Marketing Emergency: Website Design

Our design firm sees its fair share of branding and marketing emergencies. The running joke is that our conference room becomes a make-shift triage for marketing patients. And for a variety of reasons, websites seem to be the most common marketing emergency that our design firm encounters.

In fact, if I asked 100 professional services firms if their websites were "under the weather" or worse, I'd be willing to bet over two-thirds of them would say, "Yes!"

An ill-performing website (more often than not) is the symptom of a larger marketing and positioning problem, rather than the problem itself. But that doesn't change the fact that these websites are presenting with some serious symptoms.

Does your firm's website qualify as a
marketing emergency?

If you're unsure, you can try your hand at a little self-diagnosis. Here's a simple three-step check up:

1. Examine your Positioning
At a quick glance, your website visitors should be able to identify who you are, what you do, why it matters, and how they should respond. We covered this in a little more detail in a previous post on website redesigns. Your brand's overall positioning can also be impacted by your website's design and appearance. If you consider your brand to be a BMW but your website feels more like a rental car, you may have a positioning problem.

2. Where does it hurt?
The most common pain point we hear about is conversion; the website gets good traffic but fails to convert visitors into qualified leads. If your website traffic is strong but you're not converting many visitors, consider testing alternate calls to action. What's your current call to action? Is it obvious? If your call to action isn't clear, more web traffic isn't necessarily going to convert to more business.

3. Perform a Google Search
This last step may sound obvious, but if you can't find your website by performing a Google search for yourself or your firm's service offerings, how will your clients ever find you? It's especially important that you can be found when someone searches for your industry within your market or territory--for example, "Indianapolis Architects".

Directly related to this tip are website statistics. You need to know your web stats. If you aren't reviewing your web stats at least monthly, you're missing out on some valuable traffic and search data.

Did you perform all three check-ups? How did your website do? If you didn't like some of your answers, you may have a bona fide marketing emergency on your hands. While these symptoms may actually point to a more serious problem, it sounds like your website may be due for a check-up. If you'd like to schedule an appointment, be sure to drop us a line.

Have you ever been part of a website redesign? How did your team decide it was a serious enough problem to go in for a check-up? Tell us below:

Continue reading...

Networking: Developing a Balanced Strategy

Something happened a few weeks ago that really got me thinking about the importance of networking, and more importantly, developing a solid strategy for it. I was at an event, and I was introduced to a group of college students from a local design school. I talked with them for a while, and before I left, I gave them each my business card. In design, like many fields, connections are crucial. The people you meet today can open a door for a job or project tomorrow. By giving them my card, I was offering myself as a connection and resource--knowing they will eventually graduate with the goal of finding a job.

After I left, I thought to myself whether I'd hear from any of those students. Unfortunately, I doubted it, and so far I've been correct in my assumption. This really made me think. What happened to the traditional rules of networking--to following up after a meeting, sticking your foot in the door, and creating a memorable connection? Are these rules obsolete in a society whose natural, everyday forms of communication, connecting, and maintaining relationships are online?

I don't think so. I think they're
more important than ever.

We talk with our clients about the importance of developing a solid strategy for marketing their businesses--both online and off. The same applies for marketing ourselves as individuals. Whether you're a student about to embark into the professional world, a professional looking for new business, or a seasoned business veteran, we each need a strong, balanced strategy for networking.

So, how do we strike a balance between online and in-person networking to create a well-rounded approach? The key is to realize that there's an appropriate place for both, and one or the other will be a better fit in certain instances. You can't discount the value of a face-to-face meeting when it comes to making a first impression, forming a new partnership, or presenting a new idea. Conversely, your online social networking is great for staying top of mind, staying in touch, or even for generating leads.

There's a lot of chaos in the online world these days, and it's important and necessary to separate yourself with more personal, memorable connections. Talking in-person or even over the phone can be necessary to stand out. Successful networkers have found a balance of both--utilizing the tools available online for convenience, speed, and efficiency but relying on personal, in-person contacts in those cases where an impression must be made.

