The Do's and Don'ts of Online Presence Planning

This list will continue to grow. Please comment or post your suggestions for this list.

1. Don’t build a website.
   Do build an online presence.
   
   A website is not an Online Presence: A website is not enough today. These days, you need an Online Presence - a website is only a small part of that. Researching your online marketability and determining what your total online presence should entail will set the groundwork for your project plan.
   
   
2. Don’t outsource others to do your research and planning.
   Do outsource others to follow your research and planning.
   
   You want to maximize your ROI? Do your research and planning in-house. Research extensively. Determine your goals and the best way of reaching those goals. Solidify a budget and write up a proper project plan. Then - and only then - are you ready to outsource professionals like designers, programmers and marketing writers.
   
   Follow this advice and not only will you be sure your plan meets YOUR goals, you'll be saving money by not paying outsourced project management fees and inflated prices for unknowns.
   
   
3. Don’t plan to accomplish everything on first try.
   Do plan flexibility for future phases of development.
   
   Now if you're on the ball you've probably figured out that all that research and planning is obviously going to take either quite a bit of time to learn the market or quite a bit of money to pay someone who already knows it. Right? Well, not exactly...
   
   This is where smart spending comes in. Like it or not, this isn't going to be the last time you spend money on your website or your online presence. Both need to stay fresh to keep pace with your audience.
   
   The trick is planning. Your future spending can all be planned for or unplanned for. Unfortunately many companies do this the hard way and literally develop a new website every few years, repeating the same mistakes each time by not following steps one and two above. They spend thousands of dollars each time outsourcing an agency or a freelancer to "redesign the website".
   
   Because of a lack of planning, the money spent is money wasted. The result is often a misuse of the entire budget on a website that lacks the necessary flexibility.
   
   Instead, the same budget could have been used on a long-term, goal-oriented plan and a first stage of development that accomplishes some of those goals.

IM, YOPP

Planning and Expanding Your Online Presence

A very brief introduction if you will.

My name: Ilan Meister
No relation to the Rob Schneider's Saturday Night Live copy-room character

My experience: Nearly a decade in the Internet business
Which by Internet standards is like saying "since the Renaissance". I also have a life outside of work that involves a great wife, four fantastic kids and Sunday NFL games.

I have built websites for clients. I worked at various types of companies in-house. I have even been on the client-side of managing the outsourced development of a corporate website. I have helped companies and organizations with limited budgets try and get everything they want for next to nothing.

I noticed along the way that the clients rarely get the best bang for their buck (read: ROI). There are multiple reasons for this but in short: it has to do with unclear or conflicting goals and a lack of research and planning.

The solution:
It depends on what you do, but with the vast, ever-expanding online resources and tools that exist, planning your online presence is too big and important to be outsourced to a web-development company or to be moving its way farther and farther down some staff member's To Do list.

The solution should be someone dedicated to planning your online presence, including your website. This is Your Online Presence Professional (YOPP).

Start by contracting an online presence professional to work in-house to research and plan your online presence. Your Online Presence Professional should then manage the implementation of the plan. Later, it is entirely possible for Your Online Presence Professional to train another employee to take over the responsibilities of managing your online presence and implementing the plan in its later stages.

Read more about the YOPP solution in The Do's and Don'ts of Online Presence Planning.

Summary of my blog
Please use this blog as a resource for planning your online presence:

• familiarize yourself with today's Internet culture and online resources for building and extending your online presence;
• learn why not to use an outsourcing model when it comes to planning and maintaining your online presence;
• read reviews of both good and bad 'online presence' planning.

IM, YOPP