I’ve never been a huge fan of Facebook, once I got over the initial curiosity and connected with a few friends. I really don’t care that much about what people I haven’t seen for more than 30 years are doing with their spare time. Some of whom I barely knew 30 years ago.

There’s no question that Facebook is valuable for some businesses, IF a large part of their market uses it. I have clients, such as Zooniversity, for whom being in front of their market on Facebook is very important. But that’s not the case with my business. If you’re a client of mine and Facebook is important to your business, I’ll see that your website supports and promotes your Facebook page. Other than that, I’m done with Facebook.

Frankly, when someone from high school whose name I barely recall—who I’m sure I didn’t know well enough to say “Hi” to in the hall—wants to “friend” me, and four other people from high school (none of whom I was close to) send messages recommending that I friend this person, I’m starting to feel just a little intruded upon. I know, I can adjust my privacy settings. But every time I look at the settings panel, I surrender to an overwhelming desire to go get a beer instead. Each and every time that happens, I feel like I’ve made the right choice.

There was a time when I tried to look people up on Facebook. That stopped when so many of the people I found turned out to be fans of Sarah Palin, or into doing some kind of “Farmworld” thingy, or just plain telling me more than I wanted to know. And everyone looked so old! There’s a reason I left my hometown, I’ve decided.

There’s actually a term for what I’m experiencing: social media fatigue (google it and you’ll find a lot of material). As far as I can tell, the term has been used for at least 2 years. But I think more and more people are starting to tire of being so connected, and feeling compelled to participate. Social media can be valuable and rewarding, but you have to be selective about how and where (and if) you participate. After careful evaluation (and a beer), it’s “so long, Facebook” for me.

So, if anyone from my distant past, recent past, or even immediate future wants to connect with me, just send me an email. But please, don’t tell me you’re a Sarah Palin fan.

Why? Because successful websites are the result of collaborative efforts between clients and web developers. RFPs usually preclude collaboration by treating the process as furnishing a defined set of deliverables in a scope of work, with the vendor bound to furnish the deliverables as defined. Alternative (and often better) approaches are routinely dismissed in the interests of “comparing apples and apples.”

RFPs are a problem for everyone involved.

The problem for people writing RFPs is that few people or organizations are capable of defining deliverables in a scope of work in a way that allows for better solutions than they themselves had imagined, because they are rightly concerned with controlling costs. But defined deliverables usually means defined solutions, sometimes ruling out less expensive or more efficient alternatives. Things change rapidly in web development, and what was a good solution 12 months ago can be a decidedly inferior solution today. Even web developers scramble to stay abreast of changes, with varying degrees of success.

Further, few people and organizations are capable of evaluating proposals to sort out meaningful information from BS or fluff. If the best web developer/designer is selected for the project, it’s almost by accident.

The problem for those of us responding to RFPs is that preparing a proposal can easily consume 30-60 hours, depending on the scope of the project. We put some thought into addressing the specific items in the RFP, rather than making a few quick modifications to a standing proposal, and it takes time. Frankly, it’s time that could be spent more productively.

There’s a better way for both website owners and website developers.

Again, all successful website design/development is the result of collaboration between client and designer/developer. Aside from their ability to do the job, the most important thing you’re looking for in a designer/developer is someone you can collaborate with. I believe the following outlines a better way to find a collaborator and establish a collaborative relationship, one in which both parties work for a successful website within the agreed budget and timeline.

Figure out what you want to accomplish with your website. What are your goals? What are the goals of the people who might visit your website? What kind of functionality is necessary to meet those goals?

Figure out who your “audience” is (substitute “market” or “community” if more appropriate) and why they are interested in what you have to offer. Think about what kinds of online interaction with them would further your and their goals.

Figure out your budget. Bigger isn’t necessarily better, but some solutions are precluded by a budget that is inadequate to support them.

Look at websites similar to what you want. Contact the site owners and ask about the designer/developer. Would they recommend working with him/her? Include some local designer/developers in your research; often they will be more invested in your success (if your audience is primarily local, consider restricting your research to local designer/developers). Soon you’ll develop a shortlist of web people you want to talk to.

Call or email each of the designer/developers on your shortlist. Invite them separately to your office or a local coffee shop (or schedule a phone meeting, if they are not local) to discuss your project.

During your meeting, share your goals for your website (and describe functions you believe you need to meet those goals), what you know about your audience, and what your budget is. If they’re not taking notes and asking questions during this part of the meeting, you might want to cut it short. A good collaborator will be engaged and interested in this part of the process, and may even offer suggestions or observations that hadn’t occurred to you.

