[thelist] What would you do?

Gina K. Anderson gina at sitediva.com
Tue Apr 10 17:42:47 CDT 2001


Sender Address Domain - sitediva.com

|How annoying! I assume though, that Gina's questions were more along the
|lines of: how many pages to the site, how much text will you provide,
|where will it be hosted, etc. In other words - project specific
|questions. Not random "are you cool enough to work with us" questions.

Just wanted to respond to this one :) None of my questions are "marketing"
questions. I have tried to make it easy to fill out the form, mostly with radio
buttons or check boxes, but there are a few "essay" questions ;) Here are some:

1. What is the purpose of the web site?
2. Who is/will be your primary site visitor?
   (teens, professionals, current customers, new customers, etc.)
3  Describe your company:
   (your products and services, etc.)
4. Are there any current activities done by you or your staff
   that you would like to have accomplished by a web site?
5. Are there any specific colors you use for corporate brochures,
   newsletters, and other publications that may also apply to the
   colors chosen for your website?
6. What is the general mood of the site you would like to convey?
   (fun, relaxed, secure, professional, modern,etc.)


Click or enter all subjects your site needs to contain:

[]About Company
[]Products/Services
[]Customer Service
[]Portfolio of Work
[]What's New
[]Newsletter/Articles
[]FAQ
[]Product Catalog

etc....

And a place to list others. I don't ask my clients how many pages they think
they might need, they usually have no idea. Even if they think they do, it seems
I always have to break up their content, as they don't have much of an
understanding on how copy should be presented on the web (read, not 40 printed
pages plastered on one web page). Having them check "topics" gives me a better
idea on how big the project might be and I figure about 3-4 pages per topic
(except for articles and product catalogs-I'm taking care of that later in the
form), however I don't base my price on # of pages.

|There is indeed nothing like a proper meeting to figure out what's
|holding people back, and to nail down what people's expectations are.

I'd love to do this, however I can't travel to their place of business--and
trying to get anyone on the phone is a disaster (I've learned this in the last 5
years of working with them ;) It's nice that they are actively seeking me out,
but I can't force them to give me any information unfortunately.

I figure if someone isn't serious enough to fill out a form, give input over the
phone or email, or fill out a document and fax it, then they aren't serious
about their website--I have serious clients to attend to, plus subcontracting
jobs that fill up the rest of any solitaire time on my computer ;)

Gina





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