Great companies, successful entrepreneurs and product innovations start with a simple question. Why?

Zappos built their company by asking why companies spent more on marketing than customer service. Ricardo Semler created democracy and empowerment within the workplace by asking why companies don't trust their own people. Apple asked why mobile phone manufacturers put all their efforts into fancy hardware when the software is what sucked.

All of these ideas come about as a result of dissatisfaction with the status quo. To these people, "industry standards", company policies, or the way things have been done in the past are nothing but excuses. What excuses have you made in the last 30 days that kept you or your company from being it's very best?

It's a simple test, really. In everything you do, ask yourself the following:

1. Why is it done this way?
2. Can it be done better?
3. How can I become the best or be most effective at this?

It might be appropriate for you to ask yourself why people don't ask why more often. I ask myself that all the time! It's because asking why is never popular, it's never cheap or easy, and it's never the most productive thing at that moment. But if why is the difference between you and being average, wouldn't it be worth it to ask every time?

Sometimes when you ask why, the answer is to change nothing, and sometimes the answer is to change everything. In both cases, there should be a great reason to do so. For the record, none of the following count as "a great reason":

• That's how our competitors do it
• I don't have time
• Our industry has always done it this way
• My boss or my client doesn't like it that way, and I don't want to rock the boat

That last one is loaded, because sometimes you have to give in and keep the boss/client first. But you still shouldn't be afraid to question something that can be done better, and challenge anyone that is afraid to leave their comfort zone.

If you are content running in the middle of the pack and not getting noticed, then by all means do not ask why. If you want to be the best, ask why at every opportunity, and be prepared to take action at whatever cost.

A thrilled customer is the biggest WIN a company can have in my opinion. Happy customers can single-handedly keep you in business, and outlasting any challenges a recession or struggling industry may bring about. For Project83, our customers are everything, considering we have yet to spend our first dime on marketing (and don't plan to).

That said, providing an outstanding customer experience in our business (web design and development) takes work—a LOT of work. It's something I was severely under-prepared for in starting this company, and I definitely have room to get better; even after nearly four years of learning.

If you are considering a career in web design or already have one, I feel it's important to be aware of what it takes to WOW a client over the course of a project.

It's a Marathon

When you typically think about customer service, it's a sprint. Purchasing a product in a store, going to a restaurant, or calling a 1-800 number are all forms of customer service that begin and end in a short span of time, thus the reason I call them sprints.

A typical web design project is very different. It's a marathon. It can easily take 3-6 months of work to provide one single outstanding customer experience to a client. That also means you have six months to screw it up.

My advice? Be patient, communicate constantly, take responsibility for mistakes and meet the deadlines you set. Do those things and you've already surpassed most companies in our business.

The Work is Subjective

By providing a creative service, literally nothing we do is black and white. It's all up for debate until you have analytics to back up your theories. All of our work is subjective, and in the end the client has final say on which direction the project goes. If we believe a project is perfect, yet the client believes it's not close, then it's not close. Sometimes that can be a hard pill to swallow.

Consider creative differences as a challenge for you to get better, and to get out of your comfort zone. At times we simply have to trust that our clients understand their business better than we do, and just make what they want happen. At other times you should be honest and try to steer them in another direction. It's a delicate balance, but always make your points with respect, and be willing to move on if they don't agree with you.

Personal Relationships are Everything

Web development is still like any other business in that it revolves around people. Due to the long-term nature of a web project, you are expected to initiate and maintain a great working relationship with the people that hired you, or else things can go downhill. If you are an unbelievable designer with bad people skills, it's virtually impossible to make your customers happy, despite the work being good.

My advice is not to be a hermit (I can struggle with this). Seriously, don't lean solely on email communication with clients. Check-in with them on a regular basis over the phone or in person to keep your relationship on good positive terms. Email can be so easily misinterpreted and cold, that you simply must do more to keep your relationship with a client on solid footing.

It's Not About You

As a matter of personal pride, it is perfectly natural to want each project you work on to be your very best. But that won't always happen, and you have to be able to smile through it.

Web design work is about honoring the client, and providing a product for them that will generate a great return on investment. Most importantly, you want them to have a big smile and tell all their friends about the great experience they had working with you. Do that and everyone wins. Make the project about you or your ego and you will lose most of the time.

