I dont care what you want to hear!

Sometimes when I look at a website, read a status or check out an article and I think to myself wow, they have a lot to say but the really dont care about what we want to hear or what we care about.

For example, my blog was started for me to have a voice, think through some thoughts and just share some of my ideas.  I am not looking to build up a huge following, become famous or tailor to what my audience wants (of course that assumes I have an audience at all). I write my blog posts so that I can process a thought from start to finish. By putting my thoughts into words online and publishing them publicly I am forcing myself to make a statement and allow people to react (whether that is bad or good reactions). Some of my posts people have actually enjoyed and shared.  Others I enjoyed a lot and no one seemed to care.

The danger that I see here though is when this attitude or thought process crosses over to an organization, company or any other website that is driving toward a goal.

This blog is for fun and sharing, there is no mission to be met or sales to be made.

But when you are planning your website, social media, emails or whatever communication you are working on, is your thought process too focused on what you want to say? Well you might just be telling your audience that you dont care what they want to hear.

I'm just sayin.....

You dont need a website, You need a web strategy! #10ntc

I was spending time cleaning my garage this weekend and I found a whole bunch of tools that I have never used. All of these tools serve a purpose and are still very useful, but at this point in my life I dont have a big plan to build anything.Without a big plan to build, the tools just sit there.

Websites can turn into those tools rusting in the garage very easily. A website, regardless of the coolest widgets, will only be as useful longterm as the strategy behind it.

Keeping this post nice and simple to hopefully make a point, so I will let the ignite video below do the talking.  I must give credit to Gregory Hellor for this post and title! Thanks for the inspiration.



Ignite NTC: Gregory Heller "You Don't Need A Website..." from GregoryH on Vimeo.

Steve has been hiding, sorry

Many of my regular readers (all 3 of you) may have been wondering where is Steve Heye and why hasnt he been blogging in 2010?  I miss his witty comments, deep insight and... OK lets just stop with the self flattery it will get you nowhere.

I want to apologize for my lack of blogging, I have succumbed to the fate of many NPTech staff out there, I have been buried in work, plus hiding in denial that my oldest son is graduating High School.  But as a reward to my faithful followers I will give you a peek at what I have been working on so hard.

The YMCA of Metro Chicago is launching an all new online registration system, that will hopefully reinvent the way people sign up for our programs.  We came in with the thought of "lets design this from the audience perspective" instead of mirroring our own internal structure, nomenclature and ideas.  The shift of how things are displayed, categorized and common across centers took months of conversation with our staff.  The technical aspects of coding, database integration and web development were challenging, but nothing like the cultural shifts that have started.

We had to create a translator or match maker application to "match" the classes stored in our database with the structure we created on the web.  Then we assigned the task of matching to our staff at our centers.  We had quite a few staff comment, "I never knew that my classes were displayed online that way because of the way I set up the data."  We had spent so long coming up with work-arounds in our database, that many didnt realize the implications.

But anyway, sorry for the short post, but I need to get back to work.

Oh but wait, here is your sneak peak access:

Web Address: http://register.ymcachicago.org/
Username: ymca
Password: testing

I would appreciate any feedback also.   But just know that as I type changes are being made to the site based on early member feedback.

3 Ring Circus Balancing act for web content

Writers block is an understatement when people are asked to write something for the web site, it is more like run the other way fear.  But I think a lot of this may rise from a feeling that when you right something for the web it has to be perfect and appeal to everyone, but in my opinion that is backwards of reality of the new web.

 

I picture writing for the web like a delicate balancing act in 3 rings:

Engagement balance between those that already know you and those who stumble upon you.

Audience balance between getting huge volume of traffic and reaching those who care.

Message balance between saying what you want people to hear and what your audience actually wants to hear.

I state those like they are a simple fact and it is easy to accomplish, yeah well good luck with that.

