Building A Perfect Website? Are You Too Perfectionist?
Most online entrepreneurs seem to think that each and every one of their projects needs to be perfect, that flaws are simply not acceptable and, of course, that they shouldn’t even think of launching a certain project until it can’t be considered the definition of perfection. Is that your case as well?
Why on Earth would you think that something man-made can be perfect? Sorry to burst your bubble there, but us humans are flawed by nature, that’s simply the way things stand.
More than a few online entrepreneurs think that every website they launch needs to be perfect, and, as a result, end up spending far more time than necessary on a project in order to deal with all sorts of minor details which no one but themselves will even notice.
Quality vs. Quantity
A lot of times, striving for perfection can prove to be quite a dangerous trap, one you shouldn’t fall for if you are serious about being productive. Let’s face it: wouldn’t the time you spend dealing with all sorts of minor details be better spent on something else? You need to always try your best in order to find a worthwhile quality vs. quantity ratio.
Let’s take an example and assume that you have a website which is currently earning you $100 per day and that you have the choice: you can either invest a certain number of hours into tweaking that project so that you end up earning $10 more each day or you can invest them into another project which will end up generating $100 worth of profits on a daily basis.
What would your choice be? Believe it or not, quite a few webmasters, for whatever reasons, end up choosing perfectionism.
You have to understand the value of your time as an online entrepreneur. Yes, you can spend one hour each day in order to tweak a certain project, but you always have to ask yourself: wouldn’t I be able to generate more income if I were to spend that hour on something else?
Who Will Notice?
Perfectionism can, and in most cases will end up keeping you from reaching your true potential and maximizing results, as a result of the fact that you spend a lot of time on certain tasks which are no longer worth it instead of investing it elsewhere. Again, in most cases people won’t even notice the changes you’ve implemented! Under such circumstances, is investing your time really worth it?
In this industry, trying to achieve perfection (like that would actually be possible) is not the way to go. If you actually think that you are able to create a perfect project then, my friend, I am afraid that you are living in denial. You can either choose to see the big picture and change your attitude accordingly, or you can continue living in that fantasy world of yours and wondering why you can never catch a break.
The choice is yours to make, what will it be?
Share your own stories, tips and tricks with us, so we can all learn something :)
Best wishes,
Alan Johnson
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About the author: This was a guest post by Alan Johnson. He teaches you how to build a profitable website in 10 days over at TheRatingBlog.com
17 Rockin' Comments
February 26th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Interesting post. It’s the old 80-20 rule popping up again: 20% of the effort gives you 80% of the final return. Enough talk, let me get back to removing that annoying 1 pixel that shows up in IE4… :D
February 26th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I definitely have my perfectionist tendencies, but I think I’ve finally learned where to invest my time for maximum effect. It certainly isn’t easy getting to this point, and I suppose that it won’t be too long before I realize that I’m still not as good at it as I think. :-)
February 26th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I think I am someone who definitely spends too long on unimportant aspects. Sadly I have not been fully happy with any of my online creations….. yet!
February 26th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
“You have to understand the value of your time as an online entrepreneur”
True statement. I embraced this philosophy a while ago. I also have a 37 Signals based approach to projects tied into that. So, physically you can improve your website. Its a good way to look at it. Shoot for good and get it out the door. Earmark what needs to be fixed or improved. Give the list an order of importance. And schedule a release for the fixes.
I like how you mention you should look at the time cost of improving a website versus starting a new project.
Thx. I like the article.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
As a freelancer, the perfection is what makes your client happy. The rest is extra, and, if you have time for it, what will make the difference between all freelancers and you.
Thanks for that good story.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Now this is an interesting topic
and I had to come over to leave my comment.
I am busy tweaking my website and have been doing so for months now.
This is no easy task, I assure you.
I am always finding something to add
to make my website look better.
I am in awe at how many gadgets, tools
and features are available for your website
and the fact that you can update your site
to your liking, whenever the heck you want. This really speaks volumes, shows your creativity and says something about you.
The readers gets to see and understand you
and come to know and appreciate your style. It’s a win win.
Bye the way, I happen to like your style.
Keep up the great work.
Your fan Jeunelle
February 26th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
By being a perfectionist you lose sight of your long term goal. I like what the author said” Us humans are flawed by nature”
February 26th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Recently (3 months ago) my husband and I decided to create a new directory. The problem was my husband and I felt very uncreative and no matter what design he came up with he was disappointed with the end result and ended up trashing about 6 different designs. When we finally admitted defeat and were at our wits end we folded and decided to look around at some sites that could help up with our “Writers Block”. We looked through such sites as: http://www.templatemonster.com/
http://www.istockphoto.com/
http://www.pixellogo.com/ you know sites that offered great web templates, stock photography, and logos.
We were very much inspired by looking through these sites and were then able to create the look and feel we were hoping for. The frustrating thing was we waited so long and wasted so much of our time and effort when we could have done this a couple months ago. But as your article mentioned we are both perfectionist and hate to admit defeat even when we should.
This is a prime example of time not well spent! Luckily this was a project for us and not a client.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:15 am
It’s a fine line, indeed. When launching a new site, do you set your launch date and stick to it? Or do you tweak things until it meets your exact vision? Is it better to get your site live and out there and tweak as you go? Is it okay to put it up and rely on users to notice any unfriendly UI fixes? Or, do you test run the site until every last bug has been “fixed.” My experience with the latter is this: That list of tweaks never ends… A Website is never finished. All sties can always improve - and sometimes that is forgotten. If a site ever becomes “perfect”… my guess is that it’s far from it.
Good article, thank you.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Thank you for your comments, it’s always great to see that others appreciate your work :)
Best wishes,
Alan Johnson
February 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Very sensible points there, Alan.
Like Bryan here, I too believe tweaking can never really end. There’s always something more to do.
So where do you draw the line? Tip: Get a cue from great painters.
For instance, van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ is considered a classic. But how ‘perfect’ was it in the eyes of van Gogh? Would one more stroke of Prussian Blue have made it ‘more perfect’? Probably. Probably not.
Van Gogh knew where to draw the line (pun unintended) and move ahead.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Well, all of you seem as Web-Developers to me, so what do we have in common? I’m an entrepreneur myself. I manufacture high-quality jeans….guess where abouts? In Bolivia, Yes, you read it right! as an entrepreneur I found the capability of making this high-valued jeans and to my luck I ended-up at this web-page Silkfair.com, where I could opene my first ‘e-store’, you might want to visit this treat, as its user-friendly features might give you some hints in how and where improvement can be made at your sites. Greetings from this neck of the woods!
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Good points there Alan. I’m a bit of a perfectionist myself, but I’m a LOT better than I used to be. I think it’s a case of just taking the plunge as in the past I would design 20 portfolio designs for myself and never launch one. After finally launching my portfolio I can focus on designing which I love. :)
March 11th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
It’s a hard road to travel, on one hand you almost have to be a perfectionist to be creative, but on the other hand you have to be a realist about doing business, almost a catch 22.
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