36 spot-on reader comments to “Online business is all about transparency”

1. Jeremy Davis, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   I believe that transparency in blogging really depends on the type of person you are. Some people have personalities that are easy to like, whereas others not so much.

   I believe in your case David that transparency is to your benefit. I gained a great deal of respect for you after watching how you handled the theft and restoration of your domain. You were level-headed and professional. Had you been a loose cannon and written a bunch of “Why Me” and “I hate the world” posts I would have lost respect for this blog.

   I believe the quality of the content is proportional to the perception of the writer. For example, I listen to the FreelanceSwitch podcasts. After listening to them I gain more insight about the panelists. I enjoy posts written by them more since I can associate the words I’m reading with a voice and personality.

   Jeremy Davis’s last blog post..Moleskine Madness

2. Chaitanya VRK, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   Very nice article David.

   Definitely worthfull and thought rising for beginner bloggers like me and also the others.

   I think being transparent upto the business extent is really usefull and a must, that helps others know what you are.

   Since ‘Trust plays key role in online businesses’, transparency will help in trust building.

   Eagerly waiting for the next article:
   “…How to use your blog as a business tool: an insight into how my blog has become the cornerstone of my graphic design business, and how it greatly improves my operations…”

3. Brian Yerkes, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   I agree, I think the transparency here is the foundation of the huge success of a blog like this.

   Giving insights into your work processes, your thoughts on clients, your opinions on various subjects….all build up that sense of pure honesty in what you are doing. And that can only be a good thing.

   It did hit you hard in the face when the domain was stolen, but it also helped you to get it back promptly, and so the positive wins over the negative.

   Did you make that graphic at the header of this post David? Really cool symbolism for this post. nice one

   Brian Yerkes’s last blog post..Eulda Award Winner : Best of Sweden 2007

4. Niyaz PK, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   David,
   So true.
   I see that the avatars are no more shown in the comments. It really was a distraction, and I think you have done a good thing by removing them.

   Back to the topic, I would like to ask you three questions:
   (1) Where do you work from? Home/office/Other? Tell more about the place.
   (2) What is your long term goal in life?
   (3) Given a chance, what would you like to change from your past? (I know that question is sort of a cliche)

   Niyaz PK’s last blog post..Microsoft IE8 and the Default Behavior

5. David Airey, on February 15th, 2008 said:
   Jeremy,

   I see your point about differences in personality, so would you say that those who aren’t easy to like find it difficult to build a community around their blog? I appreciate your sentiments about how I handled my domain name theft. Thank you. And as for your points about the Freelance Switch podcasts, I’ve often thought about posting a couple of video podcasts here on my blog, to give you more of an insight into who I actually am (my accent, mannerisms etc.). I just need to get a decent video camera.

   Chaitanya,

   Trust is definitely a key role in business, and even moreso when it’s conducted online. I’ve been told more than once that my blog was the deciding factor in people doing business with me, which is great to hear. The ‘blog as a business tool’ article might not be ‘next’, but it’s definitely coming soon, and I hope you like it.

   Brian,

   I thought the header image was very apt too, and I give reference to it at the foot of the post. You should check out the ‘transparent screen’ Flickr pool for more.

   Niyaz,

   Good of you to mention the avatars no longer being shown, because I wasn’t sure if people would think it a good move. It’s always nice to see your image beside a comment, but I also thought it was distracting. This way, my own comments are more obvious too, and my personal logo becomes more visible (memorable). Another thing I was trying to do was increase the line height for comments, but couldn’t quite manage it. Another time, perhaps.

   Thanks very much for listing your questions. I’ll get back to you about them in an upcoming post.

6. inspirationbit, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   Thanks for the mention, David. I really enjoyed our mini-interview session ;-)
   I think transparency is good, but in moderation. In your case it proves to be working in both good and bad ways, but fortunately the good outweighs - just look at your and your blog’s popularity and the respect that you’ve deservingly won from your readers.

   inspirationbit’s last blog post..Graphic Design Interpretations

7. umberto micheli, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   Hi David

   You’re as transparent as they get and its fully appreciated!! : ) There are no “trade secrets” with you and you whole heartedly volunteer any info you can. I’ve always believed in being honest with clients and colleagues there just seems to be to much bull crap going on in the real world - do we need to continue this trend in the online as well?