I am not writing this post because we have the customer service thing down; because we don't. However, I do think we're getting better at it every day. Being conscious of common pitfalls in our business is the first step in rocking them out and providing outstanding customer service.

So we made our way down to Austin, TX a couple of weeks ago for the annual geek-fest we all know and love, called South By Southwest. Yes I do know that SXSW is more well known for the film and music festivals, but we're not cool enough for those yet. "Interactive", as they call it is a fantastic time for bonding over brews, seeing some web design superstars and learning some stuff in the process.

Most of all, I've found SXSW to be an incredible source of inspiration. This was the 4th straight year I went to the festival, and we come home overflowing with ideas and motivation to take on the world wide web each time.

Many of the panels have now been posted on the SXSW website, and if you did not have the opportunity to be there, here are 5 recommendations (in no particular order) that are definitely worth checking out:

1. Opening Remarks: Tony Hsieh

If you know us, we're BIG fans of Zappos and all the great things they are doing in the business of customer service. We even made a trip to Vegas in January just to get a tour of their offices, and it was one of the more valuable business experiences of my life.

Tony (Zappos CEO) made a big splash at SXSW last year, and was brought in for one of the keynotes this year, so he could talk about culture, service and marketing.

Listen to the podcast

2. Even Faster Web Sites

Steve Souders (Google) is one smart dude, and he is one of the foremost experts when it comes to the need for SPEED on the web. He created a great Firebug extension called YSlow while at Yahoo!, and in this panel takes a deeper dive into advanced techniques that can make your website(s) faster.

I found the panel to be incredibly informative and useful. I learned more at this one than any others. Be on the lookout for the 2nd edition of his book, High Performance Web Sites (O'Reilly) this summer.

View the slides

Listen to the podcast

3. From Freelance to Agency: Start Small, Stay Small

This panel had some very different, yet well-respected folks on it that have companies providing web services. It was moderated by who many consider the godfather of web standards, Jeffrey Zeldman of Happy Cog. Members of the panel talk about making the switch to freelance, hiring, firing, benefits of staying small and more. This is a must-listen podcast if you are thinking about doing your own thing, or if you run a small agency like we do.

Listen to the podcast

4. Oooh, That's Clever! (Unnatural Experiments in Web Design)

Paul Annett is a designer (and hobbyist magician) for a shop based in the UK called Clearleft, who does absolutely brilliant work. His presentation was well researched, well delivered, entertaining and absolutely inspiring. Anyone interested in design for the web simply must watch this presentation, and it makes sense to see the slides he has also.

Watch the live video

Hear the audio and watch the presentation slides

5. Gary Vaynerchuk

I'm sure this panel had a name, but all you need to know is that the one and only Gary Vaynerchuk took the stage at SXSW for over an hour, and it was memorable to say the least. Gary works his butt off and KNOWS social media unlike anyone else.

He is one of the loudest, most fired up people you will ever meet, and it's all real. Best of all, he knows what he's talking about, and especially knows wine. Watch his keynote and you will definitely want to go conquer the world like he is doing right now. Be advised, the language is pretty heavy. He's from Jersey.

Watch it here.

Not long ago, I left a parking garage after a one-night hotel stay. They charged $30 for the twelve hours I was parked there, because they knew I had virtually no other choice. As great as my hotel stay may have been, I left with an awful taste in my mouth about that experience, and about that company.

Yesterday I looked at my merchant account statement and found a $20 "customer service fee". Why am I charged for customer service when all they do is bill me every month and we never talk?

I call fees like this a "gotcha" fee. Big companies think they are so smart selling you something at a fixed price, then tacking on additional fees after you have no other choice. Yet they forget how angry it makes the customer.

How about mobile phone companies? Have you ever gone 10 minutes over your plan for the month? Or used data service by accident while out of the country? Instead of upgrading your plan for the given month at the normal rate, they charge an outrageous fee just because they can.

