| LED Digest 2589: Usability Tips & Resources |
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The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom http://www.WillMaster.com/LED : the LED's Key Sponsor Will Bontrager Builds Powerful Software for your Website http://www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== Guest Moderator: Published by: Nathan Holley LED Digest nate, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. February 13, 2008 Issue no. 2589 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Usability Tips and Resources ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "Some points I got from the Stanford report..." --== Domain Scams ==-- ~ John Smart "This scam is not new, but [people] continue to fall victim..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Deposit or Retainer? ==-- ~ Alex Hughart "I have a questions regarding this practice..." ~ Peter D'Aprix "In addition to an up-front advance...I bill for work done every month." ~ Al Toman "...I require payment for [each] phase." ~ Shel Horowitz "I am a tightwad." ========= NEW ===================================== From: Michael Linehan Subject: Useful Usability Resource The Stanford University site collected ideas from these usability experts and resources: - User Interface Engineering: http://www.uie.com - Jakob Nielson on Usability and Web Design: http://www.useit.com - "Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide" by Jared Spool et al. - "Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed" by Jakob Nielsen and Marie Tahir - "Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability" by Steve Krug. Their compilation provides a useful, super-condensed, point form summary of a lot of powerful information. Check it out online: Google Cache to view it in HTML: http://tinyurl.com/36kqbp [google cache] Direct download of the .doc file from Stanford: http://tinyurl.com/2jchzu [genetics.stanford.edu] Some points I got from the Stanford report: - Don’t provide multiple navigation areas for the same type of links. - Eye-tracking studies of web page scanning suggest users decide quickly which parts of pages are likely to have useful information and almost never look at other parts. - Things that are related logically should be related visually. - Things that are not related logically should not be related visually. - Do not allow everything on the page to be demanding attention. - Beware of background noise. There may not be a single item that is distracting but the combination of many little things may be wearing. - Avoid redundant links on a page. Studies show a negative correlation between the number of links and success. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= One Way Links to your Site, by the Hundreds? Yes! Get Traffic and Link Popularity to Your Site from Legitimate, General Interest Web Directories. DomainDrivers Makes It Hassle-Free. Details Here: http://www.domaindrivers.com/directory-submissions.html ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: John Smart Subject: Domain Scam I am an Open SRS domain name Tucows reseller. They sent me this notice today - and in my extensive experience with them, they are not scare-mongers, so I thought I would share it with you: --------------------- "We want to bring to your attention a domain name renewal scam that is currently making the rounds. This scam is not new, but Registrants continue to fall victim to this practice on a daily basis. "The scam works this way: unethical companies monitor the publicly accessible WHOIS database and obtain registrant contact information as well as domain expiry dates. Using the information, they mail domain Registrants an official looking document, months in advance of the renewal date, encouraging the Registrant to renew the name now to protect themselves from losing that domain name. When the Registrant renews the name by paying the invoice, the domain is not only renewed, but a Registrar transfer is initiated to the unscrupulous Registrar. "There are a number of ways to combat the practice: - Enable WHOIS Privacy. This is the absolute best protection, stopping the scam dead in its tracks as there is no way for the scammer to contact the Registrant directly. - Encourage domain locking. A locked domain can't be transferred, again, preventing the scam from working. - Communicate with your customers. Let them know about this practice early in the domain life cycle (at least 90 or even 120 days before expiry). Ensure that your customers know who their Reseller and Registrar are, and spell out your communication policies surrounding renewals with them." --------------------- John Smart InternetDesign.com A Human Touch in a Digital world. ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Alex Hughart Subject: Payment > ... the general policy is about 50% up > front and the balance when the project is > completed and sign off by the client. - Chris Nielsen, LED 2588 (and many others) - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/2003/190/ I have a questions regarding this practice: how do you ensure that a client would not simply use what you have done and not pay you the balance? In some cases (mostly with copywriting services), reviewing and signing off the work means they already have it in their possession. Alex Hughart -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Peter D'Aprix Subject: Payment > Our policy has always been 50% upfront and > the balance upon satisfactory completion by > the client. - Robert Joy, LED 2586 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/2001/190/ I have been in the freelance business since 1973, first as a photographer then I added print and web design in that order. I have always required an up front deposit. In the old days when it seemed clients were more honorable and the person commissioning the project was still employed at the company when the project was completed, I would ask 1/3 up front, 1/3 on completion and then 1/3 in 30 days. However, today, after being burned a time or two, I have adopted Robert Joy's 50% up front and the balance on successful completion as well. If a client balks at this, then I have serious concerns if I will receive payment at all and suggest the client find someone else who is willing to take the risk. I have so often found in the last decade and half that the person commissioning the project has moved on by the time it is completed and the account payable will not honor any verbal agreements. The last time I accepted an assignment with nothing up front was for a food and travel story for the old "Cuisine" magazine. Off I went to Ireland to do "Christmas in Ireland", incurred expenses, travel, film, food, hotels, suffered rising damp chills etc. and returned, processed the film, wrote the story and when I called the editor to let him know it was on the way we met with "Oh! Well, another magazine bought "Cuisine" and is burying it. So we were fired this morning and I am now cleaning out my desk. So sorry. Try freelancing it. Good luck. Bye!" I was young. What can I say? In addition to an up-front advance, if the project is planned or just takes more than 30 days to complete, I, like other graphic designers I have worked for, bill for work done every month. Like a site I am working on now, content, spec sheets, models of product to photograph for the site that are late in delivery, my contact is suddenly sent to China to supervise production problems etc. which have stretched the site development from 30 days to over 4 months. You do need