At the same time, the clients failed to fully read and understand the contracts they signed - instead trusting the salesperson's promises of increased web traffic, increased revenue, etc.
Case #1: The client engaged a firm to build her website. Although the contract was clear to me, she did not understand what she was actually buying. She thought that she was getting a customized, easy-to-change, sophisticated website.
She didn't realize that the firm was using a limited number of templates, that "easy-to-change" is relative to who is doing the changing, and that the firm did nothing more than put her existing content into the new template - she was responsible for all writing and graphics.
This is not unusual, and I'm not blaming either party - this is a reminder that you need to read your contracts carefully because what you hear from the salesperson's mouth might not match what you are actually going to get in the contract.
Case #2: The client engaged a digital marketing firm to (she thought) increase her website's Search Engine Optimization (SEO), increase the number of Facebook friends, and increase her Twitter followers.
The contract says nothing about any of those three strategies. When the client asked the firm to explain what they were actually doing for the $7,000 contract, the salesperson got angry and gave her no valuable information. She walked away from the investment to avoid the frustration.
Digital media marketing - such as SEO, Facebook and Twitter, is a technical process, but that doesn't mean that you don't deserve to understand exactly what you are buying. If your vendor can't explain in normal terms how your money is going to be spent, then don't send them the deposit.
