Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : True webdesign story : READ IT

[nikos]

Ok , I want to share with you an interesting story.

In order to protect the identity of the people I will be referring to, I am going to use similar terms. For example, instead of the owner of such companies as Dell , I will say IBM.

My friend has a media website about cars. Although it looks kind of bad (like it was designed overnight), it receives significant amount of traffic. The site brings in around 20K a year at this point. During a media convention, the owner met an interesting fellow. The particular fellow was a little bit, weird but very smart and outspoken about internet media etc…

Business cards were traded and after 6 months, the fellow contacted my friend for some feedback for an article. Since my friend knew that his site needed to be redesigned, he setup an appointment with that fellow to discuss a potential redesign.

Before the appointment took place, my friend received some short of resume. To his surprise, the person that he was about to meet again, had developed logos and campaigns for dozens of advertising icons such as the marlboro man, Chevrolet, Playmate magazine etc….

So my friend goes into the meeting. The “fellow” had already prepared a 10 page preliminary report and analysis with details. If he would be given the project, he would work on 5 different preliminary designs.. For then on the client, could pick 2 to be developed futher and then one would have to be picked for the final design to take place. The time frame was 2 months that was mentioned.

So you may ask… What was the price , my friend was given by this internet media genius?

$75000

Of course he declined and felt lucky he didn’t pay a cent for the 10 page report.

The end.

[websterworld]

Only you didnt get the moral of the story.

[RajanUrs]

Nothing new. Lots of ad agencies do detailed client proposals with designs without being asked to. Some charge a rejection fee [usually applicable when invited by the client to submit] while others do it free hoping to bag the account.

[the_pm]

Some stories have no moral

Did he attempt to make a business case, to show an ROI - how that $75,000 investment would be directly reflected in increased revenue that would easily offset the expense? If he did this, did it make sense? Did it check out with anyone else who reviewed it?

If the answer to all three questions are yes, then your friend was a fool to turn down the proposal.

If the answer to any of these was no, then he did well. I presume the latter is the case...

[websterworld]

Originally posted by the_pm
Did he attempt to make a business case, to show an ROI - how that $75,000 investment would be directly reflected in increased revenue that would easily offset the expense? If he did this, did it make sense? Did it check out with anyone else who reviewed it?

If the answer to all three questions are yes, then your friend was a fool to turn down the proposal.

If the answer to any of these was no, then he did well. I presume the latter is the case...

Thats the moral.
Guess whos back and on yahoo?

[the_pm]

Originally posted by websterworld
Thats the moral.
Guess whos back and on yahoo?

Touche

[Acroplex]

The moral of the story is "put your money where your mouth is, or stick with a bad design".

[Project X]

come on guys... who cares about design as long as it isnt one of those lame-o cheapy templates?

besides, two of my fave sites are about the ugliest ive ever seen, and about the highest trafficked ones as well

http://maddox.xmission.com

http://drudgereport.com

[VinaGal]

$75,000 for 2 months?

I'd recommend him to go to template monster

[freak]

Originally posted by VinaGal
$75,000 for 2 months?

I'd recommend him to go to template monster

Well, you get what you pay for

[James K]

Considering this guy has done campaigns for Malboro and Chevolet, $75,000 is justifiable for someone with his expertise.

[RajanUrs]

What does the report say ? Has anyone read it ?

Maybe it has more than just a template. Maybe they have recommended a portal with different segments like auctions, classifieds, forums, storefronts for accessories, photo galleries etc etc. Maybe they are going to hire Angelina Jolie to model for them.

[ExtremeIS]

If they do hire Angelina Jolie please post the url.

Thanks,

RP

[FTMS]

Nikos

Your story is so brilliant that I've printed it out and hung it in my office. Next time a client questions the expense of web design, they can read your note.

Best wishes

[s7ing]

Originally posted by the_pm
Some stories have no moral

Did he attempt to make a business case, to show an ROI - how that $75,000 investment would be directly reflected in increased revenue that would easily offset the expense? If he did this, did it make sense? Did it check out with anyone else who reviewed it?

If the answer to all three questions are yes, then your friend was a fool to turn down the proposal.

If the answer to any of these was no, then he did well. I presume the latter is the case...

Right on.