When is a website ready for the marketing of it?

Some businesses want to wait until a website is just perfect and completed before publicizing it or marketing it. But a website is not static. It is never 'completed'. One should keep its content and look refreshed with new information. Otherwise, why would a viewer come back to read the website? Start marketing it as soon as the basic information is listed, for example, contact information, the description of services and how you stand out from your competitors. Clearly indicate on the website why the viewer should come back when more of the website is completed.The website should look professional even if not all the elements have been completed.


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About Dahlia Web Designs LLC
Dahlia Web Designs LLC provides website & digital marketing strategies and design services and business organizational strategies. Dahlia Benaroya, President, has over 20 years experience in business, marketing and design strategies and services. Currently, special initiatives under "our umbrella of children's services and products" are the Great Kids Corner online kids furniture store, the Kids Love To ® website series that recognizes children’s achievements, the Recommended Referrals directory of small businesses offering children’s products and services, and Collectibles 4 Baseball online store with authentically autographed baseball products. Previously, Dahlia was a director of Technology Integration Services at an international pharmaceutical company where she was responsible for spearheading strategies, implementing projects and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Recognize your Referrals on Your Website

In some professions and services, people work with referrals such as lawyers and dentists. Some of these referrals cannot accept payment for their services. A great way to recognize them is to offer a spotlight on your website and link to theirs. This adds to their visibility and shows them your appreciation. It also lets your customers know who you respect and work with. A website offers more opportunities than many people utilize.

Visit us at Twitter:
DahliaSFO GreatKidsCorner CollectBaseball




About Dahlia Web Designs LLC
Dahlia Web Designs LLC provides website & digital marketing strategies and design services and business organizational strategies. Dahlia Benaroya, President, has over 20 years experience in business, marketing and design strategies and services. Currently, special initiatives under "our umbrella of children's services and products" are the Great Kids Corner online kids furniture store, the Kids Love To ® website series that recognizes children’s achievements, the Recommended Referrals directory of small businesses offering children’s products and services, and Collectibles 4 Baseball online store with authentically autographed baseball products. Previously, Dahlia was a director of Technology Integration Services at an international pharmaceutical company where she was responsible for spearheading strategies, implementing projects and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Twitter to Connect with Small Businesses

Twitter is a great way to 'meet' like minded businesses. By searching for the categories of interest, one can find which businesses to connect with. Our Recommended Referrals directory lists many small businesses that offer children's products and children's services that utilize Twitter. Communicating with these businesses through Twitter is very cost effective and cost efficient. And it's fun too.

About Dahlia Web Designs LLC
Dahlia Web Designs LLC provides website and digital marketing strategies and design services and business organizational strategies. Dahlia Benaroya, President, has over 20 years experience in business, marketing and design strategies and services. Currently, special initiatives under "our umbrella of children's services and products" are the Great Kids Corner online kids furniture store, the Kids Love To ® website series that recognizes children’s achievements, the Recommended Referrals directory of small businesses offering children’s products and services, and Collectibles 4 Baseball online store with authentically autographed baseball products. Previously, Dahlia was a director of Technology Integration Services at an international pharmaceutical company where she was responsible for spearheading strategies, implementing projects and ensuring customer satisfaction.

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DahliaSFO GreatKidsCorner CollectBaseball

The Blog is a marketing and organizational tool

With the advent of social media, eNewsletters, press releases, it is hard to keep track of all of our writing submissions. A great way to keep track of what you said and where you said it is with a blog. By doing so, you can categorize, organize, and enhance your internet visibility even more. Keep track by date, by where you submitted your writings, content, etc. The blog is not only a marketing tool. It is also a great organizational tool. And free!

About Dahlia Web Designs LLC
Dahlia Web Designs LLC provides website and digital marketing strategies and design services and business organizational strategies. Dahlia Benaroya, President, has over 20 years experience in business, marketing and design strategies and services. Currently, special initiatives under "our umbrella of children's services and products" are the Great Kids Corner online kids furniture store, the Kids Love To ® website series that recognizes children’s achievements, the Recommended Referrals directory of small businesses offering children’s products and services, and Collectibles 4 Baseball online store with authentically autographed baseball products. Previously, Dahlia was a director of Technology Integration Services at an international pharmaceutical company where she was responsible for spearheading strategies, implementing projects and ensuring customer satisfaction.

