Often I find that when pressures mount my first reaction is to defend myself.  Take, for example, a recent conversation between me and Reid.

Reid: Peter, when you have a moment, I could really use some dev support to spec out a small plugin for one of our clients.  It’ll only take an hour tops and would really help me a bunch.

Peter: I’ll get you some dev support as soon as our dev projects calm down in a couple of months.  We’re working as hard as we can and you’re not the only one who has need you know?  I mean I’ve barely slept in like 5 months and have started to BUY laundry and dishes instead of cleaning them because of these deadlines that we have to meet and oh my god you’re totally STRESSING ME OUT WITH YOUR INCESSANT DEMANDS!  CAN’T YOU SEE THAT WE’RE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN? AHHHHHHHHH!

Reid: Um…  I’m sensing that this is not the best time to ask you about this.  When can we talk about this again?

Peter: I’m sorry Reid, I don’t mean to be wigging out so much.  I’m really not that stressed.  But I don’t know when I’ll be able to help more.  I appear to be double booked for every appointment i have over the next 6 weeks and I just can’t think about this right now.  I know it might not seem like it but I’m working really hard and you should know that I’m working hard, can’t you see that I’m working hard?  What more do you need from me?  AHHHHHHHHH!

Obviously this slightly dramatized interaction could be improved.  There are any number of ways to better address Reid’s request, but one stands out to me in particular: an open call for help (possibly paired with some anti-psychotics).

The Jedi Force

It’s a funny thing how people can transform when you invite them to join your side.  It’s the basis of Jujitsu (not that i’m any sort of expert on martial arts).  It’s a founding principal in any long lasting relationship.  It’s a fundamental approach to any conflict.  And above all, it’s my favorite tactic in addressing crowds of surfers.

In the conversation above, Reid makes a reasonable request.  I hear it as a threat to my already limited resources and defend myself.  Reid, with his supreme tact, sees through my defense and continues to approach from a helpful stand point.  If I was talking to anyone else and acting that defensive they would probably also become intensely defensive and we would start a fight.

This could have all been avoided and have a favorable outcome if I simply responded with something like this:

Peter: Reid, I’m under a lot of pressure to meet a bunch of dev deadlines right now.  For me to secure a resource for you I think I’m going to need some help.

At this point I’ve invited Reid to be on my side and work with me to find a solution. He’s on my team now so we’ll both work to find a mutually beneficial positive outcome

Realizing that this is a relatively silly example, I’d like to point out that this scenario can manifest in any number more significant situations.  Shane and I recently defended our contractual expectations against one of our clients at the expense of an otherwise mutually supportive dynamic.  As it turned out, all we really needed to do was to ask for help.  In my personal life, Lindsey and I have to relearn this lesson again and again with each other.

Cheers In the Sea

When I go surfing I’ve come to adopt a strategy of cheering people on and openly offering waves to people sitting next to me.  The effect is that I become a friend.  When a wave comes my way, I don’t feel like I have to fight for it.  People turn and flag me in and cheer me on in turn.  My life is better when I can help people feel good and maintaining transparency.

Love without Arms

Lindsey and I have had our share of relationship challenges.  From day 1 until now, 11 years later, we’ve overcome our biggest and smallest challenges alike by asking each other for help.

Recently I was growing frustrated by an increasing share of responsibility in our family.  My calls for help were buried in aggressive and disparaging comments.  At some point I got really upset and in the process set Lindsey’s defenses off.  At that point we are fighting each other all the time.  Life sucks when we’re always upset.

I wish it had occurred to me earlier.  All I needed to do was to ask for help; to appeal to Lindsey’s compassionate side.  The moment I let her know that all I needed was some help, she jumped onto my team and we launched into a coordinated effort to breath joy and passion into our lives.

Wanna be Right or Happy?

Maybe you can be both right AND happy.  Try asking for help, spreading some cheer, or commenting in my blog post.

As fun as it can be to let a project drag on for eternity, and as much as I thoroughly enjoy working for free, one of the best things I can do for my relationship with my client is to define a clear end point for the project. I need sign off.

The problem, is how do I terminate a project in such a way as to strengthen my ongoing relationship?

After a bit of brainstorming with Shane, I came to the following conclusions:

Prerequisites

In order for a sign off to happen you really need to have started and run the project in such a way that the sign off is expected and that it makes sense.

