New Digett Web Site in the Works

Yesterday's weekly team lunch was significant for a few reasons:

• We celebrated Andrew's birthday (a day late but not a single cupcake short).
• We feasted on Riverside BBQ, a perennial favorite at the Figart house.
• We discussed our needs and desires related to strengthening Digett's marketing message.

Some things that came out of the discussion include:

• No one seemed to disagree with the notion that we each needed to be publishing our ideas, discoveries and opinions on a frequent, consistent basis. In fact, we each committed to a modest twice-monthly schedule of posting. That's a post, on average, of about every other day for the whole team.
• Our web site is "pretty", but it aims rather low, in a couple respects. First, its somewhat dated material now addresses only the least knowledgeable among our prospects and clients. It explains, according to one team member's analogy, the benefits of owning a good television rather than discussing current and future trends in home theater.
• Partly due to the dated material, but also, in my mind, because of a cautious and playful tone that was much more fitting for a new and inexperienced firm with very meager resources, the site fails to communicate the confidence that has made itself resident among, in particular, our more experienced team members. We've come a long way, baby, and it's time we told that story more effectively.
• While my concern has been that we need to more tightly focus our message, the breadth of business problems we've tackled heretofore is perceived by the team as a whole as a plus. There seemed to be no team-wide preference for or aversion to any specific industry, project size or project type. And while we each seem to share varying degrees of affinity for causes like social justice, community development and preservation of our environment, I sensed no concentration of positive energy among such causes. I find this point perplexing. The marketer in me says "focus". The manager in me says "give the people what they want". There's a lot more work to do in this area, I believe.

Not surprisingly, there was strong consensus among the team that it is time to re-create a web site that more confidently and effectively communicates our strengths and expertise to an increasingly sophisticated audience. So this coming Tuesday we'll kick off that effort with a two-hour brainstorming session.

Having witnessed time and time again the impact of improved messaging, I'm incredibly excited. This is not only a fun way to kick off 2008, but will mark another major milestone for Digett. We'll keep you posted.