   I can attest to your persona offsite as you had no reservations about answering my email questions. I’m sure I’ll need more of your expertise once I start this blog thing and figure out the Mac vs Wordpress thing.

   Thanks again for all your insights!

8. Dan Cole, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   Do you know what company is not transparent? Microsoft! … The problem with transparency is that if your competition is not transparent and you are, they can use that to their advantage. According to Microsoft they’ve had something like 20 fixed problems with Internet Explorer and Firefox has had hundreds of submitted problems with Firefox. So to the general public, that means that IE is better. Microsoft is using Firefox’s transparency to show every nick-pick submission against it’s publicly approved bug fixes.

   Dan Cole’s last blog post..18 Great Design Elements

9. Ben Wisecup, on February 15th, 2008 said:

   David,

   I really think in your case the transparency has definitely opened up doors of opportunity to you. It certainly is helpful that with the amount of transparency you have, clients can feel more comfortable. For instance, when you open up and show a design process or other things that many people do not show, potential clients can see how your process works and get a better sense of your work style and dedication.

   Putting myself in the shoes of a possible client, I would definitely feel comfortable hiring you for a job given the amount of POSITIVE disclosure you give. That being said, you also show restraint and don’t go overboard with personal items that have nothing to do with your profession creeping into the blog. There is a fine line for this type of posting as it can very easily overstep bounds and make a potential client wary of your overzealous openness. I think you definitely walk that line gracefully and generate excellent insight into design.

   P.S. I’m a longtime reader but this is my first comment here. You’ve been a big influence on my decision to throw my line out and try and create some work of my own.

   Ben Wisecup’s last blog post..Resources for Designers, Post One

10. Jacob Cass, on February 15th, 2008 said:

    David, I was actually inspired by how much you do have transparency in your website such as your front page photo (I’m sure you noticed the similarity of the location of my photo and yours :P
    You were a bit cheeky back on the comment on Freelance Folder how you said ‘keep things to myself… for now’ then you come here and post about your articles.
    I hadn’t even heard about the wonders of blogging until I found your site through Asgeir’s blog 3 months ago. With the help of some of your articles it inspired me to start my own, as I knew I could make it successful and get some design work through it much a like you and I have enjoyed the experience very much so far.
    I am very much looking forward to your How to use your blog as a business tool post.
    Cheers.
    ps. I actually preferred the pictures on the posts as I can look for familar faces and what they have commented. Plus it gives an incentive for you to post as well.
    Jacob Cass’s last blog post..How to get onto Diggs FRONT page in 8 steps

11. Nathan Chapman, on February 16th, 2008 said:

    Personally, I do keep a small level of anonymity online, although this is only due to the fact that I am not yet an adult (teenager, that’s all I am saying).
    I don’t display my age on my portfolio, nor where exactly I live. Probably the closest I’ll get is what I have said above, teenager, and the Sydney region, Australia.

    I am not sure whether I do this because of online stalkers, or because people don’t really need to know.

    I’d also like to know what sort of price you charged when you first started out as a graphic/web designer. Now I have taken some people’s advice, and I am doing some free jobs to non-profit organisations around my local Community, but I was just wondering what a good price would be to start at?

    Thanks, Nathan

    Nathan Chapman’s last blog post..Beta Testing (β)

12. Regan, on February 16th, 2008 said:

    My first blog was done w/ a purposeful level of anonymity for several reasons.

    I already had a static web presence with an online store but knew it had to change radically. The anonymous blog gave me a safety net while I learned the ropes of Wordpress and the necessary steps of creating an online presence, branding etc. All without tainting what I already had out there (as crappy as it was).

    The 1st blog fulfilled that purpose and I let it fade away. At this point now I’m much better prepared to craft the 1st site into something more dynamic. And the blogging aspect with full disclosure of who I am and what I’m doing is absolutely necessary for its success.

    Not only does the regular blogging activity elevate the site’s SEO presence but it gains some trackback exposure into areas where potential clients (hopefully) lurk.

    My site redesign is almost complete so I’ll be able to devote more time to the transparency aspect from here on in.

    That’s something I’ve learned here.

