Archive for March, 2008

If you’re looking to gain a strong handle on social networking methodology, these resources are for you:

• This recent Social Networks Research Report by WildBit is worth downloading.
• MediaShift, a great new media blog published by PBS created an excellent guide to social networking online.
• Should your business be on Facebook? - an article by CNNMoney
  

Not into social networking? Prefer blogging? Then check this good read on being insanely useful in order to make your readers come back.

Sip coffee, click links, absorb inspiration/facts/motivation:

• The Best Way To Display News Online: Linear vs. Contextual
• Using social networking sites for hiring
• Who’s Hot And Who’s Not In Social Networking
• LinkedIn now offering corporate profiles
• Ning: All Our Charts Point Up And To The Right

Often in life, it’s the little things that make the difference, push the limits, make the sale, or impress and excite. As an example, I stayed this weekend at the beautiful Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and they did something small that made me really want to come back. We’ve driven across the country over the last few days (2700 miles is no easy task) and we’ve had to travel with my wife and I’s cat. This may seem like no big deal, but during the whole trip it’s been a real challenge to find decent hotels that accept pets and meet our other needs. Loews accepted pets, which was a large reason we chose to stay here over the weekend. Upon checking in and getting settled, we walked down to the beach and came back to find a food and water dish, cat treats, an eating mat, and a small bottle of FIJI water, all for the cat, placed right outside our door! The look on my wife’s face and the pleasure we got out of this small token really says a lot. Loew’s obviously understands that life is in the details and they will have a repeat customer in me.

On the other hand, during our trip we stopped at one gas station in Oklahoma off I-40 where, posted on the men’s bathroom entrance, was a sign, written in a condescending tone, that read, and I quote: “Gentleman, please use the manners you’re mother taught you (hopefully) and have some respect by keeping this bathroom clean for the ladies at this gas station who clean it. If not, your continued messiness will force us to shut down the bathroom.” What made me cringe was the fact that this restroom is on a major interstate and I felt like I was being accused when I had never even set foot in the restroom before nor had any intention of messing it up. All this sign served to do was irritate/annoy and it probably simply encourages inconsiderate visitors to do just what the gas station attendants are lecturing them about. IMO, it’s better to NOT have a bathroom at all then to have one with a large rude sign on the door. It’s the little things, and this little thing can cause resentment and certainly won’t breed return visitors.

MINI Cooper understands that the little things manner. Rather than simply sell a great little car, after your purchase they shower you with gifts and truly fun tools, toys, and information including “secret decoders” for their ads, “sun tattoos” (if you have a convertible MINI), an 8-ball for your antennae, and the list goes on. I’m sure the grand total of freebies given to customers after their purchase doesn’t amount to an arm and a leg, but nonetheless people simply love free, fun surprises and it’s the best way to get people talking about the product/service. With a few dollars worth of freebies on $20-$40k car, the experience goes from good to great and it’s one reason MINI is so viral.

-Rb

A few pics from our corporate journey thus far West to open an office in LA (we’re currently in Alamogordo, New Mexico with an ETA of Sunday):

(Click to enlarge)

I couldn’t agree more:
Seth Godin: Why bother having a resume?

I’m excited to announce that we will be relocating to the Los Angeles area, as a result of a need to continue finding, hiring, and maintaining the highest caliber of staff possible in addition to being close to many of our clients as we build around the needs of California clients, in addition to our strong bases in the Washington DC/Northern Virginia area and New York, New York.  Not to mention, of course, the sunny California weather and the opportunities and personal excitement that LA affords our team!

We will not be posting as many blog posts over the next week due to our relocation adventures, but will promptly resume when we arrive in the Golden State and will chronicle our trip West as well on this blog!  Business will go on as usual, albeit on the road for a few days as we drive West.

