Transition Thoughts from SxSW
Posted by: Carl Smith on Monday March 22, 2010
Most of March has indeed been madness. Getting ready for, attending and recovering from SxSW has turned the last three weeks into a blur.
Rather than attending sessions, I spent most of my time tracking down people I thought might hold some of the keys to business enlightenment. After speaking with five people running some of the most successful shops on the web today, I realized there is no silver bullet for success. You can see this when you look at the commonalities they share. And the differences.
Things the majority of top shops have in common:
- Fixed-bid proposals
- Bill in three payments (Deposit/Design Approval/Delivery)
- Present one design
- Don’t develop content in-house
- Average project takes 10-12 weeks
- Fairly serious contract
- Suck it up to make clients happy, but fire bad clients
- No maintenance agreements
Things they differ on:
- Hourly rates
- Size of shops (ranges from five to 20)
- Project managers/account service (some swear by them and others loathe the idea)
- Depth of process (big difference in how much discovery is conducted)
- Services offered (most avoid SEO)
- Client communication (some are email only, others thrive on meeting in person)
The slippery slope of talking to these amazing people was a desire to emulate them. But that would fail — if I learned anything, it’s that you have to be true to yourself and what you believe in. Although it wasn’t a question I asked, there was one obvious similarity among everyone I spoke with: They are dedicated to their companies and employees with a passion uncontested.
SxSW was perhaps exactly what we needed at this point in our transition. If we work really hard, we could be considered among the top five in our industry. That may seem really cocky, but I believe in our team and I know we could get there. But that doesn’t answer the question that started us on this journey: How can we be the best partner for our clients and their more holistic needs for success on the web?
As always, we look forward to your insights and feedback. Before you ask, I won’t go into more specifics on information that was shared with me in confidence. I am happy, though, to tell you anything you want to know with regards to how nGen does things.
Knuckles. Blow it up.
Comment RSS Filed under: Business, Interweb, Process
Brian Lamarre
03.22.10 at 11:07am
Enjoying reading about your transition process. Just finished reading “Rework” and think it would be a great compliment to what you have already researched and shared. Best of luck fine tuning who you are.
Martin Ringlein
03.22.10 at 12:23pm
Great notes from SXSW … I love the write-up on discussion from SXSW and not just recaps from sessions. I’ve really found the true value in talking to people over panels.
The similarities and differences listed above are pretty fascinating. I know it makes me feel better about our own direction.
Antoine Butler
03.22.10 at 12:34pm
Wow, great notes indeed. Straight to the point. I’ll have to reevaluate how i do business moving forward.
Andrew Maier
03.22.10 at 12:53pm
Short and sweet, Carl. I really admire all of the work you’re putting in outside of the 9–5 to really make the new nGen Works that much better.
PS: Thanks again for lending an ear while you were down that way. I’m writing more, I swear.
Layne Lev
03.22.10 at 1:03pm
Great stuff, thanks Carl. So help me God if I miss SXSW next year…
Chris Lentz
03.22.10 at 1:33pm
I am interested in the “No maintenance agreements” line item. I would like to learn more on how the big shops handle maintenance.
Aaron Mentele
03.22.10 at 2:08pm
Great post, Carl. It’s interesting to see where and how other shops line up in terms of processes. Our industry tends toward ‘small’ shops, so there are a lot of individual preferences in play.
BTW, I’m not sure I know each of the firms you spoke with, but I’d guess the need for dedicated project managers has a lot (everything) to do with a) the size of the organization, and b) whether or not the principal(s) fill the role.
Aaron Mentele
03.22.10 at 2:15pm
p.s., I didn’t see “effed up life balance” in either list. Did you find any successful shop owners with families bragging they had free time? I’m asking for a friend.
Carl Smith
03.22.10 at 4:39pm
Hey everybody and thanks for stopping by.
@Brian – Thanks for the Rework suggestion and for the kind words.
@Martin – It’s true, I only went to 4 sessions. I think the badge is just for parties anymore. But the time I spent with fine gentlemen such as yourself made it all worth it.
@Antoine – Glad you got something out of it. If you make any changes to your business let us know what you’re doing.
@Andrew – We’re trying sir! Hopefully we can all help each other. Speaking of which I’m almost done proofing chapter 3. (See how I quietly hinted that you were working on a book? I’m smooth.)
@Layne – Yeah slacker, where were you? We’ll meet soon enough. I would love to understand more about how you’re company operates.
@Chris – Most of the people I spoke with, and nGen, build everything a client needs into the CMS. When we get maintenance it’s generally more of an enhancement and is brought in as a new project. Anybody else have an answer on this or different approach?
@Aaron – Yes Aaron, size matters. Interestingly I think you nailed it with the principal(s) filling that role. That’s definitely the case at nGen. But everyone plays a part in client management. That’s the nature of being a smaller shop.
@Aaron – Really, do we have to talk about this again? Your family loves your friend. I mean they love you. We all love you Aaron. Step away from Basecamp Aaron, it’s going to be ok.
Seriously though, the concept of work/life balance is silly to me. I do what I can when I can. If it’s studying for a spelling test with my 3rd grader or pulling off my belt to give Fred a good lashing. Some things you just have to make time for.
Geof Harries
03.23.10 at 5:25pm
To Chris’ question about no maintenance agreements; are you referring to website management or program management?
If your company only builds websites, that’s a relatively easy answer, as Carl has suggested above. Build client-driven management into the CMS.
On the other hand, if you’re speaking of marketing programs, usually in the form of a performance-based retainer, then that’s a different ball game. A maintenance agreement would definitely be in order for that type of work.
Same goes with software development, which is where our business is at. By using an iterative approach, the work is never really done. You’re constantly adding features and making changes well into production.
Once the software is solid and proven, regular maintenance takes over. I wouldn’t dare enter into this sort of relationship without a formal agreement on time, budget and expectations.
Michael Kozakewich
03.26.10 at 9:55pm
I just thought you’d like to know: this is what your page looks like on a small screen (scrolled to the right, to see the content).
http://icosidodecahedron.com/img/twitter/nGen.png
Carl Smith
03.27.10 at 8:24am
Thanks Michael. Less than 2% of our visitors have resolutions under 1024×768, let alone under 800×600. So great catch. Out of curiosity, do you view many websites at that resolution? You’re a mad man.
Henk Toners
05.02.10 at 6:03pm
Great stuff you have printed in this post. Right to the essence of the matter. Nice.