If you've been tasked with writing a web design brief for a new website, here's a web design brief template that might help you.
It's based on experience and research, and is geared to the SME or SMB market website. You might find that it doesn't cover everything that you need to include in your own brief but it should be a good starting point.
It's also worth remembering that the brief does require a good deal of thought - you should think carefully about what you want your website to achieve before you start writing your web design brief. You should also be honest about acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of your existing website.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Warehouse High Street
Sometime ago in this blog I predicted the end of the high street - Woe, woe & thrice woe! In that post I wrote,
This is now an emerging trend, with retailers offering "Click & Collect" points within existing stores, and some "thin" shops opening, where the shop is little more than a display window, and staff act as "consultants". The shop is effectively little more than a "click and collect" warehouse.
The high street has been caught in the middle of a number of trends and policies that discriminated against traditional high street retailers. Planning policy, almost non existent regulatory controls on anti-competitive trading practices, & economies of scale favours the out of town hypermarkets, parking charges and congestion further undermine the town centre, while high rates discriminate against the small, "boutique" offerings that might make the high street an interesting "shopping destination". Most high street and town centre mall offerings are sterile, uniform experiences that are less and less appealing to consumers.
One high street retailer that has done something interesting and successful is Apple. Their stores appear overrun with enthusiastic staff, who seem to be incentivised to help customers as well as sell stuff. Nor do they discriminate against customers who have bought an Apple product online or even second hand - once you own one of their products, you become part of the Apple "family". I recently took an iPhone I'd bought off eBay into an Apple store & a member of staff spent an hour resolving an issue I had - that's customer service normally restricted to in-store purchases (if you're lucky).
It might be this kind of approach to retailing that helps to save the smaller type of high street retailer. The move to online "click and collect" is sold as customer convenience but its really about reducing costs via cutting stock and staff levels. The loss of customer service that this will entail is where the smaller retailers may be able to offer an "experience" advantage to their customers - that's if there's a high street left after this recession is over.
UPDATE: Recent report on New Look says that 25% of their online sales are "Click & Collect", while they plan to reduce their shop portfolio by approximately 100 stores.
Soon the bricks and mortar shop will double up as a warehouse for the online shop(s) as internet sales see a decisive shift to predominance. The high street is where the window shopping will occur while the transaction is done online. ... Their physical shops are now provisioning hubs for their online outlets, busy with actual shoppers only one or two days a week..
This is now an emerging trend, with retailers offering "Click & Collect" points within existing stores, and some "thin" shops opening, where the shop is little more than a display window, and staff act as "consultants". The shop is effectively little more than a "click and collect" warehouse.
The high street has been caught in the middle of a number of trends and policies that discriminated against traditional high street retailers. Planning policy, almost non existent regulatory controls on anti-competitive trading practices, & economies of scale favours the out of town hypermarkets, parking charges and congestion further undermine the town centre, while high rates discriminate against the small, "boutique" offerings that might make the high street an interesting "shopping destination". Most high street and town centre mall offerings are sterile, uniform experiences that are less and less appealing to consumers.
One high street retailer that has done something interesting and successful is Apple. Their stores appear overrun with enthusiastic staff, who seem to be incentivised to help customers as well as sell stuff. Nor do they discriminate against customers who have bought an Apple product online or even second hand - once you own one of their products, you become part of the Apple "family". I recently took an iPhone I'd bought off eBay into an Apple store & a member of staff spent an hour resolving an issue I had - that's customer service normally restricted to in-store purchases (if you're lucky).
It might be this kind of approach to retailing that helps to save the smaller type of high street retailer. The move to online "click and collect" is sold as customer convenience but its really about reducing costs via cutting stock and staff levels. The loss of customer service that this will entail is where the smaller retailers may be able to offer an "experience" advantage to their customers - that's if there's a high street left after this recession is over.
UPDATE: Recent report on New Look says that 25% of their online sales are "Click & Collect", while they plan to reduce their shop portfolio by approximately 100 stores.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Skip Hire Leicester
Leicester Skips, a new website for Leicester skip hire company, Bakers Waste, has just gone live.
Leicester web designers, Fresh Web Services, designed the Joomla website to be optimised for both search engines and for customer conversions. Using 'conversion led design' customers are gently guided to request a callback or use the online skip hire order form.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Google update & social media
As you may recall, we've been doing an seo experiment, trying to get our client on page one for skip hire leicester using only on-page optimisation.
