Domain7

Make Your Intranet Work for You (why we say “no” to Sharepoint)

I’ve helped many organizations deploy their Intranet. It’s always a HUGE undertaking with a bunch of stakeholders who have really diverse needs.

I see three main purposes for any intranet:

1. Internal Communications. Essentially it’s a unified channel for Leadership to communicate vision, direction, and organizational information.

2. Business Systems Hub. An intranet is a one-stop-shop for information and systems that keep an business or organization humming—whether directly through the intranet or by routing to external systems.

3. Information Repository. If nothing else, an intranet is a place to store indexable, searchable content to support current employees and empower new ones.

We often get approached with the question: “Do you deploy Sharepoint?”. Simply put: we don’t.

As a technology and as a deployment model, I believe Sharepoint misses the mark for the purposes of an intranet.

Here’s what it offers as its core:

• As a technology, Sharepoint offers strong integration with Active Directory Services (i.e. Single Sign On with Microsoft, which is important to IT), access to document shares, and the ability to set up departmental communication sites.
• As a deployment, Sharepoint is often rolled out based on functions and features as opposed to strategy. The ability to publish content and access documents usurps any kind of content strategy or audience priority.

An intranet should be tackled no differently that a public website. It should be built from the ground up: starting with a unified understanding of company goals, with a focused audience group and content that is on strategy.

Features need to prioritized and deployed incrementally, based on feedback from real users. Functionality should be driven by actual use, not a preset menu of options.

So what technology would I recommend? The easy open-source option is Open Atrium, built on the Drupal platform. Like Sharepoint, there’s out-of-the-box appeal. Unfortunately even with a more robust toolset like this, strategy and purpose take a second seat.

I suggest approaching your intranet just like your website: begin with the web framework (we like Wordpress or Drupal) that offers you the most versatility for your purposes. These content management systems offer strong building blocks for delivering content and functionality according to your needs. You avoid the huge investment of a custom intranet, but still can configure these tools to align with your strategy, instead of aligning your strategy to fit within the limitations of an out-of-the-box tool.

Social Media From Scratch

Last week I shared some insights from a recent social media webinar hosted by HubSpot. Presenter Dan Zarrella had even more social media goodies that might be useful to clients who are starting at ground zero with their social media presence:

Three steps to contagiousness:

1. You have to be followed or ‘liked’
2. You have to get your readers’ attention
3. They must be motivated to want to share what you put out.

Of course we all know it’s not quite as simple as this list makes it seem. Having a good product might be enough to secure followers, but how do you get from point 1 to point 2, or from 2 to 3?

If you can do it, the best strategy is to look for information voids. Find out what your target wants, give them that content, and they’ll spread it for you! Bottom line is, relevant content creates influence.

Also, positivity increases your reach. Data shows that being a downer will cost you followers, but a sunny outlook draws them in—after the earthquake in Haiti, organizations that focused on stories of hope and positive ways to help generated a better following than organizations that focused only on victims of the tragedy.

Along the same vein, think of social media like a cocktail party: people are drawn to the person who adds something to the conversation and doesn’t merely talk about himself. Self-reference is not contagious. If your goal is exposure, Zarrella’s best advice is this: “STOP talking about yourself—no one cares.” For every self promoting tweet or post, you should be putting out a handful of messages that have nothing to do with your own product or success.

Lastly, one of the most important things to consider is the voice of your company. Hiring a pro to manage your social media might seem like a great idea when time is tight, but in the end, says Zarrella, “The best people to manage social media for your company are the people who ARE your company.”

Diffusing Social Media Myths

Last week I tuned into a webinar featuring social media guru Dan Zarrella on the topic “The Science of Social Media.” The author of Hierarchy of Contagiousness, Zarrella’s talk was super interesting and relevant to many of our clients.

By now, most of us know some key social media maxims: “Engage your followers,” “Listen to feedback,” “Have personality,” “Make a name for your brand,” etc. But Zarrella challenges some social media myths and uses actual data suggest new ideas for Social success.

Myth #1 Ideas spread because they are good.

Two words: Rebecca Black. Black’s song Friday went viral not because it was good, but because it was bad (though admittedly catchy!).

Myth #2 Friday/Saturday/Sunday are bad days to publish content.

Study results indicate that people slow down and are able to read and digest more over the weekend.

Myth #3 You must lead to conversation to gain followers.

Data shows that those with the most followers on Twitter aren’t always conversational, but focus on sharing links and providing content. Engaging in conversation to help you build your reach is not necessarily the most important thing.

