Mantras 2.0

Today I am going to revisit some of my basic How to be successful on the web mantras:

form is nothing. content is nothing. audience is everything
Meaning you could have the best graphic design layout, but with sucky content it doesn't matter. And then you can have spectacular content, but if readers can't access it nor contribute to it, it is a waste of time, too.

for every good idea, there is already an implementation
You want a photoblog? There are tons of open source PHP / MySQL (or Python / Ruby / Perl if you prefer) applications available. Want Flickr exports? There are already plugins that do that. Want to change the layout? Find a theme that would do it. Do not write new code unless you absolutely have to.

if your solution requires manual data entry, find another solution
This is really a variation on the previous rule of no custom code development. Unless you have some really unique data, the stuff that you need is already somewhere, typed up and ready to go. Find a way to acquire it.

the wider the user base, the better the product
Works this way with trails - come to a fork on a trail, not sure which one to take - always take the more trodden one (metaphorically of course the opposite is true, but that's a different story). If choosing between two platforms, pick the one with the larger user community - more people to report bugs, fix the code, write plugins, answer your questions on forums, and develop custom themes.

you gain by giving away
Putting your work online - not all of it, not in full resolution - but enough to give people a flavor of what you do and make them want to eat more - is the quickest, cheapest and the most flexible way to advertise your talents. Plus it makes you look cutting edge - and actually does make you cutting edge. Even if you do a little bit of it, you are still ahead of the game - even in 2009. An amazing number people still consider it unnecessary, too complicated, or worst of all, below them. Getty Images sneered at the microstock model when it appeared. Then they re-thought it and bought the most successful microstock agency. Now that business is pulling them through the crisis as the traditional macro stock market is dwindling and tightening.