Oh I just get so annoyed when I don't get paid

So I have a client. The client has a rush job. She is the contractor for a bigger organization, I am the sub-sub contractor. We work on the design of the new website for four days until it is just right. I understand that she cannot get me a deposit up front like I usually require, but I will get half on Friday and the other half on the following Friday.

I put everything on hold. I work like a slave for 2 ½ days with little sleep. I do not move from my computer. I meet the deadline and everyone is wildly happy with the result.

Friday comes and I go to the corporate office for my cheque and guess what? No cheque for Sharon. Must be an oversight. Too bad, and oh, guess what? Everyone is taking Monday off. So the earliest I can get a cheque is The following Tuesday. But now I want the full amount. No half now, half later.

Here I go again making someone a top priority, when apparently, I am not THEIR top priority. The site will come down in three days unless I get a big, fat, honkin' cheque. By hand...NOT in the mail.

Billy Bob Thornton is an idiot

What a lot of fun. A spoiled brat 53 year old who believes that he is actually very important in the greater scheme of things provides a rambling, rude and obtuse interview with a well-liked CBC afternoon host. Instead of coming across as cool, dark and sarcastic, he seemed like a person who either had some hefty mental health or substance abuse issues . He was not only insulting to the interviewer, he attempted to insult Canadians. Nice try.

As if we could care less what Billy Bob Thornton thinks about us as an entity. I don't even think we are an entity. Are we?? I don't actually mind being potatoes without the gravy, as long as there are those little diced chives, salt and butter. Oh, and maybe some garlic.

Bye bye, Billy Bob. On your way out the door, don't turn out the lights because we are still happily living here without you.

Surviving the Economic Crisis

If you read the above link and many others like it, a cold chill will run down your spine. Most of the responses to the question. "What can I do?" include buying guns and lots of ammo. Warnings that you will be killed for your vegetable garden.

I am not convinced we are there yet. I wouldn't do it anyway. But one thing I am going to do is stop listening to the doom and gloom on the radio. I am so tired of being told how lousy my life is, how I should have no hope and probably have no future no matter what I do.

It is true, I do not work in a hard hit manufacturing or forestry sector, but my life now is pretty much the same as it was last year at this time and the year before that. And yes, I know I have to watch my p's and q's and not spend wildly on my credit card.

But to the best of my ability, I am going to work hard, work smart, eat less, eat local, buy local, support my local economy, barter, trade, diversify my work and be a good neighbour. At the end of the day, it is your community that will support you, not a government.

So the next time the radio starts blaring about the nasdaq or the hang seng or the New York Stock Exchange, I am gone. I am not being an ostrich, but there is nothing to be gained by becoming paralysed by fear or depression.

Website Design for Customers Who Think They Know Better

Have you ever gone to the dentist and said you don't want him to freeze your gums, but if he hurts you, he is going to get kicked in the nuts? Of course not. You would never presume to tell the professional how to do his or her job.

It is the same for web design. You have to tell your customers right off the top that you will not tell them how to (i.e.) cook an omelet or rent a car. Concurrently, they should not be telling you how to build a website. I tell my customers that I study this topic EVERY DAY and my best advice is blah blah blah and if they stop me from doing my best job for them, then I cannot promise them the results I would like to see.

I tell them that search engines ONLY READ TEXT. If there is no text to read, then you don't get the rank. Period.

If they still say no and want to go cheap, then too bad. I do not work if I am not not paid.

I just came across a company that has two websites. The old one and their new one. I don't care if they are not "web savvy". Having 2 websites, one with zero page rank and one with 1/10 is like having 2 stores that are located on back streets that don't actually sell anything.

It is true that people expect miracles from their website, but I expect a lot from my car. I don't tell the mechanic how to fix it. I expect a lot from my doctor, I don't tell him what scalpel to use.

It is sometimes hard to strike that fine balance between assuring customers that they will get value for their money, that you, as a professional know what you are doing, that they will get results if they let you do your job and the alternative.

Which is strangling them with your bare hands..

Teenager Commits Suicide on Justin.tv

My mother would say, "What is the world coming to?"

And I would reply, "I am surprised everyone is surprised."

Increasingly we are living our lives virtually..Some days I spend 8-10 hours a day in front of my computer. I talk to friends on-line. They can see me and I can see them. I watch youtube and other video providers.

Sometimes I watch TV but more often I watch DVDs. I live alone. This is how I entertain myself. It is all unreal. Do I go out and play tennis? Do I go for a walk in the woods? Do I meet friends and do joint projects in real time? Nope. Yesterday I started to play Travian and create myself a little cartoon village. I sure hope I can get my defenses up before the neighbouring Gauls come and kill me! HA HA!

