I have been designing professionally for over 3 years now and am about ready to throw in the towel. I’m mainly a print guy but work in motion graphics and web as well. I really don’t think graphic design is right for me. I’m desperately looking for a career change because of the following issues i have with the biz.

I’ve been lucky but fulltime jobs with benefits of any kind are close to impossible to come by. There is no job security in this field. Most of the people i went to college with are still freelancing and have full time (non-design) jobs to supplement their income. I don’t want to struggle for work when i’m in my 40′s.

The money is a joke. Going to school, getting a degree, learning software (and keeping up with upgrades), accumulating design books for inspiration, is all way to much to put in for a lousy paycheck. The money is okay if you’re in your 20′s but it’s nothing you can retire from.

There is no line between having a personal life and being a designer. Maybe thats my problem. I want to have a life and not a career that takes up all my time. My nights and weekends are always volunteered for me where i currently work. There are no boundaries. I don’t get overtime or anything.

What people don’t understand…

Jason is exactly where he deserves to be. He’s only been designing for about three years, which makes him a rookie by anyone’s standards, but he’s asking for the same appreciation, respect, money, work hours, etc. as a designer with more experience and has already paid their dues (worked their way up).

Let’s use weight loss as an example. A person (Kelvin) wants to lose 20 pounds. To lose weight, Kelvin has to burn more calories than he takes in. Kelvin starts working out and initially begins to lose weight. Then he stops losing weight, even though his diet has not changed and he works out as he always did. He hit a plateau. Without decreasing his caloric intake, the only way to get past the plateau is to increase the level of activity. With his regular workout, he was no longer burning the same amount of calories as his body became used to the workout. Kelvin might bump into several plateaus before he reaches his goal. To maintain the weight loss he will have to continue to balance his level of activity with the amount of calories he takes in.

Careers are the same way. In the beginning the person is grateful to have a job in their field. Then comes the plateau where, if you want a promotion or you want to scale your business, you have to put it more effort. Otherwise, the person ends up like Kelvin not losing weight…you will not go backwards but you will not move forward either.

Jason is at a plateau and he will stay there until he does what it takes to get past it. If he slacks, he will go backwards which would be the equivalent of Kelvin gaining weight instead of losing weight.

Let’s look again at what he said:

There is no line between having a personal life and being a designer. Maybe thats my problem. I want to have a life and not a career that takes up all my time. My nights and weekends are always volunteered for me where i currently work. There are no boundaries. I don’t get overtime or anything.

Well, then he really doesn’t want to have his own business, does he? Because that is what should happen when you are a business owner. In the beginning, the business has to come first to scale. Unless socializing is part of the business, fun on the weekends might be an unrealistic expectation…especially in a crowded field like design where your competition who is truly passionate about design is working almost 24/7. Putting in those hours, when done properly, will allow him not to have to work so hard in the future.

When you are in a plateau, you have to work harder than you currently are to get out of the plateau. Along with working harder, wise decisions need to be made so you are not wasting your time.

Unfortunately, this is the point where many fail…

Many people cannot imagine working harder because they are upset about how things are currently. The idea of working harder to play later does not cross their mind. Or worse, they realize this is what needs to happen but they do not have the strength to do it. Instead, they keep doing what they are doing or slack (thinking they earned the right to do that) and go backwards.

Daniel Whyte brought a dose of reality to the comments:

Worried about the 13 year old devaluing your work?
He’s most likely worked hard to get to his skill level, sure he will be using a pirated copy of photoshop and such, but he is doing what you need to keep doing and that is “Learning”.

Worried about people caring about what you do?
Become a fucking rockstar.
To get recognized you need to do one thing that is amazing, do it stop being such a bitch.

I said, “Yeah!!!” out loud when I read his response. One of the reasons why I decided to write this article was because, if you continue to read the comments, they slide back into an unrealistic perspective. Encouraging, yes but unrealistic.