Airlines are the worst about gotcha fees, and it is one of the main reasons no one likes companies in the airline business. $2 for headphones, $5 for a coke, $10 to watch a movie, and $15 per bag to check luggage. Southwest is the only airline smart enough to focus their marketing on AVOIDING gotchas. And for that reason, I will be flying Southwest twice in the next month.

If a company needs to charge more, then charge more. Just don't make the customer feel like they have been tricked. Offer a fixed price, and stick to it.

One instance of a gotcha on the web is inflated shipping costs, which quickly result in more abandoned shopping carts. Customers are too smart for gotchas! In a time when everyone is watching their budget, don’t make the mistake of losing a sale or losing a customer all together for the sake of a few extra dollars. 

We live in a world that is more intrusive and distracting than ever. It takes more coordination and concentrated effort to complete a list of tasks in a productive fashion than ever. Getting a project done without at least one interruption of some sort is seldom at best.

I'm even being interrupted as I write this article ... excuse me while I take this call.

Okay, I'm back, sorry about that!

In order to be happy with your personal productivity, you have to control distractions. The first step is to minimize noise. Incoming emails, instant messages, twitter updates and text messages ALL make noise by default, and it is literally killing your productivity.

None of these communication methods are ways to inform someone of anything urgent, so why do we feel the need to stop what we're doing and go check something every time we are summoned by the noise? Here's a thought ... turn them off!

That is my challenge to you: turn noises for email, instant messaging, twitter and text messages OFF for a week. Check them on your own time, not when it causes you to be less productive. I am willing to bet you will like the change of pace, and get more done in the process.

The only noise I am willing to stick with is the phone. Everything else can wait until you are finished with what you are doing. If it's urgent, believe me, they will call.

I can't help but be excited about this time of year. It's a lot of fun. However, if you end up wasting (all) your time being lazy and getting fat over the break, you will indeed regret it. So I present 4 ways to make the very most of your thanksgiving, while still enjoying plenty of downtime.

1. Get Organized

Find one big room or project that you can clean out and organize from top to bottom. Throw stuff away, donate to Goodwill and bask in the unique feeling of accomplishment that comes only from a clean slate. For me, the project will be my office. I can't wait!

2. Read a Non-fiction Book

Find something you are interested in and get better at it. This does not have to be related to your work, but the book does have to be non-fiction. Learn how to build something, or learn about new technology, or better yet how to become a better person. It does not matter, just learn something of value and look to apply that knowledge in the near future.

Over the holidays, How to Win Friends and Influence People is always a great book to read again or for the first time. I will be reading Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll and listening to Tribes by Seth Godin.

3. Reflect, then Take Action

Make it a point to spend time alone, without any distractions, reflecting on the past several months. Both personally and professionally, how could you have done better? What can you be thankful for? And most importantly, what decisions can you make or goals can you set that will have a positive impact on your next several months?

Aside from personal reflection, I love to spend time thinking about work with a "big picture" mindset. I focus on how we can do better creative work, how I want to spend my time and how I can interact with our team and clients better. For me this is a great way to visualize the next several months and how they will play out, then get fired up about it.

And by the way, if you are NOT fired up when you visualize the next several months in your life, make sure you write down the steps necessary to change it.

4. Have a good attitude

Hanging with extended family for long periods of time is not always the easiest or most comfortable thing to do. However, being a team player and having a great attitude is a difference maker. Try to be active in conversation and help out with food, decorations or shopping even though lying lifeless on the couch is much more appealing.

For many of you this may be easy, but being an introvert myself, they are things I can struggle with. The first 3 things are easier for me, but the fourth thing is the most important.

Do these 4 things and you are guaranteed to feel better about this week when you get back to the daily routine on Monday. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Slow economic times are good for business.

Feel free to re-read that sentence and let it sink in, then I will explain why.

A (temporarily) struggling economy is capitalism's way of "balancing the scales" so to speak; ridding this country of greedy executives, companies that have made far too many poor decisions, and those that forgot profits are not necessarily what brings about long-term success.

The beauty of capitalism is that customers are the boss. They choose who wins. Companies that trade in their loyalty to customers for stockholder value end up paying the price eventually. For many companies, this is their time, and rightfully so.

