I know lots of stuff.  I’m not bragging, I just really do know a lot about a lot of different subjects.  I’m an expert at a few of them, but the ones I have a passion for I continually pursue perfection and try to achieve “greatness”. I’m not sure why that is.  Perhaps it’s my passion for excellence and the reward of becoming really great at something.  Or perhaps it’s my never ending curiosity about how the world works.  All I know is, I’m a Jack of all Trades and I’m celebrating it right here, right now. 

Did curiosity really kill an actual cat?

I have always been curious. I have this insatiable thirst for knowledge that never seems to go away.  In fact, I often feel like there just isn’t enough time to soak up all that life has to offer and that can freeze me in place with indecisiveness.

When I was young, I would take apart electronics and try to figure out how they work. My mom, in fact, used to call me “destroyer”. Yes, most kids go through this phase, but I still have that curiosity today in abundance.  The earliest I can remember, my dad said “just try”, “explore” and don’t be afraid.  People that know me well will say that:

• I’m stubborn.  No apologies, no regrets. Period.  Don’t like that?  Too bad for you.
• I figure out a way to succeed in anything I do.  For a while I thought that if I couldn’t succeed, it was someone else’s fault.  Over the last few years, I realize I’m in total control and I know it’s just a matter of putting the puzzle pieces together.
• I’m curious to a fault.  I always question how and why.  I like to know.  People think I’m intruding or stealing something but honestly I’m just curious. Perhaps it’s the control freak in me coming out and it probably comes across that way, but truthfully I’m just darned curious.  I like to know how something works when I use it.
• I often always question the status quo.  No. Actually, I despise the status quo. That’s the truth. To me status quo is an opportunity to do it differently.  I have a knack for recognizing imperfection, and I feel strongly compelled to fix it.  I’m also an INTJ so seeking optimization is something that’s in my DNA.
• I like details and I don’t mind working on them.  Being a web designer, the beauty is all in the details.  It’s the little things that matter and make a site go from good to great.  Often, I will work on pixel perfect positioning on the tiniest of details that virtually nobody will ever see. I just enjoy the process and I feel good when I succeed.
• I love best practices.  In life, some things just work and it’s no point questioning them or trying to re-invent the way it’s done.  Wanna lose weight? Eat right and Exercise.  Wanna be rich?  Hang around rich people.  Wanna get better at something?  Practice.  Duh.

That’s Jack with a CAPITAL J please

Well, 36 years into my life, and I can honestly say that sometimes, my curious nature gets me into trouble.  If you look at my career history over the last 10 years or so, it’s clear that I have held a lot of different jobs, and nearly every time it’s in a different industry and in a completely different position.  I’m not corporate ladder climbing material, that’s absolutely sure.  I probably can’t hold a position for more than a few years, and then my curiosity get’s to me and I need to try something totally new.  My last manager called me “ambitious” because he could see that sitting still wasn’t in my future.

From a “corporate career” point of view, being a Jack of All trades certainly isn’t in your benefit.  You see the corporate culture you know today is really something that existed from the days of war when people needed to repeat a task over and over. Innovation and Mastery were left to heads of state and designers of war, not to the lowly “man on the line”.

Single Tasking Humans are from the Days of War

It’s a theory (isn’t everything we state just a theory anyways?), but I do believe the corporate conditioning and social systems we are all are a part of tell us that we should become a master of just one thing and that diversifying yourself is bad for you.  Diversify a stock portfolio, not a career path.  My parents often say, “Why don’t you keep one job and stick with it?”.  Now be patient with me. I’m not against staying at one job and being content with it, but I truly believe it’s something that existed from the days of war, and a time when The Great Depression forced everyone into silos. 

Being a single tasking person is great when

• There are lots of jobs and the future is stable
• Your skill is needed inside a mass production system
• Your skill or task can’t be replaced by machinery or computers

Look at the above list.  Name one of those items that is true today.  Well, there are lots of jobs but nothing is stable in the economy.  I don’t personally know anyone that works in factories anymore.  I think it’s all offshore now, and there isn’t a single mass production system, job, skill, or piece of knowledge that can’t be replaced by machinery, automation, and computer AI systems. 

I think as well, that over the last 100 years there has also been a major shift in the human mind and it’s ability to do amazing things.  Access to the web has allowed for a tremendous amount of knowledge and information to be shared.   Global travel and commerce has allowed for products and services of all kinds to be bought and sold by all the nations of the world.

The Star Trek world is coming

It might be premature to say, but I think Globalization as well as a naturally occurring move towards a perfect “Star Trek” world is inevitable.  People want to be a part of great ideas and to do something worthwhile.  Just look at Google.  Their motto is to “organize the worlds information”.  Those early programmers worked night and day to make that dream a remote possibility (which it might be if Google sticks around for a few more years).  Look at Bill and Melinda Gates.  The took all their wealth and decided that living up to their foundations motto, “all lives have equal value”, was something worth pursuing.

Everyone is sharing more and more.  Name one thing you can’t learn online (well except maybe your grandma’s apple pie recipe)?   Cost of information is near zero. Products are universally available without discrimination to your color, gender, or ethnicity.  It’s now possible to get Bananas from Jamaica, TVs from Japan, Silk from China, and Curry from India all without leaving your front door. Fedex, a company with the large private fleet of airplanes in the world, will deliver it all to you fresh from the producer before the week is over.

