It must be six years now since I got involved and trashed a perfectly good opportunity, my first web business!

It was a entertainment portal! A place where artists would arrive at my website, sign up for free and in return share their passion with like-minded individuals.

Meanwhile in the background whilst the database developed, I would contact businesses selling them space on my directory.

It was a concrete plan, aside from my sheer lack of knowledge in:
A) Lack of research into a suitable development and design team.
B) Not truly understanding the importance of working to targets and setting goals.

For the purpose of this article, we will just look at point A,

TIP 1, BEFORE YOU COMMISSION ANY WEB DEVELOPER – SPEAK TO AT LEAST FIVE.
TIP 2, BEFORE DEVELOPMENT BEGINS ENSURE ALL DESIGNS ARE SIGNED OFF
TIP 3, DON’T OBSESS ABOUT PERFECTION GET THE PRODUCT OUT TO MARKET – IT WILL ALWAYS BE A WORKING PROGRESS

The importance of the above can not be under estimated.
Tip 3, does not mean do not provide a high quality product, rather market the high quality product sooner rather than later. You will always be perfecting your website.

You see, when I first got into web development and marketing I fell down because of not asking and looking at vital questions such as:

HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST
WHAT ASSURANCES CAN YOU GIVE ME (TIME FRAMES, CONTRACTS & PENALTIES)
WHAT DESIGN SUPPORT WILL BE PROVIDED
WHAT MILESTONES AND REPORTS WILL BE GIVEN
WHERE WILL THE WEBSITE BE HOSTED
WHAT HAPPENS ONCE THE WEBSITE IS COMPLETED I.E AFTER CARE SUPPORT
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE WEBSITE IS NOT WORKING
HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN SIMILAR PROJECTS – CAN YOU SHOW ME

I took the advice from a friend, met with a marketing company that charged me the earth for a website which took twelve months to be delivered. No real contracts were signed, they did not really know what they were doing. I got burned big style.

Another huge factor in the projects demise was that of constant change of the design. Yes this was of course my fault. However every change that I requested would take three months to change. All the while my funds were going down. Therefore getting designs agreed before you get into the depth of development will save money later.

In my experience gained over the last six years, the things that screams out the loudest is that when you get inspired to build an online business. If a developer is quoting the earth and claiming to take six months. Forget him and find someone better.

Websites as powerful as the likes of facebook can be put up within an evening for the less than the price of an expensive meal.

I am not in anyway trying to put down the role of a good development team, as without them you will run into serious difficulties. What I am saying is that today, the real issue at hand is that of attraction – constantly focusing on your marketing and getting people to your website.

ALWAYS REMEMBER

TIP 1, BEFORE YOU COMMISSION ANY WEB DEVELOPER – SPEAK TO AT LEAST FIVE.
TIP 2, BEFORE DEVELOPMENT BEGINS ENSURE ALL DESIGNS ARE SIGNED OFF
TIP 3, DON’T OBSESS ABOUT PERFECTION GET THE PRODUCT OUT TO MARKET – IT WILL ALWAYS BE A WORKING PROGRESS

Happy marketing
Seo specialist Brandon Sandler