I don't care what business you are in — failure is a choice companies make when they stop putting customers' best interests first. And I can prove it. Take 2 industries that are struggling a great deal in 2008, the mortgage industry and the airline industry. Housing and energy are sure to be of grave concern in the upcoming election.

The housing industry slump is quite simply the result of subprime lending (see in Wikipedia). Big banks began selling mortgages to people that quite frankly could not afford them. They knowingly approved loans for people that would not be able to pay, and attached a much higher interest rate to the mortgage because of the risk involved. Banks screwed their customers, but most importantly found a way to increase profits. It was a winning plan until people could no longer afford to pay their mortgages.

Companies like Countrywide were so highly leveraged in subprime mortgages that they simply ran out of money. Screwing their customers practically crushed their business, or at least forced them to be bailed out by another big bank.

Subprime lending is a choice, and not all mortgage companies thought it was the right thing to do. Take Hudson City Bancorp, for example. This 140-year-old New Jersey company chose not to write subprime mortgages and their shares have gone up 50% in the last year. Or how about ING Direct? They made the same call, only lent money to those that could afford to re-pay it, and in approving over 100,000 mortgages have only had 15 foreclosures to date. (more in this article)

These two companies made decisions that were best for their customers, and have thrived during a tough time in their industry.

We are all aware that the country's biggest airlines have lost their focus over the last several years. Company executives have been so busy bloating their capacity (more carriers, more planes, more routes) that they forgot about customers. When fuel prices rose, the big 6 airlines lost roughly $6 billion in the 2nd quarter of 2008.

Is fuel really the problem? Or has it simply magnified everything else that is broken about these companies? Again this is why slow economic times are good for business. It is time to weed out companies that have forgotten about their customers in exchange for companies with better values.

Despite rising fuel costs, leaving customers in the cold was a choice made by most airlines. Southwest Airlines did not make that choice, and consequently earned their 69th consecutive profitable quarter this year (to the tune of $121 million). While other airlines got fat, Southwest started hedging fuel in preparation for a storm. They are committed to customers with policies like free baggage checks, and are now rewarded by carrying more passengers than any US airline.

By no means are economic times like this enjoyable. However, they are necessary to keep our capitalistic society in check. Love your customers and you too can win BIG in a slow economy.

In late June I moved to New York with my wife and two dogs for the summer. In a previous article I laid out reasons for taking this leap of faith, and what I was hoping to accomplish. Now that we are safely back in Nashville, I wanted to write a follow-up and talk about how the experience went.

Overall I could not have asked for a better experience. I learned a lot, met some really great people and found ways to continue building our small companies. After all, New York is full of people that are the best in the world at what they do, so it was incredible to be in the middle of it. The energy everywhere you look was enough to get me up and to the office right next to Wall Street each morning.

Here is how I stacked up on my 4 objectives:

1. Take Advantage of Proximity (B-)

Meeting new people and trying to earn new business cold turkey gets me out of my comfort zone very quickly. So I will admit, I did not make the most of potential work available in the city. However, I did make the most of existing relationships, and find ways to build our business as a result.

Along with getting a couple of new projects/clients we will be revealing in the near future, I got to start new projects with existing partners like Whiteboard Media in Philadelphia, Voxel Dot Net (our hosting partner), Merchant Plus (our merchant partner), Ubersmith and Twistage. These are all great companies that make sense for us to partner with. Just being there was enough to generate new and exciting projects for the next six months.

2. Enjoy the Commute (A)

It was a transition to travel to work every day, as opposed to working from home. Overall I REALLY enjoyed it, so much that I came back inspired to seek out an office space for our team. As long as you minimize distractions and find ways to get in a productive "zone" (I recommend headphones), being in an office with others is a huge plus. I got more done, and was able to relax much easier at home.

The problem in returning from the New York office commute is that the newly-acquired habits did not stick. I'm back to working more, working later and struggling to make the most of my time for an entire day. Once we find the right office space maybe I can look forward to enjoying the commute again.

3. Blog More (A+)

I am proud to say that I DID make blogging a higher priority while in New York, and I think it will continue that way. This is my 9th post since the initial article about this trip, which is a really great pace for me. At least one article every 10 days is my goal, and I love doing it.