Have a Written Agreement

In order to maintain a good relationship with a client, it is essential that you have a written agreement. Ideally, you should have a proper contract. This contract should identify:

• Mission Statement
  What is the overall goal of the project.
• Deliverables
  What you are expected to do and how much these things cost
• Milestones
  When you should have completed the parts of the project
• Payment Schedule
  When and how much you expect to get paid through out the project
• Terms and Conditions

Communicate Early and Often

In addition to having a contract in place, it is important that throughout the life of the project, you have been checking in with the client to make sure that their expectations are lined up with your contract and with your expectations. I have had countless experiences setting up a perfectly detailed contract only to find that the client didn’t read it and was upset to find out that they are not getting what they expected.

Make Sure You Are Actually Done

Some time before you ask for a sign off, you should have asked if there is anything that your client was expecting you to do that you haven’t done. If it’s within the contract, do it. If it’s out of scope, explain that it’s not in the contract but that you would be delighted to add it to the list of tasks for the next contract.

Before you ask for sign off, get your contract and walk through it and make sure that everything is done and fully tested.

Offer a Warrantee (or Don’t)

Your contract should include a mention of support. What if there is a problem that the client only discovers after sign off? What if it’s a week after? What if it’s a year?

Your contract should state either that you are or are not offering a warrantee. If you are offering some support, then be sure to mention how long that warrantee lasts and what it covers.

The Sign Off Letter

Your Sign off letter needs to include several key points:

Be in Control

Tell the client that you are done – do not ask. If you ask, you are offering your client free work. You need to control this process. Having made sure that you are done, and having tested everything, checked for errors, and details, and having already done a final review, you should be confident that you are done.

Make it Easy – Do the Work

Make a checklist of all the things in the contract or that you have otherwise agreed to and make notes next to each item that either says ‘done.’ or explains why it’s not done and what the plan is for the next contract.

If you state that you’ve done everything in the contract, but you don’t include a checklist, then you are effectively asking the client to look up the contract. Your client doesn’t have the time for that and may never respond to this request for sign off.

Also, offering this checklist is an act of consideration that will make the client feel well served.

Offer a Warrantee (or Don’t)

If you have a warrantee in your contract, then you should reiterate it in this letter so that the client doesn’t feel threatened by this letter. If you warrantee is time based, it will require a written starting date, which you should define at this juncture.

Be Formal and Friendly

This letter is actually about demanding written confirmation that the project is complete. But you are being friendly and “asking” for a confirmation. It should regardless be a written confirmation. That way, the client is absolutely clear on the fact that this project is complete, and you have written proof to that effect.

Remember, even if they don’t respond, this letter is effectively stating that the project is complete. It’s just a really satisfying experience having the client agree in writing.

Up-sell

The most important thing at this point is to ensure that you have a new contract either in the works or already approved. This letter is the perfect opportunity to get the client excited about what they will be seeing in the next round of work.

Express Gratitude

This person just enabled your lifestyle. They chose to work with you. They entered into a trusting relationship with you. It is essential that you thank them and be specific about why your thanking them. Even if there were some turbulent points in the project, point to the highlights and make your customer feel good.

The Letter

After working through all these requirements, here’s my sign off letter:

Subject: Wrapping Up

Hi John,

I’ve completed and tested everything in our contract as well as the bugs we discussed last week. I would appreciate it if you would confirm via email that this contract has been completed. I’ve included a list of the deliverables below. Just to remind you, as of the completion of this project, I am offering support on any bugs in the system for the next 30 days (until June 1st).

While we were working together, I’ve been collecting notes about things that you might want to add in the next contract. I’ll send the list over in a followup email. Are you available to meet and discuss the next contract on Friday at 10am?

On a personal note, I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the opportunity to work with you. Your enthusiasm is contagious and inspiring.

Thanks John,

-p

Deliverables

Design
Done.

CMS Installation
Done.

Integrate with Google Maps
Done. This won’t work though until Google updates their public API to the new version

Projects end badly for a number of reasons, but the majority of them have to do with a lack of communication between the designer and the client.

So what can you, as the client, do to make the design process a much more positive experience?

Here are some ideas:

1. Before you hire, figure out what you need

The decision to create or redesign a website for your business is not something that should be taken lightly. It is as important as your signage, your advertising, or your business cards. It needs to deliver the right message to the right audience, otherwise it is pointless. So you need to put thought into it prior to your initial meetings with your designer.