IF they took notes and asked lots of questions, find out more about them. Ask how they would go about helping you meet your goals within the budget you’ve described. Discuss timeline and try to get a sense of how focused they will be on your website. Ask them to walk you through a couple of websites they’ve launched, describing how they arrived at various solutions or solved design or technical issues. Ask about their business: not just how long they’ve been in business, but who their clients are, how they handle payments, what kind if ongoing support they provide, and what they feel separates their services from their competitors’ services. It wouldn’t hurt for you to take notes for this part.

If you feel you can collaborate with them, invite them to submit a written proposal. The short proposal (no more than two or three pages) should include a description of the project as they understand it, recommendations for a general approach (project phases, technical platform, etc.), an estimate for both time and cost, and contact information for at least three clients who you can call to talk about their experience in working with the designer/developer. Do NOT skip talking with their clients.

When you’re done evaluating proposals (and checking out client references), you should have a pretty clear idea of who you can work with best. Once you make your selection, schedule a project meeting in which you and the developer map out a project plan.

On an ongoing basis during the project, you make decisions together about the best options to help you meet your goals; the developer as trusted advisor, you as final decision-maker. You are now on the path to a great website.

The more I work with WordPress, and the more I understand of it’s capabilities and how to take advantage of them, the more impressed I am with it. Not just because it allows me to do more as a designer and developer (does it ever!), but because it allows website owners to do more to manage their online presence. It enables business owners and organization managers to utilize their websites as active communications tools, making updates and changes on an as-needed basis with very little effort.

TalaTek is in line with a trend I’m seeing in which businesses are more willing to embrace blogging as a means of creating content of value to their market, establishing their expertise and enhancing their search engine rankings. TalaTek has elected to call their blog posts “articles,” but I don’t care what they call them as long as they keep posting and getting the benefits of posting them.

Leon Sterling of Compelling Concepts wrote the copy for the website and developed the messaging. It was good to have a partner in the creative process; design is much easier—and more effective—when a clear message exists.

As you might have guessed if you’ve been paying attention to what we’re up to lately, this is a WordPress-based website. In addition to their blog (a new experience for them), they update a daily report on weekdays that shows current temperatures, river levels, and other information you might want to know about before you pull out of your driveway and head toward Terlingua. They also plan to keep current updates on partially filled trips that have room for additional happy campers, like you!

The site has a lot of useful information on floating the Rio Grande, hiking trails, and mountain biking trails, as well as information on local services. Go take a look at their website, and consider getting away for a week in Big Bend with Desert Sports as your guides. It’s a guaranteed change of pace.

Except for WP’s CMS capabilities, it doesn’t begin to make use of the WordPress platform. What it does show, however, is how adaptable both WordPress and our own Evo4 CMS theme are in building custom-designed websites. (Evo4 CMS was specifically built for design flexibility.)

As a designer myself, you might think I’d have a certain amount of resistance to doing the slice-and-dice and CSS for another designer’s website. Not so. Even though it can occasionally be frustrating to work with other designers who have a different approach, it helps keep my vision fresh. It’s easy to get in a rut when working with the same tools and platform, and working with other designers who don’t share all my assumptions helps prevent that.

If you know a designer who is interested in using WordPress as a platform, send him/her my way. If we click, an ongoing design/build relationship could benefit both of us, and our clients.

While the site was launched a bit late (the event takes place approximately 6 weeks from launch), the site was built in just 8 days, from design to launch. Of course, like all sites, it’s a work in progress, and content will continue to be added. With WordPress of course, that’s no problem.

Behind the scenes, we’re still working on creating and testing custom post types in anticipation of event listings that will take place nationally. No doubt we’ll learn some interesting things in the process; we’ll report on our experience with that as we complete the work.

Since the internet became a place in which people could connect, marketing opportunities have sprung up in that space. As you well know if you’ve opened a browser in the last 5 years, all of the marketing on the internet is not being done well. In fact, some of it is pretty awful. But what would we expect of a medium in which the barriers to entry—in terms of cost and expertise—are so low? Often, it’s marketing by the lowest common denominator for the lowest common denominator.

So of course, the new marketing space is often ridiculed (largely an expression of misunderstanding and fear) by people who make their living in old marketing. Those people need to get over it. The internet is a legitimate marketing space for one reason: that’s where a large part of a lot of companies’ markets are spending their time, rather than reading newspapers or the Yellow Pages or listening to the radio or watching television (all declining industries).

Old marketers have some useful skills that could be put to use on the internet, once they take the time and go to the effort of learning the new rules. Once learned, these rules can be broken for specific reasons. Break the rules without understanding what and why they are, and crashing and burning is the likely outcome (Oh! The humanity!). And, of course, that’s what usually happens when old marketing assumptions are brought to the internet.

The opportunities that exist for companies and old marketing types on the internet exist not only because that’s where people are, but also because it’s not often being done very well. Better concepts, better copy, and better images that communicate better would be raise the bar for online marketing.

