To: The Community From: The Department of Common Sense (Currently Closed for Refurbishment) We have all been there, haven't we? You sign a client. The deposit lands in your account with a satisfying digital thwack. You are optimistic. They are optimistic. The sun is shining. And then... the "Creative Director" gets involved. Then... Susan from Marketing decides the brand needs a "Voice" and a 12-part blog series on "The Essence of Sustainability." Then... the CEO decides to postpone the launch until the new packaging—which currently exists only as a sketch on a napkin in a pub in Slough—is ready in Q3. Suddenly, it is eighteen months later. You are still waiting for "assets." The project is dead, yet it refuses to lie down. It is a Zombie Project. It shuffles around your Trello board, groaning for brains, eating your profit margin, and producing absolutely nothing of value. We must stop selling "Websites." We must start selling "Existence." Here is the Reverse Launch Protocol—or, how to take a dusty B2B brand and launch their new Direct-to-Consumer store before they have time to ruin it with their "good ideas." 💀 The Horror Story (Read this to them by candlelight) "Mr. Client, my last three projects that aimed for 'perfection' are currently entering their fourteenth month of development hell. They are burning cash like a bonfire of vanities and have zero customers. Meanwhile, the client who launched a 'imperfect' store in four weeks has already processed £50k in sales and has enough data to know that—and I say this with love—nobody gives a toss about the blog Susan wanted." 🍞 The Philosophy: The Perfect Snack vs. The Salmonella Banquet Clients think they want a 12-course banquet (The Whole Honcho). They want the AR sizing tool, the loyalty points for buying socks, and the chatbot that simulates human empathy. But if you try to cook a banquet in four weeks, you will serve raw chicken. You will give everyone food poisoning. Sell them The Perfect Snack. A simple, flawless, hot slice of cheese on toast is infinitely better than a raw Beef Wellington.

I'd love to know whether any of you have clients using Shopify. I've been developing an app that is soon to be accepted by the app store, a simple utility that boosts speed and performance. Whether the merchant uses it, or you, you can sell the benefits of the speed improvement with no changes to their theme code or front-end setup. Comment below for more info. PS, This app is launching for FREE.

In your master sheet that you share with your client, you can cleanly plan a website's sitemap. Here's a recent example

Would love to know what you're working on today and discuss.

After some great conversations. I am opening up more slots. Full details here... https://lukemichael.co.uk/consultant-for-freelance-web-designers-uk