If you really want something, you will consistently put in the effort to achieve the goal. Do not feel bad if you find you do not want to put in the consistent effort. Realize you need to find what you are truly passionate about and do that instead. Or get a different job you might not like as much but gives you the hours/pay you want.

Either way, look in the mirror and see the type of person you really are.

In my case, it was because I didn’t want to do it.

The problem

I have a website. I knew, to go in the direction I wanted to go, some changes needed to be made. I’m used to being able to making these changes easily. Change CMS, pick a design and move on. Unfortunately, things changed. WordPress has a booming community but WordPress, as nice as it is, can be very restricting as a blog grows and more control is needed over the CMS. WordPress is perfect for the average blogger. It has everyone a person would need. Strong community, lots of options for plugins and themes, easy to update – it’s perfect.

However, I need more than WordPress offers (without hacking it to death). I have for quite some time and it has hindered my site’s growth. The problem was the uphill learning curve re-learning ExpressionEngine. I used ExpressionEngine, still have a paid license for it, but WordPress has spoiled me tremendously. With WordPress I can install, pick a theme and be up and running in 15 minutes tops. I installed ExpressionEngine Public Beta 2.0 and it installed without a default theme (I realize it’s a beta). Looking at ExpressionEngine’s template library I feel as though I warped back to 2004. The themes are horrifically dated (I’ve used all the good ones in the past when I used ExpressionEngine previously). Most people using ExpressionEngine have a custom design (which has to cripple their growth because they sure as hell didn’t start that way) which is backwards to the way I work. I have a ton of content and prior to getting a design or seriously sitting down with a designer, I’d like to get an idea on placement of the content, what want to offer, etc. Do you see the difference? With WordPress I can say, “I want an gaming magazine”, pick a theme, import/add content, then make some intelligent decisions about what I want in a theme and upgrade from there.

Let’s look at my options

• I can hire a designer to make a design so I can get up and running then upgrade the theme later.
• I can use a basic design, like a template from the ExpressionEngine library.
• I can learn how to do it myself = no more dependency on designers.

There are some other minor options but #3 is appealing to me the most, even though I don’t like the process of learning design/programming.

Repeating mistakes doesn’t work

Options 1 and 2 really aren’t options because I have already done them. I have hired designers previously and the winning designs came from when I knew what I wanted. I’m not building a site from scratch, I have thousands (literally) of articles and comments to make decisions on. At first I was going to start a brand new site but then I realized only after writing articles on the new site, I referenced something I wrote earlier. To phase out the old domains, I need to import the old content or not reference it (not an option).

Option 2 is an option but at the time I’m writing this, the templates are not in a form where I can easily install the template. The templates are formatted for ExpressionEngine 1.68. Yes, I tried this option.

I could uninstall 2.0, install 1.68 which installs a default theme, then upgrade to 2.0. Am I the only one thinking it is ridiculous anyone should have to go to this much trouble? I’m sorry, it shouldn’t be this difficult.

This is why Option 3 appeals to me. Armed with knowledge, this wouldn’t be difficult. Ever again. And I like that. A lot.

Like Janet, I’m getting in control

Being stuck in this rut for along time, I’ve been watching the trends in the design community. I figured eventually the situation would change. Ironically, I know trends better than the community. That doesn’t look like it will change any time soon.

I also know my style – I like to be different.

I customize to put my own spin on things. Nails, hair, clothes…why should my site be any different? My entire life is “not the norm”. Considering I know trends well before the design community, if I was armed with the knowledge, I could always make sure my site stays fresh and innovative.

I wouldn’t have to worry about themes breaking when a CMS is upgraded, plugins not working, my site becoming outdated, nor would I have to worry about growing the site in the direction I wanted. I will be in control of two important components of my site: the content and the design. I like it like that. I just have to force myself to learn something that interests me, but I don’t want to do. In honesty, maybe the reason why I don’t want to do it is because it seems hard to me right now. Time will tell.

What do you do if you have to delegate?

