New design for Ideal Project Group

I've been wanting to redesign the Ideal Project Group website for a while, but between client work and SignalKit, I hadn't made it a priority.  I finally got to the redesign this week, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Here's a screenshot:

There were a few key things I wanted to address with the site, and also some areas where I wanted to practice.

Reflecting where my business is right now

First, I needed to make the site a more honest representation of who I am, what Ideal Project Group is, and how it and I relate.  In other words, I am Ideal Project Group, and Ideal Project Group is me, and it was time for my website to reflect this reality.

I wrote a month or two ago about the lesson Maile taught me about accepting where you are, and I really wanted to make a site that didn't portray where I hoped to be in a few years - but showed where I was at right now.  I think I got it right this time.

Easy to update portfolio

The other thing I needed to do was have an easy way to update my portfolio.  I was really slacking on keeping my site up to date with my latest client work, and I needed to fix that.  The site is entirely hand written by me, but I plugged in Perch - the really little content management system I learned about from Ryan Singer.  They have an awesome (no, seriously, it's amazing) portfolio app that allows you to add an image gallery, light boxes, and some other goodies.

Now, when I want to update my portfolio, I simply go to the Perch admin section, write a paragraph, upload a photo, and I'm done.

Attention to Typography

Something I've been practicing with more lately is typography, and choosing fonts that work well together and portray the right message.  I've been using TypeKit lately, and I love it.  I used Georgia and Garamond throughout the site, and in the left sidebar where I call out the things I create, I used the Angie STD sans-serif font.

I'll probably keep playing with the sidebar font, but overall I'm very happy with how things turned out.

Quickly showing products and publications

One thing I liked about my blog that I wanted my site to replicate was showing all my info on one page. Now, right on the landing page, I outline what I do, who I do it for, what my products are, and what my latest blog posts and podcasts were.

It's a challenge to show this much information without it being overwhelming, but I think I've managed to list it all without the site looking too busy.

Pricing

The last thing I wanted to do was make my pricing clear and easy to understand.  Instead of listing out products, services, and pricing though, I took a slightly different approach.  Where I describe my services, I outline my typical fees under the description.  Then, in the portfolio section, I say what a similar website build would cost.

This allows new visitors to get a decent understanding of my pricing model, and to see if I'm right for their budget.

Let's see what happens

Of course, I don't know how this new site will perform yet.  But, I think it's a unique site with a bit of personality, that definitely stands out - especially when compared to many of the other sites that show up in the same search queries as mine.

I'm definitely open to feedback and curious to hear peoples thoughts, so if you have any you'd like to share - I'd love to hear what you have to say.

How the Patriot Act affects my small business and makes me racist

For almost the past five years, I've been running my little software company.  Sometimes employing people, sometimes sending along work to independent contractors, working to build wealth with software, and feeding my kids and paying my mortgage with the skills that I've acquired.

In short, I'm a small business, and a productive member of the economy of the United States.

I've realized though that there's something terribly wrong.

I'm worried that the government is listening in on my phone calls, reading my emails, and looking into my bank accounts.

Why?

A few weeks back I was contacted by another small business person who wanted a website built for their company.  They found me via my ad on Sortfolio, and they were looking to get the first version of a website built.

Perfect.  It's one of the things I do.

The only thing different about this client from a host of others is that they're based out of the United Arab Emirates.  We do live in a global economy now, and it's wonderful that someone in the UAE can have me, in Chicago, build a website for them.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that according to US law, since I've now been having Skype phone calls with someone outside our borders, and I've been sent money via PayPal, (from the Middle East no less) the government can basically look, listen, and investigate anything they want without any warrant or oversight.

This, of course, is horse shit.

And I bring it up and write about it because everyone seems to think that the Patriot Act is some far off - "doesn't really affect me" kind of thing.  But it's not.  It affects you, your friends, and people you work with.

And maybe your kids.

And the kicker is, that this is happening all while Obama is supposedly trying to "reset" the relationships that Americans have with Arabs.  So essentially, Americans are being told to remember that not everyone from the Middle East is a terrorist, that we have a lot of shared values, etc.

Oh, but if you talk to any of them, we're going listen to your phone calls.  And if you do business with them, we're going to look into your bank accounts.

This is exactly the kind of behavior that is exhibited in abusive relationships.

And so what happens is we start asking ourselves, "do I want to do business with this person because they live in xyz part of the world?" or because their name is unfamiliar, or because they have an accent.

And that behavior; of judging someone before you know them, questioning whether they're safe to do business with for no reason other than their name, or the part of the world they live in, or the color of their skin - that's racist.

And so that's what the Patriot Act really does.  It increases paranoia, makes people afraid, and promotes racism.

The stark reality is that we live in a country where a small business person has to worry about the government listening in on their phone calls, and digging into their finances for doing nothing more than making a website.

Osama Bin Laden may be buried at sea somewhere, but if the American government can listen to my phone calls simply because I made a website for someone.....

Then guess what?

He won.

A new app for SignalKit

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Over the weekend we launched a new app for SignalKit called 37,000ft.  SignalKit, as you may know, is a suite of web apps I'm working on that adds tiny bits of functionality to the 37signals products.