• Girls In US And UK Command Remarkable Web Usage Numbers
  (girls and young women are now the most prolific web users)
  “Found in Sunday’s edition of The Times of London, an article by Kate Spicer and Abul Tahrreport documents a trend of increasing Web adoption among girls and young women in both the US and UK. This finding does not only pertain to blogging. It includes most all common and habitual tasks: shopping, social networking, referencing educational material, etc.”…”According to a recent Pew Internet Project targeted at teens, 35% of American girls have registered blogs, and 32% have multifaceted websites. (For boys, it is 20% and 22%, respectively.) Though those two segments can presently be taken as one and the same, the fact that a full third of all girls in the youth and young-adult demographics are chronicling their lives and maintaining online profiles is something that really does calls for celebration - especially celebration of Web designers and engineers, whose work has, after all, now been guaranteed fit for true mass consumption. Which is good news for, well, everyone. Men, women, boys, girls, geeks, non-geeks, etc.”…”Here are a few more figures to consider. 70% of girls in the US operate one or more social networking account. 57% of boys presently vouch for doing so themselves. In the UK, the figures are more equalized, but still 55% of the social networking market is comprised of female users.”…”Though females remain a puzzling minority in the computer sciences sector of college-level educational institutions, they are effectively no longer a niche market. They stand on equal footing to males in the world of Web 2.0. And they’re only going to get more connected and more invested still.”
• Interview w/Kent Lindstrom, CEO of Friendster
  
• Just An Online Minute… Zuckerberg: More Beacon Apologies
  “Facebook’s ill-fated Beacon program continues to dog CEO Mark Zuckerberg”…”“We probably got a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Zuckerberg said, according to press accounts. “We came across as knowing more than we really knew.””…”Still, for all the criticism, it sounds like Zuckerberg opened up somewhat on stage. For instance, he confirmed that Yahoo attempted to buy Facebook for $1 billion a few years ago and said there was disagreement within the company about whether to accept the offer, He also briefly addressed the company’s finances, saying the business is “around breakeven” — which is probably as much information as we’re going to get, absent a public offering.”
• Ten Tactics That Could Save Your Online Reputation
  “1. Know your achilles heel
  2. Assume everything will make it’s way to the web
  3. Create a great online impression; dress to impress!
  4. Choose your blog voice carefully
  5. Hang out at the right social network
  6. Send bloggers love letters, not PR pitches
  7. Build your Google reputation now, not later
  8. Monitor your online reputation as often as your e-mail
  9. Ostriches are not great role models
  10. Three words to remember”
  My advice: Get your own domain name (preferably your name, if possible), setup a blog, build a profile on Facebook, build a profile on LinkedIn, and build a page on Squidwho that links them all up. If you have a portfolio, upload it to Flickr and import the photos on your Squidwho page. Make sure each of these components link to each other and this is a great, manageable approach to building a solid reputation online without having a management nightmare on your hands. Once you’ve set everything up, set a reminder to update your profiles and information at least once a month, to keep things as fresh and relevant as possible. For an example, check out my Squidwho at www.robbyberthume.com and notice how it teases my Facebook profile as well as my LinkedIn profile, while showcasing my Flickr portfolio pieces and being plugged into my blog’s RSS feed.
• AOL buys social network Bebo for $850 million
  Ironically, AOL stands for America Online and yet this move is “geared towards international growth” as AOL reportedly launched “17 international web sites over the last year and has plans to expand to 30 countries outside the U.S. by the end of 2008.” All of this while, ironically yet again, “AOL itself has been talked about as an acquisition target.”

A key point often forgot (or simply ignored) by marketers and individuals looking to make a splash in the social media realm is the idea that you need to add value to receive value in the world of web 2.0.   Countless stories can be cited of companies and marketers entering the social media and social networking fray trying to tap into the social sphere, but ignoring the very core reason why the social realm exists.  This reason is so that users can help users.  Collaboration is the cornerstone of community and an analogy for successful open source and collaborative initiatives can be summed down to “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”

It’s this principle, though, that’s often overlooked by many.  It goes back to my recent blog post entitled 99% in which I quoted Seth Godin from his new book, Meatball Sundae, in which he wrote: “1 percent of the people are givers. In Wikipedia, for example, about 1 percent of the users create and edit articles.”  Using this logic, there is a huge chunk of social media users who are content to be social media browsers and not contributers.  This is all fine and dandy, but my point in this post is that if you’re striving to market and actually market effectively using the social media realm as your stomping grounds, you simply have to fall in the category of a contributer, otherwise your efforts won’t be nearly as effective, if it all.

