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Why We Don’t Respond to RFPs: There’s a Better Way

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Aug 7, 2010; Category: Design/Development; Tags: Business, Design/Development, LinkedIn; One Comment

Recently I got into a discussion on LinkedIn about Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and what makes a “good” RFP for web design and development. My position, basically, is that there is no such thing as a good RFP for web design and development, at least not following current “best practices” RFP models.

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.

Launching Another WordPress Site: Talatek, LLC

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jul 27, 2010; Category: Communication, Content Management System, WordPress; Tags: Communication, Design/Development, WordPress as CMS; No Comments

Visit talatek.com»

Obviously, we’ve been busy: TalaTek’s website is the fourth we’ve launched in a month (the third in little more than a week), with more in the works. This pace would be impossible without WordPress. With it, however, it’s not much of a stretch (discounting some late hours here and there).

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.

Yet Another Website Launch: Desert Sports, Terlingua, Texas

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jul 26, 2010; Category: Content Management System, Design/Development, WordPress; Tags: CMS, Design/Development, WordPress; No Comments

Visit desertsportstx.com»

Moving right along, we just launched Desert Sports’ website this weekend. They have been long-time clients, actually pre-dating Evo by about 3 years (maybe 4), and I believe this the fourth version of their website we’ve done for them. Desert Sports is a multi-sport outfitter in the Big Bend area of Texas, offering rentals, shuttles, and guided trips in boating, mountain biking and hiking. I’ve been on several trips with them, and you cannot go on a wilderness trip with a better bunch of folks.

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.

We Do That: Working with Designers to Build Sites with WordPress

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jul 24, 2010; Category: CSS, Design/Development; Tags: Design/Development, WordPress, WordPress as CMS; No Comments

Visit theigniteforum.com»

Early this week we launched another website designed by Kilmer & Kilmer, brand builders. It’s a small site, just four pages, but what’s significant about it is that it’s built on WordPress—Kilmer & Kilmer’s first such website. I’ve been trying gently to push them in that direction for a few months and, maybe just to shut me up, they decided to give it a try.

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.

Why I’m announcing a site redesign, even though I think redesign announcements are lame.

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jun 20, 2010; Category: Content Management System, Design/Development, WordPress; Tags: Design/Development, WordPress, WordPress Themes; 2 Comments

When I see announcements about website redesign, my reaction is either a yawn or, if I’m feeling more energetic, a quick mental note: “So what?” So it’s more than a little ironic that I’m announcing the redesign of my own website, evowebdev.com. But after all, what are blogs for, if not to tell your readers what’s going on with you, particularly if it may have value for them?

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.