Engagement – We are addressing this issue by deliberately providing two ways to use our site browsing and utilizing it.  For those who don’t know who we are we will provide numerous ways and varying types of content (text, video, stories, interaction, etc) with the key focus of gradual engagement and small steps to get involved.  For those who are already engaged we will provide them the fastest possible way to get to the things that are the most important to them.

Audience – We are doing a complete overhaul of our architecture to improve our SEO (search engine optimization).  We are also revamping how all content gets created and written for the web to make it more search friendly.

Message - Many people try to manipulate their web site based on the message they want to send without taking time to consider what the audience wants to hear or how they want to get that message.  It is a tricky balance to keep the content focused on your message while still meeting your audience needs.

This isnt an all encompassing concept and has a bunch of holes probably, but hopefully brings up some thoughts for you.

After this post, my blog is going to switch focus for March-April off of the web and onto IT Alignment, which is a good friend of mine from the recent past. I am doing this in honor of the book that I wrote chapter 1 for NTEN called Managing Technology to Meet your Mission.  You can learn more on the wiki at www.meetyourmission.org.

What to do when people think they know your brand but are WRONG

Lets play a short game. I will show a brand logo, you tell me what they do.


My Answer - Fast food, good, cheap but very bad for you.

Great cars but very expensive and many people think for only older people.

Ok, I could go on forever with the little game, but I wont.  My point is that a brand not only reminds you of who they are but carries every stereotype with it.  And as a brand that is very hard to change.

McDonalds has tried for years to change its image that it offers healthy choices and actually they do.  But I still order the biggest, fat filled cheeseburger bacon usually.  Cadillac tried for a little while to offer some more lower priced models and tried to appeal to new audiences, but I dont think that worked out to well for them.

SO WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THIS BLOG?

In the midst of many strategic conversations lately I keep coming up against one thought, people think they know who and what the YMCA is, but they are wrong. No I dont mean to imply they are dumb or that the small peice they know is incorrect, rather they never know the whole picture. They jump to gym/swim or pictures of old facilities or a place for kids.

I will admit that most of this is our own fault as an organization, we dont tell people who we are and what we do enough.  Plus to make it worse, when you have seen one YMCA, you have only seen one YMCA. None of us are completely the same.  To add complication to complication, we do so many different things that I dont even know all of them.

It almost seems easier to spread the word about a new cause that is very focused and new, than it is to get people to change their impression of an existing organization like the YMCA.

That is my challenge in a one sentence format.

So I think I may have to spend a couple Blog posts later on this topic as I move through our web presence strategy, but for now here are some of my thoughts.

1. First we will be spending time making our own staff aware of the image that is out there and make sure they have a better understanding of how we want to be seen, what we do and how to share that with members. Many of staff (including me) dont know about all of the services we offer.
   
2. We are working to completely change the content and structure of our website and online resources to make it easier for people to learn about us.
   
3. Eventually we will find those members, participants, communities and staff that are already our word of mouth champions and give them the tools, content and ability to tell our story for us.
4. User generated content - need I say more?
5. Craft messages for the specific audiences, we always try to appeal to everyone, just stop it.  Get the right words to the right people who are ready to hear it.
6. Leverage our volunteers (board and program) lets get them more involved and aware.

Anyway there are more thoughts in my head, but I cant get them out right now.  What are your thoughts on this?

5 ways to get staff wearing comfortable shoes (or using the web)

One of my first posts on this blog still gets some considerable traffic, 5 secret ways to trick your colleagues into becoming content creators for your website. So in that effort I am going back to another list of 5. This post was inspired by a comment from one of my readers (didnt even know I had any). Thanks Rebekah.

"I think easing them into using the intranet for communicating is a good way to start and I'm hoping it will work! We're thinking of starting an internal blog to introduce blogging and show them how easy and potentially useful it could be for us. Maybe my trickery will be as effective as yours." Rebekah

5 ways to get staff comfortable with using the web

One basic key is just like breaking in a new pair of shoes, wear them enough to get worn in but not too much to avoid blisters.

