To be honest, I’ve delayed writing about HTML5 because I didn’t feel like it was important for us to be in the argument. Clover has long provided the best of what’s available on both Flash and HTML, and nothing has changed about that. But recently we’ve realized that there’s so much misinformation floating around that it was time to debunk some myths and give our perspective on the issue.

What Is HTML

I’ll start at the beginning. HTML is one of the languages that the web is written in. It’s been around for a long time and it’s evolved and expanded in spurts as different programming groups have added features. The most difficult sticking point for HTML is that it is handled differently by different browsers, and it has to be backwards-compatible (meaning that any new features still have to work with the old ones, unless you’re Microsoft and you don’t care).

There have been several versions of HTML, and for most of the past decade, XHTML was hailed as the latest and greatest (i heart validator, anyone?). Unfortunately, after years of hopeful work, XHTML was never actually ratified and is now dead.

Enter HTML5, the new latest and greatest.

What’s New With HTML5

It’s easy to see why web programmers get excited about HTML5. It introduces many new technologies that can be used to create experiences that are more interactive than ever possible with current HTML. And people are starting to create some great demos. With HTML5, regular web pages can finally do some of what Flash does, including 3D animation, typography control, video effects and persistent data storage.

What HTML5 Really Means For The Web

Unfortunately, there’s a catch. A BIG catch. Like its predecessors, HTML5 is only supported on some browsers, and every one of them does things differently. If you checked out the link to demos above, you might have noticed a warning that looks like this:

So… HTML5 does cool new things, but most of them can only be viewed in Safari? I actually happen to like Safari, but last time I checked, only 3.5% of average people use it. Even when you add in Chrome, which uses the same underlying engine as Safari, it’s still less than 20% of viewers.

Now here’s where the core of the argument lies, in my opinion. One set of people say something like, “Well sure it’s only supported by some browsers now, but they’re the ones pushing the envelope and eventually HTML5 support will be widespread.” And the other side says something to the effect of, “While we hate the idea of catering to the lowest common denominator, we have to be practical. We can’t create storefronts that don’t work for 80% of our customers, and for better or for worse, we can build everything we want using existing technologies that everyone can use right now.”

And this brings to the forefront the central flaw in the language of the web. The people who make the browsers have all the power in what parts of HTML get implemented, but they have very different motivations from each other and from the people creating the language itself. You can bet on the fact that Microsoft will support a different version of HTML than Apple will, and both will support a different version than what is considered “standard” by the people who came up with it.

It’s a truly unfortunate state of the web, but it’s the reality. Until one group of people can create a language from the ground up and then enforce that language in all browsers perfectly, we’re not going to see the kind of change that HTML5 is purported to be.

HTML5 and Apple

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I truly believe that Apple is one of the most amazing companies around today. Their products have shaped culture and technology more than any other single organization that I can think of. And heck, their products have affected my life more than any company I can think of.

I love my iPhone. And my wife loves her iPad. And while I respect Apple’s amazing ability to advertise just how revolutionary their products are, there is something very real about the Steve Jobs Effect. In essence, Apple can spin almost anything in their favor. And I think even the most die-hard HTML5 fans would agree that Apple has been the single biggest force pushing HTML5 into the spotlight.

Here’s the spin, though. The iPhone and iPad have a glaring hole. But instead of acknowledging the downside of a missing feature that renders hundreds of thousands of websites useless, Steve Jobs has put up a gigantic smokescreen. His letter about his ‘Thoughts on Flash’ has a few valid points, but is a complete distraction from the real issue. Steve has taken a lesson straight out of Chapter 19 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. You don’t have to answer a debate directly if you distract everyone with a different debate.

I’d like to suggest that in a different world (one where feuding companies cared more about their customers than their pride), Apple would be one of the biggest backers of Flash. After all, for years Flash has allowed people to create some of the most beautiful and engaging experiences on the web.

HTML5 for Video

So far, one of the most practical uses of HTML5 is to serve up video on mobile devices (as alternative to using Flash). This is nice, but not especially necessary. The current version of HTML has been capable of serving video to mobile phones for several years, and to be honest, I’m not exactly sure why people have forgotten that.

