One of our favourite authors is our pommy mate Ben Hunt. He designs awesome stuff, but with a focus on having a reason for a website.

Here's one of his articles that really strikes a chord when you view the way our industry works.

Australia Day 2011 holds special significance for us. We are based in Brisbane and have witnessed the devastation around our region as unexpected flooding changed our way of life. Tragically, it also took people's lives; the only truly unrepairable loss.

The spirit of community and camaraderie that surfaced above the muddy stench was something we never expected to see in our lifetime - ordinary people showing very extraordinary courage and compassion.

Due to the well-deserved hype surrounding the web, the average person is usually only exposed to the great success stories.  Who hasn't heard of 2 geeks making $2 BILLION from Google in selling YouTube, the hysteria around Facebook created by a 23 year old, or the wonderful local success story of Graeme Wood's Wotif.com ?

In reality though, the online landscape is littered with 'train-wrecks'. Web developments which set out to do great things, but missed the mark, losing their creators a massive amount of time and money, and in some cases destroying their business and livelihood.

It's important to understand a web project is like any other business and marketing decision.  With the right strategy, decision-making process and using the right people, you can achieve great things.  Do you want to soar with the eagles, or ... ?