LINGsCARS

I'm stuck on the point, because most sites belonging to people who are posting here - some people have hard to find links or they are hidden - seems to be have been written and designed with the intention of NOT REALLY getting business. Either that or they are DELIBERATELY unsuccessful (from a design and SEO point of view). Yet the whole reason you lot do what you do is to make money for other website owners. So you would think you would sprinkle a little of your magic dust on your own websites. I just think you are (all) very defensive, very sensitive about what you do and it's a bit ironic that your core skills don't ever seem to be brought to your own websites. It's as if they have been reluctantly done, in the same way you might print 500 business cards because you "have" to. I really am surprised that no one can coherently defend your own collection of websites, yet, you are all very happy to analyse my own. It's like discussing websites with the 3 monkeys when it comes to your own efforts. After all, this is a design forum... === On another note, I don't want a review of my mobile site from you lot, I was just pointing out what I had been doing this week for the benefit of the discussion. But as ever, no one wants a sensible design discussion. I would have thought mobile sites would be all the rage and a massive growth area at the moment. Ling

What? You think so? Name one. I build the best website in the history of my (and many other) industries, in the face of massive vested competition, as a Chinese bird should really not be able to make an impact in this industry. Most other efforts are pitiful. All you lot can do is snipe, and in the meantime I struggle to see one example of any of you building your own successful web design. It's like a load of builders who all seem to have tumble-down houses. Ling

How miserable you lot are. It's like a charity event on here, everyone competing to see how unsuccessful they can be. But hey, it's art! Anyway, I am currenty busy developing my mobile site. Virtually no car site like mine has a successful mobile version (very few even have successful full web versions, frankly). Now, this week, I am putting Ling mobile site together. But I have taken a real different view on this. Because it is so difficult to engage on a mobile, I take a fun approach and suck people in because my belief is that due to the masses of variables it is very hard to deliver the full info on a mobile site. It's hard on a full site. I give people options to play and get rewards and have fun with stuff. I want people to have a memorable experience so that next time they are on a proper PC they will have another look. It's still incomplete and a bit clunky and may have the odd bad link at the mo, as ever I tend to build live and let visitors help with the testing, so bear with it. What's my aim? - To be in the minds of people when they come to the time to change cars (maybe a year after the original visit). Very few people are actually at the point of purchase when they first visit my site. Ling

We decided to do it, because we wanted a reaction from him. "We" = Me and BBC We understated my profits by over £70k last financial year. B needed to save his face for me refusing his investment. It's TV, hello? Ling

Hahaha, the BBC fed *FALSE FIGURES* to Bannatyne to get some jeopardy in the programme. I thought I already explained that? My correct figures are now lodged at Companies House. It is a TV show. I refused Bannatyne's investment, it was NEVER going to happen, nit. The BBC want good TV, not accuracy. If you believe everything on TV... === "Some of us are happy to work for less just for the satisfaction from clients, it makes us feel better about the work we produce." hahahahaha. This is the problem with idiots doing non-commercial work and undercutting proper businesses. Tell Tesco you are a "satisfied client" and so they should knock 50% off your checkout till. After all, it will make them feel better... Satisfied clients are willing to PAY MORE! They are ecstatic to pay more for the excellent work. Sheesh. I can't believe how many people think getting paid more equates to "unhappiness". That's complete nonsense. Really, everyone knows the truth though: money is not related to happiness, but it's easier to be happy when you've got a few quid in your pocket. So why not have a few quid spare? It's far happier to go the the pub with £200 in your pocket, than with £10, trust me. It is relaxing to be able to have a reasonably free choice of new car, to not worry about an overdraft, to not worry about payroll, to simply buy a new iMac if my coder wants one, to book a trip to China without bothering to check bank account etc etc. Or if my mum needs a gall bladder keyhole operation (in China) to send £10,000 over to pay for it. I'm no rich person, but if money is not an issue, it takes a whole layer of worry away. The ridiculous justification of why it's better to earn less, is a nonsense. Ling

Who is a spammer? I didn't start this thread, it was Oakleaf. I simply replied to the inane comments posted about my business and accounts etc. I think it's so funny that everyone is paranoid that this thread can be used for gain. It kind of reflects the spitty, miserable attitudes and the fake "down with capitalism" attitude that indicates the LESS money you all take, the happier you are. Trust me, my marketing strategy does not revolve around this forum. Gibson, that is nuts. That's just a justification of a poor commercial offering. If you can make more money, why not take it? Taking £25,000 LESS doesn't make you happier, that's a ridiculous assertion. That extra £25k would allow you to buy better equipment, it buys you the luxury of extra time, it safeguards your business/family against losses (or illness/rainy day or whatever) in the future, pay more tax (a good thing for society), it enables you to charge more in the future and puts a higher monetary value on your work. You may as well operate as a non-profit collective if you think LESS money makes you happier, by your standards you would sit in a hippy circle, broke, but ecstatic. Good luck. Have you done a logo for the #occupylsx, yet? Ling

Oakleaf, Everyone does their job for money. Why would earning a lot be "selling out"? If you could generate over £100k a year in profits, would you really say "noooo, I don't want that much". Or put it another way, if you could do just half as much work for the same money as you currently make, would you really say "nooo, I want to work twice as long for the same money". Unfortunately, you just come across as silly. You (lot) purport to be web design experts, but I would guess that very few of you have websites which create an impressive income. Yet, (basically) that is what clients expect their bright new websites to help them to do. I love this world that a few, if not many, of you work in, where you are purporting to minimise your own incomes just to retain your dignity. It's a bit of a joke. === I appreciate your other comments etc, you have been forgiven. Ling

