Waiting for Content (Full Version)

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Shirley -> Waiting for Content (12/3/2004 16:11:22)

We all have them, those lovely clients who just can't find the time to send content.

I usually cover it in my contract but...This particular client I messed up and didn't include the blurb in the contract that if content is not received by a certain time the site is considered complete and they owe my my final fee.

I have called and emailed repeatedly and they always promise to get it to me by the end of the day or the end of the week, but it never comes, So... today I published the whole site and every page that is waiting for content says....

Waiting for Content

We will see if it gets them in gear to get it to me or perhaps they won't even notice.

Any good ideas for getting clients to send us what we need??



Mojo -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/3/2004 16:14:51)

under 'waiting for content' ...

"Meanwhile, feel free to visit one of the following sites:"

Either link to your sites or link to several competitor sites.



Shirley -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/3/2004 16:21:12)

ROFLMAO



dpf -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/3/2004 16:39:51)

lol..i actually believe mojo would have the undercarriage to do it! lol



caz -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/3/2004 18:01:12)

[:D]
I don't think that Mojo and I are built in the same way, so I have contented myself with "Content to come...don't hold your breath"
[;)]



Taz -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/3/2004 20:25:49)

I Gotta say, I don't often get stressed out, but sitting around waiting for people to get of their rears & just send a blummin E-Mail with some text & images drive me utterly *&^%)(043*&)($%IHFHGA(FDS($£T%*408%120843%3")*$% bonkers.

They nag you to start a project & they get all excited about it, do your fruit in asking when their domain name will be active & the hosting for it will be sorted. Whine & whinge untill the domain & hosting are set up so they have a site or homepage they can look at & then link too.

Then they just dry up like a blummin desert after the initial excitement is over, I HATE IT!!! [:@]

under 'waiting for content' ...

"As you are no doubt bored due to lack of content on this site, feel free to visit one of the following sites:"

Better. [8D]



jaybee -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/4/2004 6:17:50)

I've tried two approaches to this.

The first one was to get them to send me their brochure and use blurb from that or, failing that, I'd just make it up. Usually, they'd read what I'd written and be on the phone in minutes. Otherwise, they'd just say "that's brilliant, thanks" and that was that.

The second one, and the one I stick with now is to get an up front deposit. This covers design work, host and domain costs. I don't start work without it. When I've got that then I do a layout and load it to my host so the client can get at it via my site. If no content comes in, there it stays and I get on with other things. I make this clear in the contract which they return, signed, with the deposit.

A lot of them think that as long as they have a domain name and a page with their contact details and logo then that's enough so I make sure their domain page never leads anywhere until the site is complete.



dpf -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/4/2004 10:23:54)

excellent jaybee.. the real point is to learn. the deposit is critical - i learned that. ony hthing i would ad is try to get the content right away before thieir enthusisam wanes



jaybee -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/4/2004 10:34:35)

I've just had a long thunk about this and I reckon I may have an idea.

Shirley, you give us the URL of the site.

We all email it saying

"Dear Sir, I just checked out your web site and it appears to be empty. Do I have a problem with my computer or is your site really devoid of any information whatsoever."

If a load of us do it, obviously not all saying the exact same thing, they may just sit up and take notice.

If it works we could get Spooky to set up a recalcitrant client forum where we can post the trouble-makers and ask for email blitzes. [:D]



dpf -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/4/2004 10:39:31)

Brilliant!! Brilliant!! (copyright Guiness, USA)



Taz -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/4/2004 19:38:43)

Top notch & devious, me likey! [:D]



Thomas Brunt -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/7/2004 12:16:42)

I try to stay out of content integration because of that kind of thing, but I have found that billing separately for content integration and placing the lion's share of the project cost in the site design is a good way to go. It doesn't matter that much how long they take to do their work if you've been paid for everything you've done to date.

t



Karl -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/7/2004 12:37:57)

I usually develop in a phases, according to agreed milestones. As such, payment is necessary in order to begin each phase.

I have been in the 'waiting for content' period on various occasions, but I never really let it bother me since I have already been paid to do a job, and I do all I can, 'pending the arrival of content'.

Whenever this happens, I do not publish the site though. Publishing is the last phase. I develop at another location so that only the client (and others allowed by the client) can view.

On the other hand, I have also found that developing in parallel streams help reduce the possibility of waiting for content.

  • I develop a content only site, so that the client can spend some time ensuring that the content is correct , while not being distracted by the visual elements.
  • I develop the site layout, theme and design, and other functioning elements at the same time


My 2 cents.

Karl



jaybee -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/7/2004 13:08:22)

Theme and design I understand but how can you develop the site layout when you have no content? If I'd done that with my last one I'd have had to completely re-do all the navigation when their encyclopaedic tome suddenly crashed onto the doormat.



dpf -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/7/2004 13:25:17)

quote:

when their encyclopaedic tome suddenly crashed onto the doormat.
jaybee..dont you put that into your pricing structure? 5 pages vs. 500 vs. 5000 ought to be reflected upfront in price... ought..lol



jaybee -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/7/2004 13:41:06)

Yes, well I try. What usually happens is I quote for 5 pages, then they come back wanting 6, then they have this great idea.....