My situation is not the norm. Most times, passing the job on to someone else is the only real solution. I know I can do this because I’ve done it before, with a site much larger than this. This is not the norm. Companies hire accountants and lawyers because they can’t do the job themselves. It has become clear most designers (entrepreneurs actually) need to consult business/marketing consultants because their skill is in design, not business management.

One of the hardest decisions to make is to realize one is deficient in an area and pass the responsibilities to someone more qualified. It requires us to admit we are weak. In business we can’t do everything and, whether we like it or not, some things need to be delegated. Of course, sometimes we have to educate ourselves in areas outside our comfort zone.

I’m lucky that I can learn design and programming enough to suit my needs. Will my site win a graphic design award? Never. Will my skills ever be as good as a qualified designer? Never. Thankfully, those aren’t my goals and I can learn enough to stop being dependent on designers for the growth of my site.

Written by: Tyme White | Follow Tyme on Twitter | Be Friends on Facebook

It isn’t surprising we do this in our personal lives as well. Something will be right in front of our face and we don’t see it because our blinders are pointed elsewhere.

Do you see what I see?

Since you guys like relationship examples, let’s use one. I have six friends (male/female pairs) that are attracted to each other. One pair live in the same city, one pair lives in the same state but different cities, the last pair lives in different states. In each situation, the relationship will not move forward (even though they clearly have feelings for one another) because the men do not realize they’ve sent the wrong message to the female. The females tried to push it forward, but the men slowed down progress to a complete stop.

The local pair are attracted to each other but, when the female wanted to move things forward, the male did not want to mess up their friendship. Why did he do this? Because he felt she didn’t reciprocate his feelings to the level he did and he didn’t want to get hurt. The couple that lives in the same state but different cities have known each other for years, were going to try a relationship years ago, it failed (girl tried to move things forward, guy panicked in fear) causing the female to marry someone else and move away. Back home and divorced they are trying again but neither wants to take the first step out of fear of failure. The couple that lives in different states are like soul mates but when the girl tried to move things forward he said he wanted to be friends. Yet, he clearly has feelings for her. Why the hesitation? They live in different states. He doesn’t want to have a long distance relationship with her and she won’t move (anywhere). She doesn’t want to move where he is and possibly not be able to be with him. She doesn’t want to move away from him in case he decides to follow his heart.

All six have told me their perspectives. From the outside looking in, no matter what they say, it’s obvious what is going on. To them, because their blinders are on (protecting themselves from pain), they don’t see a damn thing. Might as well be blind.

Can you see the plateaus?

One of the main reasons why people don’t experience the growth or change they want is because they hit a wall or plateau. In the five examples I gave, each scenario has a plateau (two were business related, three were personal situations). To continue to grow one would have to overcome the hurdle causing them to plateau or hit the wall in the first place. Let me be blunt…most people don’t do that. They either see the plateau and do not deal with it properly (the relationship examples) or they don’t see they are about to hit a wall or they have plateaued at all (the business examples).

If you can’t see it, you can’t fix it and you can’t avoid it, can you?

If you want to receive a business degree, you’ll be stuck taking Critical Thinking classes. In my Critical Thinking classes, most people struggled (if not failed) the class. I ended up carrying my teams. To me, this was a sign that they were not suited for business just as, when I wanted to be a doctor, not being able to turn off my emotions would have crippled my ability to objectively diagnose. My classmates did bad in class because they were unable to spot the real problems being presented, realize their was a plateau to overcome (and how to do it) or notice they were about to walk into a wall.

I recently posted a link to Google’s Browser Size on Twitter. If you look at the page, it talks about resolution and when people have to scroll. The common response, well, let’s look:

@tyme most designers pretty much decided to stop worrying about screen resolution and just wrap their designs in 960px wide containerswhitehawk

I received this response via direct message as well. Most designers do wrap content around 960px (or 800px) wide containers. Google’s article was about height, not width:

Consider a “Donate” button on a non-profit site. If it’s far down the page, you may not see it when you first view the page. You can of course scroll downwards, but many people don’t scroll and will miss it entirely.Google Blog

This is clearly demonstrated on Browser Size. “30% of visitors can’t see the donate button, instead they must scroll.” Browser Size is a tool to help designers prioritize content. You know how many people (yes, designers) complain about not having as many subscribers as they want, yet have the subscribe button at the bottom of the page along with their contact information, in the footer? Look at your own browsing behavior. How many times do you go to a site and leave without scrolling? How often do you read and article and stop, without scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page?

