If Canadians Ruled the World
Ok, just for fun. No heavy stuff here. Browsing the blogosphere, I found a link for the Worth 1000 If Canadians Ruled Contest.
There are some funny Photoshop experiments here.
February 11th, 2006
Archive for February 11th, 2006
Web Design As (part of a) Marketing Strategy - Part 2
This post assumes you read part one of the series.
If you are a small business contacting me for Web design services, you will receive different treatment than a corporate client who comes knocking (by email of course!). Why is this? By experience, I have learned that I need to make some assumptions about types of clients.
Assumptions About Corporate Clients
- The first assumption I make is that a corporation knows its marketing challenges and that it has already set a direction for advertising/marketing/promotion that is working. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have the budget to call me.
- My second assumption is that my feedback to a corporate client will deal with content suggestions and design approaches exclusively.
Though these two assumptions may not prove to be universally true, they have been a relatively reliable guide. Usually, if a corporation has a marketing challenge their budget allow an expert consultant to advise them in a particular area. This takes the load off of me in regards to their success and failure and allows me to focus on my core competency, which is after all, Web design!
Assumptions About Small Businesses
- What small businesses usually need is a marketing solution. While I can’t offer all pieces of this, I can help them think through their product offering, their likely allies, and we can research together what experts might need to be consulted to reach their goals.
- Small business clients (at least those just getting started) rarely have clearly articulated, measurable goals. I will try to determine if these goals are in place and how a Web site might help reach those goals.
Once we have an idea of what goals are set and what challenges there will be to their achievement, we can begin working on a small business Web site.
Without very clearly articulated goals, most small businesses do not continue to maintain a Web site and will not likely gain much from having one. Since I am invested in the success of my clients, this is something I want to avoid.
I love working with small businesses, it is where the greatest rewards can be had … and the greatest heartbreaks and losses. This is why, potential small business client, when you open a dialog I am likely to tell you hard truths as I see them and ask you tough questions before I ever design a Web site.
February 11th, 2006
Retraction: Article with Links to SearchSpot Spyware Toolbar
I opened my blog up to guest articles a week or two ago. I am happy to publish articles that share valuable information. However, I did not do proper research on this article and it contained links to a site that promoted a spyware toolbar called the SearchSpot Toolbar. I’ve removed the article.
If you wish to submit articles of REAL value for my readers, please feel free to do so after carefully reading this post.
February 11th, 2006
Web Design As (part of a) Marketing Strategy - Part 1
Fresh out of college with a BFA in Visual Communications, I thought what every client needed was an attractive Web site. The only real problem with the Web, I thought, was that it was filled with poorly designed, outdated Web sites that had navigation problems.
Imagine my surprise when I began to turn out Web sites for clients that met my standards for quality, design, and navigation and yet did not achieve the level of sales or public acclaim that I expected.
At Design Delineations, I am processing the fact that clients rarely come to me for a Web design or redesign even though this is their stated objective. They come for a marketing solution. As a small company with many small businesse clients whose budgets do not merit a marketing department, it is incumbent on me to learn how to deliver these solutions, and learning I am!
Some of this post’s content has already revealed my reluctance to partition roles, concepts, and processes rigidly. Most Web designers would just say that marketing is the responsibility of the marketing department or client, and it is. Yet, there is something in me that demands I try to draw it out of the client.
On occasion, there has been an assumption that a Web site IS a marketing strategy. Perhaps it can be such, but not if it is simply assumed. The days of the field of dreams have come and gone … at least as it pertains to the WWW.
Here is a question for passers by, clients, and potential clients: How can I chart a course for Design Delineations that will help my customers use their Web sites as part of a marketing strategy?
By the way, I define Marketing Strategy as a plan to achieve a specific customer response.
1 comment February 11th, 2006
