My interest in web design started many years ago. I started building websites for my friends and things grew from there. The trouble is that I wasn’t making money. Not a lot of it, anyway. I always looked for ways to give people a break and save them money while giving them the site they needed. I worked with client budgets instead of setting prices and sticking to them.

I know now that this is a guaranteed recipe for failure. In working with some new (and extremely successful) business partners lately, I’ve come to realize that making money at your craft isn’t a particularly complicated or difficult proposition, but there are a few things that you can’t bend on:

1) Be the best (or at least very good) at what you do.
2) Set high prices and charge a lot of money for being the best.
3) ????
4) Profit.

Although this is exceedingly simple, I’ve been guilty of violating these rules. I don’t have prices listed anywhere. I negotiate on rates that I do quote. I help friends who need it. What’s paradoxical about this is that these projects end up taking the longest and causing the most headache. Some of the biggest contracts I’ve landed were for sites that have been turned around very quickly – sometimes over the course of a weekend. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the way to make money is simpler and less stressful than the path that’s fraught with fail.

This needs to be said as well: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking on projects to help clients that have a genuine need for your services; I think that helping those in need is both important and fulfilling. Projects like that can’t comprise the bulk of what you do however, unless the margins on your other projects are such that these losses are negligible. If this is the case, please hire me immediately (joke).

Many companies make the mistake of treating their companies like children. The lives of their employees are governed by policies that extend beyond the wall of the office. Although some policies are well-intentioned, allowing a legal department or the whim of a controlling executive to dictate the behavior of employees is both counterproductive and damaging to employee morale.

The trouble with policing, micromanagement, and stifling policies is that they rob employees of the confidence they need to succeed in the workplace. If your employer is not interested in fostering an environment where employees can succeed with little oversight, proactively solve problems, and respond well to constructive criticism…then there’s no reason to listen to this.

The best work environments are environments where employees are free. Free to be creative, to make mistakes, and to be praised for their work. Free to be great. Employees need to feel like their input is valued, that their contributions are meaningful, and that their work matters. Humans are extremely resilient creatures and can, for the sake of survival, endure less than ideal situations for years on end. This typically leads to both physical and emotional health issues. Wouldn’t it make more sense for companies not to test the limits of what people can endure? Google spends an absolute fortune to provide employees with world-class benefits such as free gourmet meals every day. You know why they do it? Because it makes good business sense.

Their employees are loyal, hard-working, and the work speaks for itself.

Source.

I really like these guys.

Has anyone else gotten this? When I click on the link, it takes me back to the homepage.

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UPDATE 1: It looks like @Mashable and @TechCrunch have both posted limited information on Facebook Lite. As @Carl pointed out, TechCrunch has posted a screenshot from a few days ago of what appears to be the stripped-down service.

Facebook hasn’t published any official explanation as of this post.

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UPDATE 2: It looks like the lite.facebook.com page has already been indexed.

Cedric Nabe is exceptional.

Cedric Nabe

Cedric came to the US in 2004 on a track scholarship from Geneva, Switzerland. He didn’t speak English and had no friends or family in the US.  Despite the struggle to keep up with his athletics and academics, he managed to make the All American and All ACC during his first year at FSU. He went on to become captain of the track team, led the team to a National Title, and was a member of the 4×100 Meter Relay Team that broke the university’s record.

…and that’s just athletics.

Cedric mastered the English language in short order. He was able to make both the Dean’s list and the President’s list before graduating. He majored in Information Technology and was awarded the 2007 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Award for a web application that he built for student-athletes like himself called the SportLog. Cedric chaired the FSU chapter of the Association of IT Professionals and increased its membership many times over.

There’s more.

Unsurprisingly, Cedric had several job offers on the table as he was preparing to graduate. He accepted a position with a large and successful professional services organization in South Florida. After quickly mastering the skills required for work, Cedric began training again for track competitions. Would you be surprised to hear that this has been a success? Of course not.

On August 1^st of 2009, Cedric won the 100M Swiss Championship title. Jet lagged, tired, and sleep-deprived, he triumphed over the competition. This came at no surprise to me after seeing the video where he qualified for the Swiss Championship race. I’m not even sure why the other runners got out of bed that morning.

Cedric Nabe on the right, winning.

Cedric speaks four languages, has a beautiful daughter, and is deeply passionate about his Congolese roots. He waxes between hopeless optimism and heavy-hearted despair when discussing the atrocities taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He’s among the most upstanding and driven people that I know, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t share his story here.

You’ll be seeing more of Cedric soon. On this blog, on YouTube, and probably on TV.

He’s going places.

Get it together, Airtran.

I’m sitting in the Atlanta Airport and I have a few moments to kill, so I thought I’d share something that really bothers me. In the airports that AirTran services, they have kiosks set up where they sign people up for credit cards and give them some ridiculous teddy bear or something. Cool.

I don’t have an issue with people being signed up for their cards. I have one. I ­do have a problem, however, with the way they’re going about it. Customers are called over by one of up to three or young persons standing behind a counter. People are called over as if they’re being helped, but they’re actually being signed up for a credit card. The whole process takes less than five minutes, and in the time that I sat and observed it (although I’ve seen it many times before), it disgusted me to the point of wanting to interrupt the transactions.

They trick unsuspecting customers into thinking that they’re giving out free business class upgrades (for fun?). The dialog (which I observed for several minutes) goes something like this:

Shady AirTran employee:

“[Sir/Ma’am]? Are you flying AirTran today?”

::Employee beckons clueless own-business-minding traveler to the kiosk as they say yes::

Shady AirTran employee:

“We’re giving away free business class upgrades today. You’ll fly first class next time you fly.”

This is where most people realize they’re being hoodwinked. Unfortunately, others react as if Christmas came early.

Clueless customer:

“Really? Are you serious?” (actual quote)

Shady AirTran employee:

“Yep. All you need is a driver’s license. We have a promotion in conjunction with the AirTan Visa Card and our frequent flyer program.”

The clueless flyer (more often than not) gladly divulges their name, number, identification, and signs of a pulse (the only thing needed for a credit card these days). In a few moments, the slightly miffed traveler is on their way with a new credit card on the way and the AirTran employee has earned another commission. Lovely.

It really bothers me that cards are being marketed covertly like this. With the economy in the toilet and tens of thousands of families clawing their way out of debt that came fast and easy, I don’t see how AirTran can justify something like this.

Actually, that’s a lie.

I understand it just fine. I just don’t like it. Are there no better ways to generate revenues? Why not improve their already outstanding customer service? Why not create an innovative referral program that rewards flyers for referring their friends? Why connect with customers on their languishing Twitter account (an account that hasn’t been updated in almost a year)? I realize it might not really be the company’s account, but there are measures in place for companies to take control of accounts made in their name.

I’m a big fan of AirTran. I like them because of their ridiculously low fares, outstanding customer service, in-flight wi-fi, excellent website, generous rewards program, etc. This credit card situation is unacceptable though.

There’s got to be a better way.