Running profitable website projects is important for our design agency customers. Last year we published a series of posts on this: how to make money on WordPress projects. We received a lot of favorable feedback so we converted the articles into a presentation: Profitable Website Projects – The Oreo Cookie Strategy. The presentation was based on the posts and written to appeal to designers and design agencies. Last Saturday (May 14th) we presented our thoughts to WordCamp St. Louis. It seemed to be well-received, standing room only, and more important, nobody left.
Profitable Website Projects – The Oreo Cookie Strategy
It starts with planning, the first crunch in the Oreo cookie. After all it’s not an Oreo without the crunch. This is followed by an efficient design process, the tasty middle. Finally, development, the final crunch. If you follow the guidelines provided in the presentation you will have many more profitable website projects.
You don’t need to follow every recommendation, it’s a good idea, but this isn’t always practical. For example, with simple sites Discovery, the planning portion, can be documented in a few pages. It also doesn’t have to be complicate, it can be, especially for larger projects, but this isn’t necessary.
For design, the key insight is to involve the developers early and often. Your development partners can help you avoid costly design mistakes, mistakes that can turn a profitable website project into a nightmare for all concerned.
Once the design is finalized, turn it over to development, and don’t meddle. Let the developers drive at this point.
Finally expect changes, they are inevitable. Plan for them. Budget for them.
There are lots more things you can do. The presentation below spells it all out. Of course, we may have missed something. Share in the comments if you’ve found something that helps you run profitable website projects.
Author: James Hipkin
CEO, Managing Director
James brings over 30 years of professional sales, marketing, and marketing consultation services to the table. Serving global brands along with small businesses, Hipkin leads a highly-skilled team of full-time developers, producers, and project managers who are committed to your success.
An excellent communicator and inventive problem-solver, his creative vision and bottom-line sensibility have proven successful at building productive, long-term partnerships with both employees and clients.