The debate about video within HTML5 is complicated, and more than I want to get into here, but I’m bringing it up because I believe that it’s the single most significant part of what is currently supported in HTML5. (Although Internet Explorer doesn’t support it yet, companies like NBC and Time Warner aren’t planning to switch over, and YouTube recently made a strong case for Flash).

HTML5 vs Flash

Possibly the biggest misconception about HTML5 is that it is a replacement for Flash. This may be straight out of Apple’s mouth, but it’s simply not true. Even if HTML5 was ever standardized and supported by all browsers (which I’ve briefly made the case that that will never happen), it still wouldn’t do everything that Flash does.

The debate about HTML5 vs Flash is actually a very technical one, but the guts of it are as follows:

Flash’s language ActionScript3 was created from the ground up by the same company that created the way to run it. It provides direct access to core elements like text, graphics, video, mouse interaction, etc. When you write code for Flash, it looks and works identically in every browser (what’s referred to as “cross-platform”). As an analogy, let’s say Flash allows you to build a house to the exact specifications you design, using the exact materials you ask for (wood, nails, drywall, etc).

HTML5 interacts with two other languages called JavaScript and CSS. The three of them together interact with the browser’s Document Object Model (DOM) to have access to text, graphics, etc. In our analogy, this is like calling across the room to tell a carpenter to build a wall for you. You request wood studs and 3/8″ drywall, but the carpenter might use metal studs and 1/2″ fiberglass panels. If you don’t really care how your house looks, then this isn’t too concerning. But if you’re a designer or an architect, you’d be pulling your hair out.

As a real-world example, try Vimeo’s new HTML5 player. To be fair, it’s just a beta, but it has all the hallmarks of HTML. It looks different in every browser. It can’t go full-screen. The fonts are jagged and pixelated. And it lacks all of the smoothness and polish of their Flash player. Oh yeah, and it only works for the 1/4 of us who happen to be using the right browsers. (Full disclosure: I LOVE vimeo, just not their HTML5 player).

Clover’s Stance on Flash and HTML

In our view, Flash allows the most creativity and the most power to create beautiful sites on the web. Many of the types of animation we create, or the fonts we use, or the tools that we’ve created for editing photos are far beyond what HTML is capable of.

There are parts of Flash that are inherently limited, and no one denies that. So we’ve created other tools that work in addition to Flash. For example, every site we create has a Flash version and an HTML version. The HTML site works remarkably well on iPhones and iPads, and is always updated in sync with the Flash version. Because we provide both sites, our customers (and their visitors) get the best of both worlds – a specifically designed experience for both desktop and mobile browsers.

The same goes for search engines viewing our sites. Every piece of text on our sites (and every picture, calendar item, video or media item for that matter) is optimized for search engines, and we take that very seriously. We even provide specific tools to help our customers manage their SEO settings.

We’re always trying to use the best and most cutting edge tools to do what’s really valuable. We offered mobile video before we’d even heard of HTML5. Instead of getting hung up on the tools themselves, we put our care into the end product.

Bottom Line

We love Apple’s products… and we love Flash… and every other piece of the puzzle that helps create great experiences. Although Apple has a lot of weight to throw around, HTML5 isn’t practical yet. And Flash certainly isn’t going away any time soon.

It’s probably time for people on both sides of the argument to stop covering their ears and shouting. The debate is a heated one, and sometimes it’s hard not to let emotions polarize the issue, but the truth is that right now most of the loudest voices on both sides are people who have very loaded opinions. Apple has a huge stake in making Flash look like the problem, rather than admitting that their products have a substantial flaw. There are HTML programmers who love the safety and predictability of the design limitations within HTML. And there are Flash programmers who are scared to death of their design freedoms being taken away.

On the positive side, we all agree that we love progress and innovation. This is the fuel that drives our industry and forces us all to continue to develop our products to meet the needs of real people. We love technology that can move past the hype and actually benefit the masses. In our minds, if HTML5 can get there, the entire industry will adapt. But regardless of what happens in the future with HTML5, the web won’t fall apart, and innovative developers will continue to be innovative.

I’ve been pretty frustrated with my teapot lately.

I know that probably sounds pretty trite and prissy, but hear me out. We all have those products in our life that we wish worked better- Whether it be something as simple as a pen, or as technical as an operating system or cell phone, we have all encountered those products that make us ask the question, “Did anyone try this thing out before they started selling it?” For me, I’ve asked this question about my teapot.