We've had some success, getting to #6 on the first page. However, a recent update (Panda) by Google may be a game changer. Google is now taking greater account of what is termed "user signals" when ranking a website.
"User signals" has been interpreted as "Social signals", meaning how many "likes" and links to your website you have from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. It might also include such things as bounce rates (if people don't "engage" with your website, why should Google send anymore people there, etc).
The implications are that seo has just got harder! You will certainly now need to focus on "social" link building, keeping your "social" profile updated, with more tweeting and "sharing" and extending your social network.
Therefore its time to consider your social media strategy as part of your more general seo strategy. In short, work harder!
We've had some success, getting to #6 on the first page. However, a recent update (Panda) by Google may be a game changer. Google is now taking greater account of what is termed "user signals" when ranking a website.
"User signals" has been interpreted as "Social signals", meaning how many "likes" and links to your website you have from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. It might also include such things as bounce rates (if people don't "engage" with your website, why should Google send anymore people there, etc).
The implications are that seo has just got harder! You will certainly now need to focus on "social" link building, keeping your "social" profile updated, with more tweeting and "sharing" and extending your social network.
Therefore its time to consider your social media strategy as part of your more general seo strategy. In short, work harder!
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Bowl Feeder Sensors from Olympic Automation
Our web design and seo client, Olympic Automation, asked us to add another page to their website. This page is about vibratory bowl sensors, which are used conjunction with vibratory bowl feeders and linear or conveyor feed tracks.
We've had tremendous success with our seo efforts for Olympic Automation, who rank #1 in Google for their key phrases such as vibratory bowl feeders. We expect to repeat this success with this new campaign.
Contact us to see out how we might help your search engine optimisation.
UPDATE - Olympic Automation are now #1 on Google for the search terms 'vibratory bowl sensors' & 'bowl feeder sensors'!
We've had tremendous success with our seo efforts for Olympic Automation, who rank #1 in Google for their key phrases such as vibratory bowl feeders. We expect to repeat this success with this new campaign.
Contact us to see out how we might help your search engine optimisation.
UPDATE - Olympic Automation are now #1 on Google for the search terms 'vibratory bowl sensors' & 'bowl feeder sensors'!
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 5
Well, Bakers Waste Services are now 6th in Google's natural search results for the term "skip hire leicester". Three cheers all round - well nearly.
The problem is that while 6th position is normally page one rankings, in this case Google's local search pushes 6th position onto the second page! So, the quest now is to improve Bakers Waste Services' local search rankings.
However, what this experiment does seem to indicate is that things such as page rank, number of inbound links, etc, are not necessarily the key to good rankings. Rather, in this instance it would seem that good, relevant content is the key to success.
The problem is that while 6th position is normally page one rankings, in this case Google's local search pushes 6th position onto the second page! So, the quest now is to improve Bakers Waste Services' local search rankings.
However, what this experiment does seem to indicate is that things such as page rank, number of inbound links, etc, are not necessarily the key to good rankings. Rather, in this instance it would seem that good, relevant content is the key to success.
Monday, November 29, 2010
The decline of Internet Explorer?
One swallow does not a summer make, & so today's quick gander at my website's Google Analytics does not herald a decisive trend, but ..... for the first time that I can recall, Internet Explorer (IE) is no longer the main browser used to view my Leicester web design company site. Well, its still has the largest market share, just under 40%, but FireFox, Chrome and Safari collectively account for almost 57% of users. A year ago, IE would have had about 70-80% of market share, so that is a considerable decline.
Is my site unique? Is the demographic different? Well, yes and no. Looking at the statistics from some of our client's sites, the decline of IE market share is also visible but not quite so pronounced. The trend appears downward but not uniformly. IE still accounts for approx 60-70% of visitors on some sites but is much lower on others (50-60%). On those sites where IE usage is higher, these sites tend to cater to the B2B user. On those sites where IE usage is lower, their target market is more broadly defined, encompassing B2B & B2C, as well as 'artistic' markets. On one technology consultancy website, Firefox accounts for 51% of visitors while IE only 11%.
As I said at the start, this is too small a snap shot to say definitively that IE is in terminal decline. But one straw in the wind - no Windows based mobile device was recorded in any of the visitor stats on any of the sites I sampled, only iPhone & Android devices were logged. As mobile internet usage grows, IE & its Windows operating system may become irrelevant in mobile market share.