1. Start with your own shoes. As Rebekah says above, implement functionality and tools within your commited network of staff before launching to the public and expecting staff to understand and participate. So get a blog, tag cloud, RSS feed, photo sharing, discussion boards, comments, etc and get staff to try them in a safer staff environment.

2. Get some people showing off their kicks. Find some staff that are more excited than others and get them to try out some of your web tools. Build up some examples, stories and champions.

3. Look for the best fit. Dont just focus on those people that ar the most willing. Look for the groups that these tools will have the biggest bang or impact with an audience that is a natural fit for technology. For example, setting up a myspace page for groups that work with teens, have a swim team create a ning social network, Camps start a disscussion board for alumni, etc. Maybe dont start with a newer program where people dont know each other yet, program areas with wide topics like an aquatics social network (keep it focused), etc.

4. Leave some footprints yourself. Why even bother to try convincing others if you havent even tried the tools yourself?

5. Display the shoes. Before you make people try out the tools communicate several different times and ways that they are coming and post some demos or sand boxes for them to touch the tools or try them on. Here is a possible set of waves of communications, blast general announcement, run a webcast, run a training, have a colleague blast a story how they used it, send out an example of others using it, one on one conversations with key people, start the training all over, do another webcast, etc.....

6. Make it personal footwear. Dont focus on how the shoes were made or how they work. Make it fun and exciting, focus on what it means to the individual. Let the individual make the footwear their own, in their own time.

And yes, keeping with tradition, my list of five things includes 6.

Photo credit, Lachlan Hardy's Flickr.

YMCA web site, make it useful

My first plan of action with our web site was initially to jump in and fix two major things - the content and the "look and feel".  We have very little content that tells you who we are, what we do and whats makes us better than other alternatives (and yes we are better ;-)).  I had (and actually still do) this big plan for creating deeper content that describes our programs, services, philosophy and mission.   All of this would improve our organic search results, provide more information to members-prospects and would (in theory) increase traffic.

Then a revelation came as we talked through some things.  Why increase traffic when there is no real reason for people to come to our site?  Our online program registration is functional, but needs work.  We have an online donation page.  But beyond that, we dont have anything in place to make that increased traffic stay once they are on the site.  Our current members dont have much of a reason to visit the site.

So that is when our plan was rearranged a bit. We are working to create an innovative, meaningful set of online tools that will extend the services that the YMCA offers.  Our first step is to super size our online registration system.  We plan to make finding the class that is right for you much easier and even pointing out ones you didnt know we had.  We also plan to make the whole experience much more enjoyable and effecient.  We still plan to really beef up our content, but that will take a little time.  

So what is unique about that to merit a blog post? Nothing, but it is my blog so PLLTTHH. (is that the sound when you stick out your tongue?)

Just kidding.  This is worth posting and sharing because I wonder how many of us out there focus on spending so much time getting new traffic, recruiting new members, pushing SEO and such that we forget to make the experience meaningful to our audience.

Too many YMCAs are just OK with mediocre online registration and membership management tools.  Their web site is just there as a reproduction of their brochure and a cash register to accept payment for classes.  I am sure this is true with other orgs as well.  My thought is to offer a set of tools like no other YMCA that adds real value to our members.

Listen, Act, Share as part of online donation

To provide some deeper explanation of my last post I will use an example of online donation.  

Our current web site provides an about us page that explains our mission and 501c3 status.  We also have some history and information about who we are in some secluded areas.  We have the online donation function with a link on the home page to donate now.  This represents the Tell and Do philosophy of tell the audience some things you want them to hear and then give them something to do.

Listen, Act, Share

Here is what we plan to move it to, Listen, Act and Share.  The biggest addition is the Listen area.  For those people are prospects, not existing donors, we want to engage them in a conversation with us, our staff, our board, our partners, other members, other donors or many other audiences.  We also want to give them multiple ways to provide us feedback and information about themselves.