There’s 2 major problems I ran into with my previous teapot (the white one in the picture above).

1. Every time I poured myself a cup of tea, I needed to use 2 hands to pour (because if I didn’t hold the lid on, the top would roll off the top mid-pour).

2. After I poured a cup, tea would run down the spout as I tipped the teapot upright, pooling at the bottom of my teapot. I needed to pour my cup with a napkin under the teapot if I didn’t want to drip tea all over my desk.

When you really think about teapots holistically, you realize quickly that their job isn’t tough. All they have to do is hold and pour tea, and while doing so, making sure every drop is transferred from teapot to cup without losing any scalding tea to the skin of the consumer or the table it rests on. Pretty simple.

Then how is it that a teapot left the development table that failed to do what it was created for? And how did the creator of this product feel OK about selling a faulty teapot that dripped all over the place and required the consumer to use 2 hands in order to not make a mess? And better yet, why have I gone so long without looking for another solution?

Here’s the lessons I have learned from my teapot about product design:

1. If a product is noticeably cumbersome and awkward, BLAME THE PRODUCT. This past year I have noticed that I tend to blame myself if a product is hard to use. I have a tendency to trust the packaging and what the creators say about the product over my own experience. Unless you’re purchasing schematics on the space shuttle you are making from scratch, you are probably the target market for the product you are purchasing. If it’s cumbersome for you, the creators blew it in development somewhere along the line. They didn’t think about the consumer of their product.

2. If you’re annoyed with your product, look for another solution. One of the most beautiful things about the market place today, is that we have options. Chances are if you are annoyed with a product, someone else was too. Search out your options- they’re probably out there. This is why Ben and I started Clover. We were looking for a solution for our church, and there was no other beautiful, intuitive solution out there. Clover was created out of necessity.  Luckily, most products are out there already, and you won’t have to worry about months of development.

So what ever happened to my teapot, you (probably didn’t) ask?

My conclusion was that both the 2-hand pouring and dripping problem was a design issue. I’ll explain… Look at the picture above. The white one is the original teapot, and the turquoise one is my new and improved version.

1. Pouring issue solution: Even though the new teapot is a loose leaf teapot, there is much more control with 1 handed pouring due to the chrome, thumb brace sticking out just below the lid (see picture). It allows you to brace the contents and lid with your thumb so it doesn’t fall off during pouring.

2. Dripping issue solution: It’s a simple physics issue. Notice the the ends of each of the spouts. The old one is much more horizontal at the point of pouring, which caused the tea to trickle down the spout. The new and improved teapot’s spout is pretty close to vertical at point of pour, allowing any remnant tea to pour off into the glass rather then back down the outside of the spout. Interesting, huh?

There it is… My lessons from a teapot.

This last weekend I was finishing up my weekly Saturday morning run, and I was struck by this sign a couple streets away from my house.

I loved the simplicity of the message. No need for excessive text, addresses plastered all over the place, or fliers all up and down the neighborhood. I knew with one symbol that there was a garage sale down the street.

Ben and I met with a couple of consultant friends about a year ago to go over our branding and advertising strategy for Clover. One of their biggest concerns they had with our strategy is that they felt we gave people “too much credit” in our advertising. They said by keeping our message too simple we were losing people. They believed that we had to do and say more in order to include the most people.

For example, one of the things they said to change was our tag line “Websites for Growing Ministries”. They felt it should say something like “Beautiful and Elegant Websites for All Ministries”. They felt that by including more adjectives into the tag line, we would help more people identify with the product. They also felt that by having too simple of branding, people would miss who we really were, and the beauty of our product… And that our current campaign of just stating what we were in a simple and clean fashion was giving our market “too much credit”, and not giving them enough descriptors to realize that they needed our product.

We absolutely appreciated the advice, and chewed over the advice for a few months.

But after these few months, Ben and I ended up on the exact same page as when we started Clover. We felt that even though business books and consultants might say that by adding more descriptors (or “bling”) to the message you include more people in your message and product, we disagreed. It wasn’t right for our message, and it wasn’t right for our audience.