Open your eyes. You might like what you see.

Success, of any kind, comes by consistently making the optimal decisions. A key to making good decisions is having a true understanding of the situation in the first place. “I didn’t think” is a common excuse for mistakes. Take a moment and think about the situation objectively as you can. Maybe you’d see:

• Most bloggers don’t have enough content for sliders, therefore, won’t use them.
• It is almost impossible to maintain a fake identity and have a large audience. The ability to make a mistake becomes zero because of all the people reading.
• In the relationship scenarios, since the men rejected the women, the men have to make some sort of sign to move things forward. All the women need is a sign they aren’t going to jump and go splat again.
• If designers are looking at the width when the focus is on height, what kind of pages are they designing? Are they optimally placing content where the reader will benefit?

If you need a visual, while playing Dragon Age: Origins I finally got to the part where Alistair asks my character to make love. Played 35 hours to get to this point. What happens? See for yourself. My character reaches out to Alistair, he puts his hands over a fire and some weird sort of kiss happens. It was a video glitch (which I hope doesn’t happen again because obviously, I didn’t save that) but that is the situation happens when you don’t see what is right in front of you. When Angel reached out to Alistair, since he loves her, he should have embraced her – and as she said, they will work things out together. James should realize that she can’t embrace people back when they reach out because her identity would be blown, killing the odds for popularity. When my female friends reached out to the guys they wanted, since they had feelings, the guys should have embraced them and held on tight – instead of putting their hands over the fire pushing them away. When a client reaches out to a designer wanting a solution to their site issues, the designer can’t have their hands over the fire and expect to be able to optimally resolve the problem.

Take the blinders off. Being focused is good but being blind is stupid.

Written by: Tyme White | Follow Tyme on Twitter | Be Friends on Facebook

No Variety

I went to ThemeForest and browsed their WordPress templates. The designs look somewhat different but many have a similar feature: The Slider. There are different variants of The Slider but the basic principle is the same: the focal point are rotating graphics leading to other content by clicking on the graphic. How The Slider works depends on how it was designed. Most have a gradual transition between images. I saw some that had up to five different transition styles. I would not have known this if it were not advertised as such because I wouldn’t have stuck around that long to watch the images whiz by.

Another common trait of these designs: they heavily rely on graphics (whether The Slider is there or not). If you browse the themes, you’ll notice, due to the placement of the images, your eye is drawn to to images, not the content. This is a wonderful theme trait for food blogs, who are usually using their own pictures. For most bloggers, they are using royalty-free images. Looking at this objectively, they are making photos that are not theirs the focal points of the site, not their words.

Which is why I have a problem with my current design.

Me TOO!

When it comes to designs, I either use a pre-made template or I hire a designer. I recommend against hiring a designer unless you have firm plans on what you want to do. I have had many designs done over the years but I never step into that process until I am sure of what I want. It makes it easier for everyone involved. Until that point, I rely on pre-made templates.

The problem occurs when the designers all do the same thing. They notice someone did something cool and copy that cool thing. This results in an over-abundance of the cool thing and nothing else, leaving little variety for the end-user. This is what I’m experiencing now. I am looking for a design that uses my words as the focal point, not graphics. This theme has The Slider. I don’t use it. I tried “the cool thing”, I don’t like it. I am having a hard time finding a premium design that does this. I know a few but I don’t like their default look. They aren’t pretty or eye catching like The Slider designs. Why is that?

Bad Business

Being a good designer is only part of the pieces needed to have a successful web design business. The major part: the ability to make good business decisions. There is a market for quality non-graphic intensive designs simply because the copycat behavior dried up their availability. Wise designers will design for both (and any other markets that arise). Most designers, unfortunately, are so busy copying what is cool they miss the bigger opportunities.