And there it is. Nothing is real. Those people who were watching that boy on Justin.tv, discussing whether or not he was kidding, was the "lethal" dose of drug cocktail he ingested enough to kill him or not...would likely not have reacted in the same way if they had been in the same room. But because they were watching on a monitor, they were removed and could witness it dispassionately.

The thought crosses my mind, "What if they could be that dispassionate if they WERE in the same room?" Well then I would have to echo my mother's question.

I forced myself to watch Saddam Hussein's death filmed from the phone video. I had to see for myself where my world is headed. But for this poor boy, I will not further invade his oh so public and very sad death.

And shame on those viewers egging him on. Get outside and breathe some air before it is too late. Advice I should well take.

technorati is making me do this

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The Wild Hunt Blog: Witch doctors for Obama

The Wild Hunt Blog: Witch doctors for Obama.

Well, I am so relieved. I wish I had read this before yesterday and I would not have been on the edge of my seat all day!

What an amazing thing we have all witnessed. There are events in all our lives that shape us and that we will always remember. How often have you been asked where you were when you heard that President Kennedy was shot? Well, this is another one. I even found myself taking pictures of the TV, which is demented.

What a good day!

Stephen Harper's Smurf Balls

An unabashed NDP'er, I sat with about 30 friends in the Jean Crowder Campaign office last night to watch the Leaders' Debate. Earlier in the day, I had picked up 3 bright yellow smurf balls to throw at the TV.

Talk about a Prime Minister on Valium. And his smile. That sociopath smile. So many teeth, so little time. My lizard brain screams at me "Run away, run away!"

The smurf balls were in the air at least a third of the time. Hissing and booing abounded. I loved the comment about the cancellation of the literacy programs because they did not teach people how to read. And his reasons for cancelling the arts programming and every other kind of programming. It was simply...smurfable.

Elizabeth May was like an outraged Nana with a hat pin, stabbing Harper deep, again and again. Gotta Love her. Gilles Duceppe was a riot. Stephan Dion was excellent and Jack Harper was relentless. It was a good debate.

I will never go to a debate without the smurf balls again.

Customers and CMS

How many times have I designed a beautiful website,done the basic SEO, linked the site to directories, worked with the owner on the content, researched great illustrations and photos- all for a very very reasonable price, only to find that at the end of the day, they want to be able to edit the site themselves.

Some of these customers have had successful businesses that they are trying to take to the next level. They want to know if they should take an html course. My reply is invariably along the lines of, "Sure, go ahead, but who is going to be taking care of your sales when you are in school?"

Are they nuts? What takes me 5 minutes will take the average new person an hour. This is why people specialize. I don't want to take my own appendix out, tune up my own car or rewire my own house. Yes, I could go to school and become a doctor, a mechanic and an electrician. But by that time I would be an old lady who had pretty much forgotten how to write html because I would be gaga.

I am now very clear from the very start of a conversation with new customers. A content management system will cost you a minimum of $400 more. I use Drupal, so at the moment, your design options are a little limited. Can you upload your own photos later? Sure I can set you up a simple system. But here is the kicker. If you later break your site or blow it apart because you don't know what you are doing. The clock will be ticking and it won't be a $10 fix, either.

Now, hand me the scalpel please.

Woops, somebody is very, very angry

A lot of people find it very hard to get their heads around the fact that their annual hosting fee is separate from annually paying for their domain name, unless that is set up early in the relationship. I do pay for some of my customers' domain names, but I don't like to do it. The reason is that if a customer decides at any point that they wish to take their business elsewhere, they may do it easily and instantly because they have complete control over their assets...being their domain name and hosting account. Neither of those is purchased through me as their web designer or site maintenance professional.

I recently had a customer who was very, very angry when one of his names become inactive. His main site is still working, but his other name that is parked on that site is down. Somehow this is my fault or the fault of the new hosting company, even though this was never arranged last year when the new site and new hosting was arranged.

The customer was furious when the situation was explained to him, saying, "To me it is all hosting. I never worried in the past 10 years that my domain would expire" and "I really don’t give a shite- I am not selling any C.D’s from the site anyway."

Now the issue becomes very confused with SEO issues thrown into the pot for good measure. David Utter, writing for Webpro News says, "As for the negative comments you will see at some point, gain what you can from them. The most annoying person in the world may have a valid argument. These days, they expect to be able to express it; worthy complaints merit a decent response."

So there are two things that need to be addressed.
1. The fact that the name has expired
2. The fact that he is selling no CD's despite the fact that he has over 1000 visitors a month and 45 inbound links.

Closer inspection shows us that half of the people are staying less than 30 seconds. Why is that, when the page is attractive, there is a call to action in the first paragraph and the key words and phrases have been thought out?

Time to hire an experienced SEO person. Time to get his name back, time to get his show on the road even if he is "the most annoying person in the world."