Is my site unique? Is the demographic different? Well, yes and no. Looking at the statistics from some of our client's sites, the decline of IE market share is also visible but not quite so pronounced. The trend appears downward but not uniformly. IE still accounts for approx 60-70% of visitors on some sites but is much lower on others (50-60%). On those sites where IE usage is higher, these sites tend to cater to the B2B user. On those sites where IE usage is lower, their target market is more broadly defined, encompassing B2B & B2C, as well as 'artistic' markets. On one technology consultancy website, Firefox accounts for 51% of visitors while IE only 11%.
As I said at the start, this is too small a snap shot to say definitively that IE is in terminal decline. But one straw in the wind - no Windows based mobile device was recorded in any of the visitor stats on any of the sites I sampled, only iPhone & Android devices were logged. As mobile internet usage grows, IE & its Windows operating system may become irrelevant in mobile market share.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 4
Well, good news for Leicester skip hire company Bakers Waste Services. They are now ranked 13th in Google's natural search results for the search term Leicester skip hire.
So, within less than a month, they have gone from nowhere to page 2, with on page optimisation only. There has been no link building strategy, apart from this one blog. So, that raises interesting questions about the importance of link building - how essential is it, or are quality links the key to higher page 1 rankings?
Watch this space!
So, within less than a month, they have gone from nowhere to page 2, with on page optimisation only. There has been no link building strategy, apart from this one blog. So, that raises interesting questions about the importance of link building - how essential is it, or are quality links the key to higher page 1 rankings?
Watch this space!
Monday, November 08, 2010
Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 3
We're pleased to announce two developments in relation to this experiment. The first is that a new design of the website has now gone live. The second is that Bakers Waste now has first page ranking for terms such as "skip collection leicester".
So, some significant signs of improvement and it will be interesting to see what influence, if any, the new design has on its Google rankings.
So, some significant signs of improvement and it will be interesting to see what influence, if any, the new design has on its Google rankings.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 2
Its been 2 weeks since we started the experiment to get Bakers Waste Services on page 1 for search terms such as "skip hire leicester" using only on-page optimisation and the "power of one" - one external link, that is, this blog.
Well, rankings have improved! Bakers Waste is now on page 2 (from nowhere) for terms such as "skip hire leicestershire" but were still not yet there for "skip hire leicester".
So the quest continues ....
Well, rankings have improved! Bakers Waste is now on page 2 (from nowhere) for terms such as "skip hire leicestershire" but were still not yet there for "skip hire leicester".
So the quest continues ....
Nuneaton Properties Manager Website
Leicester web design company Fresh Web Services are proud to announce the launch of a Properties Manager powered website, Longshoot Properties. Designed by our friends at R&G Design, the website allows administrators to quickly and easily add new properties and news articles, while tenants looking for property to rent in Nuneaton can quickly find what they want.
Properties Manager is a simple and affordable online property management tool, enabling landlords, estate agents and villa owners to easily advertise their property portfolio online.
Properties Manager is a simple and affordable online property management tool, enabling landlords, estate agents and villa owners to easily advertise their property portfolio online.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment
I've been tasked with improving the search engine rankings for the term 'skip hire leicester' by a client. So, I've created a single page about skip hire in leicestershire on his website, and was wondering what influence a single blog post on Google's own blogging platform might have on its Google rankings.
This page has some basic information about the type of skips that can be hired and what each skip is best used for. I've not gone in for over the top 'on page optimisations' (like loads of headers, etc) & I've also tried to ensure that all the content is original - ie, not lifted from a highly ranking competitor. So, the page has some good, original and useful content. But good content is not usually enough, especially in a competitive search sector.
Good quality inbound links are usually thought to be key factors in improving page rank. That's one reason why almost all the comments on this blog tend to be spam, with links through to some site or other. The spammers are trying to gain inbound links for their own campaigns. So, I thought I'd experiment with the power of one - one deliberate inbound link.
Todate, this website only has one 1st page Google ranking, for the term 'commercial skip hire leicester'. Domestic skip hire leicester is another key phrase, but the real target is skip hire leicester or leicester skip hire.
So, I'll check back in a week or so & see if this little contribution has had any noticeable effect. Although how I quantify the effect is something I frankly don't know yet!
This page has some basic information about the type of skips that can be hired and what each skip is best used for. I've not gone in for over the top 'on page optimisations' (like loads of headers, etc) & I've also tried to ensure that all the content is original - ie, not lifted from a highly ranking competitor. So, the page has some good, original and useful content. But good content is not usually enough, especially in a competitive search sector.