This is one of the major pitfalls I’ve been discussing about the design community for quite some time (and blogging, don’t even bother mentioning that one). People are so busy copying current trends no one is focused on future trends. The community plateaus, until someone with a passion decides to do something different…then everyone copies that. Rinse and repeat. This can happen in any community but I noticed it with design and blogging because I had to deal with the repercussions of the copycat behavior.

Until then, maybe if I throw the idea out there to create designs that don’t rely on graphics being the focal point, people will make a few so that consumers have options other than The Slider.

Written by: Tyme White | Follow Tyme on Twitter | Be Friends on Facebook

Along with the new content was an update to WoW Armory, a database site run by Blizzard. Users can search through player profiles (their specs), see guild information, and find upgrades for gear.

The updates to the site added Achievements to the front page and showing a player’s dual spec, a new feature added to the game with the patch. They also made small changes to the design of the site to improve usability.

The reason I am mentioning this? When the patch went live, it is kind of obvious that the new dual spec feature would be used by players since they’ve been talking about it for months. If players and users were going to use the feature then it makes sense to have dual specs viewable in the armory, doesn’t it?

Do you know how many companies would be so focused on launching the patch they would not have the Armory ready? Do you know how many, in an effort to meet the deadline they miscalculated, would launch anyway…knowing their users would be frustrated?

Tons.

The internet has a massive amount of half-done sites that expect to make money. I admit, I enjoy tweaking my site(s). This site, in its current form, is not complete. However, if I were going to release something where users needed information (and expected it to be on the site), I would have those components synced. Do you see the difference?

Cutting corners is not the way to success. Let’s look at another example…

Demigod, a real-time strategy game by Stardock and Gas Powered Games, released this week. They had problems with the online component to their game. Some people were unable to connect. Stardock addressed this issue head on:

“While I can say that there are, even as I type, many hundreds of people playing online together, mostly in Skirmish and Pantheon games, there are many hundreds of others having trouble connecting to people in custom games or having skirmish or pantheon doing something odd due to the server overload,” Wardell wrote. “We are working to address it and what I mean by that is that we intend to release another update this week to deal with as much of what we’ve found as possible.”

They had another problem to battle. GameStop broke Demigod’s street date and released the game early.

“First, it was Easter weekend. And many of us had just finished a good solid 8 weeks of massive crunch and were looking forward to the weekend to recover. Instead, we found ourselves back at work having to turn on and configure the multiplayer matchmaking servers (we had enough for a beta but not for thousands of people).”

They had unexpected problems that caused their launch to be troublesome. Unexpected problems happen all the time in business. To make sure a launch goes smoothly making the deadline is not enough. Making the deadline early so all tasks are complete, employees are well-rested, etc. leaves room for reflection to spot problems or potential enhances that would make the launch even smoother. In Stardock’s case, they were trying but the long crunch they talked about implies they were rushing to get everything done. Rushing most times leads to problems.

Companies are not fooling anyone when they have unrealistic expectations. Blizzard rarely makes the deadline they initially state on patch day. It would be better to give users a more realistic time-frame. Instead of rushing for eight weeks Stardock could have sent (initially) a more realistic launch date that took into account potential problems.

In your own goals, try making a deadline and finishing it early. It is a good habit to ease into.

Let’s just say I’m very confused.

The WCG Website

The site design/layout is confusing but more important; the content is outdated or incomplete. As of this writing the WCG Ultimate Gamer news has not been updated since episode three (tonight episode five airs). Then there is another site (WCG 2009) that is broken now (perhaps a new launch?). Back to the main WCG site; the JavaScript navigation links at the top are not working. Even more perplexing are news selections like this one:

Qualify soon for WCG Team USA 2009

As of this writing, that is all it says. Is it known how to do this and I’m clueless or is important information missing?

