How To: Determine If You Need A Professional Designer

Last weekend when I was on the flight back from Shanghai to Atlanta there was a man sitting across the aisle who started talking to me. He asked me about myself, and whenever anyone does that, I always get excited because it’s an excuse to talk about Twitter and social media. Since Twitter and Facebook are both blocked in China, I was even happier to talk about it since I was starting to show major withdrawal symptoms.

Long story short, he told me he had an idea for a new social networking site that he thought was going to be the next big thing. And, even though he had never developed a website before, he decided to build the website himself. Errr…. Really? Did you catch that last sentence? I am all about believing in the dreams of other people. If a person is bold enough to put it out there, I’m bold enough to encourage them. However, that doesn’t mean that I would perform heart surgery. I’m not a doctor.

When we have a big idea like he does, we should focus on our strengths and surround ourselves with talented people who can help us in areas that aren’t our strength, don’t you agree? That is what we do here on Bit Rebels, and it seems to work well. Although we are all writers, we also focus on our other strengths. My strengths are English grammar and organizational details, Richard’s strengths are coding, design and tracking statistics, and Misty’s strengths involve the human aspect of it all like the friendship and fun. She reminds us all to be grateful, and we wouldn’t be here without her. None of us would ever consider doing the other’s jobs. We stick to our strengths, and trust each other in the areas we know nothing about.

There is more to building a successful website than just choosing a template and entering the text. It takes time, commitment, patience, continuous learning, and a good attitude because there will definitely be bumps in the road. To the guy who sat next to me on the plane last weekend and anyone else with a BIG idea who has never built a site before… I would like to encourage you to find a web developer. If you don’t have the money to pay that person, barter or give a percentage of the site. Do whatever you have to do to make it a win-win situation.

Vitamin Talent is a talent agency that works with creative people (web developers, graphic designers, etc…) everyday. Whether you need to find a design job or you are looking for a designer, I suggest you visit Vitamin Talent to see what they are all about. Yesterday in a tweet sent by my friend @cindyvriend (via @JusticeMitchell), I saw a great infographic flowchart created by Vitamin Talent which will help you decide if you should create that website yourself or find someone to do it for you. This is great, and the humor hits home. I have sooooooo been there and done that!