What does this mean?  It means that before you start a Facebook advertising campaign, Facebook company profile, and spam a bunch of Facebook users with your marketing message, take a step back (and a deep breath while you’re at it).  Just like with organic search engine optimization, success in social media marketing isn’t usually something that happens overnight.  The efforts that lead up to a particularly viral blog post, a following on Digg, success on YouTube, or getting your Squidoo lens to bring traffic to your website are typically overlooked, but for the sake of my argument, this is a huge mistake.  Using Facebook as an example, before you do what I’ve described above, it’s a better approach to first actually use Facebook for a while on a personal level.  Add friends, make connections, and focus on adding value to the community.  Post relevant and thoughtful notes, actually contribute to groups, and stay in touch regularly with friends.  Once you’ve built a presence and a following as a contributer, you can then begin to phase in your marketing goals.  This is true with nearly any social media marketing campaign.  Before you’re blog is going to work for your business, you need to first focus on writing good content, and a lot of it.  You need to first focus on reading OTHER blogs and posting thoughtful comments and responding to comments you receive.  You get my point: contribution is the effective stepping stone to marketing results.

I’ll pause now on the social media marketing discussion (don’t worry, I’ll be coming back to it regularly in the future). In the meantime, I’d like to highlight one website in particular that could be a valuable tool in your social media toolbox, if you follow my advice above: Squidoo.

Squidoo is a website that was pioneered by marketing guru Seth Godin as a social platform for easily creating pages on any topic imaginable and enjoying the benefits of a strong community and the inheritance of great PageRank.  Squidoo does a good job describing itself: “Squidoo is an incredibly easy platform that allows you to build a lens, all by yourself, in less than five minutes. Don’t build a lens instead of your website. Build a lens to help your website.”

Squidoo is great because it’s super quick to get a “lens” started and constructed with social media and search engines in mind.  If you’re a pet shop, you can easily create a comprehensive lens on, say, raising a lesser-known species of turtle or perhaps starting an aquarium.  With a multitude of widgets to choose from, you can add content, plug-in RSS feeds, showcase photos via Flickr, highlight products via Amazon, or present videos via YouTube.  What’s more, you can easily categorize and tag your lens before subsequently submitting to social bookmarking sites and joining Squidoo groups.

All of this means you can drive traffic to your website, earn money on ads (or donate the money to charity), build credibility, build online brand/name presence, and provide individuals, including your prospects, with valuable information at a time when they’re looking for it, a time when your help can make an impression.

Before you think it’s too good to be true, remind yourself that your initial goal is narrow: to focus on contributing and adding value.  Squidoo is merely a platform for adding worthy content and fresh (or different, or witty, or more useful) information to the web.  The web may be cluttered and crowded, but one thing is true: value has a way of floating to the top.

So head on over to Squidoo and let this lens help you get started.  Need an example of an informative lens? We recently build this lens on finding and choosing a web design company.  Still need more assistance?  Check out their FAQ and forum!

“Social networks are good for PR but not for advertising”
“WPP found that more of their clients were interested in keeping consumers updated on company changes, events and specials and that social networking sites were a good way to do this. However, advertising on social networks was not as popular, leading the company to deduce that social networks are helping businesses but in a different way than originally thought. From the beginning, many businesses have been interested in creating branded micro-sites within social networks. What this trend report indicates is that this is a good way to connect with a user-base, to introduce new products or to keep consumers updated on sales or company events.”

“International Social Networking: Facebook in German, LinkedIn in France”
“Two interesting developments in social networking localization: Facebook today released a German-language version of the site, and LinkedIn has entered the French market in a bigger way by signing a deal with popular job listing site Apec. And speaking of translations, and French, and social network globalization, this very interesting map (in French) shows popularity of social networks in different parts of the world. Facebook is fourth in Europe, so perhaps a German translation will bump it up soon. LinkedIn does not appear on this map.”

