Last Monday I asked, Why Do I Do What I Do? Today, I shall explain how I arrived at the answer I offered last time. Why? Because through using my business as a worked example, I will show how anyone can plan their business or community venture. Following my journey may help you with finding your why.
Here is the answer I offered last time: Why do I do what I do?
- because I have spent my whole life working in communities and looking back it’s frustrating
- because we’ve thrown millions at our communities to little effect
- because I’ve seen brilliant projects close and leave nothing behind
- because few know how to regenerate local economies let alone understand the problem
- because the voluntary sector has neglected local economies
- because this leads to disadvantaged communities with few prospects of development
- because dependency on grants causes this developmental deficit
- because dependency on grants leads to dependency on the public sector and estrangement of local businesses
- because injustice is at the root of this and we need to find fairer ways of running our economy
You may notice I’ve made a change. Each line now begins with the word: “because”. This illustrates the method I used to find these answers. Write any question at the top of your page and then write “because” and your answer. The next “because” follows your first answer and you carry on until you run out of steam.
An Earlier Answer
- Web consultancy is not about designing websites so much as working with organisations. Understanding organisations is more important than understanding how to build websites.
- However some clients do not understand this and expect web consultants to work on their website as if it is independent of the rest of what they do.
- Some website designers collude in this. They are not necessarily being dishonest. A few years ago websites were specialists’ work. This has changed. Organisational consultancy is now at the centre of site design.
You will see there is a difference! It’s not that I’ve abandoned this earlier version; indeed both offer a perspective on what I do. This earlier version focuses on my offer. The later version on my values. The later version does not explain what I do and the earlier does not explain why I do it!
I have doubts about the second bullet in the earlier version because I need to explain how I help clients when the responsibility for their site is theirs. I need to be clear about what I am seeking in a client. If they really do not understand my perspective on web design I may find it difficult to work with them. However the key is building trust and for many clients, if I start by working with them on their objectives, they are happy to follow when we get onto a website, whatever their understanding of web designers. The problems are usually where they have a long-standing relationship with an old-school designer.
Conclusion
So, I am a community development worker who offers support to organisations planning online campaigns fully integrated with their offline activities.
This does not necessarily mean working on a website. One of my clients is unlikely to work on their website with me; their aim is to find partners who can help promote their resources. A few years ago, this would have been a developmental role but today there are many online strands to their work as there are offline.
This insight has emerged from writing this post and I shall make some changes to my website as a result of it. The work of marketing is continuous and incremental. Mastering the circuit questionnaire and constantly reviewing it is helpful to any business.
