Sometimes all it takes is a fresh angle.
I found it both frustrating and interesting that something I have been saying for years in my current role has been reintroduced as a fresh idea....and it worked!
It was frustrating for obvious reasons...how many times can I say the same thing without it registering or having an impact? (all parents may now nod knowingly)
It was interesting because this is where I found my answer. I became complacent and comfortable with my approach. A fantastically motivating speaker came in and said what I have been saying with new words and cool slides (ok...and lots of cool NEW ideas too) and there was suddenly a room full of epiphanies and light bulbs! Coincidentally this person also managed to give me a fresh angle on some of my personal attitudes and opinions...which left me feeling a little foolish...so I found the clarity to step back and take another look and I feel like I changed a bit this week (for the better).
So here's the lesson (you knew it was coming)....don't get too comfortable. If your current message is working, great. Keep going. But plan ahead for the time when the message becomes stale and you'll need to put a new spin on it. (Wiki the meaning of Cliche) Think of your message as your weekly dinner menu. How many times can you have breaded chicken and stir fry before you start looking for a new chicken taste?
Consumers...well...consume. Once your message has been digested they will be ready for the next entree.
Kim
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
No Pain No Gain
I admit that I don't subscribe the retro 80's doctrine "No Pain No Gain". People often make things a lot more painful than they really need to be.
There is, however, 1 exception....IT upgrades. Although they are for the best, they rarely come without pain and stress.
Back in the early days of the dot-com explosion I was the point person for an IT project that coordinated an in-house inventory system with a then-state-of-the-art website - something NONE of our competitors had even considered, I'm sure. All was custom coded and looked new and shiny by late-90's standards. But the code in the back end was a nightmare and having to replace the programmers when they couldn't finish the project properly proved to be a very costly venture. In the end as the industry moved very quickly into internet based sales we were the clear winners, and the fact that we could take photos of our own inventory, touch them up and use them in our marketing left our competitors literally scrambling to figure out how our product looked so flawless!
Having been through this I was certain that as technology developed that launching new websites would become simple. It turns out that in order to achieve technological gain, one must still endure pain. Going through the launch of the 8th website in my career there is clearly no way to avoid the pain that comes with creating, uploading and transferring content, design, tools and interactivity. Although I can honestly say this has probably been the easiest transition to date (likely because I am not managing the project, just helping out and taking direction from others) I have come to realize something.....
It's all about communication.
Few projects require more specific and detailed communication than the launch of a website. So next time you venture into new website territory BE SPECIFIC. Sketch, write, collaborate, share, criticize, applaud...do whatever it takes to keep all parties involved completely informed on your vision, but be willing to consider the advice of those more tech-savvy than yourself.
Your website is your first impression...it will make or break your consumers' opinion of your business and products. You will not regret the time, money and stress required to build a 'good' website.
Kim
There is, however, 1 exception....IT upgrades. Although they are for the best, they rarely come without pain and stress.
Back in the early days of the dot-com explosion I was the point person for an IT project that coordinated an in-house inventory system with a then-state-of-the-art website - something NONE of our competitors had even considered, I'm sure. All was custom coded and looked new and shiny by late-90's standards. But the code in the back end was a nightmare and having to replace the programmers when they couldn't finish the project properly proved to be a very costly venture. In the end as the industry moved very quickly into internet based sales we were the clear winners, and the fact that we could take photos of our own inventory, touch them up and use them in our marketing left our competitors literally scrambling to figure out how our product looked so flawless!
Having been through this I was certain that as technology developed that launching new websites would become simple. It turns out that in order to achieve technological gain, one must still endure pain. Going through the launch of the 8th website in my career there is clearly no way to avoid the pain that comes with creating, uploading and transferring content, design, tools and interactivity. Although I can honestly say this has probably been the easiest transition to date (likely because I am not managing the project, just helping out and taking direction from others) I have come to realize something.....
It's all about communication.
Few projects require more specific and detailed communication than the launch of a website. So next time you venture into new website territory BE SPECIFIC. Sketch, write, collaborate, share, criticize, applaud...do whatever it takes to keep all parties involved completely informed on your vision, but be willing to consider the advice of those more tech-savvy than yourself.
Your website is your first impression...it will make or break your consumers' opinion of your business and products. You will not regret the time, money and stress required to build a 'good' website.
Kim
Friday, February 5, 2010
If you love someone...set them free.
Have you ever felt protective of your website? Like you want all the traffic and you don't want to send anyone anywhere else? Are you worried that they'll start to love someone else more?
Think about what a disservice you are doing to your visitors! True, it is essential that you give your listener the right experience on your site, and that you give them as much information as possible on your site BEFORE you send them somewhere else.
But what is the harm in sending them off into the great beyond of cyberspace if they so choose? If your visitors are likely to fit the target demographic of another website, and if they are likely to have a good experience there, take a deep breath, count to 3, then let them go.
Sting said it best..."If you love someone, set them free." Remember, your visitor already knows you and loves you (hopefully). They WILL come back, especially if the place you sent them was relevant and useful.
I actually told someone today that my website was essentially designed for them to cannibalize! Our target demos, our goals, even our blog and local events are nearly identical, except that my audience is much larger and already engaged. They need my visitors to become theirs. It occurred to me while we were talking that if my visitors decide to join them, I won't lose anyone, I will actually gain more trust, higher affinity. OK maybe I'll lose 2 or 3 active members because they'll spend more time over there, but I'll gain new ones when they're talking around the water cooler about how they found this cool new site.
So I say to my new (and very excited) client...eat your heart out! I'm prepared to set my visitors free...because if they don't come back, they were never mine in the first place...but I have to believe that my site has enough value that they will love me enough to come back.
ko
Think about what a disservice you are doing to your visitors! True, it is essential that you give your listener the right experience on your site, and that you give them as much information as possible on your site BEFORE you send them somewhere else.
But what is the harm in sending them off into the great beyond of cyberspace if they so choose? If your visitors are likely to fit the target demographic of another website, and if they are likely to have a good experience there, take a deep breath, count to 3, then let them go.
Sting said it best..."If you love someone, set them free." Remember, your visitor already knows you and loves you (hopefully). They WILL come back, especially if the place you sent them was relevant and useful.
I actually told someone today that my website was essentially designed for them to cannibalize! Our target demos, our goals, even our blog and local events are nearly identical, except that my audience is much larger and already engaged. They need my visitors to become theirs. It occurred to me while we were talking that if my visitors decide to join them, I won't lose anyone, I will actually gain more trust, higher affinity. OK maybe I'll lose 2 or 3 active members because they'll spend more time over there, but I'll gain new ones when they're talking around the water cooler about how they found this cool new site.
So I say to my new (and very excited) client...eat your heart out! I'm prepared to set my visitors free...because if they don't come back, they were never mine in the first place...but I have to believe that my site has enough value that they will love me enough to come back.
ko
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