greg smart

We have recently been going through the development process on one of our larger projects this year and seem to have hit the content delivery wall. As I have finished off the css, graphics, PHP framework, 3-tiered navigation (etc…) I began to look toward content delivery from my client. We have been talking about this for months, have repeatedly gone over how and where to start with the content development and have been following up consistently via telephone, email and in-person meetings. Still, no content.

First of all, this is not an issue limited to any single client. Content creation and delivery is always a difficult task. Here at Pleth, LLC we do not develop content in-house. We either leave this to the client or will bring in content writers from outside firms. The problems reside with the former. Clients often say they want to develop their own content, but rarely deliver on this in a complete and timely manner.

As I searched for resources on this topic I did come across an interesting article that spoke to effectively tackling these issues: The Cure for Content-Delay Syndrome, by Pepi Ronalds.

Most writers enjoy researching their topics and crafting their prose, and for this reason, many writers are less than enthusiastic about shaping someone else’s words… Editors are taught to weave disparate voices into something more professional, and they can quickly identify and prevent common errors—particularly on multi-writer projects. They are taught the fine art of helping writers improve their work and have a strong eye for detail. Where writers often like to start with nothing, editors expect to start with a pre-existing body of work, and generally enjoy shaping it into something stronger.

As I reviewed the article above I realized that what is required is a role player with strong editorial skills. Someone that can take content, provided in-part and haphazardly, and shape it into a finished product. Although the addition of this roleplayer does increase the bottom line for clients the necessity becomes apparent with an empty site and launch deadlines looming.

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I was recently reading a Josh Jones blog post about web hosting and the challenges of providing free email services. This is an issue we know all too well here at Pleth, LLC. He states:

Just over HALF of all the support requests we get are about email. Everything else we offer, combined, doesn’t add up to the amount of trouble, expense, use, and effort that goes into “simple” old email.

And that’s kind of funny, because as far as I can tell, almost nobody CHOOSES a web host based on their email features.

They’ve been conditioned by Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, and Gmail to give email no value. I mean, everybody gives it away for free… nobody gives (real) web hosting away for free.

And yet, in the end, the only thing (sadly?) that actually ends up getting used, is that “no-value” email! If a web server with maybe 750 customer sites on it were to go down for even as long as five hours, we’d probably get two angry messages about it. But if email goes down for the same number of customers for just five minutes we’ll have already received 50!

As I write this post I am listening to my partner in the other room supporting an email customer via telephone. There is nothing wrong with her email, just her Outlook client and/or her network. But customers do not appreciate the differences in things like Plethware, Business Class Email Services and third party email clients (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc…). We definitely can’t tell them to call Microsoft.

First of all I want to state that there is no such thing as free email service. Just the costs of servers, security and support are weighty. Hosting companies typically absorb these costs elsewhere, but they are not insignificant. Most large, free email services support their free services through activities like ad sales. At Pleth, LLC we do not believe that this is appropriate for most small to mid-level businesses. So, what’s a web hosting company to do?

Plethware

You find a solution. One that makes good business sense and one that makes sense to any customer willing to listen.

For Pleth, LLC that solution is Plethware. Not 2 years ago we faced the same issue that Josh Jones is describing at Dreamhost. Are we going to tell our customers to go to a free email service? No. That doesn’t make sense, especially for the businesses we deal with on a day to day basis.

The problem with pushing customers to a third-party, free email service is that there is no quality control on our side. There is literally, no control at all. You, quite simply, are at the mercy of the email provider. They are free to advertise as they see fit and have no motivation to provide timely, human assistance to help you work through your email-related issues. And why should your shouts for assistance have any preference to them? After all, it’s a free service.

Serious businesses should not trust a priority function like email to a free service. These people deserve a stable email platform coupled with attentive support on the part of their web host. It has been our experience that companies who have experienced the rocky road of email service appreciate Business Class Email Hosting even though it does have an associated cost. At Pleth, LLC we have found our solution: Plethware.

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I was in the middle of my ritual, afternoon walk today when I saw something inspirational. As I rounded the corner of one of the shaded streets in my neighborhood I discovered two girls of five or six years riding in a plastic, motorized car. Now this wasn’t any motorized car, it was a white replica of a Ford Mustang that possessed two pink racing stripes which followed the contour of the car from stem to stern. I’m almost certain that the striping streamlined that car just enough to add a few extra horsepower, making those trips up and down the driveway a little more memorable to the riders.

What I haven’t mentioned yet is the third passenger. Seated between them, perched on it’s tail fin, rode a pink, inflatable dolphin. The dolphin was twice the height of each of the girls and occupied enough space in the small vehicle that it’s presence would surely have been an irritant had it not been a full participant in this early summertime activity.

As I approached and began to consider the trio they lurched forward from the top of the driveway and picked up speed. In the course of a few seconds they had spanned the length of the drive and were quickly reaching the edge of the road. The driver was obviously an experienced motorist because as they were reaching the end of their short journey she sharply turned the steering wheel causing the back end of the car to start sliding around deftly. In a snap the ‘Stang’ and it’s three passengers were fully turned about and were now facing up the driveway. As I chuckled to myself I almost missed ‘It’.

‘It’ was the tacit glance the girls shared prior to returning, full throttle, to their starting position. In that instant I realized I was witnessing a rare moment of pure joy and camaraderie.

As I go through my days I hope that I remember to enjoy myself as much as these girls. Life should be no more complex than this, we should all be lucky enough to have someone to share time and experiences with and always, always keep a pink dolphin handy.

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