The truth about web content is that you have unfathomable potential to create, destroy, and recreate whatever and whenever you want.
I can always tell when my new clients hail from the corporate world. Their approach toward the marketing is limited and stifling - because they haven’t yet grasped that this is the web… which means you have unlimited space/opportunities to communicate.
If you were creating a brochure, it would be a different story. Printing and design are expensive. You’d have limited space to say what you wanted to say, and you’d have limited chances to bop your potential customers over the head and say, “Look what we’ve got going on over here!”
The web is not like that at all! I mean, basically you’re looking at a blank sheet of paper that is infinite in all directions. You can write whatever you want on that “paper.” You can erase what you wrote and write something else. You can keep what you wrote, but then say something different that has virtually nothing to do with what you said before. It’s almost like… talking!
So, when clients come to me wanting to Go Really Slow… write endless drafts until they get the “perfect” message on the homepage… etc….
I want so badly to be able to show them the FREEDOM that they have here. It’s really so much different than the creative process, the way that marketing professionals from in-house operations and ad agencies typically know it.
I mean, you can do a couple drafts if you want, sure… that can only improve your copy, I think. But the truth is that if you tossed up half-written copy on your homepage tonight, you could change it “live” six times this week and it really wouldn’t affect your audience in the long run.
You could get a blog and start “branding” or “talking to” your future customers right now. You don’t need a team of people with made-up titles critiquing your every move. Or if someone does come by and point out a flaw in your blog content… you can change it… ON THE FLY!
Thus, web copy is much more of a free and unfettered means of communicating. Sure, you want to get the “audience” right and you want to be able to polish your sales pitch.
But it’s really such a different animal that I can’t even begin to know how to explain this to new customers wanting to hold tons of meetings, ponder the brand from every angle, find the “perfect” way to say it.
There will never be a “perfect” way - it’s all in your head, totally fabricated. Once you let go of the perfectionist mentality and the limited mindset, you’ll see that the web can really get you so much farther than print marketing could ever pretend to.
I think the key is to not be afraid. Instead, be flexible… be open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Be observant… look at what other people are doing, see how it works for them. Do that, but put your own spin on it. Make it work for what YOU do, within YOUR context.
On the web, your goal is to create a LOT of content in a short amount of time, and just keep steadily communicating to your audience. That’s really it. If your web person know what the heck he or she is doing, they’ll be open to working with you in any one of a number of ways.
If you want to start an internet business but don’t know where to begin, I encourage you to take a first step and just get a blog. A basic blog will help you loosen up and find your “voice” online. From there, the possibilities are pretty much endless. An experienced website professional will know this, and can help get you there.
