The Magic Mouse from Apple is one of the most beautiful mice I’ve ever seen. But spend a couple hours using it and you’ll see that it’s ergonomics might not be quite up to snuff. There are  discussions here and here about how the Magic mouse might be better with ergonomics. In fact, there is a product created just to fix the ergonomic problem for people who want to continue using such a pretty device.

So, there’s no denying that the Magic mouse is absolutely beautiful, but not necessarily the best at what it is supposed to do. What happened is that Apple traded function for beauty. Undoubtedly, many people buy Apple products simply because they are so beautiful, but the company can’t forget why a user is using something.

The same goes for you and your website. (Or for you designers – how you design your websites.)

Out on the interwebs there are many gorgeous websites that might not function as well as they could for their intended users. They have also traded beauty for purpose. Creating a beautifully designed site is important – it has been shown to increase your sales and the perceived value of your product. But remember the purpose of your site (whether that be to give people information, get them to buy a product, etc
) and keep that purpose first. Make sure that your user doesn’t have a problem doing the what they came to do (more on that in a future post). When building a website it’s vital the “cool factor” and your design do not hinder your user’s experience.

Where have where have you seen examples of beauty taking precedence over functionality?

Or, read one of these:

1. Make Your Premium Services Wow

There were a few things I learned along the way, as a teammate, a subcontractor and a contractor. Here are a few of them:

1. Communicate Accountability

Accountability is huge when working with others. People need to know what to expect from you and you need to make sure and set those expectations correctly. If you are not going to be able to deliver on your part of the project for a week let clients and teammates know that so they’re not expecting it the next day. Make sure you meet your deadlines, and let your team know asap if you realize you’re not going to meet a deadline. Be the person on the team that people can rely on and they’ll love working with you.

2. Communicate Consistently

Whether its a daily call or a weekly email your team should be communicating at consistent times to keep everyone on the same page. Team members should never have to wonder where a project is or what they are supposed to be doing next on a project.

Also as much as possible, pick a consistent way to communicate. How do you and your team prefer to communicate otherwise? There are hundreds of tools out there for keeping teams updated – try some out and find the one that works best for your team.

The more you can get this communication down in writing the better. That way everyone can be part of the conversation and  you can go back and review if questions or issues arise.

3. Communicate Personally

When you work with people on a team you’re working towards a common goal. Fancy corporate-speak and formal wording is unnecessary, especially the longer you work with someone. I’m not saying be a slob and fill your emails with cursing, but communicate personably while being professional.

Also this is your team you’re working with – so get to know them! Learning a little more about people’s personal life helps you understand them – how they tackle problems and handle situations. It also makes it easier and more fun to work towards a common goal with people you know and enjoy.

4. Communicate Feedback

The point of working on a team is that you’re better together than alone. Therefore get everyone involved on a project to produce better results. Make it easy and acceptable for your team to give each other (and you!) feedback. Then, don’t just brush it off. Even if you don’t implement their feedback talk about why and make sure they know their thoughts were heard.

Learning to accept feedback graciously about your part of the project is skill that you need to learn if you’re going to work on a team. See constructive criticism for what it is – other people trying to help make the finished product better!

5. Communicate Expectations

Let people know what you are expecting from them. And again, putting this in writing of some form is really crucial. Its important to communicate to people working for you what you expect them to deliver to you, and when you expect it. It makes their job easier if they don’t have to guess what you are wanting or needing from them.

One person that’s really taught me a lot about working on teams is Shane of Shane&Peter. He’s kind of a working-with-teams guru. Check out his extremely popular presentation on working with Distributed Teams.

Or, read one of these:

1. Working from Anywhere
2. What We can Learn about Business from Basketball
3. Team Wilson Book

Last year I created a special ebook for my clients.  It was named the Apt Design 2010 Client Ebook and was basically a thank you to all of them for being great clients in 2009.  The little book was full of business tips and inspiration I had come across during the year and wanted to pass on.  Being a designer I also spent some time making it special and pretty.

This year I’m working on something similar, although it will be public from the get-go.  This year’s ebook is being written as I prepare for a presentation and  will focus on Work/Life Balance.  Each page of the book will have a blog post to round out it’s idea and will have accompanying wallpapers for your computer desktop.

But, back to last year’s ebook. In looking over it I thought it was probably time to send it out to everyone too.  So, here you have it, the Apt Design 2010 Client Ebook, now renamed the Apt Design 2010 Ebook.

• Get Into Flow
• Know the Right People
• Replace Yourself

with quotes from some of my favorite bloggers and entrepreneurs including:

• Leo Babauta
• Jason Cohen
• Lou Macabasco

Download and enjoy.  Let me know what you think in the comments, and get ready for the Apt Design 2011 Ebook!