Good quality inbound links are usually thought to be key factors in improving page rank. That's one reason why almost all the comments on this blog tend to be spam, with links through to some site or other. The spammers are trying to gain inbound links for their own campaigns. So, I thought I'd experiment with the power of one - one deliberate inbound link.
Todate, this website only has one 1st page Google ranking, for the term 'commercial skip hire leicester'. Domestic skip hire leicester is another key phrase, but the real target is skip hire leicester or leicester skip hire.
So, I'll check back in a week or so & see if this little contribution has had any noticeable effect. Although how I quantify the effect is something I frankly don't know yet!
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
LiveLink WCM - new roadmap
Well, OpenText recently announced a new roadmap for their LiveLink WCM product. Sometime after announcing its likely demise, it has now risen, not quite Phoenix like, from the ashes and will have a facelift & other cosmetic enhancements. To celebrate, OpenText are now selling new licences for LiveLInk WCM, almost a couple of years after saying no new licences would be sold.
This announcement can't be good news for RedDot, another WCM offering owned by OpenText - it was RedDot that LiveLink users were meant to migrate to. So, not a vote of confidence in RedDot then.
Frankly, if I was an OpenText customer, I'd be more than a little cheesed off, especially if I'd followed their advice and spent big on migrating to RedDot. I'd also be really annoyed if I was a LiveLink developer who had followed their lead & prepared for the end of LiveLink WCM. What now for those that have invested in training and developing LiveLink - RedDot migration services and technologies?
On the upside, LiveLink WCM customers may save themselves quite a bit by not having to consider migration to another platform. On the downside, can they trust OpenText again?
This announcement can't be good news for RedDot, another WCM offering owned by OpenText - it was RedDot that LiveLink users were meant to migrate to. So, not a vote of confidence in RedDot then.
Frankly, if I was an OpenText customer, I'd be more than a little cheesed off, especially if I'd followed their advice and spent big on migrating to RedDot. I'd also be really annoyed if I was a LiveLink developer who had followed their lead & prepared for the end of LiveLink WCM. What now for those that have invested in training and developing LiveLink - RedDot migration services and technologies?
On the upside, LiveLink WCM customers may save themselves quite a bit by not having to consider migration to another platform. On the downside, can they trust OpenText again?
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Magento Eccomerce Website Launced
Fresh Web Services are pleased to announce the launch of several websites in recent weeks.
First, is the Magento powered Goldmark Books, selling the beautifully produced books published by the Uppingham art gallery and publisher. This is the first of a series of Magento powered ecommerce websites we will be rolling out for Goldmark Art Gallery.
Our most recent project is a Properties Manager holiday cottage rentals software service, appropriately called LookB4UBook. Those searching for a UK holiday cottage can view videos of the cottages and the surrounding area, as well as viewing pictures and reading descriptions, etc.
Last, but not least, Northampton Probation Trust website is live. Powered by the award winning Joomla!™ content management system, we were responsible for the design, hosting, training and implementation of the project.
First, is the Magento powered Goldmark Books, selling the beautifully produced books published by the Uppingham art gallery and publisher. This is the first of a series of Magento powered ecommerce websites we will be rolling out for Goldmark Art Gallery.
Our most recent project is a Properties Manager holiday cottage rentals software service, appropriately called LookB4UBook. Those searching for a UK holiday cottage can view videos of the cottages and the surrounding area, as well as viewing pictures and reading descriptions, etc.
Last, but not least, Northampton Probation Trust website is live. Powered by the award winning Joomla!™ content management system, we were responsible for the design, hosting, training and implementation of the project.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Paypal Scam
I received an email today purporting to be from PayPal, with the subject of "Your account has been limited and will be suspended."
The body of the email is as follows:
So, please be aware and do not reply to such criminal attempts.
The body of the email is as follows:
The attached file is 'Restore Access Account.html' Downloading and completing this form would give these criminals access to your Paypal account. Sending a copy of your driving licence would enable them to steal your identity and Lord knows what else.Dear customer,
During our regular screening we have detected that your account
has been accessed by
different IPs which does not match the IP you've registered
your paypal account.
PayPal is trying to protect paypal community and your
account can be
suspended.Please download the attachement,
read and fill in the form to avoid suspension.
If suspended a copy of your driver license
will be required and other documents which confirm your identity.
PayPal Validation Department
Message ID 8128F
So, please be aware and do not reply to such criminal attempts.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
We'll all be watching it on the internet instead - and the advertisers will be chasing online eyeballs. The UK is now the first economy where advertising spend on the internet has outstripped TV ad spend according to a report in the Guardian (online) newspaper.