Unsure where to start on either front? Here are a few tips for standing out both online and in-person:

In-person networking:
Aim for real connections. Form real, memorable connections by remembering details from past conversations and meetings.

Mind your P's and Q's. Always ere on the side of etiquette and politeness. You only get one first impression, so use it wisely.

Remember that it's a small world. Don't talk poorly about your colleagues or company. It only reflects poorly on you.

Be prompt with your actions. If information is exchanged, don't wait too long to respond with a "nice to meet you" email or phone call.

Be proactive. Unless it's specifically discussed, always aim to make the first contact after meeting someone new.

Online presence:
Carefully select your outlets. Online networking can take off quickly, so choose your tools and determine your strategy in advance.

Be proactive with your online presence. Stay top of mind with someone by following them on Twitter, commenting on their blog articles, etc.

Audit your content daily. Make sure your content is appropriate and relevant to your personal and professional image and goals you're trying to achieve.

Be dependable. Online networking tools are most effective when you actively maintain, respond, and post fresh content.

Use online tools to your advantage. Online tools are great for finding new connections and can provide an excellent transition to an in-person meeting.

Continue reading...

Positioning a Brand: a Lesson from American Idol

Tuesday night, a bazillion viewers and I were watching American Idol. This was the first "live" episode of the season, which featured the show's top 12 female vocalists.

Performance after performance, Simon Cowell and the rest of the show's judges shared with the contestants how they had simply failed to "stand out" among their peers. I was struck especially by the judges' recommendations.

"You're trying too hard to mimic Adelle or Duffy."

"It's all about song choice. You need to find the right song for you."

And for me, one of my favorite Simon quotes is always...

"That was just... forgettable."

The bottom line is, these contestants are trying to position their personal brands in front of millions of viewers. It's similar to branding a business.

Originality, personality, and individuality matter, whether you're competing on American Idol, or running an enterprise-class business. Too many of both - Idol contestants and businesses - suffer from the boring, uninspired sameness of "me too" positioning.

When it comes to being original and memorable this year, who are your favorites? Who is the most unique contestant (or brand) in your mind, and why?

Continue reading...

#PKindy

Last month I attended Pecha Kucha 20x20 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The theme was 'The Next Indianapolis' and the winning presenter would walk away with $10,000 to help jump start their proposed project. For those of you unfamiliar with Pecha Kucha, let me provide a basic context.

"Pecha Kucha" is Japanese for 'chit-chat' and was the name of a 2003 event in Tokyo for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. This concept has expanded globally and PK20x20 events are held in more than 230 cities. The format of the event is that each presenter must share their work in 20 images with 20 seconds of presentation time per image.

As I sat listening, I noticed some distinct correlations between the12 presentations and the struggle to create impactful brands.

1. If it isn't strategic branding, it's noise.

In the book The Brand Gap, a "brand" is described as being a person's gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It's an emotional process implying first impressions are crucial. Let me explain.

In any given presentation, it took about 20 seconds (1 image) before the audience began to create their own perception of the proposed project. As the presentation continued it became more challenging to listen because other audience members were 'chit-chat'-ing with their neighbors due to confusion, skepticism, or event complete disinterest in the project.

The room was a microcosm of our branding world, – and brands were being established. Voices were struggling to be heard, but only the best broke through.

2. Know your next move – and get there before the audience does.

The presenters that struggled the most weren't keeping up with the audience. It was easy to see where the presentation was headed and to choose whether or not it was interesting enough to stay seated. As soon as a few members of the audience starting chit chatting, it became a chain reaction. It was clear that if the presenter wasn't compelling, the audience decided amongst themselves if it was a worthy enough cause. A few presenters, including the winner, received vocal cheering, standing ovations and even support via twitter. It's safe to say they probably left with a stronger brand than when they arrived. So what was the difference? Guidance.