Techvibes 15 Fastest Growing Companies in BC

Wow, this has been a big year for Domain7. We’ve grown a bit, and people are taking note.

First we found ourselves on PROFIT magazine’s 200 fastest growing companies in Canada, and today we were listed as one of Techvibes’ 15 Fastest Growing Tech Companies in BC.

We’re big Techvibes fans, and it’s pretty darn nice to see our company name among others we really respect in this province and industry. Thanks for the shout out Techvibes!

And while it’s cool to get recognized, what’s even cooler is the way our growth lets us continually offer more to our clients, and serve them better. And they are really what has made our growth possible. So thanks for being awesome, Domain7 clients!

Those of you who are working with us on projects right now will have already seen evidence of how our team is growing. But if you haven’t been around our offices lately, visit our Team page to see some of ournewfaces.

What's Wrong with Your RFP?

Recently I was looking through a recent slough of Requests for Proposal (RFP) and was reflecting on the misalignment of the request and the heart of the need.

Businesses are asking for professional creative, marketing, and web engineers to come to the table to help them reach and engage their customers. The form? Often a tactical and prescriptive document that removes any ability to apply creative approaches for thinking outside of the box.

I’ll use the analogy of an interior designer, as my wife has us watching way too much reality TV lately. People on those reality design shows are asking professionals to style up their home as they personally lack that expertise. They know their financial reality and what they like, but they bring in the professional to dream and deliver, within their parameters.

I would love to be approached, through an RFP, with a request to provide ideas in which we as a company could make a difference for a business. To ground the response you hope to receive, give me context and research, instead of a list of requirements. What are the organization’s business goals? What are the current marketing strategies and plans? And what research has been done with your customer stakeholders? I think an open request for ideas and strategies would promote creativity in the RFP response. The provision of research would solidify those ideas within business context and reality.

If creativity is removed, and tactics are decided already, it begs the question for me: why ask for external assistance in the first place?

Alfred House Gallery and the DSTRCT

At the end of August I will have the privilege of showcasing my good friend Seth Remsnyder’s beautiful plaid paintings by turning my home into an art gallery for him. I’ve put together alfredhousegallery.com for the event (our house is on Alfred St), and Andrew Gallo of VsTheBrain (who shares office space with Domain7 East) put together a nice little video to promote it.

The process of putting together this art show has been really rewarding because it’s a bunch of friends pooling together their talents in different ways to create a moment we can share with others.

That spirit of collaboration is the foundation for another project we’re going to be rolling out in the DC area very soon—following on the big success of VANCVR, the Domain7 East is getting ready to launch a new creative commons for the DC area: the DSTRCT. Stay tuned for more information and while you’re waiting, check out Seth’s incredible work.

A Case for a Test Suite

So, you’ve decided to create a website—and not just a 1999-style static site, but something with some advanced features like integration with a third-party system, or connection to social media channels, or maybe even some custom-developed functionality.

You’ve chosen the features carefully to support one or more of your company’s strategic initiatives. You hire a vendor, or work on the job in-house and, eventually—if all goes to plan— you’ll have a shiny new system tailored completely to accomplishing your outcomes.

Whether your project is just now kicking off, or the site launched well in the past, it may be time to ask yourself: “How do I know my website will continue to operate as expected when the digital world is constantly changing?”

Asking that question could be what puts you steps ahead of your competition. But if it hasn’t already crossed your mind, maybe you’re wondering just what’s possibly going to change—or you don’t even know what already HAS changed.

Here’s a short list:

1. Your application runs on a technology stack—a layered set of various pieces of technology, including a programming language interpreter, a database server, a web server, and an operating system. These aren’t static pieces of software—they get updated over time, akin to how you update apps on your iPhone or PC when you see those nagging notifications. Your site needs to be compatible with those upgrades.
2. Your application may depend on a third party software. This might be a content management system (CMS), a customer relationship management tool (CRM), or maybe even a giant enterprise resource planning system (ERP). No matter what it is, the vendor can modify their online code base at any time, with potentially drastic consequences to your website.
3. It’s 2011, so there’s a good chance your application is socially integrated in one way or another. Maybe your site doubles as a Facebook app, maybe you allow users to sign-in with their Google account, or maybe you’re pulling in images or videos from a social media source. The bottom line is, these companies own code on their side of the fence which can be updated at any time.
4. Your application will probably change. After it’s been in place for a while, you’ll likely realize tweaks you’d like to make. The site’s success could inspire new feature development. Your business model or strategy could shift, and your application will need to shift alongside it. Suddenly you need to modify the code that creates the customized online experience your stakeholders have come to depend on. Adding or changing one piece of the equation can unknowingly affect another.