Will this change the nature of the internet? Possibly - more obtrusive advertising possibly, the decline of amateurism as big bucks crowd out the mom n pop sites, a bonanza for SEO agencies as we all scrabble for Google page one, even more noise and less insight ...
The pace of the decline of 'traditional' TV will quicken as will the growth of the 'synergy' between TV and its online delivery mechanisms. In the UK the Murdoch war on the BBC will grow noisier. It might well be that the real target of Murdoch is the BBC's online presence, which has consistently set high online standards.
Murdoch's abandonment of Labour has more to do with Murdoch's strategy to eliminate competition than it has to do with politics per se, and as the Tories cosy up to Murdoch, they might just throw the old man the bones of the BBC's online output as quid pro quo.
What is certain is that we are witnessing the decline, or perhaps the downgrading, of a once omnipotent medium. For this reason alone, the revolution will not be televised, even if it is taking place within that medium.
Will this change the nature of the internet? Possibly - more obtrusive advertising possibly, the decline of amateurism as big bucks crowd out the mom n pop sites, a bonanza for SEO agencies as we all scrabble for Google page one, even more noise and less insight ...
The pace of the decline of 'traditional' TV will quicken as will the growth of the 'synergy' between TV and its online delivery mechanisms. In the UK the Murdoch war on the BBC will grow noisier. It might well be that the real target of Murdoch is the BBC's online presence, which has consistently set high online standards.
Murdoch's abandonment of Labour has more to do with Murdoch's strategy to eliminate competition than it has to do with politics per se, and as the Tories cosy up to Murdoch, they might just throw the old man the bones of the BBC's online output as quid pro quo.
What is certain is that we are witnessing the decline, or perhaps the downgrading, of a once omnipotent medium. For this reason alone, the revolution will not be televised, even if it is taking place within that medium.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Hello Vignette, Goodbye Red Dot
Sometimes one has to feel sorry for a customer base. They buy a product (a difficult and expensive process in the first place), stick with it despite its quirks and its sometimes boneheaded refusal to work, train their staff to use it, and develop systems around it, and integrate it into the core of their business processes. Then, the product gets retired, and the whole shebang starts all over again.
This is undoubtedly the roller coaster ride that some customers of Open Text must feel they've been enjoying/enduring* (* delete as appropriate) in the last couple of years. First Open Text buys the Red Dot Content Management System and retires their previous LiveLink WCM. Not to worry, existing customers are reassured about licence transfers and an easy migration path.
Then Open Text go and do it all over again! This time they buy Vignette and are now retiring Red Dot sometime after 2010. Instead, a hybrid 'Red Vignette' will be unleashed upon their customer base, again with reassurances about licence transfers and easy migrations. This is just as I warned in an earlier posting.
Any migration will be difficult and so will any hybridisation - Vignette is Java based while Red Dot is an ASP/.NET application. Open Text talk of using Vignette as the backend and Red Dot as the front end - great, you now need .Net & Java developers on board if you want to customise your implementation!
So, perhaps your company is forward looking and you decided to train some staff in .NET in order to prepare the way for the eventual migration from LiveLink WCM to Red Dot. Now, lets send them on a Java course as well so that we're prepped for when Red Vinegar comes around. Few companies have such training largesse in the current economic climate - thanks again Open Text.
Does it seem like somebody is taking the piss? You might say this is a valuable lesson that the licence cost is just the start of the expense of owning software. Still, you might think that its also time to start looking at Open Source solutions like Alfresco - which is both an EDRMS and a WCM. Afterall, what's the worst that Open Source could do to you?
This is undoubtedly the roller coaster ride that some customers of Open Text must feel they've been enjoying/enduring* (* delete as appropriate) in the last couple of years. First Open Text buys the Red Dot Content Management System and retires their previous LiveLink WCM. Not to worry, existing customers are reassured about licence transfers and an easy migration path.
Then Open Text go and do it all over again! This time they buy Vignette and are now retiring Red Dot sometime after 2010. Instead, a hybrid 'Red Vignette' will be unleashed upon their customer base, again with reassurances about licence transfers and easy migrations. This is just as I warned in an earlier posting.
Any migration will be difficult and so will any hybridisation - Vignette is Java based while Red Dot is an ASP/.NET application. Open Text talk of using Vignette as the backend and Red Dot as the front end - great, you now need .Net & Java developers on board if you want to customise your implementation!
