I’ll warn you right off the bat. This post may come off as a rant. And I promise you, its really not. But after almost exclusively designing blogs for more than 2 years, I’ve learned a few things. I absolutely love my job (the working in my jammies part is my favorite…) and I have yet to come across that client that I simply can not work with. I think I somehow only get the cream of the crop clients to work with. Really and truly.

But you don’t have to Google far to hear client/designer horror stories. And I would be lying if I told you my husband never hears a slightly vexed tone in my voice when he asks, “How was your day, sweetie?”.

So I thought I’d write a little post about how you can really get your blog designer (whoever that may be) to produce and not want to punch you in the face I mean get a little bit frustrated in the process of designing your blog or other design project.

Just some food for thought…

1. Know what you want before you begin. At least have an idea of what you like and don’t like, what style of design you’re going for.

2. Yet, trust your designer’s expertise. Chances are, they’ve been doing this for a while and know what works and what doesn’t work…what looks right and what looks like your cousin with a trial version of Photoshop came up with.

3. “Googling Before Asking”. I’m going to vinyl this on my office wall, I think. Chances are, 90% of your questions after your blog design is completed can be answered by a simple Google search, or the several links on usage of your particular blog platform that your designer should have sent you.

4. Don’t run the design comp by your mother, sister, neighbor for their approval/input (unless you are partnering with them in the blog in the end). Really, this is your blog and having too many cooks in the kitchen makes things very crowded. Again, trust your designer…collaborate with them. That’s why you hired them.

5. Samples always help. I may be speaking for myself here, but having sample links to other blogs and websites always helps me determine your likes (and dislikes).

6. Don’t go overboard on the initial conversation…and then leave them high and dry. Most blog designers have a waiting list. And a good designer will try to answer your questions before hand to make sure you can work together. When you have a laundry list of questions with no real intention of scheduling a project, that can cause a lot of frustration…and possibly an unwillingness to work with you when you come back because it didn’t work out with the guy who said he could do it for half the price. (It happens…just sayin’)

7. Try not to change the direction of the design half way through the project. Small tweaks happen, but major ones are a major pain…for both of you.

8. And if you do, don’t be surprised with extra charges. A good designer will confirm this before hand, but if they don’t, they can still tack on extra charges at the end of the project.

9. Your designer is not your indefinite indentured servant. Unless you have a monthly maintenance contract set up, don’t be surprised if you don’t get an answer to a question about your blog 6 months after the design process is over. That said, most designers want to help you…they just simply don’t have the time due to their current clientele.

Now that you know how to be the world’s best client, go forth. And tell them I sent you.