Usually, when I’m building a new website for a client, if it’s a revamp or we’re building a completely new site with an existing domain name I’ll put it ‘Under Construction”. That usually entails a big picture with a few words like “We’re working on a new site right now, check back soon…” – that kind of thing.
Last Monday, on the way to a Grateful Dead Concert we Googled “Vegan Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco” (seriously). We we’re looking for a highly rated place but couldn’t remember the name. Google delivered, it was Gracias Madre. We sat at the bar, had fantastic tacos and a beer. I asked the bartender about their website http://www.gracias-madre.com/ because when I pulled it up in Google it showed an Under Construction.
The Bartender said it had been that way for a very very long time. It was a Monday, at 6 pm, and we were sitting at the bar because every table was filled. Obviously they didn’t need a website for business. Good for them.
I saw a funny tweet the other day…
Right, time to go back and look at all of the websites I previously visited that were “under construction”.
— Mark Leggett (@markleggett) December 5, 2015
That’s the thing. We can’t expect anyone to come back to check if we’re back to being open. For many of us we also can’t afford to take our sites offline for a length of time.
I’ve been working and planning on revamping this site for a few months now, I think it’s been at least 6 months. Up until last Monday I was going to put it under construction. It would have been for just a week at most. I was worried about it not being perfect. I’ve been a follower of Seth Godin for a very long time and completely agree with his “SHIP IT” thought process.
So over the next few weeks AreWeConnected.com might look a little strange. All the content will still be there. All the great articles and forms will be available.
As Seth would say,
You ship. You ship your best work, when it’s ready. Not after it’s ready, not when it’s too late to make a difference, and yes, of course, not when it’s sloppy or unformed.
But you ship. You’re on the hook, you made this, it’s ready. Ship. Without excuses.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/10/the-problem-with-just.html
So here we go…
What are you shipping this year?
Mike Mueller
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and wants a really small one). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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