Breaking Down The Multi-Headed Monster—Social Media

December 5th, 2008

This is part 4 of a 6 part series.

Social Media. You may have heard of the term or not. You may be an avid user of one of more of these web sites providing social media services or not. If you are congratulations. If you are not, you need to get networked.

How do Social Media web sites work?

Networks. There are many types of networks we all deal with.

• Road Networks
  Gets you from one place to another
• Computer Networks
  Get information from one place to another
• People Networks
  Open up opportunities from one person to another

Social Media makes use of people networks. When you participate in Social Media web sites you make connections to people you already know in the “real world” and you also make connections to people you meet online.

The power in these connections lies in not so much who you know, but who knows who you know. The people that are a second and third degree of separation from you. In this scenario if you are looking for something specific, or an opportunity you can put it out to your “social media network.” It is likely that someone you know knows someone who can help you out.

It is really a simple concept and a very powerful one yet I think many people dismiss the power of this type of communication. Some people think that using Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter is a complete waste of time. I have to disagree. I have found help and answers to questions from tapping into my networks.

You Can’t Be Everywhere and Everything to Everyone.

You have to pick your networks. Some people chose to use one network exclusively where other people use multiple. I use three:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• and Facebook

These are just my preferences at the moment and I use each one for different networks and purposes. I have experimented with others but these are the tools I find myself using almost exclusively. The key is to try one and get started. One note: You should not feel compelled to be on every site.

Chris Brogan said it well in a post called Do You Have To Touch Every Conversation. Chris says: “There are gazillions of other conversations that I’m not touching, that Seth isn’t touching, that Scoble or Kawasaki or whoever the heck you want to put in the *.person.who.should.join.the.conversation should be touching. But is that really the goal? Or is the goal to fish where your fish are, to do what you plan to do, and to do it well?”

As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments please share below.

Tags: facebook, linkedin, social media, twitter
Posted in HBDG Blog | 1 Comment »

Breaking Down The Multi-Headed Monster-Blogs

December 2nd, 2008

This is part 3 of a 6 part series.

Blogging or, what I am going to focus on here, business blogging has been written about a countless number of times and does not need to be entirely re-hashed here. So, this may be brief but that is best. I will distill the core essentials of all that I have read and reviewed.

1. Ask yourself the question, “Why Blog?”
   What is its purpose? What is the objective? Here are a few examples
   1. Sell. Sell. Sell.
      You can directly promote products and services to people who may want and need them
   2. Customer Relations
      Build more and better relationships with customers. Foster open and honest communication with customers and prospects
   3. Research and Development
      Promote ideas and solicit feedback from clients and customers
   4. Educate and Inform
      Share information with customers on how to use a product or service. Share content that customers don’t know they don’t know
   5. Internal Communications
      A password protected blog can be used for staff training, communication, resource sharing, etc.
   6. Community Development
      Build a community blog around a product, idea, or service
   7. Public Relations
      Manage crisis situations, promote company vision, communicate company news, etc. From these examples it should be simple to find a way to use a blog for your business. Many times a single blog can serve more that one objective listed above and some companies will create more than one blog to keep the objectives separate
2. Propaganda
   Watch out for the propaganda trap. Be wary of using the business’ blog as a space to spin a one-dimensional PR message. The blogosphere can smell the spin from a mile away and the business can run the risk of having weaknesses exposed unless blogging is done in a transparent way. Businesses need to be able to highlight strengths but also failings where improvement can happen.
3. Blogs are Interactive Spaces
   Blogs are, like it or not, inherently interactive spaces for a give and take of ideas. Typically business websites allow simple interactivity with a “contact us” page, or a form to submit your questions. Blogs offer a comments section where readers have the freedom to share their ideas on what the blogger, or business, has to say. Some companies are scared or feel threatened by this idea and is a reason why many companies do not have a blog. Some businesses blog without allowing comments. But this, in my opinion, defeats the core purpose of a blog-interacting with opinions and ideas. Besides, other people with blogs may be talking about your business already and people could be commenting on what is being written. Instead of ignoring the space it is better to have a presence and get your business’ perspective published. Don’t be silent.
4. Helps Your Business Get Found
   A blog, and the frequency at which you publish, will help your business get found. This happens a couple of ways. First more content on your blog means more opportunities that you are going to be speaking to someones needs. When people search the Internet, they are looking to get their problems solved. Second, the frequency you publish will also help. Websites whose content does not change are seen as ‘dead’ by search engines. The more dynamic a website, the more active and in the eyes of search engines a place of ‘life.’ 
5. Leadership Through Blogging
   By blogging you and your company are speaking out and taking a position on topics that matter to people. You may receive compliments or criticism and that is the point. To engage people in discussing the topics you cover will help raise you and your companies profile.
   
