Image by Candie_N via Flickr
If you’re like many creatives or web developers, you wonder why clients seem to want dumb things.
Why do they want the logo big
What’s wrong with using 99 Designs for a logo?
People should just learn some PHP or CSS. It’s not hard. What’s the big deal?
Heck coding is easy, anybody can do it!
Except they can’t
CSS is as foreign to them as Monte Carlo Calculations of the Ground State of Three- and Four-Body Nuclei are to you (Yes, that’s a real topic; it’s even a book. No, I don’t understand it either).
If you’re good at something, it’s easy
People in other businesses (fitness instructors, business coaches, hardware store owners) who don’t know CSS coding from CBS tv broadcasting want something simple and easy to use.
They’re not dumb, and their behavior is perfectly rational. They want to be fitness instructors, coaches, and hardware store owners, not designers or code warriors.
A simple solution
If you can figure out a real turn-key solution to the non-techie who wants to blog problem, you’ll make a fortune. Offer a simple setup for a flat fee (customization extra). Or, write a guide on the essentials of a successful logo. Designers hate 99 Designs. Businesses choose it because they don’t see the difference between a high quality logo and a poor one.
It’s an opportunity. How will you take advantage of it?
Jodi, this is such a good advice. Too many business owners focus on what *they* think people should be interested in buying, instead of paying attention to the signs out there (in blogs, comments, etc.) telling what customers are really interested in. Like you said, turn-key solutions, rather than complicated software that requires a lot of configuration or watching a 2-hour video to learn how to use.
To answer your question, I am taking advantage of this opportunity by offering my clients my services identifying problems that are keeping their customers up at night, and designing turn-key solutions for them to build and bring to the market ;-).
Hi Adriana,
Thank you! People often get so caught up in their idea that they don’t realize it’s a solution without a problem (like the bra dryer I mentioned elsewhere).
I’d love to hear more about what you’re doing.