going to run into a lot of my competition. This doesn’t mean I shouldn’t network. I am going to network and I am going to make sure to come out of this conference with many business cards and some new friendships.

You are probably asking, why? Well those people I connect with probably won’t all be designers. They could be internet marketers, PHP developers or Flash gurus. Having all these additional resources in my network can only benefit me. As my friendships grow I may learn from them, I may meet new contacts thru them who turn into clients or I may team up with one of these new connections. Either way it’s a win-win situation.

Learning –

Chances are even if you learn just one new thing, it’ll be worth it. Conferences don’t have to be long or even technical. Usually if your butt is in the seat, you will learn a few new things.

As professionals in a rapidly changing industry we need to be on our toes! We need to know about new technologies, ideas and stuff going on around us. A conference may do just the trick. Like this conference I am attending this week, I plan on sitting in on all the topics I can. Some of the topics are not directly related to what I do but I want to learn all about them none the less. Bottom line… conferences are a great way to continue your professional development.

Revamp of what you know –

Possibly the conferences available to you aren’t conferences in which have high profile speakers and experts from around the world coming but, you can still benefit. Even attending some smaller conferences can help your brain start moving. Maybe the speaker(s) have a different perspective on something. This enables you to think outside your normal thought process.

For example just last week I was at a Mangers’ Toolbox event with Michael Linehan of Marketing Alchemy. Now maybe it was because it was 730 in the morning, but some of the first few things he talked about were pretty - roll eyes. Oh guess I should tell you what he was talking about. His topic was How to build a powerful, inspiring and effective website. Basically the first 30 minutes were a little dry. After that things started to perk up though. I was able to listen to and learn so different ways of explaining things to my clients.

I also disagreed with a few things that he had said but, with questions in hand I headed up to him after the speech – introduced myself and handed him my business card. From there I started asking my questions or explaining that I didn’t agree. He graciously answered why he had said some of the things (we had a different view on page rank). It was very refreshing to have this type of conversation with another expert. As a freelance designer working possibly from home I know a few of you could use an invigorating experience with someone at your level and in your industry.

That’s it – Three reasons why you should attend a conference. See you at the next conference!