The biggest shift will be to Share from Tell. We will use language across our full web site to share information about who we are, what we care about, what our mission is and why it all matters.  Rather than saving mission talk for our "About us" page it will be woven across the full site.  We will look for opportunities to showcase ways for use to share who we are, members to share what they think of us, staff to show their dedication, volunteers to show their involvement and more.  Our words will be less about making announcements and more about sharing a piece of who we are.

And finally a shift to Act from Do. In my interpretation do seems like something that is a one time occurence and is more of a transaction.  We will still have those transactions but our bigger goal will be getting people more involved and engaged in our organization.  So we will build some opportunities online that will build or surround the donation process, like joining a community, volunteering, sharing a story, recruit others and more.  In addition we will work purposefully to align our online activity with our in person experiences at our locations.  For example building a process around how we interact with our donors after the online pledge happens.  Or how we will drive traffic to our web site for information about how our donations have impacted the community.

This is just a brief and single example of how we plan to shift the way we leverage the online experience to enhance and expand the impact we have on our communities.  This is more than a web site this is the extension of our mission through an online presence. 

Core of new web strategy

Over the next few posts I plan to share the core concepts that we have decided to focus on as we move from having a web site to having an online presence.  The first thing to note, is that first sentence.  In 2009 the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago will be making a move from just a web site to having a real online presence. What is the difference?

The difference is that an online presence will include much more than a web site.  In addition to the web site we will be launching an intranet and beginning to extend to social networks\media.  It will be a lot of work to launch all of these in 2009 but with a fresh start on all fronts, comes a unique opportunity, we will look for ways to tightly integrate and overlap all of these efforts.  It is too early to jump to some of these ideas, but one example is integrating a purposeful use of LinkedIn into our staff/volunteer intranet.

Core of our strategy - Start a conversation with a call to action

It is as simple as starting an online conversation with a deliberate call to action. I did not invent this concept or idea, I am just applying what I have learned from many smart people.

There is nothing dramatically wrong with our current web site, except that for the most part it is just an online version of our brochures. It tells people things and then gives them few options of things to do.

Listen: Our new strategy will add in the element of listening, we need to provide ways for members to interact with us.  This also means we need to get out where the people already are (like social networks) and listen to the conversations they are having about us.

Act: Act will be an effort to build gradual and multiple ways for our communities to engage with us, rather than only providing things to do (like sales).

Share: Sharing who we are, what makes us unique is much different than telling people about our buildings, memberships and programs.  In addition to changing our content, we will also be moving toward content that is specific to the audience.  The little picture of whispering in the ear for the share column is appropriate.  We want to stop screaming to large groups and not be heard, but shift to direct messages to those who are interested.

So that is what we are calling the core of our online presence strategy.  I dont think there are new revelations here, but maybe the way I shared it will bring it to new audiences or start other conversations.

Happy New Year to all of you.  Watch for the next post where I will give a more in depth example of this core concept of Hear, Act, Share.

5 secret ways to trick your colleagues into becoming content creators for your website.

Shh, don't share the following with ANYONE! Keep it to yourself and trick your colleagues at work into becoming the content creators that you know they can be.

One of the biggest complaints I have heard over and over again is that it is hard to get staff at organizations to contribute to content to the website. The IT or tech team should not be the ones writing the content of the website. Nor should it only be the marketing staff, who wants a web site full of marketing pizazz.

But our staff are so busy that they just dont have time to contribute solid content to populate the site. Well here is my list:

Top 5 Ways to trick your colleagues into becoming content creators for your website.

6. Job description. This may seem like you are forcing people, but you have to look at this as just part of their job. Work with supervisors, HR, "C" level staff, etc. to get web site content into all of the appropraite job descriptions. Even if you cant get it into existing ones, there are always those new hires. Now granted, this wont automatically make the content good or even make it happen, but at least their is a small awareness.

5. Three ring binders. Look around for things and pieces of information that people have thought is important enough to keep in a written format like a three ring binder. YMCAs are famous for having a whole shelf of these at the front desk and in every YMCA program directors office. Find what is most useful and repopulate that content into your intranet or web site.