First impressions are crucial but it doesn't end there. If you make a good first impression, excellent -- but know your next move and when to make it.

--------------

Hooked on Pecha Kucha 20x20

The event was a blast and the concept is brilliant. Several of us at Miles Design fully expect to attend the next Pecha Kucha 20x20 event and would highly recommend going to anyone interested in seeing design's influence in your community. More details for upcoming events can be found at Pechakucha.com.

Related Information:
PKindy
Laura Henderson - $10,000 winner.

Continue reading...

Designing your Mission:Simplifying the Rational, Emotional and Radical.

This past weekend I was reading an article in Fast Company that reminded me of a speaking engagement I had a few years ago.

I was asked to discuss corporate website basics--what websites need and where most go astray. If I remember correctly, the first words out of my mouth were, "Take your mission statement off of your homepage, because nobody cares." I think I had their attention.

I went on to explain how so many corporate websites showcase their bland, forgettable mission statement prominently on their homepage. A website isn't helping anyone by telling the world "our team empowers life-long learners to achieve the utmost quality and customer satisfaction in every..." Zzzz... Does that sound like an excerpt from your corporate mission?

I have talked about the importance of niche positioning and how a mission statement often reflects poor positioning. Which should come first, the mission or the positioning? I'll be the first to admit it's a bit of a chicken/egg thing. We prefer to begin by developing a strong positioning and let the mission statement flow from that language. But to be fair, today we'll look at the mission statement as a starting point.

Ideally your mission statement should be the guiding light that directs the course of your business. If your mission is a little lackluster today, let's look at four ways to reconsider where you're going.

1. The Rational:
What do you do? What is your product or service, and who do you do it for? What is your market? How far is your reach? What are actions that your company uses to describe its services? This step should be pretty straight-forward. Once you've wrapped up, move on to step two.

2. The Emotional:
How does your organization make the world a better place? Who does your company benefit? Who would miss you if your organization disappeared? Why should anyone care? Make a list of some of the most emotionally charged benefits of your company. If the world reaped the utmost from your benefits, what would that look like? Once you've given this ample consideration, move on to step three. Still scratching your head? If you're stuck on this one, consider enlisting some professional support.

3. The Radical:
What is the one thing that you do better than anyone else? Are you the best at it in your market or region? Can you claim "only-ness?" Complete this sentence: We are the only (blank) in (blank) that does (blank). When you fill in the blanks, what do you get? If it sounds the same as your competition, you may need to dig deeper. Give this plenty of thought before moving on to step four.

4. Simplify:
Taking what may be several pages of notes from the above exercises, begin simplifying the message into statements. If you're really focused, you may be able to distill it down to a few succinct words. One of our clients has their corporate mission statement polished down to two words. "Inspire Hope." Here's a hint: Corporate senior leaders need to own this. Hiring a professional to help word-smith your mission statement is wise, but this is not a task meant for a committee. That's important. No mission statement committees. Got it?

So how do you know when it's right? It should be clear, concise and inspirational. A two-word mission isn't the right fit for everyone, but if your mission is unclear, ambiguous or wordy, keep working. Are you inspired yet to get started? It's your business. Make it your mission.

Continue reading...

Website Redesign - Is Your Site the Problem or the Symptom?

Is your company considering a website redesign in the coming months? If you're like most companies, you're trying to figure out how to get the most out of every dollar spent. Marketing budgets are no exception. Because it's usually the first place potential customers will go to learn more about your service, even relatively strapped businesses grasp the importance of their website.

Many professional services firms come to us planning to discuss a website redesign. Often, after a brief discussion, they realize the need may be deeper. And that need is proper positioning.

We explain to our website design clients that we are first and foremost a brand strategy firm. To build a great brand you must first begin with great positioning, and that requires a great strategy.