If you’re looking for something (whether it be a garage sale or website provider), you’re not going to miss it. For those garage sale shopping that Saturday in my neighborhood, the multiple fluorescent pink arrows pointing to the same location could not be mistaken for anything other than what they were intended for. in the same way, a perfectly positioned simple message presenting a revolutionary website solution will not only bring attention to those looking for a website, but it will bring the attention of the RIGHT people. people who are attracted to elegance, straight-forwardness, beauty and simplicity.

So props to my neighbors who had the guts to give people the benefit of the doubt. I hope you sold every one of your old couches.

This Christmas I received an Amazon Kindle. I’ve been wanting one of these ever since I played around with a friend’s first generation Kindle a year or so ago. This item has also sparked some lively debate around the office about whether or not a device like the Kindle will actually replace the “book” as we know it.

After spending some time with the Kindle (purchasing and reading a couple of books as well as spending a lot of time playing around in the interface of the tablet) I have solidified my opinion on what I believe the future will look like in how we will read and consume literature.

1. I believe that the concept of a tablet will replace books as we know it.

2. I believe the Amazon Kindle will not be the piece of technology that is the suitable replacement for books.

3. When the right technology is created, we will adapt as quickly and easily as a culture as we have with how we consume music digitally (i.e. iPod).

Before you get bummed out and mad at me for taking away the dreams of curling up by a fireplace with some cocoa, fluffy blanket, and the latest book in the Twilight Series, let me explain briefly how I came to these conclusions… Then you can curl up in that over-sized chair, pop in that mixed-tape cassette of Tears for Fears, and really enjoy your book.

1. The tablet will replace the “book”.

There are 4 reasons why I believe the tablet will replace the book. These reasons are 1) portability, 2) accessibility, 3) multimedia compatibility, and 4) sustainability.

Portability: As I write this, I have my tablet next to me with 2 books, 2 magazines, a Bible, a PDF of a Bible reading schedule, and a full Oxford American Dictionary. That is just after having the tablet for 3 full days while on vacation. Imagine being a student who instead of having to purchase and lug her 6 over-sized books over campus every day, can now just take a tablet that has 100x more room for information as her backpack.

Accessibility: Imagine that same student sitting in class, and realizing that she forgot to purchase the text book for the class. Instead of having to run out of class to the bookstore, she could simply download the book to her tablet. In the same way, imagine someone in a developing country who is now no longer limited to a local library for learning curriculum. The world’s library becomes open to anyone with Wifi.

Multimedia Compatibility: I believe the time is coming when reading a book is a multimedia experience. Imagine being in grade school reading about frogs at home, and instead of having to imagine what a bullfrog sounds like, you can actually hear and see it inside the text. Or imagine reading a biography about Martin Luther King Jr., and instead of reading his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, you can actually watch it.

Sustainability: As a culture we are beginning to realize what kind of impact our consumption has on the world around us. We have realized that everything we produce has a global impact. The concept of a tablet not only enhances the way we learn and consume information, but it also changes the way we make books. Imagine not needing to use paper to create books. Imagine simply deleting books when we are through with them rather than sending them to a landfill.

2. The Kindle is not the replacement.

Jeff Bezos created the Kindle with the intentions of getting out of the way. He wanted you to experience reading books off the Kindle in the same way you experienced reading a typical book or magazine article. I totally feel he accomplished those goals with the Kindle. After I was a couple of pages into reading my first book on the Kindle, I stopped noticing the tablet. My eyes felt the same as they do when reading a typical book, and I found myself submerged into the story. Even the way the home screen is organized is like books would typically be on your nightstand. Check out what the home screen looks like on my Kindle:

I really appreciate Amazon’s attention to detail… Even the fact that you can see how thick a book is in comparison to one another (just as you would if they were stacked on each other on your nightstand).

But Amazon’s attempt as making your transition from typical book to tablet seamless is the very reason why I believe it is not the replacement. For a culture to shift the way they consume information as a whole, you have to change the way they think about consuming information. The Apple did this with music… Now, to not have the ability to listen to music, watch movies, music videos and Podcasts seems a bit archaic. Playlists are a necessity to how we listen to music- multiple playlists… based on your mood. Apple didn’t just try to create a way to house more of our CD’s… They re-thought the way we consume music. It will take a revolutionary product that will change the way we consume literature, and unfortunately the Kindle is not that product.

