From my experience, agencies tend to lead with design – everything else is secondary. Creating a great website for your client does not rest solely on good design or technology. The key is to follow a clear process. The main problem we all encounter when approaching a web development project is that a commonsense approach to web development doesn’t work. A good example of this is the way most agencies begin the process of building a website.

When approaching web projects, agencies tend to lead with design. That initial client meeting – even in the discovery phase – normally goes along the lines of; “Hello Client, welcome to the future of your website! Please don’t pay attention to the navigation we’ve got in there as a place holder, and that tagline and this content are just some things we’re batting around in the back room, so disregard those as well. Anyway, we wanted to get some designs in front of you to get things started. So…what do you think?”

…if your goal is to baffle your client so completely that they couldn’t possibly give you anything resembling accurate and constructive feedback, then congratulations!

If this sounds familiar, and your goal is to baffle your client so completely that they couldn’t possibly give you anything resembling accurate and constructive feedback, then congratulations–you’re on the road to success! Agencies complain all the time that their web projects fail because their clients can’t make up their minds about anything and are continually contradicting themselves. These agencies aren’t delusional; their clients really are giving them lousy feedback. But it isn’t the client’s fault, it’s yours.

Your client hires you because they can’t build the website themselves. They need you to expertly guide them through the very difficult and unintuitive web development process. As a guide, it is your responsibility to never give your clients more than they can handle. You should always be putting them in situations in which they can succeed. They will only be successful if they can give accurate and timely feedback, so the onus is on you to make sure you are never showing them more than they can comprehend and respond to in a single sitting.

The client in the above scenario will not be able to ignore the navigation, text, and tagline–it’s just not in their nature. It doesn’t matter how often or emphatically you tell them to look here and not there–they’re going to look everywhere. When you lead with design, clients are going to instinctively look at everything but the design elements. “Is that what our main navigation buttons should be?”, “Do we really want a picture of Herb on the homepage?”, and “Where’s the mission statement we just spent the past ten months writing?” are examples of things that are racing through your client’s head when you overwhelm them with a design-first approach to web development. They get so overwhelmed and anxious that often times they simply shut down, and end up offering unhelpful feedback such as, “I don’t like blue.”

Hear from you:

We would love to hear from you on this topic. Do you think Agencies need to take a better look at their website projects? Or as an Agency, how do you normally deal with these kinds of projects?

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa

As a quick summary, here are the points:

• Too many choices — the number of choices effects people’s purchasing behavior
• Social validation — peer reviews play a huge factor in purchasing
• Scarcity — items with limited availability seem to be more valuable
• Food, Sex and Danger — very powerful instinctual triggers for action
• Power of faces — our brains are predisposed to looking at faces
• Stories — brains process information best in story form
• Commitments — start asking people to make small commitments to your site which grow larger with time

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa

“Content” is everything. It draws attention to your company, in turn drawing visitors to your website — product pages, blog posts and social media. As well as resource documents such as e-Books, whitepapers and news releases.  Your content has to be original, informative and interesting.  And it has to be fresh.

How can a Content creation services help?

1) The point is to “get found.”

• 75 percent of internet users say they don’t scroll past page one of search listings.  So you have to increase search engine optimization (SEO), which is what determines where you show up on those all-important search listings.  The right content is critical, and it has to do more than simply promote your products.
• Adding a blog can increase website traffic by up to 55 percent, but you need to continually add new posts to keep visitors coming back.
• Social media are vital for staying in touch with prospects and customers, not just friends.  Engaging prospects reinforces your brand and influences what others say about you. It is interesting, timely content that puts your social media campaigns to its best use..
• Creating and optimizing content, and posting it where your prospects and customers are most likely to see it, will ensure that you get found.  Content creation services can help you determine which options best match your business type and style.

2) Content is fundamental to inbound marketing.

• Everything you do to drive traffic to your website is known collectively as inbound marketing.  Inbound uses content to engage prospects and customers.
• It has to be powerful enough to make you stand out.
• Your website navigation must be “content-friendly.”  Three-quarters of internet users say the most important factor for any website is ease in finding what they want.

3) Reach more and better targeted prospects.

• Content-driven marketing provides exceptional value, because you can closely target your messages or information.
• Create different approaches for different audiences.
• Speak directly to your targets, using their language and style.
• Learn more about customers, so you can target them directly and build stronger, more loyal relationships.

