In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about WOF (Waiting on Feedback) and WOM (Waiting on Materials) and what you need to know about them.

This newsletter focuses on giving you practical, interesting insights into how to successfully use technology as a tool to improve the way you do business. Bridging the gap between knowledge and understanding that all entrepreneurs have will help you make money online.

Please hit reply and tell me about your favorite organizational device. I answer every email sent to me.

All the best,

WOF, WOM, What?

I love whiteboards - you know, those big old dry erase marker filled devices of organizational joy - I am indeed crazy enough to think they are just the most fun. They also tend to be used very heavily in the web development industry, which leads us to our topic for today.

All over planet earth web developers have filled whiteboards with plans, dreams, to do lists...you get the idea. One thing that exists on every web developers client status white board are the dreaded letters WOM or WOF.

WOF stands for Waiting On Feedback.
WOM stands for Waiting On Materials.

They have a lot in common - and web projects can languish with this status for weeks, months, and for folks determined to be exceptionally difficult even years is possible.

To look at all of this another way - these are the moments where you the Internet Entrepreneur are screwing up web projects - but fear not, I think a bit of comprehension of the common causes here could help put you back on the path to success...or at least the path to not pissing off your web development folks.

So first let's talk about WOF and what tends to happen there. Typically you receive some sort of design or copy proof and you glance at it briefly while simultaneously deciding that this "serious" issue needs "serious" attention and therefore you will get to it "later".

There are three common root causes of the WOF issue and they are:

• This was expensive and I want to be sure and get my $ worth
• I want to ask the world what they think
• I don't know what you want me to say

Web development - much like auto repair or construction - can be very intimidating in terms of cost. You fear paying for things you shouldn't, you fear paying too much, you certainly aren't clear on why all of this costs so much in the first place. As a result a very common reaction is to just reject whatever is presented first because you "paid" for multiple drafts and a "comprehensive process". This reminds web developers of the uneducated person trying to be a foody in a great restaurant - they send stuff back to the kitchen mostly just to prove that they can. Don't do it - this type of rejection just wastes time and will eventually cause your web developer to get negative as they see you being a pain in the ass for no apparent reason (unlike you they don't think all this stuff is so expensive, so they have an awful lot of trouble seeing the project from that perspective).

Then we have the great survey method - asking everyone who works for you, anyone you know well, even the neighbors kid what they think of a draft. The root cause of this is that you don't really trust your own opinion - and sometimes you are right to think that, many Internet Entrepreneurs spend a shockingly small amount of time online. If you are having this problem do not seek "more qualified" opinions than yours, simply kick the whole thing back at the expert you hired. Trust your web developer to make the small decisions with best practices and the web universe firmly in mind.

Finally we have the lack of clarity on what sort of response your web developer is looking for. Smart web geeks sometimes combat this issue by providing you with very specific questions to answer but most of the time they don't do that. The most common symptom of this particular problem is wanting to talk about everything except the draft - plans for photos, the copy, the shopping cart - anything but the draft itself. The majority of the time this problem goes away by simply recognizing it - don't hesitate to ask your web developer for lots of specifics on what they need from you, it is perfectly fine to say that them asking for "your opinion" is not clear enough.

Then we have the other big issue - WOM. Waiting on Materials is actually quite a bit simpler than WOF and it only has two basic root causes.

• Too Big a Site / Over Committed
• Does Not Exist Yet

When you sit down and plan a website project that is an exciting day. You begin to think about all the ways in which your site might help your business and you typically make a list of everything you think you might want it to do for several years. The core issue here is a very simple mistake - thinking that websites are ever done. They aren't. Seriously. Not ever done. When you get into this situation you'll find yourself saying that the "new" site will launch when you have finished all of these other things. The solution here is to treat your website like your house - you don't stop cooking meals in the kitchen because we are working on improvements in the garage. Bite off smaller chunks and remember that it is not "just fine" it is in fact "ideal" to add a new segment to your site each month going forward.

The other big cause of WOM is that the materials do not exist yet, commonly accompanied by a side of committing to produce the materials for your web developer without any plan for actually doing so. When you get into this situation the best bet is to trim the project back and move forward with what you do have, you can always add the rest of the stuff later on. One thing of special interest is that this problem very rarely occurs with full service web development firms as they create the vast majority of the content for you.

So I hope this helps you deal with the dreaded WOF and WOM a bit better going forward. Remember that web development is a team effort and as the Internet Entrepreneur you have responsibilities too. A good rule of thumb is that no one should ever wait on you for more than a week - and if you achieve that you'll have happy web developers indeed.

My Garden Adventure - Sitting in Poop

Last weekend I was out in the garden here at Spruce Nubble Farm planting beans. I was pretty pleased with myself as I cut little x's in the black plastic while making sure to not injure the drip irrigation hose and placing each bean exactly one inch below the surface while making sure to pat down the soil each time. My lovely wife turned to me and asked a question that would have been shocking only a few years ago:

"Do you know that you are sitting in Chicken Poop?"

and the most amazing thing about this was that yes indeed I was aware of what we had in between rows. I replied with a smile: "Well, I'm taking a big long shower when I am done doing this anyway, no worries".

My wife simply smiled and had the same thought I did - I've come an awfully long way on the living in the country adventure - not bad for a geek, not bad at all. I love it out here in the middle of no where.