Or, read one of these:

1. The 2011 Apt Design Ebook – Creating Work/Life Balance
2. Apt Nominated for Business of the Year
3. Young Business – Part 6

I received survey responses from about 30% of my clients (I offered them the chance to be entered into a drawing for a prize), and am trying to determine whether or not that is a good response rate.

The Numbers

Here are the averages for some of my survey questions (all scored from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest):

• How would you rate your overall experience with Apt Design?  9.5
• How satisfied were you with how easy it was to contact Apt Design when you needed to? 9.15
• How well did you feel Apt Design met deadlines? 9.6

Overall my highest average rating was:

• How satisfied were you with customer service AFTER your job was completed? 9.7

And my lowest average rating was:

• If we used Basecamp (my online Project Management System) how would your rate your experience with it? 8.3

The Words

There were lots of positive responses in fields where clients could fill in their own answers.  Some of these were:

It has been great.  I am impressed and have wondered how Brad keeps up on the whole thing.

Always very creative and open to suggestions.

It was casual yet professional.  The way we like it.

Above par across the board.

Brad has the important ability to become calm when challenges arise.

At this point Brad has our vote and we will happily enter into business again!

[Brad] has been helpful, creative, and supportive and I was so thrilled to be able to hire him to create my website.  Thanks for asking for my input.

Things to work on

Of course, there was some constructive criticism as well, and I took this to heart.  After comparing answers from multiple clients I created a list of things to work on and change to better help my clients.

• Be even easier to contact, especially by phone.  (My voicemail directed people to email me, and that has been changed)
• Give lots of warning about when I’ll be unavailable / out of town
• Make each client feel like a priority

Things I learned

Overall the survey was a great learning process.  A few of the things I learned:

• Word of mouth = best advertising
• Really gained loyalty through eating costs of mistakes, even if they were made by the client
• Tell clients about my other services, they may be really interested

The most confusing part of the entire survey was this: that while most people indicated this blog helps them decide whether or not Apt Design is an expert in the design field, not many clients read the blog more than “rarely.”  Something for me to wonder about…

What interested you most about these survey results?  If you’ve done something similar, what kind of responses did you get?

Or, read one of these:

1. What Would You Ask Your Customers?
2. Free Ebook – Business Tips and Inspiration

I’m actually pretty excited to get to hear anonymous thoughts from people I’ve worked with and use that feedback to help Apt Design respond to customer needs better and provide better services. I’ve already written out many of the things I want to ask, including questions like:

• How was your overall experience with Apt Design? Rate 1-10.
• What’s one thing that could have made your experience with Apt Design better?

(More great questions in this article – Top Ten Client Feedback Questions)

But I wanted to get your input on this process as well. If you had the chance to ask your customers/clients/patients how it was working with you or buying from you – what questions would you ask them?

Let me know in the comments or tweet me your ideas at @aptdesign

Or, read one of these:

1. 2010 Client Survey Results
2. Feedback

I’m not a big proponent of meetings.  In a few cases I think they can help brainstorm good ideas, make decisions quickly, and make big changes decisively.  But, for the most part I think the time could be spent better (either doing more productive work or enjoying relationships with those we love).

One big reason I think people like to have meetings is so that they can process their ideas outloud.  But, why take up someone else’s time while you process something?  Instead I like to use email or comments on my project management system, Basecamp to get feedback.  And I don’t think I’m being a jerk about it.  My reasoning is that using these tools forces you to write out your thoughts.  And I believe you don’t have a firm grasp on your thoughts until you are able to write them out.

Writing out your thoughts and opinions on something compels you to really assess what’s going on in your head.  Until someone else can understand it, there’s a good chance you don’t understand it either.  You see my point?  I’ve had the idea for this blog post for months now, but it just stays a floating mess of thoughts until I capture it and put it down in words.  Then I’ve constrained my thoughts into something concrete that can be understood and assessed by others.

Writing it out goes for more than just getting your opinions and thoughts out.  It also works for showing you can synthesize information into knowledge.  It’s why we all had to write book reports in school instead of just telling the teacher we read the book.  It’s one reason why writing a blog can help show that you are an expert in your field.  Putting your knowledge down for everyone else to read proves you’re not just a smooth talker.  You’re going on record to show you know what you’re talking about, and it can be proven.

So, make sure you know what you’re thinking and prove it to others – write it out.

Or, read one of these:

1. Write on the River Poster
2. Write on the River Website
3. Write on the River

The Rich List

If you have your eyes open at all it’s impossible not to see that in America we are living in a lap of luxury unprecedented in the history of the world.  And if you visit GlobalRichList.com and enter your income you’ll see our luxury is outstanding even compared to the rest of the modern world.

