Writing code is not my gift although I need to have a great looking website. Knowing how to use the Internet is vastly different than understanding how everything works on the Internet. So, imagine my frustration when my website was hacked repeatedly in a short period of time and my web designer goes AWOL. Repeatedly, because the problem was never fixed by the “experts.”
For six days my website was down while those in the know tried to figure out what happened and how to restore it. I realized I was working with wannabes and not professionals.
I send out an S.O.S. to my twitter followers and received many responses. The non-professional responses from “experts” were shocking. From “Sure I can help your emergency, what’s your budget?” to “After you get your problem fixed drop me a line for hosting services, etc” And then he gives a thank you to who referred him to my post.
Being a professional at what you do means understanding customer interaction, being responsive to the customer and possessing solid knowledge. Claiming to be an expert and actually being an expert are vesting different things. The way the hacker got into my website (as I am told) was due to poor code writing by my “expert” web designer.
A Professional:
- Operates a business not a money-making hobby
- Possesses a skill set beyond the basics
- Builds client relationships, not just grabs what walks along
- Spends more occupational time on this job than on the other jobs he might do
In the land of multi-tasking and multiple occupations the woods are full of people looking for different ways to make money and the buyer is skeptical until he knows whether he is dealing with a professional or a wannabe.
In my case I’ve learned through multiple experiences eLance.com for web work is Wannabe heaven. Be a pro.
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