4) Analysis gives you flexibility.

• Content that’s stale or off-target won’t draw traffic or generate sales.  You have to continually test and tune.
• You can easily and accurately measure results of content-driven marketing.
• Respond quickly to evolving market conditions or new opportunities by changing content.
• Analytics allow you to focus on what’s working best and eliminate everything else.

5) Increase revenue!

• Your ultimate goal is to generate more income and higher profitability.
• Attracting more traffic and creating higher conversion rates will help you get there, but success depends on delivering original, valuable content.

You can’t just create content and forget it.  It takes time and effort to produce online resources that are well-crafted, well-targeted and continuously fresh.  Outsourcing content creation services is a smart business decision that can give you exactly what you need while you concentrate on managing the rest of your business.

Partnering with professionals gives you the expertise and experience to plan, create, integrate and coordinate your inbound marketing, so you can get started sooner and reach your goals faster.  And as you move forward, content creation services will help ensure your work continues to get done, and done right.

Content Creation services coming soon! Watch this space or contact us to get a sneak peak.

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa

Learn to write a good agenda to make your project meetings go smoothly and set the team up for success.

We’ve had our share of bad meetings at imLaunching and the worst are the ones that drift around and produce only mediocre results. Why is it that the longer the meeting lasts, the less results you’ll have in the end? It’s because there’s no roadmap for how the meeting will go, and collaboration works best when people are prepared.
Creating a Plan

When you’re putting together a meeting agenda, make sure there is homework tied to it somehow. Indebt every participant to prepare their homework ahead of the meeting and involve only those who’ve done it in decision making.

During the meeting, write down goals on a whiteboard. Make your agenda a performance, not just a bulleted list of points to read aloud. Don’t be afraid to act a little silly to keep everyone’s attention — making a meeting feel light-hearted will keep people motivated and energised.

To keep the meeting’s length under control, timebox each part of the agenda. Leave time, however, to build in a fun surprise or two— perhaps an impromptu visual sketch supporting a new idea.
Wrapping It Up

Make sure you have a set of assignments to hand out at the end of the meeting. Keep them in your pocket until the meeting is over, because they’re meant to be future homework, not problems to solve during the meeting.

The final key to a productive, agenda-led meeting ? Finish early! Nothing gets people more excited than leaving a meeting early!

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa

Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines are your friend:

You will want to register your website with major search engines such as Google and Bing or maybe even Yahoo. This can sometimes entail a lot of work and if this becomes too time consuming for you, there is always the option of hiring a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) expert to aid with this project. SEO’s typically work for fees but considering the time and expertise, which this project entails, it is worth every cent to hire a good SEO expert.

Pay per click advertising:

Search engine marketing utilises pay per click advertising. SEO improves the flow of traffic to your website via search engines. Pay per click advertising can get specific targeted traffic to your business website once your internet campaign is active. Pay per click advertising is paid when someone clicks on your internet ads while visiting your website. This will aid with your budget while driving visitors to your internet website. Pay-per-click advertising is a wonderful marketing strategy, which you can utilise for your business website.

If you are a beginner, don’t worry:

If you are new to search engine marketing, you’ll be happy to know that you do not need a large marketing budget to get started. You can relocate your offline marketing budget while testing it on search engine marketing. Begin small while viewing the effectiveness before you jump in and spend more money. Ensure that you feel confident with this search engine marketing before pursuing a more expensive means of performing search engine marketing.

Do not forget the importance of search engine marketing in inbound online marketing:

Search engine marketing is very important for any internet business. When search engine marketing is performed correctly, this will build up the reputation of your products and services as well as driving up more sales and leads for your business.

Do your homework:

You can begin your search on search engine marketing on the internet. There is loads of information readily available to research. If you are still unsure after researching the internet then you might be a great candidate for hiring a search engine-marketing professional; to aid you with the marketing needs of your internet business.

Ensure that you hold adequate interviews for professional SEO’s, just don’t go with the first one you talk to. Ask for resumes as well as references.

These tips will help keep you on the right track when you start your search engine marketing.

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa

The back of the business card

Now, am not saying that all these are really feasible, or practical in a everyday sense, by no means. But they are worth keeping in mind the next time you and your designer sit down to discuss your corporate identity. A ‘low-budget’ approach can be done on any of these ideas. So, again, these are simply, inspirational business cards.