+ Open Invoices

In recent months some of my Invoices to clients have been open longer than normal.  I try and pay my Invoices within a day or two, and while not all businesses can do that, everyone likes to get paid sooner rather than later.  But as I looked at my open Invoices this past month I thought, “You know who needs this money more than me?  Most people.”

= Invoicing for Charity

So I’ve decided to help people help me help people.  For clients who pay their June Invoices by the June 20th I’m going to be donating 10% of their payment to blood:water mission (see how they work).  Will this solve the world’s problems?  No, but hopefully it’s a start.

So c’mon clients, pay early and help me help.

No related posts.

For the past few months the Gold’s Gyms of the Wenatchee Valley have been doing a great job of connecting to their members in a variety of ways, and not only while they are at the gym working out.

The Gold’s Gyms have been updating their blog often with great fitness and nutrition tips, as well as lots of overall wellness advice.  But as the year began Melissa Schwab, a Gold’s Gym member, began blogging on the site about her experience trying to lose weight and get in shape as she participated in the Gold’s Gym Challenge.  Hits to the site and comments on the posts are way up as people are excited to hear about someone’s experience from the trenches.  They get to hear about the highs and the lows, the good times and the bad – told with the power of a personal voice.

At the same time Gold’s Gym staff ramped up work on the local Gold’s Gym Facebook fan page. And fan numbers and interaction there jumped significantly too.  Staff created contests like “Post a picture that best says Strength to you,” kept Challengers and members updated on important times and events, as well as just providing a space for members to interact and support each other online.

To top it off the Wenatchee Valley Gold’s Gyms cross-promoted the blog, Facebook page and corporate site – all linked to each other and displayed in-gym.  Members now have a great network online to get information about they gym, receive free fitness advice, hear about other’s experiences and get to know one another.

Your Person-ness

That’s one reason why writing a blog  can help your online presence so much. People get that personal voice.  They want to know that your company is more than just a big factory churning out goods. With a blog your personality comes through, and so does your person-ness.  That’s not the only reason for a blog, and they certainly take time and energy to do right, but showing customers who you are is important.

But maybe even better – what are you clients and members and customers saying?   That’s what people really want to hear about.  How often do you buy something online without reading at least a few reviews first (witness the power of sites like Yelp)?  Being involved in social media – having a Facebook fan page or Twitter account, allows for a centralized hub for discussion about your company.  Just like Melissa’s blog, that involves people hearing the good and the bad.  But it involves people, and it involves hearing – both of which are good for your company.

Take a minute to think about it.  How could a blog or social media help you say something?  Or, how can you use those tools to let others talk about you?  How could you harness the power of a personal voice?

Or, read one of these:

1. Gold’s Gym Blog
2. Inner Circle Gym Website
3. 4 Ways to get More Traffic to Your Blog

original image by drewbsaunders

Recently at my house we’ve made a few small changes: rearranged the couches in the living room, moved a light in a bedroom. Little things really, but it made the whole house seem new and different. We have plans for some bigger changes on the way, but for now just those little things are enough.

It got me thinking about making little changes to keep things fresh. In business, not changing means you’re not growing.  Not changing oftentimes comes from a static mindset.  And that kind of mindset can often be changed by just doing little things.

Even small changes can make a big difference – in your mood, in your employees job satisfaction, in what you offer your customers.

What are some small changes you could make right now really quickly?  Maybe rearrange your desk just a little bit? Be more ergonomic, more minimalist?  Add a plant?  If you need some help try this quick ebook from ZenHabits.

Get in the habit of keeping things fresh, fluid and organic and your business will reap the benfits.

—

Speaking of change, I’m currently working on a redesign of my website that should be launching here shortly.

Or, read one of these:

1. Guest Blog Post on Creating a Healthy Work/Life Balance
2. The 2011 Apt Design Ebook – Creating Work/Life Balance

A Broken Mac

A few weeks ago my Apple MacBook Pro went on the fritz.  I did have the AppleCare Protection Plan, so I called up my special number and let them know the problem.  After trying a few fixes my support guy decided the laptop needed to be sent in for repairs.  The next day a return box was dropped off at my house.  I pulled out a few tabs and had a package that custom fit my specific computer.

Apple paid the for overnight return to them, and I could track exactly how my repairs were progressing online at all times.  On the third morning a box showed back up at my house with my perfectly fixed computer.  Wow, that was worth paying for.

The Moral of the Story

The moral of this story?

If you have a premium service or product it better wow those paying extra for it.

Your products and services should always be excellent, that’s how you draw customers and clients in.  But if someone is paying extra for a premium service or product they deserve extra speed in your step, extra value in your service, extra quality in your product.  Make sure you are providing them with it and you’ll go from just having customers to having loyal fans.

Or, read one of these:

1. Make It Pretty, but don’t forget the Point
2. Spoiled: 6 Apps that make Your Life Great
3. Feedback