to receive recompense on a monthly basis at least. Even web designers have to eat and pay the mortgage. But whatever the contractual arrangements, especially with new clients with whom you have no track record, I would recommend making sure that you not only have a rigorous project description break down assigning responsibility for who is responsible for what part of the site development on the designer's part and that of the client, but also a very clear statement regarding payment schedules and have it signed by the client and approved by their purchasing department (if they have one) as well as insisting on a PO from the company as well. The PO helps the Account Payable track your invoices back to the source. My graphic design clients also would first present several approaches to a client on "story boards". When the client picked the approach they liked best, they were required to sign a form attesting to that and including any changes / modifications they required. A similar approach can be adapted by web designers at critical stages of site development. I suggested a few months ago in a post that there be some sort of web association that would help establish suggested terms of business, standard job contract boiler plate and templates, etc. to help standardize this field just as professional photographers and other fields have guilds that do the same. This is helpful both for designers, programmers and their clients if everyone knows what to expect. Many good business relationships can go on the rocks when the final bill is presented it if comes as a shock to either party. Peter D'Aprix - Visual Communications http://peterdaprix.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Al Toman Subject: Payment It appears to me that this 50% up front payment thingy is a tradition of sorts, or at best, a cut and paste concept. It does not make any sense. If I perform a $100 job, why only 50 bucks? If I perform a $10,000 job; and you think the client will gladly fork over 5 grand!?! I typically draw a contract on work to be performed that outlines the specifics of the job from beginning to end. It also declares the client's and the designer's responsibilities as well as definitions, and all the legal dos and don'ts. Everyone knows the cost of the project and how it will play out before anything happens. Considering, I can usually phase my projects. Before I begin the first or the next phase, I require payment for that phase. Work does NOT begin until each phase is pre-paid. The client must sign off on each phase, as well. If they decide to require further work in a signed-off phase, then, they got charged. All third party payouts require cash up front, again, prior to paying out. Client holds 10% in the end. Once the product is signed off and paid in full, it becomes their property (conditionally) and is transferred to their server. I must have access to their server. Al Toman Web Design Your Business(tm) studio9 web design ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= New Library for Site Owners ^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ Lots of how-to. Tutorials. Tips. Tools. Demonstrations. Click and bookmark. http://www.willmaster.com/lib ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Shel Horowitz Subject: Payment > Generally what I came to realize is that if > I had problems with a customer on the front > end then I would generally have problems on > the back end as well. Generally they would > never be satisfied and were always trying > to get a break here or there, cutting into > my living. Once a tight-wad, always a > tight-wad. - Ron Carmickle, LED 2588 Whoa! There's a difference between frugality and thievery! I am a proud tightwad -- and I'm also very proudly focused on high standards of ethics. In fact, I've written books on both of these topics. The Penny-Pinching Hedonist was written for a consumer audience wanting to save money on fun, Grassroots Marketing and several of my other books were written to help businesses save on their marketing costs -- and Principled Profit demonstrates that ethics doesn't have to be like overcooked spinach. It's not only "good for you" but "tastes good" in the form of higher profits, more opportunities, and an extremely loyal customer base. Oh, and you want to talk about tightwads, just try selling a book in the consumer frugality market. My book on having fun cheaply was too extensive for its market at $17 -- a book that would save the average reader thousands of dollars! Since I finally sold through the run, converted it to an e-book, and dropped the price to $8.50, it sells better-even though if people print out their own copy it's going to cost more than it would have to buy the paperback when it was available. On behalf of my fellow tightwads, let me defend our "species." I am a tightwad. I have to see value in a purchase before I sign the check. And it's much harder to convince me of the value of certain items above certain price points. I might buy a book or e-book for $20-$30 and not even think twice -- but the same book at $97 -- I think I've bought about two like that in my life. Yet I will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on services / goods I feel are truly worth it. I spent $1000 on a typewriter, back in 1982 -- which represented about 2 months income at the time. But I used that typewriter to earn my living for two years, until I bought my first computer (for $3000 -- all 128K of it). When Apple-compatible laser printers came out they were $7000. I found someone who had one nearby and paid $1 per page to use it. I found a remaindered one a couple of years later for $4400, and then I organized a co-op with three other business owners to buy it, so I was able to get laser printing for 1/7 of the going rate. This kind of creativity kept me in business long enough to grow successful. It is common for many people to spend $10K or more to produce a book. On my books, I tend to spend more like $5K. But that doesn't mean I'm going to cheat you. It means I am a skilled shopper who can find value at lower price points, and have actually consulted to other authors on how to do this as well (all my vendors are in the US, btw). So let's say you're a cover designer and I pay you the $500 you charge, while someone else might pay a different designer $1500 or more. You will get your payment, on time and in full, and if I'm happy with the job you do for me, I will say so, publicly, and spread your name around, and maybe even give you a testimonial for your website. And you may eventually get to the point where you've raised your prices past the point I'm willing to pay. I respect that, will still give your name out, and probably find someone else to work with and repeat the cycle. And I recognize that as my own prices have gone up, the most price-sensitive clients will go elsewhere -- but because most US copywriters with any kind of reputation actually charge a lot more than me, I don't find it a problem to find clients, and in fact recently raised my base rate to $175 per hour with no loss of work. Of course it helps that I'm fast -- that still means a typical press release will cost no more than $350 -- and I know some copywriters who charge $1500 or so or a press release. In my own practice, I get either cc information or an approximately 50% deposit, and it's not been a problem. Shel Horowitz Marketing Strategic Planning, Consulting, and Copywriting http://www.frugalmarketing.com (c) Copyright 1995-2008 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
