Yesterday I took some of my dying plants to the plant shop and asked the plant expert (horticulturist?) to diagnose and fix what was wrong with them. They were wilting and brown, and looking all-around pathetic. Turns out there was no drainage for the poor guys, and they were drowning. The friendly plant person drilled holes in the bottom of my pots, and I walked away with the hope that my plants would recover from a month of suffocation.

Poor Guy!

I didn’t pay for the drilling service, because – as it turns out – it was this same shop who sold me the non-draining pots that would eventually drown my plants.

Seems strange that a plant shop would sell pots that could kill their plants, but that’s what happened. The very same thing happens in the world of Web development and social marketing. Since many of the tools on the Internet are free (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to name a few) and online tutorials on how to use them are abundant, it’s easy for a less-than-honest person to make claims of expertise that only years of experience can justify.

As a consumer, you need to do your due diligence when hiring someone to design, build, or market a website or other online presence. Check references, view a portfolio of work, ask for a rate sheet, whether there are any guarantees on the work, and what is included – and not included – in the scope of the work that will be done.

It’s important to research the company or individual who will be working with you. Web developers, designers, marketers, and managers are a dime a dozen. Good ones who know what they’re doing are hard to find!