5 Reasons You Can’t Blame Iowa Web Developers

By on May 9, 2007 in Blogging with 11 Comments

Two years ago, I targeted web development companies as the first professionals I’d evangelize blog site development. Either I didn’t explain it right – or they just didn’t believe me.

5 Reasons You Can’t Blame Iowa Web Developers for Not Building Blog Sites

5. They are making so much money with Flash and Frames, why change?
4. They say their customers don’t want RSS because they lose "hits"
3. They use the Juice blogs as the example — and what business would do that?
2. They’re busy building their own proprietary blogging software (Why?)
1. They are waiting for Missouri web developers to show ‘em.

One of the largest web developers in this area (at least they have the largest advertising budget) is telling their customers that RSS takes up too much bandwidth and that blogs are a fad. Boy, are they going to be in trouble when their customers find out the truth.

  • Another company provides a bunch of RSS and OPML buttons on every page they build – but they aren’t auto-discoverable and they don’t teach their customers a thing about RSS.
  • Yet another company provides RSS feeds – but only partial.
  • One company builds sites on blog software, but never mentions to their clients anything about blogging or its benefits.
  • Yet another company feels like blogging is a cheap way around content management. I hope they aren’t providing templated design (a cheap way around design?)

Wake up and smell the coffee.  Is it web development or web under-development. Are these folks Horse and Buggy Web Developers?

Look, I love ‘em all. As people, they are fantastic folks. Genuine, giving, caring…but running scared. Yes – your business is changing. Embrace change or its going to knock you on your cubicle.

Why did I go to web dev folks first?  I need them to get up-to-date. Iowa Business needs them up-to-date. Most of all, these "developers" need to know what’s now and what’s next. Or they’ll be out of business.

Theme motivated by ESPN’s Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame…

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  • http://www.chrisranjana.com Software developer

    As long as the developers don’t reveal too much company secrets blogging is good :)

  • http://essentialkeystrokes.com Char

    Mike – this is eerily similar to a situation I just went through. I developed a site for a client using WP so that they could maintain the site themselves. The hosting company they use has never heard of or ever installed WP before. It took about a week to get everything set up and running on the new servers because the hosting company wouldn’t grant me (or the client) any cPanel access (I might screw something up you know) – no chmod permissions – I had to send requests by file for permissions to be changed. It was frustrating.
    The client is very happy with the end result and I think I have taught the guys at the hosting company some new tricks.

  • http://www.maryschmidt.com Mary Schmidt

    Great list, Mike! In working with my clients to qualify web developers – my top requirement these days is that the developer blog and that they know about WP, Expression Engine, CMS, etc. If they give me a blank look re any of these, I recommend my client take a pass and keep on looking (and to RUN if the developer starts talking a lot of techie flim-flam flapdoodle re why blogging doesn’t work, Frames is great, and Flash is the way to go for the home page…ah-yahhhhh….)
    I’m called far too often to look at broken web sites, for which clients paid thousands (and now will have to pay more thousands to do a whole new one, ‘cuz the one they’ve got is just too broken…did I mention Frames and Flash? Sad.) All this budget pain and marketing angst, when many of the folks should have done as you recommend, Mike. Start with a free blog, and learn the Web. (And, you can always transform/use your blog as a site, just as I do mine, which is done in WP.)
    (See ya soon at SOBCon! Can’t wait to talk live and in person!)

  • http://getanewbrowser.com Andy Brudtkuhl

    Not ALL web developers in Iowa are like this :) Although many of the companies the developers work with ARE.
    Hopefully once we get going on Refresh (http://refreshdesmoines.org – coming this summer) with some other standards/new media based like-minded web developers we can force change upon the status quo.

  • http://www.getanewbrowser.com TJ

    All I’ll go on record saying is, I agree 100%. :)

  • http://blog.zeppelinmedia.net/ Chris Punke

    You’re right Mike! I couldn’t agree more. I’m happy to say that we’ve finally “found” the time to get our blog up and running. Already it has sparked a few ideas for our customers and made them aware of some of the technical things we can do to help them improve upon and better manage their web sites. I think there is great power in sharing information with this technology and providing a place to effectively collaborate with our customers.
    To give credit where credit is due… It was reading your thoughts and those of and Drew McLellan (http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/) week after week that finally motivated me into motion. Though I had been “fiddling around” with various blogs in the past, it wasn’t until I read enough from the two of you that I finally realized that I was missing a vital communication link with my customers and the greater community. Many thanks for your persistence and hard work!

  • http://www.maryschmidt.com/2007/05/09/5-reasons-you-cant-blame-iowa-nm-web-developers/ Mary’s Blog

    5 Reasons You Cant Blame Iowa NM Web Developers

    Youd think Iowa is way different than New Mexico. And, it is in many ways. But, people are people, wherever ya go same basic hopes, fears, preferences and prejudices (With a few regional twists just to keep it interesting. Chile addic…

  • http://www.primeadvertising.com/blog Aaron Weiche | Prime Blog

    Come on up to MN! We’ve got plenty of kids bloggin’ and loving up social media. Great post Mike. You would think that web dev’s, of all people, would not pigeon hole something into a fad … since this whole internet things was a fad just a short time ago to many a business.
    Let them keep this line of thinking, it will be one less proposal I go up against that is legitimate. :0

  • http://www.theblogstudio.com Lucia Mancuso

    Hey there Mike
    I’m sure like everyone else Iowa web developers will get with the program eventually. I see this a lot in my business, the scarey thing is when potential clients let me know what other companies are bidding on their projects and that some of them don’t even know what blogs are.
    I have to say – I do have a little bit of Chris Punke’s thought process – less competition for me – for now that is.
    Really when it comes down to it – sometimes it is hard to imagine everything you know and have learnt about how to build websites has changed – everything I learnt in design school – I barely even apply anymore… It is a tough pill to swallow… however – in my opinion, the old web bored me – the new web invigorates me – so I swallowed that pill a long time ago.

  • http://www.variocreative.com/blog Mark Cahill

    It’s not just Iowa, and I doubt that all web developers will ever really get it. I just saw a newly constructed site from a local “Web Design” shop, with an office and all that used frames! Hello, 1995 called and wants it’s web design back…
    And yes, I did see a web shop touting they “custom developed proprietary blog solution” – that’s sure to be a winner.
    Great post Mike!

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