4. Ease it in. Start with an intranet, instead of a public website. Get people involved in our intranet. Get them used to using the web to submit content. Do simple things like a discussion board, a book club, transferring manuals from paper to web, write stories about their background, etc. Get people to start a wiki, start with a small group, then brag about how cool the project is. Then others will want to join.

3. Competition. Pick a couple people that you know are ready to give content, then get that published on your site. Then go overboard in recognizing those staff within your org. A few others will want to join in based on that. Then continue to publicize the people that are contributing. Maybe even create a quarterly award for best content, include a free day off and a cool tshirt. But the most important key is to get those people not contributing wondering why they arent involved.

2. Bribery. Bribe them with food and hold an in-person meeting. Schedule a meeting focused on a topic that you need content for on your site. Then invite the people that have knowledge on that topic to a meeting and serve some pizza, ice cream or something. Get them talking and have someone take notes. Take a quick break. Have someone fast and furious rewrite those notes into some sample content for site. When people return, show them the content and have them react and help rewrite. Then publish and be sure to give all the credit to those people.

1. Steal it. Ask your colleagues a question in an email and dont tell them you plan to reuse it on the web. Just ask a question. Take their reply and rework it as content. Then send it back to them with this quote, "WOW, I was so impressed with your answer that I would love to have this content on the org web site. I attached what it could look like. Could I get your permission to post this?" But dont stop with stealing emails. Look for content to "steal" from discussion boards, memos, handwritten notes, brochures, presentations and more!

See what I did! I tricked you also! I said there were five and I wrote six. OK, I only did that because a top 5 sounds cooler than top 6.

Any Hoot. I would suggest by first trying to figure out what the biggest barriers are at your org. Is it a fear of tech? A feeling they arent the expert? A lack of time or resources? Unsure of what to write? The key is to get them to write that first peice, get permission and show that person how smart and great they truly are (BUT BE GENIUNE!), then next time maybe they submit it more willingly.

I am not claiming to be an expert on any of this, but obviously I was smart enough to trick you into reading this. Maybe now I can trick you into writing a comment?

Todays fight will be site visits versus mission

Welcome to today's match.

Our reigning champion, weighing in at over a million clicks a month, our web site stats! Since the internet was born website stats has been a great contender and has led to countless web site redesigns and navigation shifts.

And in the other corner, weighing heavily in our hearts and dear to our souls, is our MISSION! Since the beginning of our nonprofit our mission was the champion and was all we talked about, well at least till the web and internet came along and our web site stats told us differently.

Our fight today will be a battle of past, present and future and will have our web site stats go blow to blow against our mission. We will look back and see who clicked on what, who visited which page and that will determine our winner. OK, so a quick review, the page that was visited the most was our free tshirt giveaway and our pages that explain how to sign up for our classes on the latest craze called Spin-Dance-Video-aerobics. So according to our rules, people only want to see the sales and the trends.

So based solely on this contest our winner is sales and hype! YAY, GO TEAM! Based on this we will do a redesign of our web site that will focus on these pages and themes. We are very excited about today's outcome, it should prove out to be a winning strategy for everyone!

Lets go to the stands for some audience reaction.

WHAT?>>?#>$%#@? are you serious? I can't believe my eyes and ears. What are these refs and judges looking at? Were they watching the same fight and did they ask me the viewer what I thought?

STOP THIS MADNESS! Now onto the real point and blog post from my own personal biased opinion.

I think too many times we use web site stats, polls, surveys, etc to determine the future of our web site. Yes all of those things are important and have to be tracked, measured and leveraged. But shouldnt we also spend some time making sure our web site is a reflection of who we are, what we are trying to do and gets people excited about our mission, regardless of the fact that our mission\about us page gets the fewest clicks?

In a recent post about YMCA web sites I suggested a bigger focus on mission for web sites. But I dont think I was clear enough. I didnt mean enhance the page called mission or add more pages about mission or only have mission content. Here is more directly what I mean.