The WCG suffers from a common trend many site developers fall into: over-complicating things. I’m not a designer but, for example, why are the navigation links JavaScript? Those links are not working for me right now and from a usability standpoint there is not a backup (using regular HTML links) for those who have scripts turned off for security reasons (mods for FireFox like NoScript have it off my default). Today in WCG has the most current link dated Feb.25th but on the splash at the top they announced they launched a new US site.

In essence, the site does not blend together at all due to over-complication. The content is not displayed in optimal methods for the end-user.

WCG YouTube Profile

The WCG YouTube page has a lot of interesting and entertaining videos. The problem is: you most likely do not realize it is there. The profile seems to be lost in time. For example, when you go to the profile page the first video you see is the trailer. Not the current episode. Not a highlight from what is currently going on in the show. Instead, they have the trailer, that is three months old, as the first thing you see when you go to their profile page.

The second thing is just weird. New content is published with old dates. I subscribe via RSS so I can see the dates when new videos are released. Let me give you an example. Joel has a series of videos where he talks about what happens each week. I love these videos and found them by accident. They are my favorites, seriously. The problem: They have the date of the March 16th. For example, Joel Talks Isolation – Episode 4 of WCG Ultimate Gamer was released yesterday…that is when appeared in my RSS feed. However, look at the date. March 16, 2009. Look at the pageviews: 21. That’s because no one realizes it is there because it has an old date on it. Logically, we know they did not release the video on the 16th because it would have been on YouTube before the episode aired. SWooZie Calls Home – Episode 4 of WCG Ultimate Gamer has the date of Mar 19th, again a date before the episode aired. Then there are new videos like Guitar Hero Metallica Solo Montage Part 2 with the description:

Yeah these are somewhat hard and somewhat fun I just got bored

Don’t ask me who is playing. I have no clue. Yes, there is a bunch of text at the end and I admit I might have zoned out with all the jokes…but I can’t say “X made this video” or “Wow, X has some serious skills”. What’s the point in making a video like that and no one knows who you are?

What’s the point in publishing new content with old dates?

Consistency Please…

WCG has a lot of information that needs displaying in a fluid form. It is common to add JavaScript, Flash, Ajax, etc. to a site and the implement isn’t optimal. In the end users want to quickly and efficiently receive information. Even if I subscribe to the site via RSS the content still doesn’t match. Look at the News page. As of when I am writing this the current entry is dated Apr. 2nd, about Blizzard’s April Fool’s Day. Now look at the RSS feed for that section. The latest entry is March 31st.

It doesn’t have to be this difficult. I hope they fix things soon because I really wish them the best of luck.

The Problem With Lists

Going through as many sites as I do, I see list entries quite often. What normally happens is the author will make the list of “resources” and leave out one very important piece of information. Why are these recommended things better than others? If an author is recommending cameras why are the five cameras listed better than other cameras? Because the author said so? For example, the writer/blogger will title the entry “5 Best Cameras under $250!”, then briefly lists the features of the cameras, but avoids saying what makes those cameras so special. I’m sure I could find three other cameras that are under $250, so why are those five cameras better than the others?

Often you will see these lists and the author will make the disclaimer that the list is in no particular order. The recommended cameras are all equally good. Well, how often does that happen? Companies make competing products to make it easier for the shopper to pick one product over another. Rarely are all the items equal. The disclaimer is a backdoor for the author to get around naming one product over the others because opinions are subjective. However, one of the attractions for a reader is valuing the opinion of the blogger/writer.

Let’s Turn an Entry Into a Clickfest…Not!

Another common trait to click entries: making the reader click through the list like a book. The problem? The entire list could be put on one page because the content for each list entry is minimal. An example: Top 5 WordPress Themes! type entry that has a screenshot and 50 words underneath each theme. That’s a 250 word entry. Put it all on one page. Readers aren’t stupid and they realize, if you do this, you’re trying to inflate your page views. Let’s face facts: if you have to resort to inflating your page views, you have a problem. Solve the problem instead of putting a bandaid on it.