Adapt and Conquer, just like The Romans

Technology, Computers, the Internet, Travel, and Communication have all had remarkable affects on the human consciousness.  So what’s next?  Well, as my friend Eddie says “adapt and conquer” is the name of the game.  Learn to act quickly.  Be an “Agile” person, don’t just write Agile software.  Go where the opportunities are and learn quickly.  Be ready to drop everything you believe in and change quickly. There are a tonne of opportunities around you at the bleeding edge of innovation, entrepreneurship and philanthropy.  All of them are ways to contribute to the global shift already occurring under your feet.  Outsource like everyone else.  Be a participant in the global shift.  Don’t cry.  Instead, celebrate and enjoy the possibilities.

The spread of information and access to anything the world produces is here, right now, whether you like it or not.  Are you prepared? Are you a Jack of All Trades?  Do you already know how to learn quickly and pickup a new skill or two?  Can you learn anything?  Are you curious?  Do you love to acquire knowledge and skill?  Does certainty bore you?  If so, congratulations!  You are ready to rule the new world!

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I just got off a call with a potential client that asked me for help.  They initially contacted me via email (I have no idea how they found me and will post in the near future about that) and I replied back to the site owner with a quote and time estimate. 

I then did something few other web designers do in these situations: a follow up phone call.  This is good practice in creating confidence with your potential clients and it helps a LOT in persuading potential clients to work with you.

Why?  Well, let’s start with an understanding of what customers expect from their web designer:

What every Customer Wants from you

1. On time.  Being on time is simple.  Don’t promise if you can’t deliver.  There is no shame in being up front and honest about what you can and can’t do and in stating the absolute truth.  At worst, you might have to admit you can’t deliver when they expect you to, and at best, it shows a great deal of honesty.  Your customer counts on you for delivering when you say do.  Their business and internal activities rely on you being on time.  So promise a time you are able to stick to and don’t compromise.  If you fall behind, let your client know right away so they can accommodate the additional time you may need.  Be honest and be real about your time commitments.
2. On Budget.  This one is tricky.  As a web designer, I often run into a situation where a customer will keep asking and asking for changes not realizing the amount of work involved.  Something benign like changing text is perfectly fine but when you are asked to move things around on a page or change the site layout in some fundamental way, the time involved can be significant. Customers just don’t understand the web development process and perhaps that’s an area you want to spend more time explaining when meeting clients.  My suggestion when costing out a project is to quote by the hour initially and estimate total time required – being exact isn’t always necessary but some clients need this.  You can also adjust your hourly rate depending on the size of the client (yes, you really can charge more to larger firms and companies and that’s ok in my book). This last tip goes against popular opinion.  Some designers think they should set an hourly rate and stick to their guns no matter what.  I don’t agree.  Consider lower paying jobs as experience earned and mark it off as that.  If you help a client out in the short term with their needs, and you meet their budget requirements, they will appreciate it and remember you when their budget improves.
3. Technical Expertise.  It goes without saying that if you follow the rules above, that clients will tend to put your name in good light.  However, you need to actually do the work as promised and this won’t happen if you over promise your skills.  If you CAN do the work, then great.  If you can’t, however, propose to the client that you bring in a skilled freelancer you will need to hire to get their work done.  Think of the client’s perspective.  They just want to hire someone that can get their work done so they can move on to the next area of business they are concerned with.  They don’t have the time or energy to go out and hire someone else in addition to you, so bring the solution to the table.  If you need a programmer, add that into your quote and say you have a programmer you work with.  Become an expert at finding out what clients need and present solutions that fit their business requirements and continue honing this investigative skill.  If client’s ask you for a skill you don’t have, go out and learn it and then next time a client calls, you will be ready.  Skills learned are always beneficial if for nothing more than perfecting your craft.

Now let’s talk about that follow-up phone call. 

The best way to communicate with clients

Understanding human behaviour is a great skill to acquire and learn and thankfully I have spent a lot of time figuring my own patterns of behaviour through personal development and taking courses.  A side effect of this is that I have learned a lot about communication as well.

1. Best: Face to Face. Studies show that the best way of communicating (regardless of audience) is face to face and in person.  Why? Because it’s real, and it can’t be faked.  It’s honest, and non-verbal communication has a power of it’s own.  It’s not a coincidence that more and more companies are leveraging video streaming on their web sites.  The smarter marketers have just figured this out and many marketing companies are jumping into online video streaming (like these guys).
2. Better: Phone call. If you can’t meet a client one-on-one, give them a call.  I can tell you from the phone call I just had that there is a whole series of messages being played “under the surface” in phone conversations.  If you make the call, pay attention to what customers are saying and show them how you can help solve their problems and reduce their fears.  In my case, the customer mentioned that they had attempted to work with others designers in the past but most of them had overpromised, and under delivered.  Having made that follow up phone call, I’m cogniscent of this concern now and will be extra careful with this client if I win their contract.
3. Good.  Email.  If you can’t meet clients face to face and a phone call isn’t going to happen, email is good enough.  Email, however, doesn’t let you “speak”.  It’s cold and formal and it’s difficult to show your personality and energy.  If you must do email, at least include a link to a sound byte of yourself on your web site so potential clients can hear and see you.  Some clients don’t mind email.

Regardless of the above rules, each client is different.  Some prefer face to face, long lunches, dinners, drinks, and others prefer precision, and email.  Figure out what client’s want and give it them.  As my friend Eddie says, “Learn to adapt and conquer”.

As web designers, It’s too easy to sit behind email and not learn the art of face to face communication but leverage it whenever you can.  It’s real, and it shows who you are.  Few other web designers go as far as following up with phone calls and sending thank you cards, etc.  It doesn’t take much to be different.  Try it, and you will be surprised by the results.

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