It is a question I often ask, but not always the same way:

Do you have time for a Web site?

The question is posed to prospective clients, which some reading this may think is ironic. However after building Web sites commercially for over 15 years now, every once in a while a Web site languishes from lack of or poor content, let alone varying oversight and management.

Web Sites Don’t Update Themselves

With the advancement of content management systems (CMS) and blogging platforms, coupled with RSS, content syndication and aggregation among others, it is easier than ever today to update and post content to your Web site. In some cases a Web site can be updated with little human interaction. Where you can bring in content from other places, your own custom-crafted messaging is vital to the success of your Web site. This is the reason people will want to visit your Web site more than once.

When planning for a Web site, most all consider the monetary cost of paying for the site to be built. They will also plan to write the initial content for the Web site, and for a blog they will write a few blog posts ahead of time to ensure there’s initial consistency. Once the site goes live and the last sip of champagne is drank, the work continues to write new content, review existing content, let alone reviewing analytics, modifying tags and meta data for SEO, and making other changes and responding to readers to ensure the success of your Web site.

A Plan That Works For You

Don’t let writing content for your Web site be yet another item on your burgeoning to-do list! Come up with a plan and process to ensure regular, quality updates to your Web site. Where content plans can cover several blog posts in itself, here’s some attributes to consider in your plan:

• How often do you want to write?
• What do you want to write?
• Does everything need to be a long, extensive piece or can short updates be worthwhile ot readers? (Hint!)
• How much time do you have available to write?
• Ensure you review all content when significant business events occur (e.g. office address, company name change).

Keeping the content fresh on your Web site will be of interest to your Web visitors as well as the search engines. And these are certainly things to toast with champagne.

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Business • Strategize • (1) Comments • Permalink

The next likemind will be Friday, March 19, 2010 in dozens of cities around the world.

In Chicago, it will be at Argo Tea, 140 S Dearborn St. at the corner of Adams and Dearborn Streets in the Loop from 8:00 am to 10:00 am.

I call likemind a gathering of creative-minded people, from various disciplines including Internet, advertising, art, social media, et. al. For more information on likemind, you can read this great article on likemind from the New York Times.

No RSVP is required. You are also welcome to join the likemind Chicago Facebook group.

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Announcements • Business • Strategize • Technology • Thrive • (0) Comments • Permalink

If you are a regular reader of The Hot Iron, you may have gotten a sense that I am surely glad 2009 is over and 2010 is off to a great start, both from a business and personal perspective. It surely is nice to see when things come together and progress, whether we are overtly looking for them or not.

One sign things are better presented itself to me when I wasn’t even looking for it. As I added a bottle of wine I just purchased to our wine rack at home, I realized the rack was full, as shown in the accompanying picture. For the record note my wife and I are surely not sommeliers, but we do like to have a glass of wine with a meal and friends. The brands stored on this rack are also more than likely not to appear in any article by Chicago Tribune food and wine critic Bill Daley. We always like to keep a few bottles on hand and will usually get something for special occasions. But the point here is this – last year, the rack was not full all the time last year. Not only is it now full, but the couple of bottles of champagne we have are chilling for the right time to pop them open.

Another sign of good times is there have not been as many posts here on The Hot Iron as I would have liked. For now, I will share this, and write more pointed pieces in the future.

Have you had any good signs this year?

Salute!

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Diversions • Thrive • (0) Comments • Permalink

As the use of jargon is more and more frowned on in the business world, taking its place are common words which express the same thoughts, just with more sincerity. When I heard of the book Fierce Leadership by Susan Scott, I wondered if “fierce” was jargon or not, as I had no idea the reason for the use of this word. As I read the book and learned about the author, it became clearer.

Fierce is actually the name of Scott’s consulting business, as well as her approach with dealing with what it seems like everything. She feels it is necessary to be brutally honest and direct in everything you do, and this is quite apparent in the stories she tells and quotes she uses throughout the book.

There are a few takeaways I had from this book. The first is to always be direct and frank in dealing with people, and to merely deal with people. Many times people skirt issues and avoid conflicts as much as they want resolution to them. Rather than let issues drag on, it is in the best interest of both parties to confront issues, as unpleasant as it may be to do so. A second takeaway is to come up with your own style and process for dealing with people. An example from the book is when Scott and her colleagues interview someone for a job and all interviewers have pens – if someone puts down a pen on the table, the interview is over. As blunt as that sounds, it doesn’t waste any more time for anyone at that table, including the interviewee. She also says anonymous feedback in employee reviews are pointless, for if someone has something to say, they should say it and people should know where it comes from.

As blunt as the ideas in Fierce Leadership are, they have apparently worked well for Scott and her firm, and like any advice, these ideas should be considered and applied as appropriate to someone’s style. I was given a copy of her book by a publicist, and I enjoyed reading it and her philosophy. If you are seeking options on how to deal with people you work with, I recommend giving this book a read.

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Book Take-Aways • Business • Strategize • (1) Comments • Permalink

Have you ever used a talking or spirit board, commonly known as an Ouija board? Did it talk back to you? And by chance did it tell you and your family to move to Afghanistan? Believe it or not, it did for one family, and now their true story is being told in the book OUIJA – For The Record, written by Chicago author D. Lynn Cain.

To accompany her life story, she wanted a Web site to tell about the book, a blog to share stories, and a community forum for people to share their stories about their personal experiences with these boards. My Web consulting firm Dunkirk Systems, LLC and our design partners at Visible Logic, Inc. worked together with Cain to develop this Web site, blog and community at OuijaForTheRecord.com.

This was a great project, as it allowed us to be creative and tell a unique story. Bringing together people to share their experiences about Ouija boards is also a unique opportunity. The site is built on ExpressionEngine, a content management system which allows for the integration of all of the desired functionality of the site and community. Dunkirk has built other community sites with ExpressionEngine, including Active Travels and Lewis and Clark Road Trips. Emily Brackett of Visible Logic did a great job with the design of the site, including a hidden message on the home page – see if you can find it!

As I write this, I am still reading the book and will write my usual takeaways from it when I finish it. This is a unique story, and we learned a lot about it as we were strategizing the site early on. If you have interest in true-life stories, Ouija boards or paranormal activities, OUIJA – For The Record is surely a great read for you.

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Announcements • Build • Web Design • Web Development • (2) Comments • Permalink