This may seem counterproductive to say on a blog but I’m going to say it anyway.  “It’s not all digital”

I have worked in the web design and online business consulting arena for many years. In fact I was talking to my wife a few days ago and we discovered that I had began to build websites in 1997. Honestly, in digital years, that makes me a veteran. There must be some kind of pension for a people like me, even though I’m in my early 30s.

One great advantage of promoting your business, products, service or whatever online is that you will be able to measure so many aspects of engagement with your website. For example, by using Google Analytics you can measure who visited your website, what browser they use, what country they live in, what time they came, what pages they visited on, you can even install software on your website now that tracks mouse movements. There is so much that you can measure digitally.

Also coming from a strong business background, I realise that key performance indicators, statistics, numbers and similar data are all so important because they enable you to make decisions based on fact.

HOWEVER this digital measurement is only part of the mix. It is so easy to get caught up in this data and forget that there is a human being on the other side of those clicks and that traffic who is interacting emotionally with your site or social media effort. It is hard to beat, and this is really my point, a face-to-face, person-to-person meeting to assess feedback and measure the success of your product or service. You may have lots of traffic on your website and or YouTube video e.g.  Rebecca Black’s Friday. But that interaction may be negative and it may be harmful and you have no idea of knowing. You could be doing a lot better if you only picked up the phone, went to that networking meeting or visited that person and received real human feedback.

You see this all the time when it comes to chatting with somebody via SMS or instant messaging and you have totally misunderstood that person’s intention because you didn’t see the smile or the nuance or the smirk or winsome look on their face.

Do yourself a favor, get offline from time to time because digital measurements and stats only tell part of the story.

Poreto’s Principle

e.g.  In a company, 20% of the staff do 80% of the work.  In a garden 20% of pea pods hold 80% of the peas.  At a party 20% of the people will eat 80% of the cake.

When it comes to building effective websites for business and individuals, I’ve discovered the equation looks like this.  80% of the site is built in 20% of the time.  It’s the remaining 20% that takes an additional 80% of the time.  And it’s this 20% that seriously sets one website apart from another.

Now, having said that, I think there is a market for the simple sites that are built in 20% of the time. Quick, simple, no tweaks, straight off the template – what we might call a ‘business card style’ or ‘simple web presence’.  It’ s not built to win stacks of business, wow clients or engage their minds and senses.  A simple place where information can be found.  I build these sometimes because it’s all the client wants – and having said that, they tend to look pretty good and clients are most impressed getting what they do for about $1400.

Move up from that and you get something totally different. You get hours upon hours of tweaking, changing, support and testing.  You get my Brainspace – the remaining 80%.  You get the wow factor, you get the engagement, you get something that will win business and convert browsers to buyers… it goes without saying that you’re going to pay at least double for the privilege and it’s more of a journey than an event.  .e.g. stevepenny.org maroochycarsound.com.au

I’m sure you can see this at work in your business.   And there are times when all people want is the 80%.  Case-in-point are the Virgin and Jetstar models of air travel.  You want to get from A-B with no extras,  no refund and no apologies for under $100? Great!  But don’t pay peanuts and expect the moon – if you do, you might find yourself upset and starring in a TV program about whinging idiots at airports!

We need to decide who we want to cater for, what pushes our buttons and what the market is demanding – sometimes we may be able to offer both a First Class and Economy Class option.

You may be a First Class type person and pleased to deal with the high end market and you’ll work on improving your effectiveness. You may be happy to do a set task for a set amount and move onto the next one,  so you’ll sit in the Economy market and you’ll work on improving your efficiency.

So when it comes to a 80/20 business model.  Be the ’80′ or the ’20′ or offer both’.   Just don’t be the ‘/’  .  It confuses everyone!

I get the feeling that the Sunshine Coast economy is picking up and businesses are making the most of the “New Beginnings” that a fresh calendar year brings. A lot of my clients are bringing fresh ideas and concepts to me. It’s great!

As my web design and graphics business “Brainspace” comes into the new year, we have already started branching out into some new areas.  What I am most excited about is creating iPhone Apps.

I’ve just completed one for Pastor Steve Penny who is using the iPhone App to allow people a ‘single click’ into his life and ministry as he travels the globe speaking to churches and leaders.

From his App you can:
Read his Blog
Read his Twitter
Listen to sermons
Watch video sermons
View his Bio, Photos, Links and more

The App has been so popular that it overloaded the server that hosted the media files yesterday! (All good now)

Feel free to check it out via the link below or search for ‘Steve Penny’ on your iphone App store. Let us know if YOU or someone you know would like an App or website built as well!