Profitable Website Projects - The Oreo Cookie Strategy
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The document outlines key strategies for successful website development, emphasizing the importance of thorough planning and clear communication among stakeholders. It introduces the 'Oreo Cookie Strategy,' which highlights the necessity of solid functional and technical requirements, effective design, and efficient building processes. Additionally, it stresses the importance of charging appropriately for services and managing client expectations to avoid miscommunication and maintain project profitability.
Profitable Website Projects - The Oreo Cookie Strategy
- 1. PROFITABLE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT THE OREO COOKIE STRATEGY WORDCAMP SACRAMENTO 2016
- 2. CHANGE YOUR THINKING A website is not advertising — it’s a complex piece of application software 2
- 3. CHANGE YOUR THINKING Planning is not nice to have, it’s key — plan for success and success will come 3
- 4. THE OREO COOKIE STRATEGY It’s not an Oreo without the crunchy outsides Put as much thought into planning and development as you put into design 4
- 5. PLANNING… Projects don’t fail at the end, they fail at the beginning 5 Jeff Christiansen — Toon Town / Magic Kingdom
- 6. DISCOVERY Use Discovery to document everything before you start 1. What’s the objective? 2. Functional requirements 3. Technical requirements 4. Determine the architecture (sitemap) 5. Present everything in an annotated wireframes 6
- 7. HOW DESIGN CONTRIBUTES The tasty center is important — but it is often where the budget goes off the rails 7
- 8. HOW DESIGN CONTRIBUTES Review the wireframes with the developers — early and often Provide designs for all pages and functionalities Understand the technology — include the developers in the design process 8
- 9. HOW DESIGN CONTRIBUTES Mobile first — responsive or adaptive, know the difference Provide mobile designs and consider mobile navigation 9
- 10. LET THE DEVELOPERS DRIVE THE BUILD Give them clear design direction Follow the review process Mange changes/accept that there will be changes Let the dev. team drive — it’s their turn 10
- 11. THE BUDGET Clients: don’t bring a knife to a gun fight Agencies: charge for your work 11
- 12. PageProject Name Charge for Discovery — it’s worth a lot A solid foundation saves everyone money Equally important, Discovery makes projects go smoother — this saves money 12
- 13. PageProject Name Ask for the budget and get a deposit — money up front, ideally in the bank, helps keep it serious 13
- 14. PageProject Name Charge for Project Management and set boundaries — some clients need a lot of hand- holding 14
- 15. PageProject Name Charge for training and documentation — it takes time and draws on your IP 15
- 16. PageProject Name Change orders are your friend — repeat after me… “Anything can be done with enough time and budget.” 16
- 17. PageProject Name Document the scope (Discovery) and use this for the phase one budget Changes — there will be changes — become change orders or get parked for inclusion in phase two 17
- 18. PageProject Name Track time, even if it’s fixed bid — do you really know how long it takes? 18
- 19. PageProject Name Define the post launch grace period in the SOW and then charge for support — WordPress websites require regular support and maintenance 19
- 20. PageProject Name Charge for content entry — you can do it faster than the client can, this is worth something 20
- 21. THE OREO COOKIE STRATEGY What you need for a profitable website development project: • A clear and documented understanding of the website’s functional and technical requirements; • A site map and wire frame to communicates the site’s structure and functional requirements; • A solid, thought through design; • An efficient build, and • Charge for what you do 21
- 22. THE OREO COOKIE STRATEGY Like an Oreo, all the layers are important. Without the crunch, the planning and the build, the tasty bit, the design, is just a gooey mess 22