“A Facebook For The Seven-Figure Set”
“A private social networking site for top-flight corporate candidates? Executive search giant Heidrick & Struggles is developing one, in an effort to streamline its recruitment of elite managers.”…”Heidrick, which has a global practice, is betting the site will become a destination for candidates wanting to view presentations by employers—and for clients, especially those who need to assess résumés and references quickly. ‘With all the time zones around the world,’ says Heidrick partner Jeffrey Hunter, ‘it makes for a very effective gathering point.’ The key, say Hunter and other Heidrick partners, is to offer greater privacy and security than the public Internet provides. The idea, says CEO Kevin Kelly, is to reduce the usual three- to four-month search time for high-level hires. ‘We’re an old firm with an old business model,’ Kelly says. ‘I’m thinking about how we help redefine the industry to respond faster.’

Take This Poll On Mashable!
“This week featured two more major platform announcements: the iPhone SDK, which allows developers to build applications for Apple’s mobile device, and Open AIM 2.0, an expanded developer program for AOL’s leading instant messaging software. Next week we’ll see the consumer launch of the MySpace Developer Platform (and as such, a significant launch for Google’s OpenSocial). Meanwhile, it has has already been almost a year since Facebook kicked off the third-party apps craze with its platform.” Which platform do you think is the best opportunity for developers? Click here to vote and view results.

“Russian YouTube Clone RuTube Valued At $15 Million”
“With about 400,000 daily users and consumption of over 40 million videos per month, the monthly revenues reportedly reach about $400,000. We actually mentioned RuTube in two blatant rip-off posts, so perhaps you’ve noticed that a lot of clones occur overseas, which also seem to be the most successful. Quintura mentioned this by noting that US-based clones don’t seem to catch the same kind of breaks we’ve witnessed in Germany and Russia, among other countries that are across the ocean. A $15 million valuation isn’t bad for the boot-strapped RuTube, which was started shortly after YouTube was acquired by Google. Well, that’s a dream come true, now isn’t it? The Russian market is heating up in the online space, with LiveJournal recently having been acquired by Russian company SUP as well.”

Robby Berthume: IMO, this last headline regarding RuTube shouldn’t be taken lightly. There are so many sites and start-ups that need to take notice of the opportunities in being the first-to-market in other countries besides the US. Much opportunity awaits in the globalization of social networking and web 2.0.

1. Adoption of New Technology since 1900
Historical graph showing the adoption of new technologies in the United States. I think the similarities between the adoption of the color TV and the Internet is interesting.

Care to postulate anyone?

2. The Top 10 Changes in My Business Thinking

#6 is by far my favorite: “Your plans will probably be wrong on anything that is new, so you may as well just start doing.”

3. Ideas Are A Dime A Dozen

So true, but it’s also all too easy to forget that “…coming up with ideas is an evolutionary process. Just because an idea has to die, does not mean the good parts of it can’t live on in its ancestors.”

4. Stop Speaking in Jargon
“Anyone who thinks using buzzwords will make them sound intelligent is wrong. Clarity impresses. Buzzwords confuse.”

Amen.

5. Billionaire College Dropouts

Further proof you should never underestimate the underdog: “Some of them didn’t even graduate from high school, yet they went on to amass enormous fortunes and create humanity-changing companies…these examples prove that for the truly intelligent, motivated, and brave, there may be better ways to spend several youthful years than sitting in a classroom.”

When should you invest in technology?  When should you amp up your web presence?  When is the time to invest in hiring a “rock star” that can transform your business?  When should you spend, when should you save?

NOW just may be the time.  Recessions are typically not long (if we are indeed in or on the verge of one).  And there’s good news: recessions can actually help the well-prepared and the savvy.  By understanding what a recession is and what it isn’t, you can actually use a recession to insulate your business from the competition.  You can use a recession to finally decrease client work and launch that product you’ve talked about for years.  You can use a recession to force you (in a good way) to be leaner where possible and spend more where there’s a return.

