2013 Year in Review

Right after my mid-year review in June the website landscape went off on a tangent. Up till then things had progressed pretty much as I predicted which, for the sake of completeness, were:

• Websites growth will remain flat or improve slightly
• E-commerce obstacles will remain

So now I’ll give my official 2013 Year in Review. I’ll break it down into first and second half of the year but I’ll give my predictions in a separate article titled “2014 Year in Preview”– pretty smart and witty right? I can predict till I’m blue in the face but I’m no psychic (not even psychics are psychics), my predictions are based on the circumstances at hand, or as they say ceteris paribus (all things being equal, and it seldom is) and what I can reasonably foresee except if I go forward in time…

FIRST HALF 2013

The year started out very slow actually taking up where it left off from the closing months of 2012. Personally from November 2012 things began to wane to which I attributed to the holiday mindset of putting off new things- like websites, for the new year. At least that’s what I told myself and it did make me feel better.

1^st Quarter: January to March

Like I said, January and February 2013 were very slow in terms of new website projects but I was still busy finishing up sites from the year before.  A website is not a consumer item but a corporate decision so putting it on the backburner because the company has to ‘settle’ into the new year is a legitimate excuse.

After Carnival it was back to business with a flurry of new site, 5 in fact in March alone. It was also March when I was approached by First Atlantic Commerce (FAC) to offer my clients their payment gateway.

1. Payment Gateway Strategic Partnership with FAC

This seemed like the answer to my prayers, a payment gateway that processes in TT Dollars that one could access via a local bank, in this case Scotiabank, so of course it was a no-brainer and I signed on right away.

For me, championing the cause of local e-commerce, analyzing the market, working around obstacles, guiding my clients and readers by way of many carefully researched articles, trying to help nurture this industry in its infancy, is a labor of love and a passion. But that’s just me. Financial institutions in T&T and elsewhere have no such interest and which is what I painfully realized.

I’m sure FAC was optimistic with their alliance with Scotiabank but in my opinion Scotiabank wasn’t as much. Maybe it’s because they’re the only game in town or they have other more important agendas, but that’s the impression I got. They were always slow to respond to clients I referred so they simply gave up in frustration.

2. Forward Multimedia opened 2013 on top of Google T&T

For all major keywords: “website design trinidad”, “trinidad website design”  and “e commerce trinidad and tobago”  FORWARD MULTIMEDIA ranked in first place most of the time but consistently in the top three of Google search results and remains so to this day.

2^nd Quarter: April to June

The second quarter basically moved ahead on its own steam, so there was nothing unusual to report.

SECOND HALF 2013

My expectation of more of the same for the rest of the year went out the window at the start of July that still has me reeling as I write this. It was like the demand for websites found another gear.

3^rd Quarter: July to September

No fewer than 13 new website projects in 3 months and not one of them a Basic Website Package. In fact I only had 2 basic packages for all of 2013 and the rest were mostly premium packages and a couple of mega-projects. There were a few interesting statistics in this period as well.

1. More enquiries via company staff

Usually it was the decision makers who called me directly but I noticed that I was getting enquiries from regular company staff. Apparently the decision makers/owners were giving instructions to find web designers and their staff was going online to search. They would then compile a list and submit; the web designers would be called for ‘interviews’.

I don’t really like this process but it’s a necessary evil for the time being. For the most part my site itself and my published prices have been enough to have the project already when I get the first call, the call being just a formality.

Anyway, I noticed at one ‘interview’ printouts of a couple of pages from my site including my price packages.  This prompted me to design a special PDF download for the purpose to make it easy for the staff to submit Forward Multimedia as a possible project candidate .This PDF provides all relevant info in a nice concise document.  It’s something I’m sure they’ll appreciate and perhaps I’ll score a few points for thinking proactively.

2. More projects to submit tenders for

I’ve had several calls from government agencies and other major companies informing me of the opportunity to tender for projects. I’ve only done one though only after being asked repeatedly (never heard back from them, it was a government Ministry) but generally I don’t really care for the whole tendering thing in this country which I think is a big farce.

3. More E-commerce interest but no e-commerce

There’s clearly a buzz for e-commerce as I get calls daily about it. When I give the real lowdown it’s clear that we’re not ready for the commitment it would take to make an online store work. The payment obstacle is the big inhibitor even with the availability of FAC/Scotiabank payment gateway which is very expensive.

4. A working partnership for new business

I’ve had many promises from other freelancers making loose arrangements to refer clients to me which never panned out.  However that changed in August when I was approached again but this time I actually got three new projects from it.

4^th Quarter: October to December

It was evident that the change in gear was sustainable as there was no letting up from its start in mid 2013. Whereas the same period of 2012 was mostly DOA (dead on arrival), this time there was no such thing.  Other highlights:

1. Sites with local payment gateway in closing stages but with First Citizens Bank (FCB)

Ha! You didn’t see that coming! Yes, First Citizens Bank was in the process of establishing a partnership with First Atlantic Commerce, something I couldn’t disclose but now I can. I have 2 clients officially on board: Office Are Us Ltd and The London Clothing Company.

2. Another year as an official partner for Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW)

For the second consecutive year Forward Multimedia participated as a partner for GEW 2014 in November. This time I held two webinars discussing website design in Trinidad & Tobago and E-Commerce in Trinidad & Tobago.

3. First Magento Site Launched

My very first site on the Magento e-commerce platform was launched. The site is Office Are Us. At the time of writing, the testing phase of the FAC/FCB local payment solution was successfully completed and we are just waiting on the final process to officially go live which looks to be in January 2014. Magento is the way to go for serious e-commerce and setting it up is not for the faint of heart as which is why I have it as expensive as it is.

CONCLUSION

Well that’s it in a coconut shell, a rather big coconut at that. It looks like the year will close out at a tally of  30 sites added to my portfolio (not all are listed for certain reasons) compared to 22 the previous year. I challenge my competitors to match that website count.

It’s been an eventful year and I look forward to what 2014 has in store as I see good things for Forward Multimedia . Read all about it in my next article 2014: Year in Preview!