Like designs, we like good, simple analogies. If they’re good, they quickly simplify a complex idea for the audience, sometimes with a clever touch.
Recently the 2F crew purchased another excellent book on web content strategy, Content Strategy for the Web . Not far into the book a new favorite analogy was presented.
Like us, the author often competes against those who seek to treat a client’s main communication vehicle as a commodity item. Web content, architecture, design, programming, publishing, blogging, content management systems, databases, social media, and content libraries – these items require careful attention and usable formula to work beyond the “website” still championed by those who put little time or passion into truly helping their clients communicate effectively. To many firms, a web site is just a business proposition – deliver a design, write some code, bill the client, and move on to the next one. The web and the marketplace change at a fast rate – and the web, if done correctly upfront, should be able to easily adapt to keep up.
Back to our meal. The firm behind this new book found themselves explaining the difference between their company’s offerings versus a firm in India that offers web content for $4. Four dollars. Not five dollars, not $9.50, not $1,000. $4. Their analogy, “that is like a sandwich, a gas station sandwich”. Perfect.
The analogy placed me back to those situations where I’ve stood in front of a gas station sandwich, hungry with few options. What is the risk of purchasing and eating this fare? How long has it been there? Who made it, the same person who just changed the oil in the F-150 sitting out back? What passion went into this meal that shares retail space with 10w – 40 and antifreeze? Good questions, I thought. Then there was more, as I remember that I am in a gas station – Where was it made? Are the employees secretly betting on my decision? Do I trust I won’t get sick just to satisfy this immediate urge…I had breakfast and I know a dinner is in my near future, but I am hungry NOW. What is my risk – it is only $4 and if I am hungry, I need food – this is food, right?
The analogy started to work for me when looking at a company’s web property. Who is going to make it? A developer you never meet? Do they just ask for a file copy of your logo, look at some color options, organize a few items, program and charge you very little (hopefully, because they really haven’t don’t much to earn more).
The web is now so important to most businesses these days. Of course, many small retail businesses can get by with a good design and some basic programming, but other businesses need strategy, a way to get their message (content) to the right people in a way that connects. Good understanding, that leads to designs that do more than look good, but solve problems and lead people to action. Programming that scales, is friendly to search engines, and allows for a content publishing strategy that empowers the organization to reach really good, profitable opportunities with fresh, meaningful information.
If you’re looking to feed your sales efforts with better opportunities, to serve and retain the great clients you’ve worked hard to earn, to support your word of mouth reputation with an interactive web presence, you should look to a firm with passion. Don’t just check out their portfolio to see if it looks good, check out their portfolio to see if they satisfied a real business need. In other words, deal with someone who has a passion for it. You can tell the ones who are doing for just a paycheck, and the ones who love making a great sandwich, with fresh ingredients…they’re the ones who smile when they see you benefiting from (and enjoying) their work. You don’t get that from those who compete by sticking $4 in the cash register and yelling out “who’s next?”.
