Design Details - February 2008

February 27th, 2008

Volume 02 // Number 02

February 2008

In this issue

• Midpoint of First Quarter
• The Multi-Headed Monster
• Find of the Month

Hi,

This email newsletter comes to you in HamiltonBerchman’s never-ending pursuit of helping our clients and friends succeed.

Midpoint of First Quarter.

We are now just past the middle of the first quarter of 2008, can you believe it? I certainly cannot. I recently read on a blog that there is a six letter word that is at the core of all successful people and I find it to be true. The word exemplifies what we all, as workers in the modern world, should be doing—taking action. Have you been taking action on your goals for the first quarter of 2008? I know we have at HamiltonBerchman and we will talk about that in more detail in a future issue.
The Multi-Headed Monster.

I recently had a conversation with a reader of this e-newsletter (Hi David) and it got me thinking about the focus of this month’s newsletter: multi-channel Internet communication. It has to do with how you approach your use of the Internet as a tool to communicate your personal or company message to reach your target market. I believe in order to use the Internet effectively in today’s marketplace you need to focus on using more than one channel of communication.

What is an example of a channel?

• Websites ( personal and professional )
• E-mail Marketing Campaigns
• Blogs
• E-Newsletters
• Social Networks ( Linked In, Facebook, MySpace, etc.)
• Video ( YouTube, Revver )
• Forums (Yahoo Answers, Wikipedia, Hosting your own, etc.)

Most individuals may use one or two of these channels to participate and communicate their message and brand. However, for maximum saturation—particularly for businesses of all sizes—organizations should be using four or more of these channels at any given time.

Wow! 4 Channels? But why?
On the surface it appears to be a lot of work, and at the start it can appear to be a daunting task. But if you start with what you use most (think email) and then work your way through the other channels you use most, frequently the dividends can be large. The payoff comes through consistent use of images and message across any channel you use on the Internet by reinforcing your brand. By clearly and consistently communicating your message, and creating links between all these channels, you engage people, organizations, and prospects in a variety of ways and in turn…

• increase your exposure to a larger audience making it easier for more people to find you, your product, or service on the Internet
• provide multiple channels for your target audiences to access your information, permitting them to engage with you in the format they are most comfortable in
• interlink channels to increase exposure, subscriptions, readership, and ‘buzz’
• interlink channels to increase relevancy among search engines (think higher rankings)

Anyone who is using the Internet as a marketing tool would want this. All of these benefits can be yours, but you need a plan.

But wait there’s more…
There are costs of time and money associated with investing in developing a strategic and mindful approach to what you communicate on the Internet. However, when compared to other mediums (print advertising, television, radio, etc.) the cost of entry is minimal. Furthermore, when you look at the potential return on investment with how far your reach can extend on the Internet, using multiple channels becomes a no-brainer. Now, it is not to say that you should abandon an occasional printed ad, or other form of communication, but when you look at the ‘bang for your buck’ the Internet can’t be beat as long as you have a plan.

So how do you get a plan to do this?
This is where someone like me would step in. You need to talk with someone who lives and breathes the Internet and knows how to help you get these channels working for you. I would first suggest defining some goals for what it is you want to achieve. Is it more leads? More sales? More exposure? If you are having a tough time defining goals, no problem.

An initial consultation will help you discover some goals as well as what channels you should be working in. Chances are you are already working in 2 or more channels. An audit of what you already have in place is prudent in order to align your current work with the plan that will be developed. Once you have a plan is developed its time to execute, take action, follow up, and observe, as your goals are achieved.

Finally, Find of the Month

In every issue I share an Internet destination I have come across that has some application to doing business, getting things done, or just plain cool. This month it’s a website called Jott, [ http://www.jott.com/]. People use Jott, which is a free service, to call with their cellphone and send an email to themselves or anyone else. It’s great for people to:

• Remind themselves of important things
• Delegate tasks to people
• Communicate with teams in one step
• Record expenses
• Record hours billed, and for what
• It takes a minute to setup and it’s free

Wrap up.

That’s it for this month and year of DesignDetails. Let me know if you have any questions about any of this content.

I am always on the lookout for article ideas. If you have a challenge or question you are facing relating to the Internet or design and would be willing to share, let me know. I can answer your issues here and share with everyone—with anonymity of course.

Do you know a friend or colleague that may find the content of this newsletter interesting? Please forward to a friend, and thanks.

I’ll talk to you again in March 2008.

Bert Mahoney AIGA
Publisher, DesignDetails

Principal and Creative Director,
HamiltonBerchman Design Group, Inc.
details@hamiltonberchman.com

Director of Internet Strategy and Services
AIGA Santa Barbara

AIGA | the professional association for design

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