{!date dayname+0}, {!date long+0} Dear {!firstname_fix} Yippee...my tickets have arrived....! No, not for the Olympics sadly, but for The Open Golf Championship. It was easy getting them - I went to their website, booked the tickets, paid my money and they posted them to me. Easy peasy. On the other hand, I am not going to the Olympics. We applied for several different tickets, were unsuccessful in the first round and I couldn't get through to the website on the second round - and now I've given up. Meanwhile, our friends down the road got every ticket they applied for in the first ballot; they are going to four different events, including the Opening Ceremony. Cries of "unfair" are being shouted down the street. Now, I admit the Open Golf is only attracting hundreds of thousands of people, compared with the millions wanting to go to the Olympics. But "The Open" is THE golfing event of the year - people travel from across the world to go there. Yet, they can run a website where it is simple: book what you want and pay for it. Meanwhile, in a bid to try to please as many people as possible and attempting to make it all fair, the people running the Olympics seem to have made it as complex as they possibly can for us to get tickets. It is just a reminder that success, reputation and simplicity usually go hand in hand.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: How can I future-proof my online business? The other day I was speaking at an event where one of the questions at the end of my talk was about the possible future of the internet. What was likely to happen online in the coming years and how should we plan for it? It is an interesting question because there are all sorts of possibilities, including the ability to direct your online activity using your eyes (coming next year), as well as touch-sensitive mice (allowing you to feel the fabrics you buy in online clothes stores) and - yes - smellivision (allowing you to smell your Facebook friends perhaps...!). But who knows whether Twitter will be with us in five
years from now? Who knows even if Google will still be providing us with search
results the way we use them now? Who knows what other kind of online services
will spring up, providing us with the "next big thing"? However, when things change online (it is not "if" - it is "when") we need to be ready for that change. After all, it is no good an entirely new content management system arriving, taking the world by storm and you still plodding along trying to use the old ways. That would rather be like someone carrying on with illuminated manuscripts after the invention of the printing press; nice, traditional and very clever, but hardly competitive. The problem is that nowadays people have invested so much in their online technology that changing to any new system involves extra cost and time. When the new web technology arrives - and it will - can your website be moved across with ease? For many people the answer is "no". In fact, this already happens nowadays; people want to redesign their site and it usually means wholesale change. If you want a new letterhead, you don't have to reformat the way you produce it just because the kind of paper you are using has changed. So why if you want a new web design does everything else so often have to change? The problem is partly lack of planning which means that frequently websites are not structured well enough. How much of the content on your website is "uncategorised"? How much of the content is divided into broad sections, with little, if any, specifics? Could you take all the information from your website and move it to another, different, system and everything be in the right place? If you want to future-proof your online business you need to start with your content - not anywhere else. Content is king, so the cliché goes, but without online content you are nowhere. Your online future depends upon your content - so it is that which needs future-proofing. The first thing to do is to make sure your content is in some kind of database - most content management systems use MySQL. That's an excellent start. But you need to make sure that every piece of content in your system is categorised, tagged and so on. This puts flags into the database which means should you move to a different system in the future, or some new way of displaying your content arrive on the scene, you'll be able to transfer your stuff in a meaningful way. Having your content in a system, but with no structure, tagging or other data hooks, you are not future-proofing your material. Also, having your content in your own management system database, such as that in WordPress, you need to make sure you have a copy of that data - leaving it where it is does not future-proof you. So, I'd suggest signing up for an account with Amazon Web Services (see: http://aws.amazon.com/s3/). This provides you with the ability to store data at very low prices. My entire web systems are backed up there and it is just a few dollars a month. Plus there are add-ons to content management systems which "dump" your database to Amazon Web Services. I use Automatic WordPress Backup (see: http://uklik.me/awpbackup) which backs up the database separately. And that means should I stop using WordPress I can easily transfer the information to another content management system. So, yes, there is a way you can future-proof your online business. Structure your content, categorise it, have it stored in a database. Then back up that database. Simple.
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK: You need to be quickly adaptable Last night it was the "Summer Event" at my son's school. Each year the Parent Teacher Association runs the event to raise funds for the school. And most years I have been the "Master of Ceremonies"...! So, last night I arrived in good time ready for the 6pm start. I checked the sound system, helped put up a couple of gazebos and then, at 5.50pm, the sky went black, the heavens opened and it poured down. Within the next 10-minutes we frantically moved everything into various classrooms, the school hall was set up for the "arena" displays and we were "open for business". Two hours later we had raised over £2,000 for the school. If we had stayed outside we would have been able to carry on as the heavy rain settled into light drizzle for a while. But I doubt if we would have raised anywhere near as much money because people would have drifted away due to the damp conditions. The PTA was able to raise a considerable amount of money thanks to its ability to adapt quickly to the situation. Earlier in the week a client asked me if I could help with a particular project; I declined because it would have involved me in changing some aspects of my diary. Wrong decision. Had I been as quickly adaptable as we were at my son's school last night, I'd have more money in the bank. Sometimes our failure to adapt quickly IS our failure.
THIS WEEK'S "MUST BUY": Content Strategy  When it comes to future-proofing your online business, the best thing you can do is have a content strategy. That means that no matter what happens with the technologies available in the future, you will be able to survive because you already have a plan. Without some kind of strategic approach to content you will have problems when technologies change. So - easy solution - get this book...! It is by far the most sensible book on web content strategy you can find. It is written by a consultant who specialises in helping companies form their approach to online content. Some of it is aimed at big business, admittedly, but there are hints and tips for everyone throughout this book. Also, I don't agree with every word - for instance, not sure I endorse the "less is more" approach - but there is no doubt whatsoever that this book is packed with solid advice for your online business now and in the future. To find out more about this book, please visit: http://uklik.me/webstrategybook
AND FINALLY: From my blog... Be nasty to your website visitors Poor Amy Winehouse eh? Fancy being an international star and being booed off stage. How rude. Or you might think it is rude to ask people to pay you and then turn up to entertain them, apparently drunk. Either way, what is clear is that the audience at the Belgrade concert is unlikely to forget the evening.............Allowing your website visitors to think good things about you, then to give them some kind of negative as they are about to leave your page, could actually work in your favour. They may well remember more of..... Read More About whether or not Facebook users are stupid at: http://uklik.me/k0Oyom
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Kind Regards
Graham Jones Web:
grahamjones.co.uk Tel: +44 118 336 9710 If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter than you can delete your name from the mailing list by clicking this link: {!remove_web} Affiliate Links: Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links providing me with a small commission when you purchase the item. However, I only use affiliate links for products which I personally value. |