The thing with blogging is MAKING time for it, because you will never HAVE time. I really love it, and come up with a new idea for a post it seems almost every day. This was a great goal that I am pleased to have accomplished.

4. Launch a new Application (A+)

This is a really funny goal to look back on. I actually moved to New York with plans that we would launch an application we have been using and working on slowly for about a year. However, that never happened. Over brunch a couple weeks after moving, a lightbulb went off and I pitched the guys on Feed My Inbox.

Less than a month and only about 3 days of development later we launched, and are now tracking over 3,000 feeds for people through email. The future is very bright as we continue working on new features for Feed My Inbox.

So YES, we launched a new application. It was just not the application I was talking about in the original article. It's a good thing we don't plan more than a week in advance for hardly anything, or else Feed My Inbox would not have happened.

In Closing

If you find yourself contemplating a LEAP of faith today, whether it be leaving the 9-5, taking your business in a new direction or simply moving somewhere to see what happens, ask yourself one question: "other than fear, what is keeping me from taking a leap today?" Chances are, the answer is nothing, and the rewards on the other end of a successful leap are great. Make it happen!

On Monday, we celebrated Project83's 3rd Birthday! As with most any birthday, we had the opportunity to reflect on how the company has grown, talk about the cool stuff we have achieved and dream a bit for the future. Although the photo below may be slightly confusing, these are green, blue and grey (sort of) cupcakes my lovely wife made to celebrate.

I've been lucky to partner with fantastic guys from the beginning that make our work something to be very proud of. A huge thanks goes out to Denny and Jared, also my partners in our little software startup. I also owe a great deal of thanks to the newest member of our team, Jack Behar. I am continually challenged by these guys every day, and they make what we do a lot of fun.

In order to create value with this post, I wanted to talk about a few things learned over the last 3 years. So here goes ...

1. Get Serious About Customer Service

People in our business are not always very good at customer service. Usually it's a mixture of pride, procrastination and bad communication skills that give geeks in our business a bad name. I continually struggle with the first of these things, but luckily I have been taught the importance of customer service.

I don't really care how smart you are or how good your work is. Success is still measured by your ability to help people and deliver on what you promised. We've never spent a dime to market this business, and have always had plenty of work solely because I take it upon myself to make sure the customer is happy.

We have clients that would probably be happy to point out that I am not perfect, but I believe they could all agree that I give everything I have to helping them succeed on the web.

2. Learn from Mistakes

I have never worked for a web company other than my own. Some might consider it a rather daunting task to start something with no real understanding of how the industry works. I saw it as an extraordinary opportunity to make a lot of mistakes, and learn quickly from them.

Everything I know about managing projects, doing proposals, writing contracts, designing comps and building websites is the result of trying different things and making mistakes. In order to properly learn from a mistake and take action, keep in mind you have to recognize it as a mistake and not make excuses or blame the client.

We have learned something new in every project, and after 3 years of making mistakes, I think we are really starting to do fantastic work. What we have learned by doing in 3 years could never happen by reading textbooks or working at some big agency with silly rules. Just get out there, and savour every single opportunity to learn from a mistake.

3. Promote Yourself!

I see companies all the time that are so mixed up in client work and other priorities that they have no time to spend on their own brand and long-term vision for the company. Why is it that marketing companies always have the worst websites? Why don't they practice what they preach in marketing their own business? I for one would never hire a web company that did not have a website I really liked.

Fact is, your website, your logo, your copy and your other stuff is the best opportunity to gain new business and make a great first impression. Don't get so mixed up in the here and now with client work that you forget to always be making your own stuff better.

We are actually working on a re-design of this site right now. It's hard because it takes a ton of time and does not bring in immediate income, but seeing the big picture means knowing how important the new site will be in attracting our ideal clients down the road. It is a great long-term investment and gives us the opportunity to work on a project where WE are the boss.

Here's to many more years of helping people, making mistakes and trying to improve all that we do to promote our services.

It seems that major professional sports in America get to play by a different set of rules than other, less-publicized industries from a business perspective. I would not normally bring it up in this blog, but these issues effect anyone living in a city with a professional sports team. Plus, I find it to be an interesting debate.

As a sports fan myself, 2 issues in particular have provoked many questions for me ...