3. We will adapt when the right product is created.

My brother purchased the “Creative Labs NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra” in right around 1996… It was a revolutionary piece of technology that meant you didn’t need to bring your entire CD library with you on trips (although with 30MB’s of memory there were still huge space limitations). But even with this new technology invented and sold, no one had created a mp3 device that would change the way consume music. The concept of purchasing digital music wasn’t a household concept until iTunes launched in 2003. Although the NOMAD was the right technology concept, the product was released at the wrong time in the wrong way. The iTunes launch in conjunction with the iPod was the right product launched in the right way.

I believe that when the right product is created that rethinks the way we consume information that works in conjunction with an online marketplace (much like Amazon), we will see change in this industry. But only when someone has the guts to rethink the whole industry- not just the medium in which we read books.

I personally look forward to the day when the industry changes… When we are not limited to telling stories with words and chapters, but we can use multiple senses in communicating. When it is done right, I’ll trade in my Kindle and jump whole-heartedly into the future. But until then, I’ll just keep reading books off my Kindle.

Along with the new look, we have also decided to change the way we approach writing on our blog. Here’s how and why. (If you don’t want to read the entire long post – which is awesome – skip ahead to the “*” at the end of the post to get it all summed up in one sentence. Slacker.)

The How:

This last year and a half we have really approached our blog pretty much one-dimensionally. The purpose of our blog was really to promote Clover. Whether it be through product updates or through the general changing and growing of the company, we’ve really just used speakingofclover.com to share Clover. As we’ve started our company, this one-dimensional approach has been great- informing our users (and potential users) of our product and company as we grow.

We will continue to use this blog as a product blog, informing everyone of what’s happening with Clover. But one of the areas we have shied away from is actually voicing our opinion in the world of art and technology. We’ve purposely avoided speaking up simply because we didn’t want anyone to disagree with a statement we’ve made, and lead them to discredit Clover as a product.

As we move into this next season of Clover, we’ve decided to say a little more. It’s funny- we really base our company and its direction on some strong foundational principles of product design and development, but we haven’t talked much about them. So in this next season of our blog, we’ll be discussing a lot more of these principles and saying more.

The Why:

So why are we moving away from simply being a company and product blog, and writing more concept-driven content? Besides the obvious goals of offering more content to you and allowing more of a forum to discuss ideas, we have some other reasons for writing with a bit more of a message.

The first reason is that we now feel a strong responsibility to speak into the world of art, product development, and technology.

We have always known our product is revolutionary, but after this first year and a half of existing in the technology industry we’ve realized that some of the founding principles of Clover that we assumed were obvious and elementary, were just that- revolutionary. We have really felt a calling towards speaking into this culture, and pushing these principles of intuitivity, beauty and care for people forward in an industry that typically claims these concepts without practicing them. We really think that as some of these ideas move forward and we begin to speak the same language, our field will truly progress and evolve.

The second reason is that we feel it will give you a better look into our product and what makes it tick. Even if you find yourself disagreeing with our thoughts and principles, you’ll have a much better understanding for how we’ve shaped Clover and why our product is the way it is.

The bottom line is that we really think it’s worth it. Sometimes with speaking boldly about topics you run the risk of having people speak boldly against you. We believe in message enough that we’re willing to risk losing a little bit of love. But we’re hoping that you’ll resonate with what we speak about, and that it will lead you to a better understanding and love of art, design, and the world it’s encompassed in.

So there you go.

*To sum it up- we’re going to be a little bit more opinionated on our blog in order to make the world a better place.

I hope this makes sense. We might be a bit “pie in the sky” about making the world a better place, but we really think that we can help move this industry in a better direction. So we’re gonna try our hardest. Speaking of Clover is going to let the folks at Clover speak out a little.

Initial Impressions: Wow. Definitely the sleekest looking mass-produced mouse I’ve ever seen. The clean lines and design of this mouse make it look so incredibly clean and design focused – I was worried that there wouldn’t be much focus on function.

Ergonomics: The mouse sits on the desk with a very low profile. While the low height is very pleasing to the eye, I initially declared it to sit too low for my hand.The comfort just isn’t there like it was even with my Mighty Mouse – when laying my hand on the mouse I can’t help but feel like I’m trapping a wounded bird underneath it. The length from front to back of the mouse also seems to be too small for me. The mouse would feel much better if it were a half inch longer but then of course it wouldn’t look quite as cool.