It's easy to get intimidated by the word strategy, but on the most basic level, it's focusing on how you want to answer some basic questions. Here's a few you might consider when reviewing your company's brand online:

Who are we?
This should be the easy one. Is your name, product, or service memorable, fun to say, easy to read, and somewhere that customers will recognize it? Do you look and feel like your competition, or are you uniquely you?

What do we do?
Again, this seems kind of obvious, but what is it that your company does? Are your complimentary services visible, or are you inundating your visitors with a laundry list of services.

Why do you matter to the marketplace?
Who do you work for, and how is that different from your competition. "We help make sure you get quality, on-time service every time." First of all, who is "you"? And second of all, that statement could represent a law firm, a florist, or a plumber. The point is, there's no differentiation in that statement, and worst of all, it's nothing unique or memorable. If that's on your homepage somewhere, we should talk.

What do you want your customers to do?
Your visitors may not knowingly ask themselves this question, but your team should know the answer. Do you want your visitors to browse a photo gallery, sign up for e-news, call the 800#, or fill out the contact form?

If you've never taken a moment to consider those questions, pop open your web browser at some point today, and take a look at your homepage. How do you think your potential customers would answer those questions for you?

Continue reading...

A three step strategy for sharing expertise on Twitter: How professional firms can use Twitter to position expert brands.

Are you a little leery of jumping into Twitter? I think that's a common feeling among many high-end attorneys, accountants, architects, engineers, and technical consultants that we've spoken to over the past few months. It's not that these professionals don't have anything valuable to say, they're just not sure how best to get started.

All you need to do is jump online and post what you had for breakfast, right? Easy there... let's take a step back first.

Let's pretend for a moment you don't need me to convince you why you should be tweeting and that you've already established a solid set of goals for utilizing Twitter with your branding and marketing team. Let's assume after a long, focused discussion with those teams, your vision looks something like this:

1. Expand your network online to create top of mind awareness of your firm
2. Establish or reinforce your firm's areas of expertise
3. Attract the top talent in your space by showcasing your firm's thinking

You'll want to spend some time designing a vision specifically for you, but that's a good direction to begin implementing your Twitter strategy. From here, nearly everything you'll need to get started can be included in one of the three following categories: Start, Share, and Expand.

1. Start - Basic recommendations to get you tweeting:

- Choose your handle. Visit Twitter.com to select your own unique handle. It will be your username, and your posts will show up with "@" in front of them. Pick something like your name or your company's name. I'm @joshmiles. You can also upload your own avatar or photo and customize your page.

- Explore different user interface options. You don't have to be on Twitter.com to use their service. Tweeting functionality is built into various websites, smart phones, and desktop applications. One of my favorites is a free desktop application, which has a companion iPhone app called TweetDeck. It allows you to manage tweets in groups, shorten links, post photos, and even allows for multi-account support.

- Make smart posts. In general, stick to what you know. This doesn't mean you have to be robotic, but if you're tweeting about sushi more that you tweet about your area of expertise, some followers may lose interest.

- Schedule your tweeting. Choose specific times in the day or specific days in the week to spend some quality time on Twitter. It could be 5 minutes or 5 hours a day, depending on how Twitter best fits into your overall communications strategy. Bottom line - decide how important it is to your own strategy, and get in the habit of making regular updates.

- Follow smart people, or anyone you like for that matter. But since we're talking about building up the reputation of your firm, be smart about who you choose to follow. Clients, vendors, coworkers, and even other experts are great people to follow.

2. Share - What to tweet:

- Share your firm's thought leadership content. One obvious use of Twitter is to share your firm's ideas, links, and articles. Just remember: share, don't "sell." Users follow people for various reasons, but few will continue to follow users who post blatant sales messages.

- Share great posts, blogs, etc. Anytime you read a great relevant article, post a link to it. You can also forward other users' posts to your own followers, called a "ReTweet."

- Don't limit your thinking to what you can fit in 140 characters or less. You can link to longer content such as websites, videos, blogs, etc.

- Company Blogs. Speaking of blogs, every posting at your firm would be greatly complemented by a Twitter mention.