What exactly are you looking for? What do you expect to achieve with a new website? Do you have a logo or do you expect it to be included in the project? What are your expectations? Who are your competitors? What sites do you like? What sites don’t you like and why? Do you have any color schemes in mind? Do you have a phobia of the color green?

As great as it would be, most designers are not endowed with the gift of ESP. As designers, we understand that you may not be terribly interested in how we get a website done, and we will try not to overwhelm you with overly technical jargon. But there are some questions that will need to be answered before we can commence work. I provide clients with a questionnaire that forms the basis of my website quote and helps me to get a better idea of where the project is heading. If you do not answer these questions, do not be surprised if your designer comes back with something you don’t like, or doesn’t meet that corporate style guide (that they didn’t know about), or is done completely in Flash. This is why we ask those questions!

Download the new project questionnaire!

Every website is a team effort and requires some commitment from the client in order to be successful. As the designer, I am providing you with the knowledge and expertise to get it up and running, but you need to bring the most important aspect to the project – you, your business, and any information that is related to it.

2. Read the documents

See those documents that we spent hours preparing for you? Yes, that stack right there.

Read them.

It’s for your own good.

None of us like reading agreements, quotes, fine print or website briefs. It’s even more cumbersome writing them, believe me! It’s boring. You’re busy. I know. But it is really important that you know what we are offering, what your obligations are, and what things are going to cost you. Because when you ask for the 4th revision of the design, there will be no surprises when we say “sure, but it will cost you and delay the project”.

Would you buy a house, or sign adoption papers, or enter into any other financial agreement without reading anything? I sure hope not! Designers are providing you with a service that will cost you a lot of money, so please, read the documents they give you.

In many cases, it’s not just standard boring legalese in these documents. In mine I have a job spec, what you get for your money, what is included (Flash or not, Content Management System or not, etc. etc.), and what happens if you don’t like the designs. You know, really important stuff, like the fact that to get more than 2 mock designs, it will cost you.

If you read the documents, there are no surprises. And no accusations of us ripping you off, which makes designers happy. And a happy designer means a better design. And a better design means a happy client.

3. Be brutally honest…

It may surprise many to read this, but most designers, myself included, are not in the business of making enemies. Our reputations are all we have, and we will do everything in order to protect them. I know that I will bend over backwards to make sure that a client is not just satisfied, but thrilled. I take particular pride in this.

So, if you do not like a design, especially at the formative stages, please, please, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING. DO NOT SMILE AND NOD.

Yes, I am a creative type. Yes, I have the ego of a coked-out rock star (and occasionally the temper to boot), but I am also a professional, and it is my job to ensure that you are happy with my work. I want clients to not just be okay with my work, I want them to be thrilled and shout my name from the rooftops. It’s how I make my living.

If you have read the documents, answered all questions with proper consideration and I know what you are looking for, then it usually goes smoothly. But if you don’t like the design, tell me. Don’t be afraid. I might have a little private tanty for a few minutes or take it out on the nearest hard surface, but I will get over it and move on, and you will be none the wiser. And that bruise on my forehead? It’s nothing, I promise!

Any designer who expresses annoyance with you for not being 100% happy (assuming you are a “good client” and follow these steps) is probably in the wrong business. We don’t always get it right, and we don’t always work it out when the client is not thrilled (especially when dealing remotely with a client over email). But we can’t read your mind. Or email subtext.

4. …but be constructive

Why don’t you like it? What are your concerns? Does it not meet the initial brief? Does it not fit? Why? How did we misunderstand?

It is one thing to be brutally honest. It is another thing to be a high maintenance or abusive client. If your designer has produced more than 3 or 4 separate designs, chances are that you are not giving them adequate constructive feedback to do their job. If you have already gotten to this point, ask your designer if there is something you are not communicating clearly enough. They’ll usually tell you.

I try my best to listen to clients and give them what I think they need. I don’t always get it right, but it is often because the client hasn’t been clear enough with their requirements, or has been indecisive. If you don’t like it, you need to tell me why.

5. Don’t micromanage

You are hiring a design professional, and most of us don’t just plonk things randomly on the page without a reason. If you have a concern about something, ask. There is usually a good reason why we choose one particular technology over another, or why your logo is in the upper left hand corner. Give us the opportunity to use our experience to help you.

As an aside, if you find yourself tinkering at all with the work of your designer, step back. Resist that urge to open MS Paint and decorate it. Also resist the temptation to tell us how to do our job. After all, you hired us, right?

