Alternate Title: Why You Should Hire Us Now

Like the rest of the world, the whole economic Armageddon has been a hot topic of discussion here at silverorange. We, like most other businesses in the world, are nervous. What does this all mean? How will it affect us? How long will it last?

We work in a wacky industry. The last few years have been the wackiest we’ve seen in a over decade of doing this. There were businesses that had no plans and plans that had no businesses. There was always more money than people and cash was thrown at problems at astronomical rates. Of course we gladly got involved but we tried to carefully pick who we worked with. We made some mistakes and picked a few doozies but hey, who doesn’t? During this whole period of time we’ve never felt like it was sustainable. This crazy money had to run out sometime. It ran out in October.

It seems that other than our own ClusterShot.com there are no crazy dot com companies looking for design or development. Back in May we would be getting dozens upon dozens of work requests. Mainly these projects would use the following template for their emails:

Hello,
We love your work. We are a VC funded startup based in California and we’re building Web 2.0 site + Social Networking site for an Obscure Demographic Vertical. Money is not an issue. We’re planning to launch in two weeks. When can you start?

Sincerely,
The Founder/CEO

Here is a free piece of business advice: NEVER tell a service firm that money is not an issue.

What we’re going to see in the coming years is an unprecedented scrutiny of value. Before anyone gives up any money they will need to know that it will be worth it. So if you or your company is not providing people with real value you’re screwed.

This isn’t going to be the “we are awesome designers and make shit look cool” value. This is going to be the “this design will make this thing work and improve efficiency, increase sales, and save money” value. If you’re not doing that for someone, somehow, you are in trouble.

We’re very lucky. Our company was born in a small place far away from California as the original dot com bubble popped (1999-2000). We learned business the hard way. None of us were paid for the first 18 months. We lived on credit cards, family hand outs, and kraft dinner. We needed to impress clients, prove ourselves, and do valuable work to survive. We’ve continued to hold onto these principles even through the midst of this second bubble.

Our designs and development increase sales. We have built e-commerce stores and an entire e-commerce platform that have done and continue to do millions upon millions of dollars of business. We’ve designed apps that have increased our clients efficiencies AND increased their sales. These are going to be the things that matter in the months, and maybe years, to come.

Efficiency, sales, value. If you can provide these you will be sought after in this recession. Make or save your clients more money than you cost and you will be safe.

Thanks to Signal vs Noise for the heads up on this

Steve made a post that I wanted to and add my voice to.

Yes, ClusterShot.com is a harebrained dot com idea but we did build it for a reason.

In the spring of 2005 I went to Peru. I travelled around and took some photos. Some were good… some were not. I put them on my personal gallery and went on with my life.

In November of 2006 I received an email from Bradt Travel Guides. They had found a photo of a condor in my gallery and wanted to use it for the cover of a new guidebook on Peruvian Wildlife. They offered a price, I countered, they offered the same price, I accepted. Now my photo is on a book. It’s on a real book in the real world. Cool.

After selling the photo I thought – hey, maybe I could sell other photos! The obvious place to do this was on stock photography websites. I tried out some of the leading ones. Most rejected the photos I submitted. One popular stock site actually called the photo that I had already sold as “unsellable”. That was funny.

So this, Steve’s story, and a few others around the office got us thinking. What gives the editors of stock photo sites the right to be policing the marketplace? Shouldn’t the buyers decide what suits their needs? Shouldn’t any photo a photographer wants to sell be able to be placed for sale? As we found out, the photo you least suspect could very well be the perfect photo for someone. This was the beginning of ClusterShot.

We’re hoping that ClusterShot will become a little bit like Ebay. Some will use it to run their serious photography business. Others, like me, will put all of their mediocre photos on it and maybe sell enough for a meal now and then.

Ah the recession... What better a time to start a new company? Cough...cough...

In the past year we've sneakily built a dot com company. Behold ClusterShot.com. The reason for the site is very simple. We feel that anyone should be able to sell any of their photos for any amount they choose. Oh yeah, and you, the photographer, get most of the money. You pay only 12% of the sale for the use of the site. Think that's too high? On most stock photography sites the percentages are pretty much the other way around.

Features:

• RSS and Flickr importing. Hoorah – set it and forget it! What does this mean? Keep using your own gallery or Flickr and have your photos for sale at the same time.
• Simple email and password sign up. No, you don't have to upload your passport and first born.
• Make an offer – Not sure how much your photo is worth? No worries. Allow people to make you an offer. You can always turn it down or make a counter offer.

Let us know what new features you'd like to see. We've got some sweet ones planned but we haven't come up with them all yet. Stay tuned for an API.

Welcome to ClusterShot.com. We made it for you.

silverorange is officially growing up. We used to launch sites about technology, witty personal blogs, and photo gallery software. We now are launching sites about babies!

They're cute, they're adorable, and the site's running on some kick-ass blog software we wrote. Congrats to Nick, the slice who built it, and his lovely wife who is running it.

Last night she accepted his proposal. They started dating a few years ago. A drink here, a movie there. They eventually moved on to mini-golf and walks on the beach. A few months ago she introduced him to the family and they accepted him. They started going steady. They made out. Finally he popped the question and she said yes.

The wedding date and venue has been set. A nice little bed and breakfast in Washington in January. The honeymoon will be in a hot dry place - probably Iraq or Afghanistan. Eventually, after a few months of living together, the afterglow will fade and they will come to realize that when the other takes a shit their poop stinks too. And when they chew dinner they make weird sounds. Close your mouth when you chew for friggin' sake!

Hopefully they will get over these petty differences and remember what made them fall in love. The dreams, the ideas, the hope.

Even though he popped the question it does not mean the work will fall solely on his shoulders. She is going to have to go to work too. Times are tough and they will need both incomes. She will have to spend some lonely nights while he is away on business. She will have to let him hang out with his friends once in a while. She will have to work just as hard at this marriage as he will. She will have to learn to forgive him when he makes mistakes. She will have to understand that she is an equal in this deal. She will have as much to say about their fate as he.

He will have to be patient with her. Moving out of her parent's house into a place of their own is scary and takes some time to adjust. There will be legitimate fears. Fear of the unknown, fear that this man will not be who she thought he was, fear of being scared.

Hopefully, after a few years, they will settle down together. Hit their stride. That annoying chewing or funny habit becomes something endearing rather than annoying. They will learn to encourage each others' strengths and shore up each others' weaknesses. And maybe, just maybe, if all goes well they will renew their vows. They will want to keep at it. They will want to make it work.

America, thank you. It is amazing how in one evening you have changed how the World perceives you. Don't stop now. It is just beginning.