Bashers, Haters and Cry Babies - Don’t Hire Them!

Posted on August 20, 2007
Filed Under Design |

Before you hire a web designer!

Jealousy is an interesting animal. It causes people to lose their mind, bash or make false claims and even seek to damage the very object of their jealousy.

Today, after spending nearly an hour on the phone with one of my clients I was amazed to find that people acting in jealous desperation have such little contact with reality or the element of consequence that I’d almost safely assume them to be sociopaths for lack of a better term.

What happens when emails contain such violent, profane and threatening content as to make one stand back in utter shock and amazement? What happens when jealous or confused competitors seek to publicly defame or disparage the competition? The answer! The pursuit and propagation of FRAUD.

If you are a prospect looking for web design professionals, one of the things you must always do is LISTEN to the attitude, the voice, the arguments and the possibilities presented to you before you ever lay down a single dollar in hiring a designer. Bashing is nothing new, but such personalities should be actively avoided.

I remember just 18 months ago the attitudes I encountered by executives and other industry professionals regarding open source products. Listening to them in developer groups put down Andrew Eddie or Ryan Bonham for their product visions has yet to yield a single valid claim. I sit in and listen patiently as I outwardly agree with them long enough to fully weigh their ignorance. Tragic really.

Today we see guys like Andrew Eddie, Louis Landry, Johan Janssens, Scott Isaacs, Ryan Bonham (and the list goes on) are now icons in the industry with open source products so successful that the US Government uses some of these products. Corporations who once considered spending tens of thousands of dollars come to the realization that Joomla will do the task. Open Realty alone can compete with some commercial solutions I still maintain and suggest to clients and its fully FREE!

I’m ashamed at myself for falling into bashing rhetoric from the influence of a person that has nothing good to say about anyone or anything for that matter. I’ve been guilty of giving open realty its fair share of critique and criticism as well as other products. Although brief and a bit distracting, today, I have no problems suggesting with bias the use of many of these products.

Today it just didn’t settle well with me to hear someone out there spending so much energy bashing my work only to discover that the very template he is using is one I was contracted to design for a large template house. Naturally claiming it as his own. I laugh at such things and make a note of it. My personality is such that when I think about it, the annoyance gets me motivated to give some response which you see herein.

Real Estate Web Designers and Moral Ethics

I truly despise seeing a person get ripped off and I hate it even more when a designer or design company bashes other designers in an attempt to justify their own faults.

I’ve been in this business long enough to see some interesting things and although I rarely do work for individuals I do hear about individuals suffering at the hands of unethical self proclaimed professionals. Nothing is more frustrating then having to tell a person that I can come up with no logical reason why some internet professionals say the things they do but can usually point out that money would likely be the greatest motivator.

When a web designer or developer makes you feel guilty for hiring them, I’d say its a problem. Therefore my quick suggestion for the day is this;

What to look for before hiring a web designer - web professional

Here is a few of my off the cuff top tips of types to avoid. Naturally they are in no particular order.

A Negative Bashing Attitude: If they have nothing good to say about anyone but themselves you will never succeed with them. PERIOD!
Its always a bad idea: When I encounter designers that tell clients their ideas are stupid or can’t be done it annoys me. I can write paragraphs about this but I’ll just summarize by saying this. Unless the opposition is well founded, then its not likely true. Its just a cheap way for the unskilled to make excuses why they cant do something. (SOMETIMES)
Open Source Sucks: I’ll just say that these people are deliberately indifferent to the truth. Some open source is bad but a qualified expert would know what to suggest and what not to. Custom solutions may very well be the answer but they are not the ONLY answer.
Demonic Possession: Yeah, its a bit funny but articulates the point well. People who hold your domain hostage along with all the work and or things you hired them for are just people to avoid. I encounter web designers who will register a domain, design or develop a site and somehow believe they own it. Didn’t you pay them to do a job for you? If you hire me to build a house, pay me for it, shouldn’t you own it? Its tragic many feel justified in by never delivering passwords, never give you access and then maintains an attitude of full possessive control. Naturally you feel guilty requesting any changes because this person has you as his residual meal ticket for every request you make. Avoid these people at all costs, because it will be AT ALL COSTS if you don’t.

On a final note, bias would have made my list but bias really isn’t always bad. I have a bias for many of the products I suggest but I’m not close minded toward other options. Bias can be a great way to evaluate your designer and his / her attention to details regarding proficiency with the solution.

I’ll cover more on this in subsequent posts as my annoyance level falls back a tier or two.

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1 Comment so far
  1. Susan August 20, 2007 10:41 pm

    Jared -

    once again your level of intelligence amazes me.

    Relax, rest and get back down to tier one soon - I want to hear more.


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