When choosing an area of expertise regarding online design and development, go niche. Don't be afraid to go super-niche, be specific!
In the world of web development, the constant influx of new technologies and the ever changing array of techniques and strategies for producing innovative and engaging web experiences have created a modern environment where in order to be as effective as possible, developers have to choose the areas of interest they are most drawn to and focus their efforts on mastering that element of the web. In medicine or law, a person practicing in 1910 was expected to be versed in all applicable treatments and practices and usually was the one person a client consulted for all things medical or legal. Fast-forward 100 years and both of those profession have become so specialized that they have moved into the realm of super-speciality, with Ph.D’s who have made whole careers out of focusing solely on the hands, and lawyers who only enter a courtroom to argue cases of foreign extradition and nothing else. The complexities and rapidly changing landscape of their professions has become so intricate and in-depth that in order to truly excel at what they do, they must focus all of their attention and efforts into perfecting one area of expertise and pursue that avenue relentlessly. The exact same thing has happened with web design and development that happened in medicine, law and any other profession requiring advanced skillsets; the scope of disciplines has become so broad that in order to be effective one is best off to choose an area of interest and specialize as much as possible.
Approaching the development of a new website, developers and programmers have a huge number of options to choose from when deciding what CMS, languages and techniques to use. There are now 101(thousand) ways to solve the same problem and a good argument in support of each method. WordPress is simply one of many available Content Management Systems that developers can choose from, and therein lies a problem. When being presented with many options, most people will choose to try and learn as many of those options as possible, training themselves in enough of the basic features and functions or each in order to be able to sell their services to prospective clients, but because they have to spread a finite amount of time and energy over many large bodies of knowledge, they are only able to explore the surface level functions and practices of a CMS or language before they must apply their attention to something else. In doing this, they compromise their own efforts to become a master and compromise the quality of their client’s investment by using time and budget to explore information they should already know.
Working as a Los Angeles WordPress Developer (shameless SEO plug), you get the opportunity to meet a lot of people both as customers and professional associates. Through those experiences, one comes to realize quickly the importance that people in the design world place on a developer who knows how to fully exploit the native functions of a CMS. In the case of WordPress, knowing how to fully use all the native features removes the need for unnecessary customization that loses time, costs money and effects the intended harmony between the design and the performance of a website. Graphic design and interactive firms are willing to pay a premium for developers who have mastered a CMS and know how to best use all of it’s native features to produce the most effective and efficient website possible. Instead of trying to learn as many fields as you can and marketing yourself as a Jack of All Trades, equivalent to the 90s era “Webmaster”, it is much easier and more valuable to pick the narrow field that most interests you and focus on that.
Next time a project comes your way, before you do any design or development think of how best to apply your field of expertise, the one you are most passionate about and continue on with the project in that direction. The more you specialize in one field, the more you become and expert and the more you will find individuals seeking you out and willing to pay a premium in order to aquire work of the quality you will be able to produce.
Now get out there and kick some very specific ass!
