The Hot Iron is participating in NaBloPoMo, are you? What, you don’t know what NaBloPoMo is? No worries, as it stands for National Blog Posting Month. The idea is bloggers write a post every day for the entire month of November.

Easy, right? Well, maybe. As many bloggers have other projects or lives to balance with their blogging, it can be a challenge. I have decided to take on this challenge, namely as it fits well with a business goal I have for myself before the end of the year.

Where an idea like NaBloPoMo can be cliché, it can also be a motivator as well. Here’s to a month of wisdom, thoughts and ideas!

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It has been said, “desperate times call for desperate measures.” These days, this is said a lot. Myself I have thought about it quite a bit as well. However the more I think of the phrase, the more I take a different approach to it, as follows:

Desperate times call for creative, sensible measures.

Creative? Sensible? Mike, the economy sucks! Who are you to take such a soft approach to it?

Well, I am someone who needs to. After putting a lot of thought into it, the second “desperate” is usually driven by anger, fear or anything that gets your blood boiling. Go ahead, blurt out what you will do, then give it a rest. There is a high likelihood what you said in frustration makes sense, and there is a chance it doesn’t. As you think more of it, creative juices are now replacing the adrenaline that was previously flowing through your veins, and some great options and alternatives can come from it.

That’s my story and I am sticking with it. Until those ideas don’t work, then I get frustrated and start all over again.

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Keeping positive and focused is easier for some than others. For those like myself who need a little help with it, it is the little things that can do the trick when we the day isn’t going the way we want it. It can be a call from a friend, a sign or a phrase.

This is where books like That Was Zen, This Is Wow: 232 Ideas for Transforming Your Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary come in handy. I met one of the co-authors, Rob Engelman, several years ago through networking and when I heard about his book I had to get a copy and purchased one from him. In it, there are 232 quotes and ideas that will cause you to pause, reflect and hopefully get back on course. You can read the book from cover-to-cover when you need some strong motivation or randomly flip to a page to get some quick inspiration.

One thing this book inspired me to do was to write some thoughts of my own. Many people have quotes of their own to help them get through the day. That Was Zen, This Is Wow can be that pit-stop we need during a hectic day to refuel our minds and hit the road running again.

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Happy Halloween! Today is the day where people dress up and go door-to-door asking people for candy, else they play a trick on them. And some of these people are even children.

Halloween means different things to different people. Some people do Halloween big, like my friend Chris who lives in Salem, Massachusetts, the home of the historic Salem witch trials. Others like the camaderie of dressing up their kids and having them roam the neighborhoods and guess who the other kids are. Some don’t celebrate it at all, as it technically is the eve before All Saints Day, a religious day of obligation. And some find a happy medium and call it Orange and Black day.

For myself and my family, it has new meaning as we have an infant daughter. Last year we dressed her as a pumpkin, this year a bumble bee. We also took her the last 2 years to Bengston’s, a pumpkin farm in suburban Chicago. This is where I took the photo above of the face carved in a large pumpkin by someone who is a pumpkin artist. Who knew?

Only 2 more months left in the year. Boo!

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Do you have defined goals for your Web site? When I say goals, do you have someplace written down goals and objectives for your Web site, which may have a project charter, mission and/or vision statement, target primary and secondary audience for your Web site and what they may be looking for?

If you do not, you are certainly not alone. Many Web sites start with the assumption of goals even if they are not written down. Over time, goals certainly change, just as businesses and their customers change. Having these guiding principles in writing – even framed and hanging in your office – help guide you in your decision-making for changes and enhancements to your Web site.

The Infamous Spaghetti Test

Many people test to see if spaghetti is fully cooked by throwing a piece up on a wall to see if it sticks. Personally I have never done this, but that may be due to being 100% Italian American and “just knowing” when it is done! This analogy is used quite often in business – taking an idea and throwing it out there to see if it sticks. The same can be done with ideas for your Web site, and instead of a wall you would throw it up against the goals of the Web site.

Goals for your Web site should not be in place to slow you and your business down and hinder you in any way. Many times people see something on a Web site and want it on theirs. Whether it is a cool new way to present something or a change for whatever reason, having goals in place should not kill those ideas altogether, rather they should help in their prioritization.

Usability of Goals in Key

So what should your goals look like? The simple answer is they should be in a usable format. Where that may be obvious, it always isn’t. Many times when people or the consultants they hire to build their Web sites define goals, they are lofty, multi-page documents that by their sheer design get stuffed in a file cabinet or in a folder on one’s computer, never to be looked at again. That’s not to say goals cannot be comprehensive, and if they are they should be then boiled down into a 1-page summary easily accessible by those involved in decision-making for the Web site.

As there should not be a schedule to creative-thinking, ideas will come about and they need to be addressed. As mentioned previously, these ideas may not be acted upon immediately but recorded for future consideration. This process is called product management, where the product is the Web site. The product manager for your Web site may be the organizational “owner” of the Web site or a key individual who serves as the traffic cop for such decisions. Your Web site should have a product manager in some form, if for any other reason to have a contact person to report issues to on the Web site.

Start Somewhere

If you don’t have goals, start by writing down something. If you do have goals written, dust them off and review them. The goals for your Web site are ideally a living breathing entity, but not quite a chameleon that is in constant change and flux. They should parallel changes in business as well as advances in Web design and technology. The latter doesn’t mean you and your business need to be on the bleeding edge of Web design, though in 2009 it is not a bad idea to use video on your Web site to talk about your products and services. But if a goal is to be on the bleeding edge and you are not there, this is where goals can serve you well.

The days of the “geek in the corner” hacking away at your Web site are over. It takes a team effort to create a thriving Web site. The best way to keep everybody on the same page is to understand the goals, whether it is for your Web site or your entity as a whole.

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