6. Blogging Takes Time
   You need time to write, time to read what is happening in the blogosphere within your industry, time to comment on other blogs, time to reply to comments on your blog, etc. However, this should not deter you. You do need to put aside some time to get your blog going and it does get easier over time. Treat a blog as you would any other company communication, with thought and care.
   Additionally it will take time for your blog to gain traction. At first you may be the only person reading it. You need to let people know that you have a blog by putting it in your email signature or just telling them about it.
7. Don’t Wait.
   Thinking about it will not make it happen. Get started.

There is great potential for a company willing to blog. You need to see it as another tool in your marketing arsenal and make it fit within your entire marketing mix. Opening up, allowing interaction with customers, fans, and potential customers can provide untold benefits.

A Good Visual Explanation

To help understand blogs a bit more, here is a video from the great folks at CommonCraft, Blogs in Plain English.

I would love to know what you think. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Tags: blogging, blogs, communication
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Breaking Down The Multi-Headed Monster-Email Marketing

November 5th, 2008

This is part 2 of a 6 part series.

Something we all do in the modern business world is email. It is a staple to getting things done. Are you using email marketing as a tool in your marketing mix? If not you are missing a high-return opportunity. Email is something you already do every day and, if done correctly, can be one of the most effective forms of marketing you undertake.

So, why get into email marketing?

1. You already know how to do it
   You email clients and prospects constantly. Being able to create email content should be relatively simple.
2. It compliments other marketing initiatives
   For those people who may not visit your web site regularly,  see your printed advertising, or be in constant contact, email is the most cost efficient and effective way to stay in touch.
3. It’s a new and recurring revenue stream
   Your email marketing will be organic and change over time. You can offer different content, a new offer, or have a design tweak to make the email more effective. It will improve your relationship with customers and prospects and inject new and recurring sales.
4. It does work
   Based on data from EmailStatCenter email is proven to return your investment.
   1. Cost Effective
      Once the initial cost of setting up an email publishing system is done (design and programming) the cost of publishing is much cheaper than anything printed.
   2. Feedback Is Immediate
      Once you publish you will begin to see feedback data with most data coming back in 24-48 hours.
   3. It’s Relevant and Personable
      Not only can you segment your market and target specific groups of people, you can personalize the message with a “Dear Joe” greeting AND deliver different content to “Joe” than everyone else on the list.
   4. It’s Measurable
      You can review actionable data from every email you send. You can see how many people opened the email and what links were popular by seeing what links are being clicked.
5. Email Marketing can take different forms
   1. Quick Announcements
      For when you have something quick to share. Think of it as a postcard email. A simple note or piece of information works well in this format.
   2. Email Newsletters
      These should build upon relationships you have with existing clients and other business relationships. The focus should be on providing relevant content to your readers. Often the content doesn’t necessarily relate to your products or services, but rather highlights information, knowledge, or expertise you have. For example a grocer may send out an email newsletter that shares recipes and the benefits of organic produce. See my DesignDetails email newsletter as an example.
   3. Catalog Emails
      As the name implies this is an email highlighting content from a catalog of offerings that are typically in print or online. The purpose of this type of email is to encourage readers to purchase.
   4. Press Releases
      If you have a list of media contacts you can certainly share the latest company information in an email press release format and can be a great way to attract coverage.

Conclusions

Know that one email marketing solution may not do everything you need. You may need more than one type of email solution to get the job done. The one item I cannot stress enough is that email newsletters are measurable. You get concrete data on:

• successful deliveries
• unsuccessful deliveries (email addresses that are not working)
• number of people who opened your email
• number of people who clicked on any links in your email

…and many other parameters. For the cost, email marketing cannot be beat as a form of marketing communication.

Let us know if you have any questions, or want to get started with your own email newsletter.

Tags: email, Internet, marketing, promotion
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Breaking Down The Multi-Headed Monster-Web Sites and 5 Things To Look For

October 8th, 2008

This is part 1 of a 6 part series.