Design: As with most Apple products, a simple glance at the mouse reveals how strongly design was emphasized when creating this product. I think this little device is one of the most beautifully designed products Apple has ever created. Its beauty lies in the simplicity and the cleanliness of the design; there are no wasted lines or accentuated buttons. They were able to remove the scroll-wheel entirely and what remains is a clean and smooth surface.

Functionality: Once up and running, the mouse functions as promised. The one touch scrolling is wonderfully intuitive – much like the iPhone. Primary and secondary clicking also behaves as expected. A secondary click seems to require that you remove your index finger before it will detect your click as a secondary one (I lived with this same experience using the Mighty Mouse so this was nothing new).There is new functionality built into this mouse that allows you to two-finger swipe (left-to-right or right-to-left) and advance next or previous through pictures in Preview or iPhoto or the history in your web browser. I haven’t yet got used to the sideways swiping yet. If the mouse was bigger and fit better in my hand it would probably be a little easier to get used to but maybe in a month from now I’ll have no complaints.

Interface Compatibility: Installing this mouse was no walk in the park. Full Disclosure: my installation of the latest Mac OS (Snow-Leopard) was very very fresh – but it did have the latest software updates. I put batteries in the mouse, turned it on and told my Mac to find a new bluetooth device. Initially my computer didn’t find the mouse at all. I had a couple of people at my desk at the time and none of us knew why it wasn’t working.

We turned it off and on again, we waited 5 minutes for the OS to search for the mouse, all of which left us scratching our heads. I think at one point we must have turned on the mouse’s “Discoverability Mode” by accident which seemed to fix problem with the mouse not being found. That really is just a guess though because being typical guys we never even opened the instruction booklet so I guess I can’t fault Apple on this one.

My computer quickly found the mouse but none of the Magic Mouse functionality was enabled. I thought perhaps it was disabled by default but the mouse settings revealed otherwise:

It turns out that the OS needed a Magic Mouse update installed that it didn’t know about until I connected the mouse in the first place.After all was said and done it took almost 20 minutes to get this device up and running.

Over-All Grade: I give this mouse an A-. It’s the nicest mouse I’ve ever used but I can’t go any higher than that because of the ergonomic short-falls. A mouse is a tool that you use every day but it’s also something that can put you out of work with an injury if it isn’t designed and used correctly. Apple has always put design ahead of ergonomics and while I appreciate that decision, the result is still a considerable problem.

I finished up designing Francis Chan’s 2nd book, Forgotten God (due in stores in September), and we (The Regime, our custom design company) are shooting the curriculum DVD for the book starting at the end of this month.

All this to say, it’s hard to create a great book cover. Especially in an industry that tends to be behind the times artistically. I ran across this blog post recently at wellmedicated.com. If you need a little inspiration for any art pieces (or book covers), check out this post.

This is one of my favorites:

I get the privilege of leading worship at my church every other weekend. I’ve developed a bit of a pet-peeve after leading worship bands over the last bunch of years. I hate, hate, hate it when musicians are decent at one instrument that they play regularly (let’s say an electric bass), then get some guts and play another form of the instrument (upright acoustic bass with a bow) on stage during a worship service. Normally what happens is a bit of a train wreck on stage… But hey, at least they look cool.

Unfortunately, I think this saying is beginning to apply more and more in the web world. It seems that with new capabilities and fads being created daily, there has become a rush and expectancy for websites to adapt to each new creation.

Here’s the thing- I’m all for new ideas and tools. It’s what keeps the web world innovative and constantly creating. But with these new tools being created daily, there is a growing responsibility of the website owner to determine what it is that their website is created for, and simply do that thing well.

I know that sounds like a simple concept, but you’d be amazed what’s out there. When Ben and I were doing custom stuff through The Regime, a big part of our process with the client was to determine exactly what the burden of the website was, and do that thing the best we could. A lot of times, if we were to leave the clients to their own devices, their websites would be a marketing piece, a blog, forum, “new version of Facebook”, and make breakfast for them in the morning.

