Brand and Capture

Crowdsourcing, Another Word for Managing by Committee?

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I found this great video by Marty Clarke from a couple of years ago, and I wanted to share it first, then throw in my 2 cents. The basic premise, managing by committee sucks. Nothing gets accomplished. You want to make progress, be a leader and make the decision yourself.

I'm going to roll this ahead to current day and talk about "crowdsourcing". That's the new buzz word for focus groups, design by the public, and yes, managing by committee. The key point of the video is that it's fine to collect everybody's opinion or create a poll, but the decision needs to be made by the senior stakeholder and noone else. There is only one "say" in the decision and that's the boss' say. Without this, there is anarchy and indecision. Not that I admire dictators, but you have to admit, they get the job done. Crowdsourcing is great for collecting data, but it's no substitute for leadership.

So when you're sitting down with your team and going around the room, listen to their advice, but don't tip your hand. They will be more likely to give it to you straight if they know it's up to you to decide. Thank them for their opinions and usher them out of the room. They can wait for you to decide.

Website Evolution 2 - Focus on the Consumer

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I wanted to expand on some ideas presented in a recent post, Rethinking the Small Business Website, focusing on what kinds of content are most effective in small business websites these days.

The entire conversation in marketing is shifting from your company's message to information or offers that provide consumer value. A recent panel at the New England Xpo for Business at Boston concluded that "companies should be thinking more like publishers than salesmen."  By providing valuable content across the board, in blogs and social media sites, in advertising, and throughout your Web site, your online presence becomes an asset to your community of followers who become loyal to your brand and are far more likely to purchase your products and services. Here are some things to think about when you consider your online publication and website strategy:

1. Anticipate the interests and needs of your online community, and fill those needs. Create blogs that address those subjects and invite people to comment or respond by asking questions, like "how do you feel about this?" Continue the discussion in social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and refer them back to your website/blog for details and comments. Discussions like these build relationships and often lead to direct contact and, eventually, sales.
2. Go easy on the self-promotion. You can refer to your own offerings indirectly by saying something like "in our experience providing Inbound Marketing services..." This will tell your readers that you offer these services without hitting them over the head.
3. Stay current. Do your homework. Access your RSS feeds and other news channels to make sure you are on top of the latest developments in your area of interest. Target your blogs, updates and announcements to the latest industry news. This enhances your published content by making it timely, relevant and valuable to consumers.
4. Publish early and often. Be the first to make an announcement if possible (journalists have been doing this for centuries). Publish every day, if possible. This establishes you as committed and exposes your information to the broadest possible audience.
5. Be accurate. Take the time to double check your sources. Always link to your sources to backup your claims. This establishes you as credible and trustworthy, which ultimately builds your loyal community and clientele. It also helps with SEO!

What's the payoff? The real power of Inbound Marketing lies in the power of the referral. If you become a trusted resource, providing valuable, timely, accurate information, your reputation will spread and your business will grow.

Rethinking the Small Business Website

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As small businesses learn about and begin to employ inbound marketing and social media sites for branding and customer relations, it raises the question "where does my website fit in?" A new strategy is emerging, one that emphasizes a multichannel approach to marketing through social media and blogging. The traditional small business website is being overhauled to become a focal point for this consumer-centric strategy.

Let's review where we've been in small business website design and development during the past 15 years.

1995 - 2000: The Internet Bubble

In the mad rush to cash in on the wave of Internet businesses, companies gobbled up all of the domain names and slapped up anything resembling HTML to attract the hoards of daily visitors to places like Amazon.com and Yahoo. There was little thought about branding and the use of web sites as anything but get-rich-quick schemes.

2000 - 2007: The Bubble Burst and the Emergence of Business Sites

As nearly every small business Web portal and most e-commerce sites lay smoldering at the end of the 90's, larger companies began to see the Web as an extension of their branding efforts, and small businesses began to follow. By the end of this period, if your company didn't have a professional-looking "brochure site" tied in with the rest of your corporate branding, you were in trouble. E-commerce sites began to re-emerge as important alternatives to conventional shopping, driven by consumer desire for convenience, especially during holidays. Towards the end of this period, companies began to embrace Web sites as more than an electronic brochure, with daily updates driven by content management systems and Web applications. A new wave was coming, based on consumer desire for interactivity and instant communication. Blogs started to pop up everywhere and a strange new beast, the social networking site was gaining popularity.

2007 - Present: The Brave New World

Enter a new world where consumers have turned business communications on its head. It's no longer sufficient to broadcast your message via TV, radio, print media and the Internet. Your customers want a relationship with you prior to purchase. They want recommendations from their peers and a chance to canvass the world for opinions about your products and services. Last, but not least, they want you involved in the conversation. No more hiding behind brand or conventional one-way communication. Not going to cut it anymore. So where does that leave the small business website?

New Age Web Design

1. Branding identification is still important, so the design must convey who you are, what you sell, and why the visitor should choose you. Sites are becoming leaner, more focused on the consumer and less narcissistic.
2. Websites are becoming branded blogs, since blogging is a primary tool in inbound marketing and social media marketing.
3. E-commerce is still important and takes center stage if you sell online.
4. Your Web site is the best place to measure Internet marketing ROI, via traffic and conversions. Search engines (SEO), while still important, are quietly being replaced by social media sites. Inbound marketing drives willing consumers to your landing pages to engage in conversation and/or purchase, something that search engines could never do.
5. What about the design? Business owners and Web designers still love the Flash intro's and lots of graphics. Consumers couldn't care less. They want information, communication and value. If you need a fancy design to deliver those things, go for it. Otherwise, if I were you, I'd focus on delivering the goods. Make your blog up-front-center. Make your landing pages easy to understand and easy to convert your visitors to a customers. Create great presences on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media channels and work them consistently in concert with your Web site.

Now you're up-to-date. We'll see what comes next...