“There are a few common themes to their success: They didn’t wait for Congress to decide on a stimulus package; they moved quickly to adjust their products and business plans to take advantage of more lucrative niches. Some diversified. Others identified new customers. Almost all cut behind-the-scenes costs. And the most aggressive, like Rutter, are investing in new technology, equipment, and personnel to seize market share from competitors large and small who entered the hard times poorly prepared. ‘Recessions are a period of opportunity,’ says Pearce. ‘During recessions, large companies abandon marginally profitable customers, and small businesses can get those customers. And recessions are healthy. They reward a history of fiscal responsibility. They discipline the economy for its excesses. And the great thing about recessions is, they end.’ “ - CNNMoney

Brief Notes from a Project Manager’s Diary:

• We don’t live in a perfect world.  There isn’t a perfect system when it comes to dealing with the human factor.  And we’ll never have perfect and problem/stress-free project management.  A let-down for sure, but it’s true.  What does this mean?  This means that we have to fight this as much as possible by having a 95% perfect system.   It also means that we have to keep that 5% in mind, because we have to be flexible and understand that some clients, some projects, and some issues just aren’t fun and just aren’t easy or clear and part of our job is handling that gracefully using creativity, judgment, and flexibility.
• Human beings are not easy to manage.  Here’s my philosophy in a nutshell: it’s not project management that is ever the issue.  It’s human management.  It’s being able to understand, interpret, predict, and fulfill human desires, human emotions, human feelings, human concerns, etc… It’s the human element (as GE says in their commercials!).

And this leads me to believe that it’s oftentimes more important that you know how to manage humans (and everything that comes with them) than projects.  A project doesn’t get antsy.  A project doesn’t grow nervous or need to understand.  A human has a multitude of emotions and factors affecting their paradigm and everything they communicate.  Without attempting to contextualize humans when managing projects, a project manager will soon spin out even if they are the most  meticulous project manager out there and have the strongest technical background imaginable.  Sure, you can be PMP certified, but can you empathize with, relate to, predict, handle, and satisfy human wants and needs?

What’s new and notable in the social networking realm?

• David Kirkpatrick, Senior Editor of Fortune, did an interesting write-up entitled “Geography, social media and breakfast“: “Combining social networks with geographic information was one of the big ideas at a gathering this week of uber-techies and media digirati in New York.”…”The next big thing is the integration of location-based information with social networking applications. At least that’s one conclusion I took from a high-energy “social media” breakfast for 100 techies in New York this week.”…”Not only will you see what someone is doing online, but you will know where they are doing it. That might significantly change how you relate to people in the real world.”…”Not merely entertainment, it is supposed to let you use Google maps to get things done with other people, as well as play games. Aktihanoglu says it will allow you to, among other things, in effect combine Craigslist with Google Earth. His motto: “Never be lonely again!” (It’s pretty hard to use so far, though.)”…”Geography is likely to get more important on the Net.”My Response: A very interesting and relevant article about the state of social networking and the integration of geography into the fray. I agree with Mr. Kirkpatrick and this is evidenced by several of our current social networking projects utilizing Google Mapping technology and geo-based functionalities. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the next phase in social networking will be a “shakeout” of the social networks that aren’t relevant, aren’t adding value, and aren’t fulfilling a need or want in a simple, innovative way. People don’t want “just another social network.” No one wants to have to join and maintain presences on 10 social networks, especially if none are adding value and all are focused simply on trivial conversations and “pokes.” My belief is that in the future, one “broad” social networking is certainly needed (e.g. Facebook, or when a social platform succesfully connects ALL networks and gets broad appeal, so if you have a presence out there on one site, you have a presence on this main site). Several career (or student based, for younger people) based social networks would be valuable and additional sites will have to fulfill a want or need so well, and be so focused on adding direct value to their audience, that interested users will have no choice. Geo-based functionalities is simply an example of this new breed of valuable features that combine function with form in an innovative way.
• Esther Dyson of the Wall Street Journal wrote “The Coming Ad Revolution“: “The current online-advertising model will become less effective, even as it gets increasingly sophisticated. New players are emerging to devalue the spaces that the ad giants are currently fighting over. Companies you’ve never heard of called NebuAd, Project Rialto, Phorm, Frontporch and Adzilla are pitching tools to Internet service providers that will enable them to track users and show them relevant ads. This approach (called behavioral targeting and already in service by ad networks that track users through so-called tracking cookies) undercuts traditional online publishers, who employ content to lure users and to sell adjacent ads. Now, the ISPs can sell advertisers direct access to the same users.”…”This market will get more competitive, and users will be barraged by ads to which they will pay less and less attention. Call that public space, a world of billboards and cacophony. Even though the ads will be more “relevant” than ever, users will increasingly tune them out.”…”This does not mean that traditional online advertising will go away, just that it will become less effective. Value is being created in users’ own walled gardens, which they will cultivate for themselves in real estate owned by the social networks. The new value creators are companies — like Facebook and Dopplr — that know how to build and support online communities.”My Response: Key point here: when you’re serving a visitor with a relevant product, link, or company (note my omission of the word “ad”) at a time when they need or want this information, it’s not annoying. It’s helpful, valuable, and liked. Examples: Google’s Sponsored Search Results and Amazon’s Recommends. Except, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. So even more relevant ads isn’t necessarily wanted, either. On the other hand, any other method of approach in this day and age simply will not work that well anymore. With more and more clutter comes more and more selective vision and hearing. It’s exciting indeed to see the new technology on the horizon continue to evolve into more and more useful as mass advertising winds down.