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DahliaSFO GreatKidsCorner CollectBaseball

Taking Control of Your Emails

The new year always brings the hope of a fresh start at organizing more effectively. I collect a tremendous amount of emails from/for customers, subscriptions, technical tips, product emails,websites, supplier information, product trends, product analyses, brands, etc. The first stab at organizing these is, of course, setting up folders. But even folders do not help feeling overwhelmed and do not maximize efficiencies. I have created a document to place my interesting tips, articles, samples. The links still can link to the original content. I can add extra text to clarify what the link links to. As I add more of these links and helpful text, I can organize it more effectively. I can delete duplicates. I weed out less important content. When I go back to reference the document, I have a clearer picture of what it's all about. In addition, the document can help me focus on what my most critical strategies should be. With this approach, I can also reduce my stress level because now I feel like I have control over my emails.

About Dahlia Web Designs LLC
Dahlia Web Designs LLC provides website and digital marketing strategies and design services and business organizational strategies. Dahlia Benaroya, President, has over 20 years experience in business, marketing and design strategies and services. Currently, special initiatives under "our umbrella of children's services and products" are the Great Kids Corner online kids furniture store, the Kids Love To ® website series that recognizes children’s achievements, the Recommended Referrals directory of small businesses offering children’s products and services, and Collectibles 4 Baseball online store with authentically autographed baseball products. Previously, Dahlia was a director of Technology Integration Services at an international pharmaceutical company where she was responsible for spearheading strategies, implementing projects and ensuring customer satisfaction.

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DahliaSFO GreatKidsCorner CollectBaseball

Proposal Strategies

A Winning Proposal Strategy

Before solutions are presented, we, as service providers, need to make sure that we really understand the key business issues that need to be addressed. What would a successful solution look like to the client? To ensure maximum success, consider identifying in your proposal the client's requirements. This confirms to the client that your understanding of their issues and goals are correct.

The expectations of the service provider and of the client are critical to define. What are the cost considerations, commitments and guarantees? Samples of designs may help clarify style preferences.

Together with the client, identify the measures of success that can be verifiable at the end of the commitment.

Avoiding Pitfalls

These tactics may cause problems for the service provider, client or both.

• Not pre-qualifying the client's budget can waste a lot of time. For example, if the service provider offers both low cost as well as high cost services, then this should be identified at the outset.
• Not setting cost expectations correctly. For example, what are included AND excluded from the price identified? How does a change to the project requirements affect cost? What does that ongoing back and forth discussion/emails cost?
• Not considering both strategic and tactical steps. Some clients may have a set budget right now but want to expand when they acquire additional funds. The tactical implementation must consider the overall strategic direction in order to be successful.
• Identifying the details in the proposal can lead to a loss of intellectual property for the service provider. At the proposal phase, identify what the solution should be, not how it will be done.
  Not identifying the success factors will not allow proper completion of the project and potentially a lot of frustration on both sides. Both sides must agree to the success factors so that there can be a happy closure.
• Not having client participation understood and committed to, can lead to delays and frustration. At the proposal phase, the client needs to understand this strategy. The client needs to participate in the project, at the very least, to approve each measurable deliverable as they are completed. If the service provider needs information from the client, the client needs to be available. If they are not, the client needs to understand that the project deadlines will be affected. Waiting until the end of the project for client approval leads to costly misinterpretations. At earlier points in the project, it is less costly to redirect the efforts of the project. Client signoff at each measurable deliverable helps the overall project success.
• Not knowing who on the client's side will be involved in the day-to-day project can lead to serious challenges. Meeting those people will enable better understanding of how to proceed forward with the project.
• Not getting signatures to ensure understanding can cause frustrations.

We look forward to your thoughts, experiences, helpful tips.

Best Practices: Getting Your Message Across

(Note to reader. We are transferring previous blogging entries to here. Original date: 2/16/2006)

Know Your Objectives
Presenters typically spend an enormous amount of time and effort in preparing for their presentations. This, however, does not ensure success. To make a presentation successful, you need to consider your presentation objectives. These include the following

• your presentation needs to address the expectations and needs of the audience, as described in our article Knowing Your Audience,
• show that you understand what the purpose of the presentation is in a focused manner,
• ensure that you have a good command of the material,
• identify next steps on how to move forward,
• be able to use the presentation equipment and software with ease,
• be flexible with your presentation; expect to be cut short or be asked for more details.

Audience Expectations
Understand the purpose of the presentation and don't stray off the topic. Presentations typically stray off on their own as the audience interjects their thoughts and suggestions. Maintain your focus as the discussion strays.

By understanding your audience and meeting their needs, you are enabling them to listen better to your message. Imagine presenting petty details to management when they have the bigger picture to think about and never enough time on their hands. That would be a recipe for failure.

Command of the Material
Make sure you know all the required details and background of the material you are presenting so that you can respond to questions and changed directions during the presentation. Don't expect to have the full time allotted to your presentation. Know when to skip some slides but make sure the key message is relayed.