In a previously published article in our monthly email newsletter DesignDetails, I talked about the “multi-headed monster” of using the Internet as a communication medium for you or your business. I think it’s time to revisit the “monster” and talk a bit more about each component.

The components we mentioned in that article include:

• Websites
• 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.)

First we will tackle web sites and in subsequent posts we will talk about each of the other components.

Your Web Site

It’s no secret that in today’s business world the first place someone will most likely interact with you, your company, product, or service is through your web site. Therefore it is imperative that your web site is in line with your marketing strategy and message. What impression does your web site make on the first time visitor?

I have written a list of guidelines below that I use to assess the effectiveness of any web site.

1. Purpose
   1. What purpose does your web site serve? If you cannot answer this simple question you are wasting both time and money.
      1. Is the purpose for lead generation, consumer information, business-to-business (B2B) information, e-commerce, service, sales, etc.?
   2. Who is your web site targeted at? Who is your audience?
2. Design
   1. Is the overall appearance of the web site attractive?
      1. This is subjective, but basic.  Widely recognized design design principles apply:
         1. alignment
         2. balance
         3. consistency
         4. contrast
         5. proximity
         6. use of white space
   2. Does the overall design reflect the right mood? Professionalism? Playfulness?
   3. Is there a simple hierarchy to the visual elements? Some things bigger, some smaller, rather than everything the same size?
   4. Is there contrast in color? Dark type on a light background. Light type on a dark background.
   5. Using images effectively? Are the images being used related to the written content?
3. Organization
   1. Is information on the website organized in a way that is most effective to its purpose?
      1. Can people easily find what they want and need?
      2. Can anyone get back to the home page easily?
   2. Is contact information easily accessible?
4. Content.
   1. Content is king. Well written, focused content can do more for your website than you can imagine.
   2. Stuffy “corporate speak” copy does not work on the web. Brevity is important.
   3. Does the web site clearly communicate to who or what your are dealing with?
   4. Is the value proposition, or mission statement clearly presented?
   5. Is there a call to action? What are you asking people to do; buy, communicate, engage?
   6. Ask yourself the question “What’s in it for me to be at this web site?” If the content cannot answer that question you need to address the value proposition or the mission statement.
5. Maintenance
   1. Does your website say “last updated in September 2001″ anywhere? Do you have “under construction,” or “coming soon” pages? You need to “feed-the-beast,” meaning you need to continually update and refresh the content on your web site.
   2. Your business changes. Your website content should update to reflect your business.
   3. Do you have tools to easily update and maintain content. How long does it take to make a change on your web site? Should not take more that 24 hours for simple changes.

I could make this list much longer. However, I do need to honor the tenet of “brevity” here. However, the points made above should help clarify some important considerations for your website. There are a wide variety of ways to market and promote your business online and your website should be the hub of those efforts.

Take a few minutes  to review your website and look through the questions above. If you find you can answer many of the questions in a positive sense then you are in good standing and are on your way to getting the most out of your web site investment. However, if you cannot answer some of these questions positively than it might be time to revisit your web site so that it is working for you.

Let me know if you have any questions, or what you think about this post in the comments below.

Tags: marketing, promotion, strategy, website
Posted in HBDG Blog | 1 Comment »

Doing Web-Based Communications Right—Part 3 of 3

September 19th, 2008

In this post, part 3 of 3, we will pick up where we left off with Doing Web-Based Communications Right.  As you may recall, in part one we talked about:

• Purpose
• Guiding Principles
• and Desired Outcome

In part two we talked about:

• Brainstorming
• and Orgranizing Tasks

At this point your purpose, principles, and outcomes are well defined and brainstorming has identified large parts of the project that have been broken down into smaller tasks. Most likely you have not uncovered every task for this project as more will “pop-up” when you actually begin the process.

So what now? Schedule and Budget.

Now you determine two other key components. The first is schedule.

• How quickly does this project need to become a reality?
• Is the timeline open-ended? Meaning done when its done.

The shorter the time-frame the more likely you will need more people to accomplish your goals. If your project is large and your timeframe tight, you will need more people to meet your deadline. Expect that to affect the other item we will mention, budget.

Your budget will impact the ability to make your project a reality. Timeline and scope will determine if your budget is adequate. Be sure to have a budget and be prepared to scale down your expectations if you find that you cannot afford what you want.

Getting to it.

So now you are ready to roll. You have your project scoped, a timeline expetation and a budget. What now?