Other notable articles:

• Presidential Hopefuls Spending Little On Web Ads. Why? Social Networking.
  “…We can all recognize collectively that modern social frameworks on the Web are remarkably efficient platforms and means with/by which messages can be relayed. And if we are to take into account the reality that many millions of Americans are connected in one way or another to online networks - if one should look at the growth of social networks over the last few years, one can see quite clearly that a very significant percentage of Internet users in the U.S. are connected to a social framework of some sort - it then must come as little surprise that advertisement spending by the present set of presidential campaigns has been, well, exceedingly small. Especially given the very momentous circumstances we find ourselves in.”
  
• Facebook on top of social networking tree, but you won’t find new friends or a job.
  “Facebook is still the most popular social networking site among students and graduates, and clearly ahead of Bebo and MySpace when put head-to-head according to Milkround.com’s student and graduate database. But users claim none of the major three offer enough help finding new friends or a job.”

P.S. Facebook, if you’re reading this, I’m SO tired of Facebook Application-originated SPAM! I understand things spread virally and that the current methods ensure the Facebook Platform grows and that Facebook app developers have an easy, viral method of transmitting their work and spreading their tools. It’s simply that when it becomes a nuisance/annoyance every time I log in to my account to have to clear tons of invitations and junk from my account, something is wrong. Am I not supposed to enjoy my logged-in time on Facebook? Because it’s starting to feel more like taking out the trash every week. To me, it’s the social networking version of e-mail forwards. Yes, the e-mail forward is originating from my friend, but with too many non-relevant forwards, pretty soon you block them all out and eventually set your spam filter to “kill mode.” To add insult to injury, it appears the mySpace is following the same path. Go figure. That is, go figure out how your social network can add value and spread ideas without becoming annoying, intrusive, and cluttered.

-RB

1. Gmail Cheat Sheet

2. Google Search Cheat Sheet

3. Google Cheat Sheet

4. Google Reader Cheat Sheet

5. Firefox Cheat Sheet

6. CSS Cheat Sheet

7. Subversion Cheat Sheet

8. Ruby on Rails Cheat Sheet

9. The Ultimate Linux-Unix Cheat Sheet

10. …and the king of them all: Cheat-Sheet.org

Realizing your dream of having a professional, functional, and profitable website is not always an easy task. We’ve heard all too many horror stories of individuals and companies trying to build a website, only to run into one problem or another at seemingly every turn. In fact, about 35% of our prospects and clients are those that profess to have had bad experiences previously and are usually looking for relief in the form of a smooth web design project, a website well-aligned with their vision, and a return on their marketing investment.

If you’re working with multiple people to plan and execute your web design project, beware: “Fire the committee. No great website in history has been conceived of by more than three people. Not one. This is a dealbreaker.”-Seth Godin. If this isn’t possible, look for web design companies with strong expertise in high-caliber project management, hopefully facilitated by applications like Basecamp (what we utilize).

In an effort to reduce the number of nightmare experiences out there, we developed the following list to serve as a helpful general guide. Feel free to jump from step to step, but be warned: your sorrow will lessen significantly if some form of logic, other than convenience, guides the jump from step to random step!