Wouldn’t it be nice if at any point you could confidently state “The application is operating exactly as expected”?

Luckily there’s a solution: a test suite. A test suite is a simple set of automated tests run by a machine.

Software testing is not a new idea. Fortunately, methodologies have evolved over time to better interface with the project stakeholder (perhaps like yourself) who knows exactly what the application should do and why—even if that person has never written a line of code; whose eyes glazed over the moment they saw the term “technology stacks” earlier.

At Domain7, we use the behaviour driven development methodology on our custom development projects, and tie the process into testing tools like Cucumber. Cucumber uses a language called Gherkin, which empowers a non-technical expert to write tests in a plain old English syntax—bridging the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders. The tests end up looking a lot like a set of requirements, which they really are. Once a set of test cases has been selected, written, and wired up to the application (with a wee bit more coding), they can be run at any time, against the production code base, or on a developer’s computer.

So, you hear that Facebook just patched a security hole in their Graph API, or that Netsuite has ‘upgraded’ its interface, perhaps your boss has just approved the overhaul of a major feature of your e-commerce site, or your developer just let you know that they’ve completed the first feature of your giant website project.

Whatever the case, there’s one key question you need to ask: does it all still work? No problem. Run the test suite. If the tests all light up ‘green’, you can confidently move on to the next item on your to-do list. If not, you know what’s broken and that it’s time to address the problem.

Branding, Partnerships and Social Media for Non-Profits

The American Marketing Association hosted the 2011 Nonprofit Marketing Conference at the Washington Hilton Hotel in DC this passed week.

I got to be a part of this fabulous event as Domain7 East’s representative. It was an honor to spend almost three days among agencies and marketing professionals from some of the most well know non-profits in the US and Canada.

I was inspired by the commitment these organizations had to their respective causes. Many large non-profits like the Red Cross, United Way and American Cancer Society were there learning alongside smaller organizations. All the groups—large and small alike—were there because they recognize the vital need for quality marketing strategy, partnerships and the importance of leveraging digital methods to maximize their ROI and grow their organizations.

The panelists, round table and lecture speakers included Katie Bisbee, Senior Marketing VP of DonorsChoose.org, Carol Cone, Managing Director of Brand and Corporate Citizenship of Edelman, Brendan Hurley, Senior VP of Goodwill of Greater Washington, and Hilary Noon, VP of American Cancer Society among other various industry leaders.

There were plenty of highlights, but here are just a few gems that stuck with me!

Branding:

• One speaker defined branding as “discipline for how the organization thinks, acts and communicates.”
• Brands are built from the inside out.
• A good brand combats the mentality that “many know us, but not what we do.”
• A true brand should not only tell your audience who you are and what you stand for, but should also communicate your promise of authenticity.

Partnerships:

• Actively manage the relationship, not just the project.
• Partners should fit with the organization—they should have shared values and a common core attitude.

Digital & Social Media:

• Empower your constituents to promote your brand: make channels/platforms/tools for their voice to be heard.
• Assign a staff member to oversee, communicate, promote and devote ample time to valuing comments, etc.
• People are much more likely to respond positively when they know a recommendation for the organization is from some outside source, like a reliable blogger.
• When partnering (with companies, bloggers, celebrities, etc.), “well known” is not always the best choice. Measure/know your partners are a good fit for your organization.
• Mobile, mobile, mobile! Average open rates: email=20-30% vs. SMS=90%

3 Basic Marketing Steps for Non-profits:

1. “Convince the head” Answer these questions for your audience: What does your non-profit stand for? What do you do better than anyone else?
2. “Touch the heart” Connect emotionally with your target audience; invite people into the cause.
3. “Engage the hands” Build a community and call it to action!

Overall, the panelists and speakers shared wonderful insight into building non-profits and they further equipped non-profit leaders and marketing strategists to grow their organizations while they influence and air others through their products and services.

Lessons from a Scrappy Underdog

Everyone’s got an opinion on Google+ today, so I thought I would stay out of the fray… way out.

