In-between browser refreshes I caught a glimpse to a link to this Drupal Developers discussion -> Why WordPress.org Should Scare You …

Suffice it to say it is a fascinating read and perhaps the comments are most telling …

Essentially the story in said link holds true for most brands and companies, not just code jockeys and developers, in that it warns that anybody or group* that puts themselves first and losses sight of ultimate customer, is well, you can read for yourself but most likely headed way of legacy of T.Rex - once great and groovy, but now refined to museum exhibits …

Now I’m not saying WordPress is mecca …

Yet in the past I’ve spent time with Joomla, Drupal, and more CMS solutions than most people care to count … I even started my CMS hunting journeys when WordPress was then known as b2 / cafelog - okay I’m dating myself, but fortunately I’m also happily married and dating is thing of the past but I digress …

My point is this - after reading the robust comment thread on Drupal I then gleamed towards the top of my browser to see the url and laughed when I read aloud -> “http: site dot org /node/136294″ …

It was in particular the directory / folder name “node” that got me … not “discussion” … not “conversation” … not “debate” … not “thread” … but “node” … yikes … if there is anything more telling about who comes first, code or customers, please … and not that the url makes or breaks it when it comes to inspiring or discouraging discussions but I do believe it hints at focus …

On a separate venture capital forum I read a post about how url design is in the top five business decisions a new dot com can decide, right under achieving funding and securing top tier management team … in that case the author argued, “Can you imagine if Facebook had to re-design their user profile url path after they had 200,000 users or more …”

Accordingly, moral of the story (and this post) = code jockeys and brand managers can learn a lot from each other …

Which essentially can be distilled to common denominator -> Serve Your Client First and Foremost, and You’ll Thrive! …

This is also something that the best chefs know instinctually - e.g., great food and service at market rates = eternal food chain of happy repeat customers!

Bon Appetit! And a toast to those who serve the best, repeatedly!

*as of March 26th 2011, perhaps my favorite comment in the Drupal thread was from John Overall -> “a Camel is a Horse designed by committee.” … Yikes - having lived in condos with incompetent boards, group think is scary but lone wolves aren’t always better so somewhere between the two might be happy medium ..??..

This is one of those angry posts as I just sent the email reply below to a domain registrar - name removed as I don’t want to give them any free press but I digress …

Each year domain registration fees continue to go up … This makes absolutely no sense because every year the cost of computers, computing and bandwidth continues to get more efficient … I’ve actually had ISP’s lower their hosting costs for clients who locked in a year or two back in order to be competitive with the ISP’s current hosting plan offers but again I digress …

But when it comes to domain registrars, they seem to think like pirates and thugs believing they are entitled to raise the annual renewal price every year just because they can get away with it …

I’ve changed registrars many times over the years and unfortunately my favorite one sold out to a group that totally doesn’t get it and is this close from inspiring me to yet again find a new registrar …

e.g., every week this registrar sends out Domain Promotional Offers - buy one, get one free or at reduce cost; signup two or more and get xyz free added on; refer a new customer and get bla bla bla …

So over past couple years I’ve thought “wow cool offer - let me go register for this” and only after spending 5-10 minutes reviewing the offer, completing the form with credit card, have I been bummed to get the proverbial error message “Sorry - your wholesale account does not qualify for this offer” …

So after wasting my time, time after time, today I got yet another email promotion and sent them this in return:

fyi - your promotions STINK and are a complete waste of time … i can’t remember how many times i thought “wow cool” and then tried to signup for promotion only to get the “sorry - your account does not qualify” message …

thus your marketing team continues to violate Net 101 = Don’t Waste Customer’s Time …

if you are smart enough to flag my account during signup for service then you should be smart enough to not keep sending me your bogus promotions that don’t apply to my account …

ditto on your continues raising of domain renewal prices … save the stamp and analog mail and save some trees - will you … then keep my renewal prices low … after all, your 44 cent postage fee (plus ineffective marketing costs) certainly show up in my increasing renewal fees …

boy do i miss the original [name removed] owners from Pennsylvania - they knew how to run a domain registrar but i digress … cordially, chuck scott