Does every single page of your site accurately reflect your org and mission(including those focused on sales and transactions)?

Your homepage should give easy access to the pages that are the most used and accessed (and you should be keenly aware of what those pages are). But if your home page largest, flashing content focuses on a sale, then in my opinion that is also the central focus of your org. As a visitor I now know that your central reason for existing is to sell me something. You are a gym and swim period. You have nothing else to offer, so why on earth would I ever even visit the mission page, I already know it, selling stuff.

Do you provide people information that encourages them to want to learn more about who you are?

For example on a YMCA child care registration or informaiton page, do you brag about how the YMCA focuses on christian values and provides a unique experience for the kids who attend? Do you brag about the quality of your child care staff? Do you give a picture of the scope of how many kids attend your child care and the impact on the community? Do you mention volunteer opportunities? Do you mention scholarships? OR DO YOU JUST SELL THE FEATURES AND PRICE? If you focus on the cheap price, I will think exactly that, boy the Y is cheap, but I want quality, so I will go elsewhere.

By saying that your web site should focus on mission, is that you should provide ways for people to learn something about your mission on EVERY page, not just the mission page. Of course people dont vision your YMCA mission page, they think they already know what you do. BUT THEY DONT! You have to find other ways to tell them.

Does that make any sense?

YMCA web site video

OK, so I am meeting tomorrow with a local YMCA and one of the topics we are planning to talk about is, if you had no constraints (money, time, staff, etc) what would you want your web site to look like? Ok, so that is the funny part, of course in the real world things like money, time and staff do get in the way. But who wants to live in real world anyway, that is why I like science fiction after all (I think that is what Jim Collins writes). Ok, I made myself LOL there. ;-)

Anyway here is the short 4 minute video I created. There really isnt any humor in it and the sound quality is sketchy. BUT I made it all with FREE software - Virtual Dub, CamStudio and Impress. Plus it only took me a few hours (I already had most of the content planned out in my head.) The harder part seemed to be fixing the file size, resisting coughs and uploading to YouTube. Any hoot, I stray off topic again.



And here is the supporting ideas behind it:

What could the YMCA web site look like?

If anything was possible what would you like to see on your YMCA web site?

1. Content – Information that is valuable enough for your audiences to crave your next update, visit on a regular basis and tell everyone they know about it.

2. Connection – Audiences feels real connection to mission, organization and each other.

3. Call to Action – Easily apparent what you want your audiences to do.

4. Conversion – Audiences act immediately in a way that you expected.
   

But what does that really look like?

• The web site becomes an extension of the services offered by the YMCA. Members thrive on the added benefit, information, support and tools available that expand the value of belonging.

• Volunteers flock to the site in an ever growing rate to participate and watch for opportunities to pitch in as well as learn from the tools available to them.

• Donors feel a real connection and understand first hand where their money is going.

• Collaborating community organizations look to the site to see how they can increase the impact and grow the community.
  

That is a lot of fluff talk, but is that what your web strategy is? Or is your web strategy focused on selling more memberships, advertising the discounts, displaying the program brochure or telling people what you want to say?

What if...

• Starter aerobic class videos to make people more comfortable in knowing that it really is for beginners, so try it at home once.

• Blogs with stories from current members, participants, community members and volunteers telling their story.

• Blogs from the staff that break down the barrier of title and introduce the real person.

• Member discussion boards that allow sharing and connecting, imagine finding a workout partner, an accountability person, ride share, references and more.

• Fitness and health planning tool that incorporates meals, exercise, spiritual and mental activities with tips, resources, etc.

• Content that is informative related to healthy lifestyles or families that can be reused on a members blog, facebook, web site or even just an email link.

• E-Newsletters that are more than just announcements, they tell a story and show community impact.

• Interactive e-learning courses that teach volunteer coaches, educate members of full YMCA services, reach young audiences with health tips, etc.

• Board members get real time access to information, conversation and resources to share with community.

• Online games that demonstrate the need for spirit, mind and body.