I simply write this to encourage the website creators out there to ask the question, “What is the one major thing I want my website to accomplish?”, and do that thing extremely well. It will not only make your visitors extremely happy, but it will also give you the peace of mind that you are accomplishing your website goals and don’t have to chase every fad that pops up on the internet. Like I said… Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

One of the youth guys asked me if I was there for the YS conference… I told him I was, and that I was one of the exhibitors down in the exhibit hall. He asked who I was with, and I (proudly) mentioned Clover.

His next comment is what got to me a little bit. He asked, “What are you guys giving away?”

Although caught off guard by his annoying comment, I answered back, “We’re handing out inspiration.”

I was pretty pleased with my answer, but I was still a little frustrated with the interaction. Maybe it’s the nature of these conferences that have the tendency to make me question if it’s the best way to spread the word about Clover.

There’s something that happens at these places that’s kind of reminiscent of a carnival… at least the portion of the carnival that your walk through super fast so that the carnies don’t make you feel ridiculous for not playing their “toss a nickel on a plate and win an over-sized doll” game that you will never actually win.

If you replace the “over-sized doll” with “free stuff exhibitors give away”, you have a typical exhibition. Unfortunately, a lot of times the product is the same as it is at the carnival- pretty much good for nothing.

In preparing for attending our first round of conferences a few months ago, we had a bunch of conversations about whether or not we were going to give away anything in order to get people to our booth. Conferences really made us think through our marketing approach. After hours of conversations, here’s what we determined:

“Free” always costs something. Always. Whether it’s handing out a crappy pen at a conference, or a 10% discount for every person named “Jerry”. The cost for the company is not necessarily the amount of money they lose giving the discount or buying the product they are giving away- what they really lose is the respect of their product.

Right out of high school, I went on a missions trip for 3 months on the Logos 2, a ship that sailed around distributing Christian books, Bibles, and educational curriculum to 3rd world countries (among other things). What was really interesting was that even though we could have easily given these books and Bibles away to the very poor men and women touring the book exhibition, there was a distinct choice that was made to have everyone pay something for the pieces of literature they wanted.

I remember asking one time why they made people pay money – that they had very little of – for Bibles. The answer was very simple: “People value what they pay for.”

At Clover, we have created a product that is easily worth $20,000. We understand that most ministries cannot afford a $20K website, so we chose to offer a product at a price point any ministry can afford.

Part of the reason why we offer websites for $1000 rather than $999 is this idea of this concept of respect. We might be able to sell more with a price point of $999, but we firmly believe that people will respect the product much more if they have committed thousands of dollars rather than hundreds.

Maybe sometimes it’s worth selling your information for a chance of a free T-shirt or an iPod Shuffle. We can’t determine that for you. But for us, we probably won’t sucker you in with a month of free hosting or a chance for a month of back-rubs from Ben. We believe that if you have looked for 5 minutes on the web for any sort of solution for your ministry’s web problem, Clover will emerge as the best, strongest, and most price-effective solution for you.

For those that need the free T-shirt or pen to entice you to purchase our product, I’m not sure that Clover is the right fit for you. We just make great websites. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thanks for reading all the way through this post… I think it’s the longest to date. In the midst of the craziness at all these conferences, I thought it would be good to nail down some thoughts. All of us at Clover really believe that our product is revolutionary. We are not trying to just add another voice to the web market, we are trying to re-shape the industry. Your website should be beautiful, easy, and affordable. It’s time for the web to change– starting with the church.

Unfortunately, a lot of times it’s like playing sports at a small school. You know, those schools where you can be a half-way athletic person and play varsity football, basketball, tennis, lacrosse, golf, be chess team captain, voted prom king, student body president, and even most likely to succeed.

I propose it’s time we begin looking a little further outside our creative comfort zone. Here’s a great place to start…

As a church or para-church, the easiest (and maybe most obvious) place to look when searching for design ideas is at other church or ministry websites. This is why websites such as www.churchbeauty.com are so popular to churches.

Instead of perusing sites like this (which are still good sites that fulfill a big need for churches), check out sites like www.strangefruits.nl. Anyone can tell the difference in design abilities between these two sites:

There’s a whole big, bright world out there full of creative genius to explore. Let’s not limit our designing to what works in our little community just because it’s better than the other church sites out there. 

Explore strangefuits.nl and be mesmerized, discouraged, encouraged and blown away like we are every time we hop on it.