1. How Teams Pay for New Venues

The business of building new sports venues in America is big. More than 50 have been built since 1990, with more under construction. What I don't get is how in the world these venues are financed and paid for mostly by taxpayers, yet owners make all the profits.

Cities sell the public on these stadiums, citing all the long-term economic benefits. However, no new jobs are created from new stadiums, and per capita income does not increase. So how do the taxpayers benefit again? The City of Pittsburgh paid for nearly ALL of their baseball team's (the Pirates) new stadium just a few years ago, a $262 million "bargain". And this is standard procedure all across the country, which goes without mentioning all the other things local governments SHOULD be spending the money on.

Leave it to the New York Yankees to knock this one out of the park. This New York Times article from 2004 is the laughable proposal for the NEW Yankees stadium scheduled to open next season. The Yankees originally told the city they would pay for most of what they said would be a $700 million stadium. The city and state was originally asked to only put up around a total of $100 million, including parks, garages and so forth around the stadium.

So how have things shaped up since then? The new Yankees stadium will be the most expensive ballpark in American history, costing more than $1.3 billion (and still counting). But the city/state is only in it for $100 million, right? WRONG. Taxpayers are now responsible for $204 million of the park, then another $300 million for parking garages and parkland.

The local community had no input on the decision to move forward with the stadium. No vote, no public hearings. Mmmmm, democracy. All in all, the Yankees ownership will end up paying $650 million, while taxpayers will pay over $500 million. Yet somehow, and this is the kicker, the city makes NOTHING from this "investment" other than sales tax. The Yankees will make all the profits (tickets, advertising, souvenirs, etc.), have no rent to pay (like they do currently), and will continue to thrive as baseball's biggest spenders in the game.

Not only are taxpayers stuck with the bill, but they may not be able to afford season tickets next year. Not only does a ticket priced at $12 in 1990 cost $250 in 2008, but the same ticket is expected to cost $500 or more next year. These numbers are based on the top ticket price for a box seat.

Thankfully, because I have to end this on a less depressing note, some organizations choose to be responsible about new stadiums. For instance, the San Francisco Giants (baseball team) built the first privately-owned stadium since 1962, requiring almost nothing from taxpayers.

How many of you out there would be willing to fund Project83, and our software company Brightwurks? We will happily take your money, however you won't make any of the profits and will still have to pay the regular price to use our software or have access to our services. Any takers? I didn't think so.

For more on this issue, check out Field of Schemes by Neil deMause and Joanna Cagan.

2. Re-negotiating Player Contracts

Why is it that players in all major sports are not only able to demand unbelievable sums of money for performing on the field, but if they actually do their job and live up to expectations, they want to re-negotiate their contract for more money before it is up? Yet if they get a big contract, then don't play up to their pay grade, management has no right to re-negotiate a contract in the other direction.

Since the football season is upon us, there is always a group clamoring for more money because they want to be paid like the other guys are. This year's crowd includes Devin Hester, Anquan Boldin, Kellen Winslow and Steven Jackson. Those players all had great years last year, and all but one have ended their holdout in favor of a big fat contract. But how about the guys making a ton of money that did not deliver last season? Where are those contract re-negotiations?

Maybe I'm old school, but if you sign a contract, you play for the money you agreed to until the contract is up. Period. If you want to re-negotiate in the middle, then general managers should be able to do the same upon a lack-luster performance.

I wonder how that philosophy would work in the real world. Major executives just stay home and decide not to come to work because the guy in the same position at their competitor now makes more money. I am pretty sure in most cases that executive can forget about having a job at all.

The best thing for pro sports would be to simply make player salaries PRIVATE. That way there is no basis for comparison. This exact same thing happened when Corporate CEO salaries were made public (Predictably Irrational has a great study about this). When the rule was instituted, regulators thought that it would force companies to keep salaries low and prevent public outcry. That never happened, only the opposite. CEOs began demanding more based on what "the other guy" was getting. And off to the races we go ...

As a sports fan, entrepreneur and taxpayer, I think these issues are very important to come out against. I would encourage others to speak up and end ridiculous practices within this industry, which have a profound effect on our lives OUTSIDE of sports too.