Presentation Content, Style, Components
Variety and creativity are beneficial. Consider how the slides look visually. Sometimes presenters erroneously put all the words of their speech onto the slides. This clutter distracts the audience from listening to the presenter. It almost forces them to read your presentation rather than listen to what you have to say. It is a good way to lose your audience. Instead, have no more than a few bullets on a slide. If you are in command of your material, you won't need to write out all the details on the slides.

Practice with all the physical components to ensure things work correctly. Check out the room where you will present if you can. Make sure that the equipment and supplies you need are there or that you bring extra. Be prepared in case of malfunctions. You might consider brings a few key slides as handouts.

Make Your Presentation Understandable
One of the best ways to practice your presentation is to do it aloud in front of someone who knows very little about your work. You would be getting valuable feedback. Practicing aloud enlightens us as to how well we are prepared.

Successful Endings
At the end of your presentation, make sure that you end with a summary and next steps. This ensures that the audience will remember the key points. They will also leave your presentation feeling that you are leading everyone in the right direction and you will be considered a leader.

Best Practices: Achieving Success by Knowing Your Audience

(Note to reader: This article is being moved here from previous blog. Original date: 2/16/2006 )

How do you show leadership with your presentations?

Identify who your audience is and what their needs are before you start preparing your presentation:
What do you need to address in your presentation in order to meet the audience's expectations? Your audience may be, for example,

• your clients
• your team
• your direct management
• your senior management
• your service providers
• the auditors

Identify the considerations for the different types of audiences:

If you are presenting to your clients, consider what they need to make them more comfortable in working with you and your team. What are their key concerns? Is it their budget and your costs? Are your services helping them meet their objectives with their clients and management? What can you do to help them out with their objectives? If you identify a list of your audience's concerns at the beginning of your presentation, that will set their minds at ease. They will feel that you've acknowledged their concerns and will therefore address those issues. They will listen better to your presentation as a result.

If you are presenting to your team, your objectives may be team building, budget cuts, changes coming down the line, new procedures. Your presentation should include key items for them to focus on and key steps to move forward. Consider if you want to identify the key steps or if you want to solicit input from your team. Soliciting input has the benefit of getting your team to buy-in to the next steps.

When you are presenting to your direct management, it may be easier than presenting to senior management since you are more aware of the style of your direct manager. You can understand their priorities and frame of reference. You know whether they are detail-oriented or if they just want the bottom line. Since you may not work with your senior management as often, you might not know what to expect. Speak with your management or others who have presented to senior management so that you can better prepare yourself. If the presentation is financial, you need to show them that you have a command of the budget. You can do this by presenting both the high-level directions and by being very prepared to show and discuss the details behind the high level. Make sure you include cost-saving measures that you are implementing or pursuing, the efficiencies that you have or will implement. You want your senior management to feel confident that you are addressing their concerns and issues proactively.

If you presenting to your service provider, your presentation may be about the status of work, next steps, budget, issues. Your audience would typically allow more time for the presentation since they want to meet your needs and satisfy your concerns. Having samples to discuss in more detail would be very useful.

With auditors, presentations are typically very, very detail oriented. But never skip the high level overview to ensure that you are addressing the right issues.

Consider other items that can affect your presentation:

For a successful presentation, also plan for the following:

• how many presentations are going to be given along with yours? Try to not exhaust your audience.
• when in the day are you presenting? If it is at the end of day or before lunch, be prepared to cut your presentation short. Prepare your verbal presentation to summarize slides that are not presented.
• how much time is your presentation allotted for? That will indicate how much detail is expected. Always prepare a high level presentation, speak to the audience with the details in mind, have extra slides ready just in case. When you practice for your presentation, make sure you are fluent with where the slides are and their sequence so you can change directions quickly at presentation time. When presenters are not prepared for this, they feel letdown after their hard work. And worse, the message that they want to get across to the audience is somehow lost in the shuffle. If the message is lost, the presentation is not successful.

The results show your leadership skills:

By addressing the considerations listed above, your presentation would be addressing "what is in it for the audience?" and in turn, "what feedback do I need back from the audience?" to achieve your objectives. By summarizing the presentation and presenting 'Next Steps', you are reminding the audience of the key points of the presentation and the next steps needed to progress forward. The discussion with your audience around ‘next steps’ is critical. It will ensure the commitment or buy-in from the audience and from you as to what needs to get done. Once agreement occurs around what the next steps should be, then there can be a feeling of closure. A comfort level is felt by you and your audience that progress will continue. You leave your audience feeling that you have achieved the command of the material as well as the ability to make a successful presentation.