I send them a blank site structure up front with the usual page tags - Home, About, Contact etc and they say "Fine". Then the content arrives and I need a technical page with drill downs. They assumed it could all go on the About page. (around 75 feet long!)

So what we start out with usually bears no relation to what we end up with. Doesn't worry me, there's a fixed site charge and then each additional page is extra.

But that's why I try to get the content, or at least, a good idea of the content before I start structure.

Today, the latest client has sent me a CD with 400 odd photos on and a note to put them on the site. Up front, he specifically said he didn't want a photo gallery and crossed it out in the options list. His site has 5 pages. I feel a gallery coming on......



erinatkins -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 7:44:03)

Shirley,

I know at times I am in same position. I publish site & I will put in a little text from brochure I have from them. I will then email an invoice saying payment is due & let them know I will put in missing text when they send it.

This normally gets the text. [;)]

Erin



ContentSeed -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 16:32:23)

That very issue is one of the things that drove me to create my app "ContentSeed".
Now I put it in every site I do.
After I've got their template the way I want, get the navigation laid in and approval from the client, I bill it out and include instructions on entering their content into the pages using the ContentSeed interface.

It works great and really prevents the "log jam" I used to have at the end of the job. Ironically, using this system the clients almost always have their content in place in a few days rather than the few weeks/months it used to take getting it from them.

I still like to go through their content looking for things that need to be fixed/ buffed but it's still a lot easier and quicker than doing it the "old way".



davids -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 16:48:31)

Good ideas, if sometimes a bit unorthodox.[;)]
50% upfront? check
Asking for (electronic) copies of all their material before making the agreement? check
Clause that work must be completed within 3 months and if I have made a reasonable effort I get to ask for payment (but still finish)? check, but rarely enforced.

Here's a new one I tried: once the time period is up, propose that we will create the page texts based on the material previously supplied. $60-80 per page with max. 2 revisions. Just increased the final invoice by $500. It helps, though, that most of my clients are in an industry I know so I can easily write copy.

Some clients just have more money than time. To the extent that you can find a good, cheap copywriter you can even farm this out and make a profit.



davids -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 16:52:47)

Forgot to say that on a large project (over $2000), then it's better to ask for, say, 40% upfront, 40% on presentation of working model and the remainder on final delivery. That way you don't get stuck doing 90% of the work and waiting a long time for the final 50% payment.

Good luck to all,



GetCalhoun -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 18:45:18)

Hurray for OutFront. It's like hitting the jackpot. Kinda like hearing Rush finally talk about YOUR subject for a change. So, I'm not the only one out there, huh?

I just had a client pull a real sneak. They had initiated a shopping cart website in Yahoo, neither subject with which I was familar. (I figgered it would be a learning project. And how!) They wanted me to finish it for them. Soooo... Bekez they impressed me so much with their panache and honesty, they get the standard contract with many of the features you mention...but no upfront pay. Twas an error in judgement that won't happen again. To make a long story short, the 99% finished project wasn't anything like we agreed on up front...much longer...and many many changes including them insisting way down the line that I change the menu to the precise exact format they expressly said they didn't want at the start.

Then, at 11.59pm, after putting me thru the wringer on supplying content, they decide that since I can't deliver a shopping cart feature that doesn't exist, the website is incomplete. Then they change the password on me, I suspect to try and hang onto the almost complete site, for free. Only they didn't know I left myself a back door so I could deconstruct the thing. Simply what happened was that they got cold feet, money got tight, and they didn't have anything to lose. The lesson...Get good faith money up front. If the client has nothing in the game, they can play games with you all they like.



dpf -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 19:11:32)

quote:

Kinda like hearing Rush finally talk about YOUR subject for a change.
he's never said a word I liked..lol..but good story and good lesson. I had a guy gungho starting a new business - met him in a bar..lol i did him a favor $500 for small site but I got $250 up front - we went back and forth for a week and he selected a logo I created for him an then he disappeared..over a year and I nver heard from him - but got $250 for a 3 hour logo creation job <smile>



davids -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 19:16:14)

That's it, Dan. After a few projects you learn to cover your bases!



dpf -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 19:17:42)

quote:

After a few projects you learn to cover your bases!
at the other end, ive paid for a domain name for 4 years running waiting for a friend to "decide" ..lol



davids -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/8/2004 19:28:12)

A friend, well, yes. Oil and vinegar do not mix.

Friendship is not a business relationship. What we do for friends is different...



jaybee -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/9/2004 5:26:40)

Friends are not friends when it comes to business.

Having said that I too have an unpaid for domain sitting in my portfolio. [&o]



Donkey -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/9/2004 5:43:39)

quote:

Oil and vinegar do not mix
So salad dressing does not exist?



jaybee -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/9/2004 5:48:42)

No, it's a figbox of your imagination. [:D]



davids -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/9/2004 6:01:06)

That's right. It is only really salad dressing while you are shaking it. Once you stop, it just becomes oil on top of vinegar again. So you can't actually eat salad dressing unless you shake your head all the time. [8D]



dpf -> RE: Waiting for Content (12/9/2004 8:47:53)

quote:

it's a figbox of your imagination
as my wife says: "its a pigment of your fascination"



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