I once had a client (who, for many reasons, is not a client anymore!) say that they were the “designer” and I was just the “technical person”, despite having created several beautiful designs that the client then played with in Photoshop. (If you ever want to upset a designer and get yourself dumped on purpose, here’s a tip – go ahead and call them the technical person.)

If you find that your web project is consuming a lot of your day, then you might be a micromanager.

It’s a fine balance.

6. Make sure you are aware that signoff is final

With most designers, when you sign off on the design and move into development, that is it. You need to use the time before sign off to make any changes.

If the site is being developed and you decide you want to make a change, that is probably the easiest way to a) stall a project b) cost you a fortune and c) annoy the hell out of your designer. Unless there is a glaring mistake (which there shouldn’t be, because you did read the proofs, right?), do not ask for changes at later stages without expecting a bill.

I always allow plenty of time and opportunity for revisions and perfecting the design, almost to the point where it is probably the most laborious part of my projects. If you are a Good Client and are following the above steps judiciously, you probably would have already taken the opportunity to express your thoughts, been honest about the process, and been clear about your requirements. If you get to the point where the site is being developed and you change the spec, it will cost you.

7. Pay on time

If there is one part of my business that I hate more than anything on earth, it is chasing people for money. I dread having to make follow-up emails, and especially the follow up calls. I am a creative. I loathe the concept of capitalism and the whole needing-to-feed-my-children thing. I hate being perceived as “in it for the money” and adore the clients that are good payers.

If you are going to be a Good Client, please don’t ignore your bills. You’d be amazed how many clients ignore invoices, or pay at their leisure without any communication.

I don’t think that there are many freelancers out there that are unreasonable about money. In fact, more often than not I would have done the odd free task, or not billed for time we should have, or not charged for fonts, or whatever, and all I ask in return is that you pay on time.

If you are having trouble paying, simply let me know and I will work something out. I don’t judge. It’s not that hard. I often organise payment plans for my clients and there are no problems at all.

Most of us just want to know that we are going to be paid and when that will happen.

Now go out prepared and make some designer happy

So there you have it. If you follow most of these points you can be pretty much guaranteed a project that leaves you happier, richer and with a website you love. I know that as a client you want to do the right thing. So work with your designer, trust them, and you may even get a friend out of it!

*I am a 28 year old Web Designer & Developer. You can check out my site here.

Oh wait, we do have a cap in our contract. So (scratching my head), why am I now working on revision #4,536,136? Oh, that’s right, because this is for the one client that we have for whom we did not prepare a formal contract for.

This brings to light a fundamental concept… Contracts are for people who think they don’t need contracts.

If we deal with someone who is insistent on a contract, you can be assured they are the type of client that likes to know exactly what they are buying and will ask for little more or less than what they pay for.

If, on the other hand, a client shrugs at the concept of a contract, and tells us that it’s not necessary, or even worse, that it’s too formal, then you can bet that we will be working 10x harder than what we had agreed to.

In fact, even having a formal contract may not be good enough if the contract is not very specific. Regardless, one thing’s for sure, not having a contract at all is a certain recipe for disaster.

All our contracts have a cover page, then the revised proposal followed by the terms and conditions and signature. I might be willing to create a template for the entire proposal / contract document if we get enough requests in the comments.

6. Terms & Conditions

6.1 Payment

All payments are due within 15 days of billing. Late payments will be charged a 1.5% compounded monthly late fee. Should a payment be late, Shane & Peter, Inc. reserves the right to freeze all work until accounts are settled. Payments will be made to:

Shane & Peter, Inc
123 West Cliff Dr.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

6.2 Ownership

Shane & Peter, Inc. will provide a finished application(s) to the Client in the form of fla, swf, taf, tcf, php, psd, jpg, gif or html files. These files become the exclusive property of the Client upon acceptance of delivery, however these files are partially based on a non-exclusive code base created and maintained by Shane & Peter, Inc. and in some cases existing code was used to help create the deliverables. Such code and other underlying technologies do not become the property of the Client, only the finished files themselves. In addition, the deliverables may depend on code, objects (COMs), and other third party utilities that are the property of their respective owners. No rights to these dependencies is expressed or implied.

6.3 Point of Contact & Training

Shane & Peter, Inc. will require one point of contact during the contract for clarifying requirements for design, key features, usability and maintenance issues. Shane & Peter, Inc. requires this person be available to answer questions arising from the project within 24 hrs on workdays (subject to reasonable exceptions), and to have authority to make design and related decisions on the system.