You may attempt to complete the project in-house if you have the requisite skillset to complete the project. Otherwise you will be looking for an outside specialist, or professional to assist you in making your project a reality.

It is always wise to consult with someone about your project when you have a lack of knowledge or expertise. Even though the Internet is full of content and information, the time you spend searching, reading and distilling could be spent doing something profitable. Be sure to weigh the investment of time if you are thinking about the “do-it-yourself” approach.

Hope you find this 3 part series helpful and as always, let us know if you have any questions.

Tags: projects, tasks
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Doing Web-Based Communications Right—Part 2 of 3

September 8th, 2008

In this post, part 2 of 3, we will pick up where we left off on Doing Web-Based Communications Right.  As you may recall, in part one we talked about:

• Purpose
• Guiding Principles
• and Desired Outcome

At this point in the process, you should know what purpose your project serves, what rules you are going to play by, and what wild success looks like.

What’s next?

Brainstorm

Now is the time to think about all the components your project will encompass.  These components will most likely be the top-level parts of your project.  For example, if your web-based communication project is a web site, your brainstorm may produce items like:

• domain name
• web hosting
• content development
  • writing
  • images
• visual design
• customer database
• search engine optimization

The idea here is to think about as many possibilities as you can—impose no limits on your thinking.

Once you have completed Brainstorming the next step is to Organize Tasks.

Organize Tasks

At this step you breakdown the top-level components into specific tasks that will move the project forward. Every task should be executable. If something you are looking at is too abstract, as in you can’t actually perform the task, you need to break it down further. One key is to write each task as if a person was only going to see that task AND they are only 5 years old.

“Create report for meeting” is not going to cut it when you look at it alone. What report? What meeting?

To continue using the example above I will take the first item from the Brainstorm list.

Domain Name

1. Decide on the spelling of domain name by listing at least 5 choices in descending order
2. Go online to www.instantdomainsearch.com and type in your choices
3. Select one domain name and purchase it
4. Print and file copies of all contact and registration information

I think from this example above you get the idea.

So from here you have completed the process of defining your project and what it will take to get it done. What’s next?

That will be in our next installment, Part 3 of 3 of Doing Web-Based Communications Right.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Tags: brainstorm, desired outcomes, principles, purpose, tasks
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Doing Web-Based Communications Right—Part 1 of 3

August 29th, 2008

Large corporations and well-funded start ups have the bankroll to build web communications with large amounts of research and planning. There are teams of people working on tasks such as:

• Defining purpose
• Defining goals
• Clarifying guiding principles
• Articulating desired outcomes
• Performing user research
• Brainstorming
• Scheduling
• Defining tasks and assigning to people to get it all done
• Delivering the product (website, email campaign, etc.)

For the small business person who may not have the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in the design and development of their website, there is a way to get the most value using a simple process to build or assess your web communications.

The first step is to ask yourself, or your company some basic questions about why you are doing this, what your desired outcome is, and how to get it done.

Here are some of the first questions to ask:

Purpose

• Why are we building a web site? Or if you have one, why do we have a web site? What is its purpose?
  • Inform people about your company?
  • Sell goods or services?
  • Create a sense of community?
  • Establish you or your company as a leader within your industry?

Guiding Principles

• While we are building this, what will help guide us?
  • Do we want to have fun?
  • Do we want it done efficiently to meet a deadline?
  • Are we working under a budget constraint?
  • Is there a philosophy, or mantra, that should be repeated while working on this?

Desired Outcome

• What do you want to achieve?
  • Do you want to make money?
  • Do you want to get more customers?
  • Do you want to establish your new brand?
  • Do you want to establish yourself, or your company as a thought leader?
• How can we measure our success?
  • Pick a measurable desired outcome.
  • Can the desired outcome be broken down into smaller milestones? What are they?

Get it Going

This should be plenty to get you started on thinking about your web-based communication project—or any project for that matter. In part two I will write about the next steps in the process, and in part three I will write about the conclusion; where does this get you?

If you have any comments or feedback please share below.

Tags: desired outcomes, guiding principles, process, purpose, websites
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Do You Own Your Domain Name?

August 20th, 2008

This is an important question to find an answer to. When you or your company setup your website, how did you get your domain name?