But I’m not challenging old marketing types to come over because they’re needed on the internet. Frankly, they’re not.

I’m challenging old marketing types to become knowledgeable, competent, and comfortable with internet marketing because if they’re not, they’re doing their clients a disservice. Presenting clients only with old marketing solutions is a little like being a caddy with only a driver and a wedge in the bag. And it’s also a good way to watch your own market shrink.

The value for my readers (I know you’re out there, I can hear you breathing) is perhaps the realization that WordPress, on which the site is based, is fundamentally a solid, reliable, flexible web design and development platform for business websites. While this is not the first version of this site on WordPress, the redesign was very different. In the past, redesign meant “rebuild” as much as redesign. This time, I was able to focus almost entirely on design and messaging: there was nothing to rebuild (although I did upgrade to WordPress 3.0).

In New Mexico, including Santa Fe and Albuquerque (generally regarded as reasonably sophisticated), developers and designers have been slow to catch on to WordPress as a web development platform. Lots of them have created a blog or two with it, but not many have embraced it as a content management system (CMS) for full-blown websites. I had a difficult time this spring finding other local WordPress developers interested in hosting a WordCamp, so I shelved my hope of having WordCamp Albuquerque as premature (maybe in 2011).

Meanwhile, nationally, WordPress is catching on like wildfire as a development platform. Even major companies use it. WordPress has emerged as a leading CMS; in terms of numbers of websites and developers supporting it, it has achieved critical mass that allows companies to have confidence that it’s a stable and solid platform.

And, of course, it’s famously easy for WordPress website owners to update their own sites.

If your website is still static, it’s time to think about moving to WordPress. But don’t think about it too long, or you’ll be behind the crowd.

Our clients, SPE’s Darci Ramirez and Margaret Watson, were wonderful to work with. These are people who do things on schedule and do them well. People who ask your advice and value it enough to incorporate most of it (whatever, in their judgment, makes sense). People who respect your experience and knowledge. People who pay invoices on time. Dream clients, in other words.

“Evolution Web Development surpassed our website strategy and design expectations,” said Margaret Watson, Senior Manager, PR/Communication. “Evo is the only website design firm, large or small, that offered us a creative, out-of-the-box solution that truly addressed our business objectives to help us achieve our goals.”

The website’s audience is primarily elementary and secondary-level teachers, providing information about various energy sources and careers, as well as lesson plans and educational materials. Secondarily, the site provides resources for SPE members in support of their education outreach efforts, including school presentations, career events, and scholarships. Because SPE is an international organization, some information is provided on the website in six languages: Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian, in addition to English.

Ecommerce was implemented, but then pulled back just prior to launch when there was an issue with FedEx furnishing negotiated rates to FoxyCart, the shopping cart, to add appropriate shipping costs. Hopefully, that will soon be ironed out and we can turn the switch back on for online purchases of the Oil & Natural Gas book and the Energy4me Kit.

At any rate, this was a great site to have an opportunity to work on. Most people who’ve seen it “get” that WordPress is more than a blog platform.

Most recently, I needed a way to order WordPress custom fields easily (easily enough that it made sense to clients who would have to maintain their site). By default, custom field items are displayed in the order in which they are created. This is a problem if you want to add a new item and display it at the top of the list.

Mike Schinkel, a web marketing strategist from Atlanta, stepped in with a solution. (How cool is that? I can get coding assistance from someone several hundred miles away!) Mike Schinkel is one of the more active and helpful folks on the LinkedIn WordPress group, and he’s worth connecting with and following. He runs a WordPress business conference (among other conferences) and is Executive Director of Startup Atlanta. I’d guess he’s fairly busy, but he takes time help people like me with limited coding skills.

His solution is so clean and simple I wanted to share it here. One of the beauties of it is that, not only does it organize the custom field items on the page in the order you want, but it also organizes the items in order in the page admin area, taking advantage of WordPress’ default alpha organization.

Essentially, you create custom field items with names like so: item-1, item-2, item-3, etc. As you might guess, item-1 is meant to show first on the custom field listing. Want to make item-1 show second? Change the custom field name to item-2, then rename the other items to complete the reorganization (you can’t have more than one value for each name in this scenario).

On the page template, the code to call the items in order looks like this:

<?php
     for($i=1; true; $i++) {
     $item = get_post_meta($post->ID, "item-$i", true);
     if (empty($item))
     break;
     echo '<div class="itemdiv">'.$item.'</div>';
    }
?>

I used this to display thumbnails and a short description for artwork on a recently launched artist’s website. As she adds new pieces, or if she decides to emphasize different pieces on a category page, she can easily rename the existing custom fields to reorganize items.

One of the caveats of this solution is that the custom field names must start with -1 and be sequential. Going from "item-1" to "item-3", with no "item-2", breaks it.