Doug Rider's Blog

Why is it so hard for people to actually deliver what they promise? In the days leading up to the big Black Friday rush, my wife and I found a great deal being advertised on Amazon.com … a 40″ LCD TV for “under $200″. It was also stated that the deals would begin at 7 pm EST on Thanksgiving evening.

So, 7 pm rolled around, and the 40″ tv was “currently unavailable at this time”. I refreshed my screen often over the next hour and a half, until finally at around 8:30, the item was available, but cost $396. Interesting … but not the deal that was advertised. Also, they were offering a $200 gift card for shoppers who purchased a DirectTV package. Surely, they didn’t think this separate offer could make their “under $200″ claim legit?

Ultimately, I don’t know. Maybe I’m the dumb one … I didn’t read the ad closely enough … I should have known better than to expect such a great deal.

But, if that is the case, it is a failure of Amazon to clearly state their message. I now have a negative interaction with Amazon to add to all my previously positive interactions with them. That’s too bad, because it didn’t have to be that way.

What I can learn from this is how it feels to be deceived … even if unintentionally. With my own business, I never want my clients or potential clients to feel like they’ve been deceived. It’s morally wrong and bad business. I’ve always tried very hard to my services and pricing in a way that is upfront and understandable. My bad experience with Amazon today will make me even more vigilant to clearly communicate.

After years of comtemplation, the new version of Doug Rider Consulting has launched!

I began thinking of a new design a couple of years ago.  I started working on a new logo that would better reflect my business.  I went through tons of ideas that were trash-worthy.  Then, suddenly, one day as I was driving home, the idea came to mind and within 45 minutes I had 8-9 versions of it.  I ran these ideas past my wife and kids and the winner was selected.

But, launching a new site was difficult.  It is not easy to know exactly what you want to say (and not say).  I researched many different web companies and consultants to get ideas of what my colleagues and competition were doing.  Ultimately, I ended up with a design that reflects my style and would allow me some flexibility.  This blog should allow me to keep the site fresh.  I also opened up the design to give myself more room to work with.

I hope you like the changes!

Hello world! I decided to keep this as my first blog entry in honor of every tutorial that begins with this as the first step.

My goal is to use this space to wax poetic about anything that comes to my mind. I may not have enough to say, but I’ll try.