Bracket

This business card is very interesting; the outside of the card is blank, but if you squeezethe sides you’ll see the information inside. Very kewl !

Easel Business Card

You can see they really put a lot of thought into the mechanics of it.

Hall Engineering

This card can be folded together so that it can stand up. What I really like about it is that the interlocking mechanism is the same as the logo. Great idea for an engineering company.

Stubborn Business Card

This is another example of a pop-up business card. It makes for a great desktop gift. Not so sure if it will fit in your wallet, but still a great corporate toy.

Metal Pop Up Card

Okay, so this next card is not exactly the cheapest one on the list. But it is very interesting and there is something about it, that just stands out at me.

Smokeproof Press

Now this is a great example of word of mouth marketing. The card itself has a tear-off stub on the bottom, so that you can share it with anyone else. I love the idea that this can act as a referral program for your existing clients to recommend you…. Think of the possibilities !

Paper Plane

Maybe it’s just me, but there is something about this card I really like. Just can’t figure what it might be…. but I know I will definitely play around with this idea for my next batch of business cards.

Money Business Card

This one is just cruel, especially in this economical climate. What they have done is basically made their business card look like real money and leave them all over the place, so when people pick it up, they find the business details on the back. (… is that legal ?)

Heat Activated

Now, here is something really awsome. This card is heat activated. So, when you interact with it, your logo or contact details become visible. Otherwise it just looks like a blank card. This is great to get your clients to interact with you, before they have even spoken to you !

Hidden Creative

This is a clever little card and a simple optical illusion. From a certain angle the business card simply says ‘hi.’ But, on closer inspection you see that the company name is actually hidden creatives. Very clever.

5 more Bonus Business Card Ideas!

Just to say thanks for reading this far; here are some more awesome business card ideas I have come across.

Your Turn…

Know of any other awesome business cards, or maybe you just want to show off your own creative ideas. Let us know about it – comment or post a link to it below. We would love to see it.

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa

You’ve heard about Social Marking and you want to get involved, but where do you start ? In my search to better help people understand the web, and what it can do for your buiness, I came across this great video on YouTube. That, very simply ‘explains social media in plain English.’

Social Media in Plain English

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa

Firstly, a warm welcome to all my clients, colleagues, suppliers and friends. It’s been a long time coming, but it is finally here. Along with a revamped website (more about that later) comes a Blog section where we can share ideas, be informed and learn more about how the web can influence business, together. And some other kewl things !

If you have had a chance to look around the website first, you would know that I am a CMS specialist focused on information architecture and online marketing. Since 2004 I have worked part time and full time freelance for a wide range of clients. From start-ups to NGOS to governmental departments. I have worked 20-hour days, late nights and lived out of my office freelancing. I have worked for advertising agencies to web development studios contributing front-end web design services and online marketing strategies.

At the start of 2010 I finally took the plunge and made my business venture official and fulltime. I now operate under the freelance studio name, imLaunching, serving a growing client base. Once tilting the scale in corporate idendity and print work volume, web development [specifically front and back end web design] has taken the forefront these days.

Asking my girlfriend about how I work, she’ll probably tell you I’m obsessed with my work, and work too late into the night, every night. It’s hard to argue with her on that one – I really do have a passion for my work. While I’m currently working on defining the boundaries of the work day, I’m always pushing the envelope, asking too many questions, putting in the hours and scribbling the ideas until I know I’ve done my personal best. Then I expose myself to my peers’ work, see what’s happening in the industry and inspire myself to continually raise that “personal best” bar.

On the topic of personal best; I would like to acknowledge the wisdom, advice and tips I’ve received from all my colleagues and mentors  in taking the business from the crawling phase to full-on run.

It’s only been 11 months since the official March start-up and it’s been a fantastic learning and working experience thus far. I’ve had the privilege of working with some outstanding clients on web development and print design projects from Cape Town to London, Johannesburg to Australia and a number of places in between.

I’m always up for a challenge and never limited to what I can handle alone. I have a reliable, trusted network of industry peers and suppliers able to come in on a different tasks to handle nearly any aspect of a project.

So, I tip my hat to all those who have helped me get to where I am today. I look forward to what the remainder of 2011 holds, and beyond.

If you’d like to get in touch just to say hi, feel free to leave a comment, or head over to our contact page. Let’s keep the comments on the blog clean, fair and honest.

imLaunching - Website Design Services | imLaunching | Johannesburg | South Africa