    Regan’s last blog post..Import a Hammond tonewheel organ to Europe for less than 2100 Euros

13. Rob Cubbon – freelance graphic designer London, on February 16th, 2008 said:

    I’ve been following your blog for a while now and I think you’ve got the level of transparency right for you.
    One thing I would add to the security point would be to not disclose particular bits of information about yourself that could be used by criminals, for example, date of birth, exact address, relative’s names, etc.
    Looking forward to further sensible transparency! :-)

    Rob Cubbon – freelance graphic designer London’s last blog post..Get your message across with graphics and photography

14. BizGiftGuru, on February 16th, 2008 said:

    There is some anonymity on my blog, as I still haven’t decided whether it is better to be completely open, or not. I am a bit concerned that once I start writing as a person, some readers may consider the contents biased… I am however now inclining more towards being completely open, so will see how the fight between pros and cons will work out

    On the other hand a have on my blog link to my Facebook group, so in case people want to know more, they can even now…

    BizGiftGuru’s last blog post..The Lanyard Story

15. David Airey, on February 16th, 2008 said:
    Vivien,

    I also enjoyed answering your questions, so thanks again.

    Bert,

    It was a pleasure helping via email, and if there’s anything else you’d like to ask, feel free.

    Dan,

    I’m not all that clued in on how Microsoft (with IE) are combatting the Firefox transparency, but I’m happier using the latter anyday.

    Ben,

    Great to read your thoughts, and how you feel my transparency would help convince you to do business. I’m glad you decided to make your first comment, and I appreciate how long you’ve been reading my blog.

    Jacob,

    I think you misunderstood on Freelance Folder when I said there’s a lot of things I keep to myself. I was referring back to my teenage years, and the kind of stories only your best friends know about. It wouldn’t be very professional of me to turn my blog into more of a personal journal, much like Ben talks of in his comment above. Interesting that you prefer me showing your avatars. I found that on articles with 30 or more comments, it took longer to load the page, and if someone wanted to leave a quick comment at the bottom, they’d have to wait until all the avatars showed, as the comment form kept getting pushed further and further down the page.

    Nathan,

    I think you’re right not to show your age / address, and I keep this info to myself aswell. People can find out my address, but only if they’re dealing with me as a design client (or if we’ve built a relationship and they decide to visit). Thanks for asking your question, which I’ll answer soon.

    Regan,

    Great to read that your site redesign is almost complete. I wish you every success with your new venture, and if you ever want my opinion on anything, I’m more than happy to oblidge.

    Rob,

    I know you’ve been visiting for some time now, and I really appreciate it. You make a very good security point about not disclosing your date of birth / relatives names etc.

    BGG,

    Personally, I’ve found that most people prefer to read my take on events, rather than simply reporting stories from a neutral standpoint. I don’t think of it as bias - it’s my blog after all. Your pros and cons of being open would make an interesting read.

16. johno, on February 16th, 2008 said:

    I don’t think one can be too transparent; however, there is certainly a difference between transparency/honesty and simply revealing too much about one’s personal life. And re your holiday announcement, I think even if you hadn’t announced it there was still a chance that your domain would have been stolen–I think you were just incredibly unlucky.

    Question: why no advertising on your blog? How much time do you spend blogging? Perhaps these questions are answered in one of the interviews (off to read them now).

    ps: like the Century Gothic in the sidebar. Nice touch. I’m also happy to see those Gravatars disappear.

    johno’s last blog post..Typeface Review: Arnhem

17. Regan, on February 17th, 2008 said:

    Thanks David.
    Coincidentally I was just finishing up the About Me section when you posted this article.

    Regan’s last blog post..Bullfrog Music special: February 2008

18. Jeremy Davis, on February 17th, 2008 said:

    David, I’m all for people finding their “voice” in their blogging, but yeah I think it would be hard for people who don’t have natural charisma to get a good blog community.

    Jeremy Davis’s last blog post..Moleskine Madness

19. Jacob Cass, on February 17th, 2008 said:

    Ahh that is fair enough with the avatar photos as you do get quite a lot of comments and there is a better advantage by not having them on. Smaller blogs will benefit from it a lot more I believe. The avatars also show you who is serious about blogging if they have a picture.

    Jacob Cass’s last blog post..Ultimate List of Blog Heading Templates & Titles for Blogging

20. elaine, on February 17th, 2008 said:

    Hi, i have just started blogging and i am not too sure about transparency. I am trying to comprehend the blogging terms and jargons. Any suggestion and comment on how i should proceed from here if i want to make it truly a business.

    elaine’s last blog post..Why Do Chronic Dis-eases Happen To Children? (Part 2) ….cont’d

21. Tracey Grady, on February 17th, 2008 said:

    I’m considering starting a blog - I’ve mentioned this before in a comment on one of your posts - and as I’ve just finished a set term contract of work, I’m now looking at embarking on my own freelancing role, so my own blog could be useful as a marketing tool, especially since I’m keen to work online.