A Picture Does Not Explain “Why”….

One of the common themes of list entries: including a picture or screenshot that “shows” the reader the product, design, etc. If I’m looking at the Top 5 Logos I expect to see an image of the logo but I’d also want to know WHY those five logos are on the list. The pictures alone do not legitimize the selected logos. This is why list entries can be traffic pullers but they have high bounce rates. It is relatively easy to pull people to a site. Unless the person finds substance in the site, they’ll quickly move on to the next site. If they go and view the Top 5 Logos, look at the pretty pictures for a minute and do not find a reason to stay (comment on your site, agree with your opinion and look for other articles, disagree with your opinion and tell a friend about it, etc.), they are on to the next site in less than a minute.

Back Up the Claims You Make

Anyone can make a list entry. The “good” writer/blogger backs up their list entries with facts, the logic behind the choices, etc. Know your audience. If you’re talking about the Top 10 Funniest Romantic Clips include video so your audience can see the funny parts your mentioned and come to their own conclusion. If you only include screenshots, what good is that, particularly if the reader never saw the movie? If you’re talking about cameras include pictures taken by the camera so the reader can see how great the cameras are. If you don’t have the camera (as in never had it)…why are you recommending it?

Prove your point.

Not warped actually. I’ve been told many times the business owner didn’t think anything bad would happen to them (and that’s why lawyers will always have customers). Why? I have no idea. Like they are exempt from bad things happening or something. I’ve had people argue with me about editing comments when the law in their state says if they edit they will be financially responsible if someone sues. Yet these same people 1) can’t afford the fight and 2) would be the first in line looking for free help if something went down. What comment is worth taking potential unnecessary financial burdens?

Let’s look at an example of someone not thinking. Designer Carter Bryant lost the right to sell Bratz dolls because he thought of the idea while working for Mattel. He started the Bratz empire in 2001 – it took a long time for the legal system to catch up with him. Business school 101 will inform you that there is a huge conflict there – he came up with the concept while working with the company that would turn into his competition.

Mattel sued MGA Entertainment for $500 million alleging that Bratz creator Carter Bryant was working for Mattel when he developed the idea for Bratz. On July 17, 2008, a federal jury ruled that the Bratz line was created by Carter Bryant while he was working for Mattel. The jury also ruled that MGA and its Chief Executive Officer Isaac Larian were liable for converting Mattel property for their own use and intentionally interfering with the contractual duties owed by Bryant to Mattel. On August 26, the same jury found that Mattel would have to be paid US $100 million in damages.

The manufacture of the dolls must stop immediately and the dolls have to be removed from shelves after the holiday season. 1500 jobs potentially down the toilet. Because he didn’t think.

Why do I say that? Because if he thought about it that tidbit – that he came up with the idea while working for Mattel – would never have seen the light of day. He would have saved up his money, quit, waited a decent amount of time and then launched his business. Yes, he would have made a reasonable effort to make sure Mattel couldn’t touch him. But who would think Mattel would come after him?

Duh. I mean seriously. Duh. No brainer. Please. Just like Hasbro wasn’t going to protect their rights…right?

If you are attempting to do something that makes money think about what you’re doing and ensure you’re treating your business like a business. You’d be surprised how many of the big boys didn’t think their businesses would become as big as they are.

Personal brands are emerging. That’s the way it is.

Unfortunately, they can work against a person. See, once one becomes “known” for something, it is hard to change someone’s opinion of you, especially if the person is a stranger. An example, I was talking to a friend of mine and he showed me the Twitter profile of a girl he said was cute. I took one look at the profile and cracked up laughing. My friend is not a talker, he doesn’t engage in “chit chat”. He prefers high-level conversations. The profile he showed me was of a female posting something on Twitter about 10 times an hour, for at least 8 hours a day. Because Twitter combines tweets it can be difficult sometimes to notice someone talking so much so her tweets were buried many times. He had no idea she was talking so much. People looking at her profile will thing she’s a talker because of her behavior online.