- Email Newsletters. Do you have an e-newsletter? Provide occasional links for email newsletter sign-ups.

- News, Events, and Awards. Twitter is a great platform to make announcements, share news, awards, mentions, etc.

- Have Fun. If used in good balance, Twitter is a great way to showcase some of your firm's culture or some of your personal interests. But like we discussed earlier, don't get carried away on the personal stuff.

3. Expand - Don't stop there...

- #Hashtag Keywords. For some topics, you may want to "tag" your post the with the pound sign such as #branding or #followfriday - click here to learn more about #hashtags.

- Stay on top of your account. Keep an eye on who's following you, and choose who makes sense to follow in return. Find other users who talk about similar keywords, and consider following them as well.

- Hello my name is @joshmiles. Add your handle as another piece of contact info: email signature, email newsletter, blog, website. If it makes sense, consider even adding your handle to print materials (business cards, etc.) or sharing it in articles, presentations, or networking events.

Remember to commit some time to discussing your goals and strategies before jumping right in, but don't sit back for too long. Being an active Twitter user may be one of the best ways to position your brand as an expert firm.

Continue reading...

Does Your Brand Have Any Competition?

Take a moment to think about your "competition". You probably immediately thought of one or two competitors. Your clients-to-be often ask you about them. They pitch all of the same accounts that you're pitching. Even the not-for-profit world has competition. You're kidding yourself if you don't see those other charities as competing for the same donation dollars.

What if you could make them go away? I don't mean out of business or even out of town. But what would it take to prevent them from being able to compete with your company altogether? You can't actually get them to "go anywhere", but there is a very simple solution.

Make your competition invisible by getting out of their business.

Okay, before you stop reading, listen to what I mean. If you're in the professional services field (which most of our clients are) then more than likely you're competing on the same platform, and selling a virtually identical service to the same audience as your competition.

How would you describe what's unique about your brand? Chances are, you'd offer a paraphrased version of your mission statement. "Our commitment to quality service, and dependable ...great products and fair pricing ...and the best people in the business." Sound familiar? Yes. That's because it's exactly how your competition talks about their brand and their services.

It's time to Get Truly Different.

It's all about positioning. If you're familiar with the concept of Blue Ocean Strategy, finding an untapped, wide-open market is awesome. The truth is, you may not have to be quite that radical. The truth is, if you take a page out of the Seth Godin playbook and just do something remarkable, you're halfway there.

A great first step is to define a niche. "But I don't want to pigeonhole our company with a niche!" Yep, think of all of those poor, under-performing niche brands: Crocks (just for kids), North Face (just for hikers), Geek Squad (just for home computer repairs), Apple Computer (just for creative types).

Niche positioning doesn't limit your market. Nice positioning expands it.

Why is that? When a consumer thinks, "Gee, I need an XYZ," whatever brand fulfills that niche positioning, will be the first brand the consumer will think of.

Okay, so how do we apply what we see in the consumer product market, to the professional services market?

First off, let's remember that the same "30-year-old dude" that's buying North Face and Apple, could be the same professional who's making the decision about which architects to consider for the building expansion, or which law firm would be best suited to handle their intellectual property needs. People are people. When they're at work, they're still people. You aren't selling to a "business." More than likely, you're selling to another person. Don't forget that.

So back to the question, how can we go about applying what we know in the consumer market to the professional services market? Here are my top five suggestions:

1. Find a price niche.
What would your customers be willing to pay a premium price for? Within your market, what can you offer at the top end of the price spectrum? Or how can you bill differently. If your industry bills by the hour, consider a monthly retainer or flat package or project fees. On the flip side, what can you systematize and charge a miniscule amount for? What if you became known as the giant law firm who filed Trademark Applications as fast as the online guys, but with the clout and service that you're known for in the community?