So, perhaps your company is forward looking and you decided to train some staff in .NET in order to prepare the way for the eventual migration from LiveLink WCM to Red Dot. Now, lets send them on a Java course as well so that we're prepped for when Red Vinegar comes around. Few companies have such training largesse in the current economic climate - thanks again Open Text.
Does it seem like somebody is taking the piss? You might say this is a valuable lesson that the licence cost is just the start of the expense of owning software. Still, you might think that its also time to start looking at Open Source solutions like Alfresco - which is both an EDRMS and a WCM. Afterall, what's the worst that Open Source could do to you?
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Institutional Memory
Recently I was watching an episode of the West Wing, where they deal with the 'institutional memory' of the Bartlett administration and the Santos transition. There is indeed a White House Transition Project for this very purpose, since the US Federal government does not have a permanent civil service in the same was as the UK. New US administrations have always faced the problem of inheriting policies, problems and agendas from the previous incumbents without always knowing the full 'ins and outs' and reasons why certain decisions were made. The government can therefore be handicapped in its approach to these issues.
The importance of the 'institutional memory' was further highlighted to me the other day listening to Robert Peston interviewing the head of Barclays Bank, John Varley. Varley, in response to Peston's question as to why Barclays didn't suffer as much as its rivals in the recent financial meltdown, explicitly referenced the bank's 'institutional memory' of the near catastrophic over exposure to the property market in the early 1990s.
So how do you capture, nurture and learn from your company's 'institutional memory'? For small or family owned businesses, this may not be a problem, but for larger organisations, with higher staff turnover, this can be a problem. After all, when somebody leaves the company, they may take with them 30 years experience and knowledge with them, and the incumbent, especially if an outsider, may be hamstrung without this knowledge and experience.
One method to institutionalise that knowledge is via the exit interview. This has always struck me as too little, too late. Any manager will tell you that the personnel, the human capital, are the most important part of the company, but very little is done to capture and institutionalise their knowledge as part of an ongoing and rationalised process.
Another method is via documentation of decision meeting - minute books, and the like. As a one-time historian, I am very aware how quickly the informational context is lost. I've read many minute books, the context and meaning clear to all who attended but vague and often illusive to readers a generation later.
So, how do we capture the meaning, context and lessons of daily working practice, experience, knowledge and the rationale behind the decisions made? This is something I'll be turning my attention to later.
The importance of the 'institutional memory' was further highlighted to me the other day listening to Robert Peston interviewing the head of Barclays Bank, John Varley. Varley, in response to Peston's question as to why Barclays didn't suffer as much as its rivals in the recent financial meltdown, explicitly referenced the bank's 'institutional memory' of the near catastrophic over exposure to the property market in the early 1990s.
So how do you capture, nurture and learn from your company's 'institutional memory'? For small or family owned businesses, this may not be a problem, but for larger organisations, with higher staff turnover, this can be a problem. After all, when somebody leaves the company, they may take with them 30 years experience and knowledge with them, and the incumbent, especially if an outsider, may be hamstrung without this knowledge and experience.
One method to institutionalise that knowledge is via the exit interview. This has always struck me as too little, too late. Any manager will tell you that the personnel, the human capital, are the most important part of the company, but very little is done to capture and institutionalise their knowledge as part of an ongoing and rationalised process.
Another method is via documentation of decision meeting - minute books, and the like. As a one-time historian, I am very aware how quickly the informational context is lost. I've read many minute books, the context and meaning clear to all who attended but vague and often illusive to readers a generation later.
So, how do we capture the meaning, context and lessons of daily working practice, experience, knowledge and the rationale behind the decisions made? This is something I'll be turning my attention to later.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Offline Advertising is dead - right?
Once upon a time, not long ago, in an office not far from where I'm sitting now, it was once declared that offline advertising was dead! The internet, & Google in particular, had killed it off, it was said.
Well, I'm a skeptical skeptic. Today I received a magazine & out popped a flier from .... Google! That's right, Google is using a traditional marketing flier to advertise the benefits of advertising online with Google! Hmmm, seems the obituary for offline marketing was a little premature?
Simple lesson - if your prospective customers are not using the internet, then you have to use other means to attract them.
Well, I'm a skeptical skeptic. Today I received a magazine & out popped a flier from .... Google! That's right, Google is using a traditional marketing flier to advertise the benefits of advertising online with Google! Hmmm, seems the obituary for offline marketing was a little premature?
Simple lesson - if your prospective customers are not using the internet, then you have to use other means to attract them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)