Hope you can play this: Turn up your speakers (and no moans about Lady gaga copyright, sheesh) Safety Movie Ling

Outrageous slur to suggest it is dangerous. Also, keeping pens in cars to break windows with is dangerous. Imagine if you poked your eye by accident while submerged in 200ft of water. That would hurt like hell. I had the same problems with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders over that BRACE position:

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. Many of my customers are people like... bank vice-presidents, CEO and CFOs from massive companies... top execs, famous people, MPs, high-end professionals, top lawyers, etc etc etc. I supplied a car to the CFO of NCP car parks a month ago (massive ££ company) and the service and website experience was so astonishing to him, that they dispatched 4 top management and web expert (they flew from London to Gateshead and back) to my office last week, to see how I handled customers, online traffic and conversions, monitoring, my CRM, etc, to see how they could emulate it. I did not charge for the day's visit. I do plenty of high-end standard cars (eg Merc S class, BMW c7 series, JAG XJs, RRs), I only stop at "silly bespoke" cars (eg Bentleys/Astons etc) where I would not want to be holding a cancelled order. Then again, I supply many "normal" cars like Fiestas and Qashqais. So, you are wrong. Don't need "design" experts all the time, you see. Ling

No, Ryanair's prices are cheap, but it's service and products are stunning. The very newest aircraft and punctuality figures that BA would cry to achieve. Best load factors in the industry. Greenest. Stunning. And it makes a massive profit. No subsidy needed.

Ryanair is the best airline in Europe. Best prices, best service, best stats. Least delays, etc. Planes are the newest. Complaints are miniscule. Service is actually the best. If you don't want faux-pretend-hotel meals. It's the first European airline to carry a record 8m passengers in one month. It has transormed the lives of millions of people in Europe over the past 15 years by enabling them to travel cheaply. A massive and true revolutionary company. === Yes, I would recommend everyone "have a go" at their own website. Why not? Most people have an excellent idea of what their own customers want. Ling

Hahahaha, no! The students got a deal. They agreed to it. O'Leary even chipped them at the end, they never got £15k at all. If they have anything about themselves at all, they will have made a mint from future work from "having done the Ryanair website". Just click through the Ryanair website menu links, they are SO rough and ready. But, it shows that "design" hardly matters at all. This is a hard pill to swallow, but come on... open wide Ling

Yeah, I would. I do pay for "elements". I paid for 12 illustrator drawings (just the drawings) for my car safety card, that's a rare example. I did the layout in MS Word (would you believe). But it's a time/benefit equation in my mind. Full bigger pdf version is here: PDF safety card My customers want cars, not DaVinci design. Like Ryanair... now that's a great site design without using designers. Didn't O'Leary pay two schoolkids a few grand for it after rejecting proper design companies??? Management Today: "The first quotes that O'Leary got from conventional web design companies came in at about £3m. Instead, he went to two students: 17-year-old secondary-school pupil John Beckett and dentistry student Thomas Linehan, 22. The pair had done work experience one summer at Gateway Computers but were complete novices. They were bemused and flattered to be considered and quoted £17,500, £16,500 and £15,500 for various options. O'Leary went for the £15,500 option. The pair then created one of the most successful websites in commerce. It can suck money out of consumers faster than a nuclear-powered vacuum cleaner." I believe he then gave them a haircut on the settlement, excellent! Hahaha. But a brave and brilliant move, because would Ryanair(.com) website be anywhere as successful if it has been "designed" properly? I am sure it would have been far slicker and pleasing, but I would argue, probably far worse as a website. In the same way, I decided to employ students for most of my own website coding and clagging. One of best decisions I have ever made. Cheap as chips and great results. I would argue that things like my avatar (left) are better (do a better job) than most of the efforts made by "designers" here. It's designed for a purpose, and it achieves it. Ling

Yes! That's all it takes. That is a good description, bash HTML... but who says the result has to be a "vaguely attractive conventional website"? It simply has to be a website that WORKS (usually defined as making money). It could be a stunning affair, but could fail all your high-brow tests. But when you say "I believe design is more than just coding and choosing a pretty colour scheme." I would agree with that, because you missed off "making it flash". What is a computer monitor for if things don't flash (blink) on it? You are totally ignoring a massive part of what makes it so compulsive, if you de-animate. "Flash like f*ck" would be my motto. And when you all start spouting off about it looking "asian", well, you need to be pushed back in your holes, because "asian" is the future. You can already see it in car design; the quality German cars are now jewelled up to hell to appeal to China (Audis have blinking LEDs, BMW have Angel lights etc), and just look at the basic asian websites: like TaoBao, China's ebay-like marketplace (without the auctions). Taobao is optimised for ie6 (yes, you purists, scream, ie6 is still dominant in China as it is reskinned in many "bespoke" browsers with added Chinese functionality - it works) and turnover TaoBao doubled from 200 billion RMB in 2009 to 400 billion RMB in 2010 (that's £40 billion). All these shops are designed "poorly" by western values, but who cares when they are doing so well? Items (called "babies") are added and sold by the billion. Photoshop monkeys are all that's needed in most cases, I'm afraid. Service online is far better than western online shops, every TaoBao shop has personal assistants online to help the shopper. It has become a habit among Chinese online shoppers to “chat” with the sellers or their customer service team through AliWangWang to inquire about products, engage in bargaining, etc. prior to purchase. Payment via AliPay (over 300m users, universal) is 100% safe and has no charge, true micro-payments are possible which compared to regressive Paypal is miraculous. So, protect your "designer" status while you can. I think the future is in piece work and result-orientated effort, not highbrow classy stuff. Just wait for the Chinese design invasion. Ling