2. Light Blue Ocean.
What do our customers want that we (and our competitors) don't currently offer? How could we take our service to the next level? Daily personal telephone updates? On-site service? Online project status monitoring? A project manager with an iPhone could easily post progress photos of your new building, and status updates via Twitter. (Hint: This may be the thing from #1 that allows you to charge a premium.)

At our office, the dry cleaner picks up our laundry from our suite and delivers it right back to our coat closet. My credit card is on file, and I seldom even see our trusty delivery guy. It's like magic. And guess what? It costs pretty much the same as the strip-mall dry cleaner. Remarkable.

3. Before you try to look different, figure out how to be different.
Design and marketing professionals are experts in the art of creating something new and interesting. This works out great when you ARE new and interesting. However if you're really more of the same old, same old, it tends to backfire. (See also: JetBlue, etc.) Arguably one of the best "brands" in history for doing something different: Barack Obama. He sounded different, he exploited his differences, and he did an amazing job of looking different. Now we get to see if he lives up to his brand promise of Hope and Change.

4. Now that you're doing something different, it's time to be sure you look and sound different.

5. Let someone else look in the mirror for you.
Chances are, you're so close to your own brand that you're still a little confused. You may have even convinced yourself that you're well-niched, doing unique things, have made your company truly different, and do in fact you look different too. Strangely, your competition is still there, buzzing in your ear. Now would be a good time to get a second opinion. Try consulting a mentor, a colleague from another department, or try enlisting the help of a marketing professional.

Here's one final suggestion: when you're looking for a professional firm to help you with positioning, branding or marketing, ask them why they are unique. And then ask them who their competition is. If their answers sound similar to yours, keep looking.

Continue reading...

The true identity of your brand

I recently had the privilege of presenting an activity at a local networking event for the Keystone at the Crossing Rainmakers meeting. The activity revolved around the concept of identity and how taking time to learn more about someone at a networking event could positively impact your business. And while my presentation at Rainmakers was specific to that event, here's a slightly edited version of my presentation for this context:

The top grossing movie of 2008 is all about identity. The Dark Knight. If you haven't seen it yet, it's the latest installment in the Batman series. One of my favorite scenes finds Batman's true identity, Bruce Wayne, off to dinner at a swanky restaurant. He's been rejected by his longtime girlfriend, Rachel, who is one of the few people in the world who knows his secret identity is Batman. Of course, it just so happens that Rachel is out at that same swanky restaurant with her new boyfriend—the City's District Attorney, Harvey Dent.

As Bruce Wayne walks into the room with his Russian Ballet girlfriend on his arm, he pretends at first not to see them, but then he's "surprised" and feigns a smile to greet the new couple. Rachel is annoyed at first but responds as cordially as possible. "Bruce... this is Harvey Dent." Harvey doesn't seem to feel the tension and smiles back at Bruce, "Rachel has told me everything about you." To which Bruce replies, "I certainly hope not."

Identity can be a complex thing. Like yours, there are many elements to my identity. I'm a business owner. I'm a father. A husband. A brother. A son. An artist. A writer. And some things I don't care to share in public. Some people know me very well... others don't know me at all.

What about your identity? What makes you who you are? Are you more than a sales person? More than a business owner? Who is it that most people think you are? And who are you REALLY?

I don’t know for sure, but I’m willing to bet you’re somewhat like me… you want your public identity to be more than your life roles. More than "just a salesperson." More than "that tall guy who wears jeans." There are some things that you want to be known for, and there are other things that you would just as soon keep to yourself.

Now what if I flipped that and asked, "What is the true identity of your company?" Your brand identity is one of the most valuable assets that your business owns. Is your "true identity" crystal clear to your customers? Most importantly, has the public perception of your brand kept pace with how your company has grown? Do we see your brand like you do? Our company specializes in positioning high-end services and premium products. We help companies clearly define who they are, what they do, and why consumers should care.

Our goal is clarity in how the public perceives your brand. When your brand "walks" into a swanky restaurant and encounters your next potential customer, what is it they will say about you?

Continue reading...