Step 1: Obtain & register a domain name

This is easy, cheap, and doesn’t take a lot of time. A good place to start would be to search nameboy for your name ideas. If a name turns “No Match”, you’re in business! Alternatively, domainthenet is a domain name generator that will give you various ideas if what you want is taken. Picking a name is not always easy. It’s possible to have an idea, with everything, except the name, scoped out. If using a name generator (like Domain Name Generator or the Web 2.0 Name Generator), rubbing a lamp, or twisting your tongue still doesn’t bring a name, skip it and come back when you have the perfect name (just don’t wait too long). And if the name you want is taken, you might be able to contact the owner and see if they’ll let you have it for a price. You can find the domain name owner’s contact information by again searching nameboy and and when a domain name is registered, scroll down to view the administrative contact’s information.

By the way, it’s important to make sure the domain name is registered in YOUR name, not the person or company who registered your domain name (we see this happen all the time and it’s not always pretty).

Read more here:

• How Do I Get A Domain Name?
• What to do When the Domain Name You Want is Gone
• PickyDomains: For $50, these guys will give you a bunch of domain name suggestions based on your specifications. Don’t like any of their ideas? You get your money back (free for bloggers).
  

2. Design a site map

In a web design project, the importance of good documentation can’t be overstressed and many who have worked on a web project can attest to the misery bad documentation can trigger.

As the first piece of documentation, this step is very important because not only will it come in handy as a planning tool, but you would also be doing your chosen web design firm a big favor (or yourself, if you’re adventurous!).

For the uninitiated, a site map is simply “a visual representation of a website’s structure.” They come in different shapes and sizes, but in our experience, the best site maps are simple documents listing a website’s sections and pages in outline format, maintaining a hierarchical order.

When all is said and done, your site map should look something roughly like this:

1. Home
2. News Room
2.1 Register
2.2 Archives
3. Customer Service
3.1 Packages and pricing
3.2 How to order
3.3 Additional Services
3.4 Tips of the Trade
4. About Company
4.1 How it works
4.2 Additional Services
5. Contact Us

It’s really that easy.

The important things to remember when composing your website’s site map are:

• Remember that site maps are hierarchical and should clearly illustrate a page’s position (in relation to the others) within the website.
• Use numbers. It’s a lot easier to say “1.4.2″ than it is visualize (then say) “I.IV.II” (as if if roman numerals aren’t bad enough, bullets are even worse).
• Pages, it’s all about pages. As a planning tool, the site map tells you a lot about the pages by not only establishing the relationships pages have to each other, but by also “mapping out” these relationships and how they relate to the different components of a project (of course, hence the phrase “site map”). These page relationships can be rather complicated, and adding technical details and aesthetic notes will only quadruple the complexity. All of this to say, avoid including functionalities, images, placement instructions, etc… If necessary, put an asterisk next to an item and add a footnote.
• Titles matter. If you’re still trying to decide on the page titles, use “working titles” so that everyone knows you’re talking about the apple, not the kiwi.
• Lists are all the rage. Although not a part of the site map, it’s a good idea to start compiling lists as you develop your site map. How many forms will it have? What will they be called and what kind of information will you collect? How about videos and pictures?
• Make a list of all the pages that will have videos, pictures, etc… (obviously that creates another list: “Stuff I Need To Put Together”. Do you see how useful a site map can be?).

Read this blog post for more on site maps.

Step 3: Compile a “Technical Notes” document

After completing your site map, it’s time to draft the “Technical Notes” document. Your “Technical Notes” document deals with the internal elements of each individual page and contains a description of the features for each internal page and specific placement instructions for content like pictures, videos, forms, Flash animation, etc… This document should also maintain the outline form of the site map.

For example, the notes for “2.1 Register” in the “Technical Requirements” document would say something like:

2.1 Register

This page should contain a form with the following fields:
Name:
Email:
Password:
Address:
Phone:
Note: the “Phone” field should be optional

Step 4: Identify SEO phrases

Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the process of structuring your website so that search engines can find and index them better (here’s a good introduction to SEO).