I’m a Saab owner. Saab’s recent struggles make me proud of my car. To put my comments in context, this is worth a read: Inside Saab: Back to base

Saab, the iconic car brand, has innovated and led the industry in so many areas—even when it was under the wing of the behemoth, GM. Perhaps it’s because I lived in Sweden, or maybe because I’m a lifelong Canucks fan (used to rooting for the underdog), but whatever it is, I’m now on my second Saab 9-3 and you still can’t wipe the smile off my face when I drive somewhere, even for the most mundane errands.

You would think, then, that when the company, now independent and small, struggles to make a go of it, I might get embarrassed and ready to jump ship to avoid association. Anyone still wearing an “I heart BP” shirt? It can’t get much tougher than the past couple weeks—Saab came to the verge of not meeting payroll. Luckily it looks like the scrappy company is ignoring the odds and making good progress on building a long term solution.

We’ve all felt it: the web magnifies both the effect and the opportunity in tough circumstances. Bad news always travels fast, but in the era of the social web, the worse it is, the quicker it travels. And we seem to be approaching instantaneous speeds!

This post by Saab is a great example of a company receiving a brand boost through living and breathing an open and transparent posture—particularly in the midst of a tough situation. The web enables this like never before. As I said, after reading it, I’m more engaged with the underdog survivor brand than I was before; more sympathetic and on-board.

But I think the real win is not this particular message they sent out. It’s the thoughtful and intentional decision Saab made just recently, under it’s new ownership, to embrace its community in a new way, online. They hired one of the community’s loudest members and invited him inside the walls to lead their transformation—from a formal press release culture, to a web paradigm. Now Saab engages in real-time, transparent and open communication with their customers.

Sure, if a crisis hits, many people can write a great “open letter”, but I think we’re naive to think it will have much impact if it’s also a “Hello, my name is…” letter.

Saab, small and unconventional as it is, needs every arrow in its quiver. I’m sure they’re now glad they made this move, and it’s a powerful reminder of the value of building a strategic and structured approach to social and web engagement before you need it.

Stop and Introduce Yourself

You’re at a cocktail party and don’t know a soul. You sidle up to two strangers having a lively conversation. But neither of them stops to introduce themselves or to explain what they’re talking about. Eventually, you drift off to find friendlier people.

Websites can be just as rude. The typical home page is crammed full of news, events, promotions, blog posts and twitter feeds. But the site never stops to say, “Hi! This is who I am.” It’s all activity and no identity.

Is your site making the same mistake? Are you confusing potential clients and driving them elsewhere?

It’s easy to pick on poorly-designed sites. But who is doing this well?

Domain7

domain7.com

Sure, it’s immodest to showcase our own site, but few agencies state their identity as bluntly as we do.

A few years ago we refined our brand identity from being a web development firm to being a web agency. And we weren’t subtle about that on our site. If nothing else, you’ll know We are a web agency.

And if you click the pink Domain7 Who? button, a drawer slides down explaining who we are in a little more detail. In our next redesign, we’ll probably make that more prominent, because you can’t expect people to click that button (or visit your carefully-crafted About Us page). This kind of content needs to be right up front.

Lepp Farm Market

leppfarmmarket.com

Sometimes your featured content can also help introduce yourself. The products on sale in the Weekly Features section hint at what Lepp Farm Market is all about: Baron of Beef BBQ Rotisserie Roasts and Local Field Strawberries. Mmm.

The best parts of the page are the product photos with the rollover descriptions. Rather than the typical photo slideshow, Lepp has gone with small, vivid icons that draw the eye. For them—and probably for you—what you sell is who you are.

The photo of the market is also helpful for new visitors, given that this is a local business with a recognizable storefront. “Oh right, I know where these guys are.”

Eagle West Cranes

eaglewestcranes.com

Eagle West Cranes is a long-time client of ours, and we’ve worked with them to make their site better and better over the years. There are multiple ways they tell the story of who they are right up front.

Products are listed up top in the block bar, and also in the grey buttons on the right, instead of burying them in a Products section. Potential customers can see right away that Eagle West has what they’re looking for.

A slideshow of cranes in action shows rather than tells. One quick glance at this page and you know: these guys are about cranes. Beside it, a map of service areas lets potential customers know right away Eagle West is local to them. Most business is local. If you’re only selling to people in Mississauga or Minneapolis, say so.

Finally, they’ve taken the time to produce an eight-minute video to introduce themselves. Sure, this page has news items and calls to action, but Eagle West is reinforcing their brand in multiple ways.

Your Site

Now look at your site with an outsider’s eyes. Don’t assume people already know who you are, or that they’ll bother clicking around to figure out. Tell them.