After I had been in business for a few years, I met another web designer that worked in the same area as myself (the same geographical area) however, he also did different types of websites than I did. He did a lot of larger company websites, and also some small business websites too. The reason that we met is that he had the attitude of: "Don't look at other web designers/developers as competition" and I don't know if he even realizes how that impacted me. After talking with him some more, I realized that we could both learn a lot from each other, but we wouldn't have if he did not have that kind of attitude.
Since then, my attitude has always been "changing a web designer/developer is like changing a hair stylist. If you get one bad haircut, you generally don't go back"
There is also the other elements of different prices, different ways of looking at things, different tools for the job, different levels of knowledge etc.
He really had a good point, there is enough work for all of us out there, there really isn't a need to compete and talk bad about other web developers. If you really feel that another web designer/developer is that bad, they will eventually run out of people to mess up with, it's just a matter of time.
If you take the attitude of not competing with other designers/developers, there are a lot of benefits. You can learn from one another, you can colaborate on different projects, and basically, the internet world becomes a better place.
Jonathan is the name of the person that totally changed my attitude towards other web developers, and I don't know if I ever told him that, so I'm making it public now. Jonathan is part of 'corePHP' and we meet once a month at an Adobe User Group called the Web & Graphic Design Forum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Jonathan is a way better graphic designer that I will ever be, and he has taught me a lot about web design and graphic design, but I have also taught him a few tricks too!
Thanks for changing my attitude Jonathan!
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In the same vein . . . let it be known that I truly appreciate your efforts and those like you to share information without fear. Just as the efforts of the group of anonymous software developers in Los Angeles (see http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/09/01/apple.iphone/) who have presented an interface that allows iPhone owners to use their device with other phone systems and not just AT&T; you are to commended.
Thank you for your kind words PowerPlayMMP!
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