I’ve written a lot about how important it is for businesses to choose the right web designer for their online project. Not just the cheapest but the one they feel will best help them realise their goals.

On the flip side it’s just as important for web designers to vet their prospective clients too. A business relationship needs to be mutually beneficial and if your instincts are telling you you’re not sure about a project or client listen to them. I know that can be hard when you have bills piling up, or want the latest iMac, but believe me these are the projects that usually go pear shaped.

The irony is, for me at least, every time I have listened to my instincts and not done a project, another better one comes along. As they say when one door closes another opens.

It may take a while to listen to and trust your instincts but believe me it’s probably one of the best pieces of business advice I can give you.

I’m back from my Christmas break and looking forward to getting back into work and blogging.

Thanks to all of you who’ve been reading my blog - I’m planning to blog more regularly in 2008 so I hope you’ll stick around!

I like this.

Thanks hon.

I was just chatting to a colleague (hi Michael *waves*) and we got discussing what I call the “reasonable test” and I figured it would be a good blog post.

We’ve all heard of job creep, whether it be through additional features and functionality or due to having to do numerous mock-ups for a client. Doing too much of this will cost you in both time and money, however you probably want to keep your client happy as you work tgether.

When this happens I apply what I call a reasonable test. Is it reasonable that I do the additional work for no additional fee? Is it reasonable that the client should be billed extra? What is a reasonable solution to this?

This litmus test has stood me in good stead over the years and ensured that everybody is happy and knows where they stand.

I’m sorting out my bookmarks and am amazed at the number of web designer’s sites who’ve changed the file extension of their homepage and have not redirected the old to the new or created a 404 Error page. Not even a crappy out of the box 404 page. I wonder how many prospects visit their site from a bookmark and assume they’re no longer in business. Really web designers should know better.