• Did you buy it yourself?
• Did you have someone buy it for you?
• Did it come as part of a package deal? (Meaning that you got your domain name as part of some ’special website deal’)

This may seem like a trivial matter for some people. However, I know of at least one business owner who found out the hard way your domain name is serious business. When he wanted to move his entire web site to a less expensive web hosting company he discovered that the domain name he thought he owned was not registered in his name.

The web hosting company was the authorized registrant on the domain, not him. Technically this means the hosting company owned the domain name - not him. You need to be named registrant.

There are three “contacts” for a registered domain name:

• Administrative
• Technical
• Billing

At the very least you should be the “Administrative” contact, and most likely the “Billing” contact as well.

Is this the case for you?

Some of you will know, like I do, that you definitely own your domain name. But what if you are not sure? Where do you turn to find out. I have the answer for you. You need to do a “whois” search.

Go to this web site, called AllWhoIs.

Once at this web site enter the domain name you want to search and its suffix (.com, .net, .org, etc.)

Press “search” and the results will show in the window below. Look to see if you are the registrant and administrative contact. If not you need to get in touch with who is to transfer the domain.

Anything to share?

Please do so in the comments

Tags: domain name, ownership
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Not Up To Your Standard? Work Harder!

July 27th, 2008

People who produce work of a creative variety have a shared experience. Writers, designers, musicians, moviemakers, chefs, painters, et al. typically get into the game of creating for a living because they love to make things. They know what they like. They create because they love the process, the results, and want to make more of it.

Typically in the process of getting started in a creative career, and even in mid-career, you may find what you are creating doesn’t live up to your standards. It may seem like every piece of work you create doesn’t measure up. It looks, feels, sounds, or tastes terrible—at least by your standards. After a while frustration and depression can set in. Many people at this point quit. In the face of adversity they decide they cannot do it—they cannot persevere. They pack up their tent and give up on creating. The frustration of not producing work up to your taste and standards may seem too hard to get through—so you quit and stop working as a creative professional. It is easier to stop than to continue inflicting more pain. The road ahead looks too long to stay on.

Know You Are Not Alone.

This happens to more people than you can imagine.

• Why do they quit?
• Why do they give up?
• Do they not see the light at the end of the tunnel?

They feel they are going in circles and not creating anything of significance. The whole exercise feels like a fruitless effort, and nothing worse than feeling like you are wasting your time.

How to Transcend

So how does someone get beyond this and break through?

How do you break the cycle? It’s rather simple really.

You must do more work.

You must continue to create. Even when you feel what you are creating isn’t up to par. It’s the process that will eventually produce the results you are after. I have had this happen to me more than once during my career. I persevered and continue to work in my creative field today.

I recently came across a video on YouTube featuring Ira Glass from This American Life. He is talking about storytelling, but what he talks about applies to everyone in a creative profession and their career.

I found it inspiring and it’s definitely worth watching.

Tags: creativity, process
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Your Prefs, Client Prefs, and Deadlines

July 9th, 2008

Many times in the course of working in a service business one works upon assumptions. You may know background information on a client and can perform many tasks based on what you believe to be your clients’ preferences. These assumed preferences are based on your knowledge of the client, your history with the client, and past behavior of the client. All of these can allow you to make an informed, assumed, decision and carry out a plan, or a series of tasks.

Well recently, I was working in exactly this fashion with a long-standing client. We were looking at hitting a deadline and publishing something by a certain day and time. The assumptions kicked in and long story short something went out the door that was not ready in the clients eyes. It was grammatically and syntactically correct. However, there was content that needed updating, and we did not have access to that information late in the day. So, things were queued up and sent out the door.

The ramifications from this were not severe. However, the amount of work and “triage” needed to resolve the issue were a bit inconvenient. It would have been a wiser move to hold on until the morning.

All of this of course is from the service provider’s side of the equation. From the client side things are very different. There is a deadline to meet and if there is wiggle room it will be used if need be.

So what is the take away?

• Confirm deadlines and deliveries with clients
• If the project is not ready, or you are unsure, renegotiate the deadline if possible
• Always ask if everything is complete with the project
• Get a physical signature, or email from client confirming that content can “leave the building” (We use a sign-off form for all projects, or if time is tight we ask for an email from them that grants permission)

It is rather easy to make sure all the “T’s” are crossed and “i’s” are dotted. Try not to get caught up in the deadline shuffle.

Do you have any tried and true techniques for handling deadlines?

Let me know below.

Tags: assumptions, choices, clients, deadlines, preferences
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