You have a mission and a vision. Part of your vision is how your website looks and feels. You're not a programmer or a web developer so you get someone to do it for you. Can you talk to each other and get any feeling that you're speaking the same language? You don't often hear about easy communication between the people who need to use the computer and the people who develop the tools they need to use. Sometimes it feels as if there's an impenetrable wall between the two. If you don't want a wall between you and your customer, here are a few things to think about.
1. You've already identified your customers and know how to talk to them and what they want. Don't lose sight of that fact. You are the Subject Matter Expert, the person who knows what the computer needs to do for you. It makes good sense to find someone who is an expert at the technical part of developing your website. You have more than enough to do just getting your business started and don't need to learn how to do every aspect of your marketing effort. You're needed for the face to face marketing so get a technical expert who is recommended by other entrepreneurs for the virtual marketing. But, don't stop there. Meet with them and find out in minutes if you can communicate with each other. You're both experts on different facets of the project. Can you work comfortably as a team or not?
2. You want someone who is not just a technical expert. You want a partner who knows something about the business world. You want someone who continually updates their knowledge about usability and internet marketing. You want someone who clearly respects the people who will try to use your website to do business with you. A very large project that was staffed with a team of very capable experts was managed by a person with a sign on the wall that made it very clear that the end users of the system were nothing but an annoyance to him. That project was the final nail in a coffin for the division that the system was supposed to serve. It drained the finances until the division was shut down. You are looking for a technical expert with "people skills" or someone who can act as a buffer.
3. With the advent of agile system development, a method championed by developers, specifications are going out of style. Specifications, whether they are simple or complex, are the basis of understanding. If you can sit down with your developer and look at a document, a graph, or a drawing and agree that you're on the same page, you will both save time and money. Every misunderstanding costs time and money. Avoid misunderstandings! Insist on something that you can look at, understand, and agree on. Agile development requires your continuous availability to participate in every step or your agreement to have someone else represent your interests in the development project. If more of your time is needed, how does that affect your business? How will it affect production? Get specifications!
Conclusion: You'll achieve the results you're after with relevant, clear, concise communication during the development of your website. Solid content that's meaningful to your customer will lead from startup to a solid success. It will come from solid communication between you and your developer.