The best way to do this is to put yourself in the shoes of someone looking for what you’re offering. What words would they use in a search? Make a list of these words, and their derivatives, and you’ll be well on your way. This is a great tool. This will probably happen naturally as you develop your written content more (here’s on writing online content).

Additionally, there are a lot of online SEO tools that can help you generate these phrases. Even if you think you’ve done a good job, it might help if you used one of the tools as a check.

Step 5: Develop great content

Now is the time to develop the actual content of your website. Not just the words and titles, but you also want to include everything you’ll want on your website. But remember, don’t over-write: “Less. Fewer words, fewer pages, less fine print.” -Seth Godin.

Do you want any pictures, graphics, etc… on your website? Where? Take your time and play with different combinations until you find something you like. It might even help to draw out a few sketches (the design firm you use will certainly love that) or play with PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel or if you’re a Mac fan, Pages or Keynote to plan out your designs.

The filenames for your content, like that of the “Technical Notes” section, should also maintain the outline form of the site map. For example, you would name the file containing the copy for the “Register” page “2.1_Register” or the video for the “How It Works” page, “4.1_How It Works”. Again, adding placement instructions should not be necessary since those are covered in the “Technical Notes” document above.

Lastly, it is very important that you submit your final, proofread content at the same time. This ensures that confusion is avoided and your project stays organized. Compose the content for each individual page in a separate Word document (don’t forget to use the same titles used in the site map when naming them) and combine them in a folder, which you can then zip.

6. Find a remarkable (not just good) web design firm

In the words of marketing guru Seth Godin: “If you hire a professional, hire a great one. The best one. Let her do her job. 10 mediocre website consultants working in perfect harmony can’t do the work of one rock star.”

This is not as easy at it sounds. A recent Google search returned 491,000,000 results for “web design company” (a staggering amount if you ask me).

It may be difficult to separate the good from the bad, but fear not, there is hope.

There are some people out there that genuinely love what they do and honestly want to help (like those guys at Epsilon Concepts).

When you’re talking to the web design companies, how much listening do they do? Do they genuinely have passion about you, your project, your company? How long have they been around? Who have they worked for in the past? How does their work, testimonials, and website make you feel? Are they willing to give you references and are those references satisfied or ecstatic? Are they trying to capture your vision or do they tune you out?

This checklist has a lot of other angles you should consider as you search for the perfect web design firm.

7. Choose a hosting company

Like web design companies, there are tons of hosting companies. Hosting in this age is pretty much a commodity. Many web design firms also offer hosting as an add-on. However, it’s just as easy to end up with a bad hosting company as with a web design firm. We believe it’s also always best to go with a hosting company as opposed to a web design firm offering hosting on the side. It’s best to have the experts in each category of your web strategy, rather than a jack of all trades, master of none. Because hosting is a commodity, it’s not hard to find one with great rates, excellent support, and the right specs.

When looking for a hosting company, make sure they guarantee 99% uptime and 24/7 support (obviously, this is very important since they will be storing everything related to your web site and in case something happens, you need to be sure you’ll be able to get the help you need). Also need to make sure the hosting company of your choosing has all the features you need and will need as you grow. Some other things to keep your eyes peeled out for are PHP 5, MySQL 5, SSL, and an uptime guarantee, but this does depend on your unique project requirements.

Don’t know where to start? Then try http://www-thehostingchart.com/ and http://webhostinggeeks.com/ and we recommend Moonrise Hosting as well as Rackspace. If necessary, test their support claims before going with them (here’s more on choosing a hosting company).

PS: We also made an info-packed Squidoo lens a few months ago on “How to Plan a Web Design Project and Choose a Web Design Company” that has color charts, document templates, links to web design directories, articles, videos, and more.

Reader Comments:

“A lot of times, steps #1 and #7 can be combined into one. Most hosting providers will register the domain for you and park it until you are ready to use it. Also, one other tip. If you already have a domain name, make sure you setup hosting first. It usually takes time to update the DNS records and other relevant registrar data to work with the new hosting environment. If you leave it until the end, you’ll have a web site ready to launch, but will be waiting on domain registration issues. That has been our experience.” - John
Thanks John for this valuable tip!