6.4 Subcontractors

Shane & Peter, Inc. retains the rights to subcontract any portion of the contract.

6.5 Nonsolicitation

If within one year of termination of this agreement the Client hires or contracts with any employee or subcontractor of Shane & Peter, Inc, The Client will agree to pay Shane & Peter, Inc., a finders fee of 50% of the annual salary or contract fees offered to the contractor or employee. Said payment will be rendered within 30 days of hiring or contracting the contractor or employee.

6.6 Review, Expiration or Cancellation

This contract is valid for the calendar year of in which it was signed, upon which point it expires. Upon expiration, both parties may review and amend the contract and decide whether or not to renew. This contract may be terminated by either party with a full 30 day written notice. All payments will be due and all work will be submitted upon the termination of contract.

6.7 Limited Liability

The Client alone shall be responsible for: (a) the accuracy and adequacy of information and data furnished for processing; and (b) any use made by the Client of the output of the Software or any reliance thereon. The Client shall also be responsible for the continued operation and maintenance of the computer equipment and third-party software used with the Software, and shall comply with all operational, environmental and maintenance recommendations and requirements of the applicable licensors, vendors and manufacturers. The Client agrees that any liability of Shane & Peter, Inc. relating to this agreement and the services performed shall be limited to the amount of fees actually received by Shane & Peter, Inc., from the Client under this agreement regarding the services in question. In no event shall Shane & Peter, Inc. be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, cover, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages; any damages based on injury to person or property; or any lost sales, profits or data, even if the Client is told that any such damages may occur.

6.8 Warrantee

Shane & Peter, Inc will provide patches and bug fixes for any bugs or issues included in the scope of this contract within the grace period of no more than 30 days following the date of project completion as defined by the date the client signs off on the deliverables. All fixes outside of the project scope or after the grace period are the responsibility of the client. All projects involving the placement, editing and arrangement of content or design will have no warrantee past the completion of the project. Should further support be necessary, a support contract may be negotiated.

6.9 Credit

Shane & Peter, Inc. retains the right to use the Client within its roster of clients. A link to the Client website/application website will be placed on the Shane & Peter, Inc. web site as part of its business portfolio.

7. Acceptance

Any change to this contract shall be subject to mutual written agreement of the parties.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have so agreed as of the date written below:

Good UI does the work for you.

Interacting with a messy UI means working hard to figure it out. I think that it is exactly because you are forced to see more and work harder than is necessary that a complex and messy UI could be perceived as having higher value. Maybe in the same way that 10,000 pennies feels like it’s worth more than 100 bucks. But who wants to walk around with 10,000 pennies?

A good UI not only answers your questions, but it also helps you understand what questions you should be asking. It considers its user before it considers its coders. It makes you feel happy and inspired. A good UI does the work for you.

-p

This is a great question. Shane has brought this question up many times. What type of client should we be looking for? Should we seek high-profile clients? Clients with connections? Perhaps we should seek diverse clients, organizations that span various industries as well as geographic locations.

My honest, intuitive, and slightly tipsy response was something to the effect of: “Jennifer, we don’t really seek clients as much as we listen to people and seek interesting problems to solve.”

In retrospect, I think that is pretty well exactly true. But I’d like to note some caveats.

1) We have made a business plan decision to seek clients that enable us to leverage work that we’ve already done and that don’t mandate that Shane and I personally do the work. Shane and I come from a background of doing the work ourselves. We are moving away from that.

2) As Shane so elegantly observed, we need to expand in the definition of “interesting problems to solve” to mean: “well-funded, interesting problems to solve”.

Clearly there can be conflict between these two points. An interesting problem is not likely to use technology that we’ve already built and is likely to require hands-on work. This is the fine line that we walk at Shane & Peter, Inc. Finding the correct balance is our perpetual challenge and a big part of what motivates us.

So really what I meant was: “We listen to people and seek interesting, well-funded problems to solve that afford us an opportunity to leverage our existing resources while also creating new ones.”

-p

Instead of complicated and arbitrary numerical customer surveys (one person’s “3″ is another person’s “4″), they would ask their customers if they were 1) Delighted, 2) Satisfied or 3) Not Satisfied. This made the customer data much more real. The next question was usually “why?” This opened up a customer dialogue, which frequently led to significant improvement in customer delight and revenue. A unanimous conclusion from this approach was that there was much greater economic value turning a “satisfied” customer into a “delighted” customer than trying to convert a “not satisfied” customer into “satisfied.”

