What Do Your Prospects Want From Your Site?
Agencies once had the luxury of being able to explain to a potential prospect what they did and how they did it either in person or over the phone. That first contact was one in which agencies could craft their message specifically for the prospect. Now, however, that level of control is gone. People constantly evaluate your firm based solely on your website.
Content Styling Tips
So you've developed a content strategy for your site and written some great copy. Now what? How that content looks on the page is as important as the content itself. So you should take time to properly style your content; not only for the sake of good communication in a single newsletter or blog post, but also to make sure your site-wide content doesn't conflict with the look and feel of your site.
Amazon/Google/Facebook
We're well beyond the long tail theory at this point in our understanding of how the internet has been disruptive to economic and social paradigms that those of us who grew up in a pre-wired culture were used to. Google, Facebook and Amazon certainly share something significant: they embody the accelerated expectations of digital commerce, not to mention the need to be as good at generating wealth as wielding cultural influence. All three certainly succeed in these ways. But the key differentiator is how they do so...
What it Means to be a Forward-Thinking Designer
Last month, I was catching up over the phone with Grace Dobush, executive editor over at HOW Interactive Design
How Content Marketing Works for Agencies
Agencies once had the luxury of being able to explain to a potential prospect what they did and how they did it either in person or over the phone. That first contact was one in which agencies could craft their message specifically for the prospect. Now, however, that level of control is gone. People constantly evaluate your firm based solely on your website.
Usability: A Key Ingredient for Successful Websites
Have you ever cooked something that ended up being a surprise
Generation Flux
Recently a colleague sent me a link to an article over at Fast Company all about what it has decided to call "Generation Flux." The general idea is that "fluxers" are successful in today's volatility because they find comfort in uncertainty, apparently unlike the norm (presumably the rest of us poor, rigid souls). Unfortunately, the definition of a "fluxer" doesn't get much more specific than that; it remains, then, uncertain as to what it means to be of "Generation Flux" or how to be like them. So, let the hand-waving commence about how one aught to be more fluxy in order to succeed...
The Purpose of the Agency Website
One of my favorite things about working with agencies is that the events I attend for marketing purposes are also educational events that I would typically want to attend anyway. I always learn a great deal from these events. One such event is the annual New Business Summit, organized by David Baker and Blair Enns, in Nashville. The first time I attended the New Business Summit in 2005, I heard Blair Enns say that
Two Challenges to “Traditional” Interactive Designers
It's interesting that I still find myself having print-to-web discussions with designers today, designers who are struggling to adapt their practice to include "interactive" work
How to Handle Blog Comments
When it comes to blogging, one of the scariest aspects can be opening up your site for user comments. It's hard to relinquish that control, but there are many benefits and a couple of ways to go about doing this to avoid an influx of spam and unwanted comments.