    Like johno, I’m interested to know how much time you devote per week to your blog - either in hours or as a proportion of your overall working week. Time is a major factor for me, as I’m balancing work with family commitments.

    (for my two cents’ - sorry, 2p - worth, I’m happy that you removed the avatars. Every time I saw mine, it made me groan)

22. Vicki, on February 18th, 2008 said:

    Hi David

    I can’t begin to tell you what a difference switching from a Flash-based website that was all very fancy and quaint to a Wordpress-based website (the one that’s up now).

    I used to get just 3 enquiries per week through my website. Now I’m getting 3 to 4 enquiries EVERY day. I managed to tinker around with organic optimisation and landed on Google page one for a few searches for freelance logo designer and freelance web designer for Singapore.

    The best thing about blogging about my business is that I talk all about design, my work ethics & values and also my business experiences. I share and educate the public about design in general and drop a few tips here and there.

    It’s made my audience think well of me- several prospects were just blown away at how willing I am to share information about design, both the aesthetic and business end of it, and got a lot of value out of my blog. This in turn has resulted in a lot of juicy business of late.

    I would say that it’s best to keep two blogs - one strictly business and one strictly for personal. Remember the saying, business and pleasure don’t mix.

    Vicki’s last blog post..Get It Done The Bionic Way

23. Ellen, on February 18th, 2008 said:

    I would agree that being transparent is very helpful. We were recently searching for design help and I had a few criteria for the designers’ online presence. First, they had to showcase their work. Second, they had to have some text that conveyed a knowledge of design. Third, they had to show some personality. I gave extra credit to designers who had blogs because it showed they were reasonably hip to technology, which is key for us. But I also found that the blogs were really useful to the designers to show their knowledge and to convey some personality. For us, personality is very important because you have to have a good working relationship.

    Long story short, my advice is to definitely have a blog and to also be as transparent as you can be. But don’t share anything that might turn-off a potential customer. For example, I saw one blog where the designer just railed about how bad a client was, and it gave me a bad taste on that particular designer.

    Ellen’s last blog post..GoToMyPC for Mac - Finally!

24. David Airey, on February 19th, 2008 said:
    Johno,

    Great point about the difference between transparency and revealing too much about your personal life. One thing I’ve wondered about my previous domain name theft is this: if the theft hadn’t already taken place, would the hacker still be receiving a copy of all my emails? Probably. So in a way, I was woken up to the fact that my privacy was being invaded, and was able to do something about it. Thanks for your take on the Gravatars. I’m also considering dropping the yellow emoticons, and will address your questions in an upcoming article.

    Jeremy,

    I’ll take that as a gracious compliment. Thank you.

    Elaine,

    Tips to succeed at blogging? How much of Darren’s ProBlogger site have you read? There’s a wealth of information there about blogging as a business.

    Tracey,

    I think it’s a great idea for you to start a blog as a marketing tool. There’s no doubting how effective they can be.

    Vicki,

    Perhaps it was a good thing that I first dabbled in web design through blogging, rather than focusing on Flash-based designs. I know how un-SEO-friendly Flash sites are, and I’d not receive half the visitors I do without the text content here. Great to know the upturn in business you’ve experienced.

    Ellen,

    Thanks for the insight into your recruitment process for design help. I’ve also seen blog authors being overly negative, and agree that it’s a turn-off. Focusing on the positives keeps you in a fresher frame of mind.

25. Jermayn Parker, on February 20th, 2008 said:

    I think being transparent is good!
    Yes it has negatives but I am sure all the positives far outweigh the negatives.

    btw with your search did you try the advanced WP search facility?
    and what benefits does the google customised search have over the WP one??

    I would like to hear about your findings etc (hear or elsewhere)

    Jermayn Parker’s last blog post..WordPress 2.5, one step closer to a CMS

26. firewalker, on February 20th, 2008 said:

    I think you are too honest about yourself, even new blogger could learn a lot about you and how you work by reading your archive. Well, it’s good that you build trust by revealing a lot of yourself. But I’m sure you are aware of its limitation.

    firewalker’s last blog post..4 Must Have Firefox’s Extensions for Website Designer

27. David Airey, on February 20th, 2008 said:
    Jermayn,

    With the WP search feature, I found the results nowhere near as accurate as the Google search. I’d tried using the ’search everything’ plugin, but to no avail. I also like the functionality of the Ajax search form employed by Google.