In my eyes, customer satisfaction is one important ingredient in the our goal of securing customer loyalty. Peter and I have often discussed the value and timing involved with a customer satisfaction follow-up. In the business of custom software, we work quite closely with the client and refine both the objectives and the details of the project consistently. We usually know if we hit a home run, a double or struck out. Still, we are very tough on ourselves and often find when we feel stress or disappointed in the deliverable, the client was quite satisfied. We have begun working on a very simple customer survey to send to the client or project managers once the project has been completed. When we get some feedback, I’ll write a follow up to see how it worked.

The Email:

Hi [client / project manager],

Thank you for the opportunity to work with you on the [name] project. We wonder if you might be willing to take a moment and provide us with some feedback.

Overall, when you review the experience you had working with Shane & Peter, Inc., were you:

1. Delighted
2. Satisfied
3. Not Satisfied

Why?

On our next project together, how could we improve our services?

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Shane & Peter

The only remaining question is were you Delighted, Satisfied, or Not Satisfied with this article and why?

Level 1: Customers Expect Accuracy

Our customers expect to get the product or service they asked for. It doesn’t matter how friendly you are, if you consistently fail to deliver what has been requested, you will loose the customer. The key, make sure you know the expectations. In our business (design & the creation of custom software), this is often trickier than in others industries. Peter & I are constantly working with people to clearly define the problem & the solution. In the last few weeks, we have been focused on improving how we review each project and get everyone on the team (including the client) on the same page. It is better to admit being unsure and double checking, than to deliver the wrong item.

Level 2: Customers Expect Availability

Pickup when they call, answer promtly when they email and most importantly, deliver your service when it is needed. Every time that we make ourselves available and effectively solve the problem of our client, their satisfaction and loyalty tangible increases. How is it tangible? The happier our customers, the more referalls we recieive. Most times, when you turn down an attempt at communication or a contract, you decrease your relationship with them.

Level 3: Customers Want Partnership

This weekend, during a conversation at a conference, a business owner asked me an interesting question: “What does it take to be truly great at what you do?” I reflected on that and the first answer that came to mind was this: “I think you need to care as much or more about the customer’s problem than they do.” Customers want you to listen to them, to make them feel like you are on the same team. They have to feel understood.

We have one client who consistently uses us despite the fact that we come with a higher price tag than some of our competition. I believe that is because he knows if we take on the project, we will bring as much focus, determination and passion to the end result as he does (which is quite a significant amount). And knowing that we are on his team, he can relax just a little. That is worth a lot of money, if you ask me.

Level 4: Customers Love the Right Advice (aka Added Value)

This can be misleading if you don’t notice the word Right. Gallup directly implied that to succeed, we need to talk less and truly listen (its one of my biggest struggles).

When you truly listen, put your own interests aside, and help someone learn something they value, that builds a bond. I’ve watched Peter work with prospects and find a solution that doesn’t require us and is either free or a fraction of our price. They leave feeling truly heard and appreciated. That act build powerful trust and has lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of future work.

When someone who works for me (with whom I feel a sense of partnership) brings something to the table that I could not have, I am grateful. When they teach me something new that I care about, that is the next level. They have influenced and added value to my life, even if only in the smallest way, and that is the true meaning of service.

 
Gallup Poll Results from “First, Break All The Rules” by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

I consider myself very lucky that i get paid to do what i love to do. I consider myself blessed when i get to do this for a client that i really believe in.

Blip.tv represents a paradigm shift in mass media. Where there is now TV, there is an expanding alternative called blip.tv: a free platform for serialized media distribution across a plethora of distribution channels. People make “shows” and put them on blip.tv for free. Blip distributes them and one day you will be watching these shows on TV just like any other show except these shows were created by your friends, family, and colleagues.

Imagine turning on your TV and watching a show produced by real people about things that really engage you. Imagine feeling a sense of trust in what you are watching. Not a blind trust, but a trust that comes from knowing exactly what went into the media you are consuming. This is a world that i see blip.tv creating. A world that transcends apathy by offering reality.

Of course blip.tv content can not be beyond corruption. Corruption is inherent in democracy. But at least at blip.tv it is transparent and peer reviewed.

Working with the blip.tv team feels like working with the US forefathers: we’re creating history and I’m proud to be part of it.

-p