Another example: allegedly someone made a comment as Loren Feldman on TechCrunch. Loren said it wasn’t him. The problem: his “brand” is snark so no one thought twice IF it was Loren. When he said it wasn’t him, no one really cared. That’s a reality that can happen to any of us.

And that’s the point of my post. Many people are not thinking about the repercussions of their actions online. If you go around saying “I agree, I agree” and nothing else, don’t be surprised if your “brand” or reputation is “ass-kisser”. If you have more ads on your site than content, don’t be surprised…well…if that happens odds are people won’t be reading your site and no one will care who you are, what you’re doing or what you’re saying TO create a brand or reputation.

What your brand is and what you want to project online are two different things. Thinking you project nothing is foolish unless no one is paying attention to what you are saying.

It is the online way to speak differently behind one’s back than when interacting face to face but that is another topic for another day.

I’m not good at managing my time. Nothing would get done.

I thought my brother lost his mind because he was Mr. Efficient. When he had deadlines at work he always had things done before hand. He always found the most efficient way to get things done. This flowed in everything he did, for example, taking a trip. His plans would be minutely planned so the idea of him not managing things efficiently and effectively as a business owner did not compute. I thought perhaps he had fear of the “unknown”, perhaps did not want to risk something stable for something unstable (a new business).

He explained that he “needed” someone to account to otherwise he would blow off whatever it was he scheduled to do. He enjoyed what he did and the “fun” would disappear if he was the boss. He didn’t like management positions either. He knew himself well enough to know that if he started a business, even if it was something he enjoyed doing, his personality type was not complimentary to it. He wasn’t disciplined enough.

Knowing Yourself

Everyday I encounter people who want to start businesses, a blog, create video, etc. and they have these big plans about their success. Not only do they not have a plan about how they are going to get there often they are not realistic about their personality and if their personality meshes with their goals.

An example, how often do you see sites that boast “daily content” but are not updated daily? Or are updated daily but the content sucks? These people are probably good people but obviously not suited for daily updates. The amount of time it takes to write quality content on a daily basis is considerable. The reality is the person who does this isn’t business minded due to the multitude of the mistakes made.

Reality Isn’t Always Pretty

My brother understood his limitations and focused on his strengths. Instead of starting a business knowing he was lacking traits that were needed, he was the best employee he could be. He enjoyed his work and was often recognized for his performance.

Being a business owner or even a good blogger requires the person to be able to consistently, over a long period of time, do what is needed for success. For example, I get up early every morning and check on our sites, delete spam, glance at email, etc. Not a couple of times a week, every other day, sometimes at 7 or sometimes at 12…every morning (unless I say otherwise) the sites are checked early. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t like getting up early but I had to because of the kids (I don’t anymore). There are times when I get up, check the sites and lay back down but my job is done. Every day. After about 11am, my schedule goes out the door. I make sure the kids eat around the same general time but as far as work I wing it every day based on what needs to be done and I love that because I don’t really care for routines too much.

Doing Your Own Thing IS Work

I’m not a programmer. I’m not a designer. Yet I have websites that have code and designs. If I want to accomplish something and I don’t know how to do it I will research on how to do it. If I want to understand search engine optimization I will research it. If I need to go to school and gain some knowledge I will do that (and I did – I have a master’s in Business Management). In other words, doing your own thing requires more dedication than most realize – consistently.

If you want to write daily articles on your commercial blog (or update on a set schedule) think about all that is required. The topic. Do you need links? Can you back up and prove your point? Do you need confirmation from a source for the article? Is your data accurate? Consider the time it takes to write and proof the article. If it is a commercial blog what about the time to market, network, and manage the blog? If your blog traffic isn’t increasing why isn’t it and how do you plan to resolve that issue?

Honesty is the Best Policy

My brother was honest with himself about his personality traits and how they applied to his career. When I decided to start my business I did the same thing. Going through blogs as I do everyday (some of them personal, some of them commercial) I wonder if they were honest with themselves when they started their venture.

Your turn.