    Didik,

    You think I’m being too honest? I’m not sure you can be too honest, but I guess you mean I reveal too much information. I try to put myself in the shoes of a prospective client, and it’s clear that they want to know how I work. Sure, a designer can look at my process and use it for inspiration, but I take that as a compliment. I’m interested to know which articles in particular you feel are too revealing.

28. Karel - Caribbean Public Relations, on March 3rd, 2008 said:

    I honestly believe that transparency is the way to go because as humans we communicate better when we figure we know something about who we’re dealing with, and we”re more willing to share information about ourselves. I wrote an article about this some time ago on my blog.

    At the same time, we really can’t get too carried away. The fact is that there are people just waiting to prey on you, whether it be through identity theft, conning you out of your money, or stealing your domain name. So we can’t give away too much information about our personal lives, because sometimes too much information becomes a risk.

    When it comes to business, being open really gives prospective clients a sense of who you are, and some form of a comfort level before even meeting you. So for example, someone may build trust in your skills as a graphic designer David, and opt to do business with you over geographic boundaries.

    To this day, I don’t think that you telling us you were goingon vacation was a bad thing. You were showing your readers that you considered them enough to say hey, I won’t be around for a while, so if it seems I’m not blogging, here’s the reason why. The person who undermined your site’s security took advantage of the fact that you wouldn’t be around to sense that something was going wrong sooner. I’m sure the next time you jet off, you might encode some higher security measures, much like what you’d do for your house.

    Another suggestion worth considering may be hiring someone you trust to manage your site for you while you’re away, if it is that you can’t get regular access to the Internet.

    Karel - Caribbean Public Relations’s last blog post..Longer visits or more hits? Tips for increasing visitor stopovers

29. David Airey, on March 6th, 2008 said:
    Hi Karel,

    You make a good point, about me informing my readers of my holiday. You’re certainly right that the next time I’m away I’ll be tightening up on security, and at the end of the day, the attacker still had access to my account, whether I left or not. It was probably just a matter of time.

    Thanks very much for your suggestions.

30. Ross, on March 18th, 2008 said:

    Well, whether or not it’s better to be transparent in your blog - it’s working for you!

    I’d say this is proof enough that it is better to be transparent.

    Ross’s last blog post..Design or Writing?

31. David Airey, on March 19th, 2008 said:
    Thanks, Ross.

    It is working for me, and I’m grateful.

32. Real Estate Developer, on April 6th, 2008 said:

    Great post. Short life as a blogger but very professional at it :-)

33. Nugroho Adi Pratama, on April 7th, 2008 said:

    Nice post, it’s like a reflection of my family blogging experience; I blog on blogspot, start from scratch, i blog on some finance topics, readers are definitely on “need-to-know-basis”, i hardly have any visitor on my blog, harder on commenter; While my wife blog on multiply about his everyday life with our daughter, simple but honest idea, her blog traffic defeat my blog in no time…….. T_T…… kinda defeated by your student…….; thanks for the article, i should think something about my blog then.

    Nugroho Adi Pratama’s last blog post..Maybank plans expansion on Indonesia

34. David Airey, on April 7th, 2008 said:
    Nugroho,

    It’s interesting what you say about different niches. One can definitely draw more traffic than another, depending on the world-wide appeal, but don’t let it dishearten you. Millions of people are concerned with financial issues, and if you’re providing information of use, why shouldn’t they visit your blog?

35. Nugroho Adi Pratama, on April 9th, 2008 said:

    gee… thanks for the motivation david, actually i blog about financial issues since this is what i am good at, and my real world job also about this issue.

    Nugroho Adi Pratama’s last blog post..Maybank plans expansion on Indonesia

36. Brandon, on July 24th, 2008 said:

    Hi David,

    Just a quick thought, blogs and the whole personal touch are the way to go. I am new to your site, but have been checking it out a lot more lately. I personally find it is great to see interaction between business owners / site owners etc and their clients / visitors. in a day and age where there is loads of competition, making youir business personal provides a solid differentiator and I am sure will ensure, (at the least) some return visitors to your site. Im all for online transparency. thanks for the great advice, snippets and design stuff. keep it up.

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