If you've been reading my blog for more than a few weeks, you know I rave constantly about the software made by the Chicago based software company, and I use Basecamp to manage my projects, and Highrise to keep track of my business and the people I work with.

37,000ft takes all the tasks assigned to someone across all their projects, and Highrise, and lays them out on one page.  You can read all about the application on the SignalKit blog post announcing the app.  If you use the products made by 37signals, I hope you check it out.

Learn how to build a website

There's a new website/service that just launched in Chicago called Dabble.  The idea behind the site is that if you're interested in learning something, you can sign up for a class and "Dabble" a little bit to see if you want to learn more.

Likewise, if you know how to do something and are interested in teaching other folks how to do it, you can sign up to teach a class.

They have everything from photography, to welding, to drawing.  It's a great site, and a great idea.

Using Dabble, I'm happy to announce a class I'll be teaching on Saturday June eleventh titled "Build a Great Website on Your Own".  The class will start at 10am and go until about 1pm, and will be held in my office that I share with some other entrepreneurs in Wicker Park.

I'm limiting this first class to 5 people so I can ensure enough attention will be paid to everyone, and that you'll be able to walk out of the class with your first website built and launched.

I'll talk with everyone individually to understand what kind of site you want built - whether it's a marketing site, a personal site, or a blog - and then work with you to pick the best platform for your needs and get your first site launched.

If you've been wanting to build a website but weren't quite sure where to start, sign up for my class on Dabble.  It's a small fee of $20 - which is also the minimum price Dabble allows you to charge - and I'll donate any proceeds I earn to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

I hope to see you there!

UPDATE: Received word today (Wed. 5/26) that this class has sold out.

The developer is the customer

I've noticed quite a bit of conversation lately around non-technical co-founders trying to recruit developers to work with them on their projects - and what kinds of things they can do to bring them into the fold of their product/company. Likewise, there seems to be endless demand right now for quality programmers/hackers/developers, and if you have the words "Ruby on Rails" anywhere on a public resume you've likely received a call from at least a few clueless recruiters - and probably more.

I've been fortunate in that I've worked on a number of projects with some great developers, and I know a number of people from iOS developers, to PHP programmers, to RoR hackers, to Android folks that I can work with to make an idea real for either myself or a client. And I'm working with two awesome developers on SignalKit.

I'm realizing that the fundamental difference between myself and other people that are considered "non-technical" is in my stance and posture towards developers, my clients, who I ultimately look at as "the customer", and that I have a different definition of "technical". I'd like to explore these differences in this post.

Defining the customer

In my mind, the customer is not just the person that pays you - it's the person that enables you to get paid. This slight tweak in defining who the customer is changes a lot in my posture, and quite frankly, who I'm going to work to make happy.

Traditionally, the person writing you a check is the customer. Period.

But we're living in a world where everything is being upended - from media, to publishing, to business models - and so it only makes sense that our definition of customer should be upended as well.

Simply put, if I don't have good relationships with good developers, then I can't make my clients happy. If I can't make my clients happy, I don't get paid. If I have good relationships with good developers then I can make my clients happy and I get paid.

The customer is not the person paying you; it's the person enabling you to get paid.

You need to bring value to your customers

Now that we understand who the customer is, the next step is to bring value to your customer. Yes, money is valuable, but if all you're offering developers is money then you haven't really separated yourself from anyone else that's trying to land that customer.

Something fun to work on, autonomy, a workplace of their choosing, freedom from dealing with middle management BS, exposure(!), and the freedom to work on and explore their own ideas independent of yours are all things that most people find valuable.

This of course is a short list - there are many other ways you can provide value to a developer.

Other than money, why should a talented developer work with you? What can you offer them? If you can't answer this question you'll have a hard time making the sale.

What you think is technical isn't technical

There was a time when not everyone knew how to use Excel, and Word, and Outlook. And then people had to learn how to use these tools because management said so. But no one ever says "whoa - wait a minute - I'm not a technical person so I can't send email."

I believe we have entered an age where "business" people need to learn how to use a new toolset.

Should a product manager really require a programmer to change text, or insert a different image, just because they haven't learned how to use .git and textmate? I think those days are disappearing quickly.

The reason people had to learn how to use tools like Outlook is because that's the way people started communicating. Developers have a way of communicating - and it's often done with checking code in and out.

I don't think you have to be a programmer to understand the file system of an application; I think that's merely learning how to use new tools in the modern workplace.

You don't own your customers

You would never expect a customer to have only one vendor, and business people shouldn't be trying to own their developers. Far too many people think they need all or nothing from a developer. "Either you're working only on my stuff, or not with me at all!"

I think that approach is a mistake.

Instead, I've had the most success working with people that have their own companies, are working on their own ideas, and then they also work with me on some of my apps or my client projects. Good developers are able to manage their workloads and get work done for you - even if they have other project they're on.

There's good customers and bad customers

Just because the developer is the customer doesn't mean they have ALL the leverage. In the same way a service company might fire a high maintenance client, so too might I not want to work with a high maintenance developer.

This isn't to say that developers don't need good product people, good business people, good marketing people, or anything else. They do. Just like a traditional customer might need a vendor to run their business, so too do good developers need great business people to work with.

Understanding who the customer is though, is a very important part of the equation.