Part 1: Implementing a good Web based business plan

Back in 1995, you helped build MediaOne's first website. Your team sweated and struggled, and launched the site seven months later. The site was, to quote you, "a piece of junk." What went wrong?
Like most experienced business people, the problem wasn't that we didn't know anything about doing business online (although we didn't), it was that we knew too much about doing business offline. We took all our biases, preconceived notions and prior experience about the way business works, and used it to build and manage the website.

Many times (particularly in the area of how to talk to and communicate with our customers) we made decisions that were totally wrong.

I remember for example making the "rational" decision to bury the "contact us" section deep within the site. We didn't see any point in encouraging a behavior (i.e. sending us feedback) that would not generate revenue and that would only drive expense in the form of staff to answer the emails.

Eventually, and despite initially discouraging our customers from using it, the feedback function on our company website became one of the most useful tools we had for communicating with customers, identifying problems early on, and even modifying the way we developed our services.

Obviously you've learned a lot since then. What projects are you most proud of at Blue Penguin?
I'm most proud of the projects that result in a lasting change in perspective for my clients; the ones where by the time I leave, the company will never be the same.

Sure I help clients develop newsletters, plan their websites and implement other Web based projects, but the best work I do is enable them to see the Internet in a different way. When I can take a traditional business person, with years and years of knowledge about his or her particular industry (but zero knowledge about the Internet), and get that person thinking and behaving differently relative to the Web, that's what I enjoy the most and what I'm most proud of. I don't want to just do projects, I want to permanently transform the organizations I work with.

They're the words everyone dreads: business plan. You say a site's business plan requires more attention than the much-more-fun "technical stuff." Can you elaborate a bit on this (possibly unpopular) notion?
There are any number of sites out there that look nice, are easy to navigate and that function perfectly from a technical perspective, but when you ask a simple question through the Contact Us section, you never get an answer!

That's a business process breakdown that has nothing to do with the website per se, but that nevertheless prevents that site from helping further the goals of the business that it should be supporting.

The purpose of the Website Business Plan(tm) is to separate the business objectives (i.e. "Why are we doing this again?"), from the actual designing and building of the site.

When you take the time at the outset to write a Website Business Plan (tm), it ensures that the functionality built into the site is integrated back into the operations of the business itself. Plus, it forces you to think about what matters, allowing you to make clear, consistent decisions regarding what belongs in your site and what doesn't.

Until I got involved in the Internet, I had never heard of any business investment being justified based solely on how "cool" it was. When it comes to websites however, even seasoned professionals get caught up in spending money on things that are fun but ultimately of no value to the business.

A good Website Business Plan(tm) saves time, saves money, reduces rework, allows for consistent decisions and ongoing development, produces a better end product and reduces the overall frustration of building a website. When you look at it that way, investing a little more up front is an easy decision!

In terms of calling it a "business plan," yes, I know that's a scary word, and I'm definitely thinking of changing what I call it just to make it a little less intimidating! When I first started out I actually called it a "spiritual guide," but decided that was a little too flaky.

Whatever we call it, the point is that you want to be crystal clear about what you're trying to get done before you go anywhere near a web developer (who, by the way, will love you forever when you show up with a well thought out written document that explains what you want him or her to build for you!).

Just how detailed should a business plan be?
That's one of those "How big should a house be?" questions! Big enough to fit all your stuff in. I've had people do them in three pages, I've had others do them in 20 pages. What matters is clarity and getting good answers to critical questions.

I start clients off by asking them to complete about four pages worth of questions. Once they get going it's actually a lot of fun, and as people get talking and writing it just pours out of them. I press clients during the process to get clear on non-web questions too, such as what makes them different from their competitors and who their best customers are. If you're not clear on the basic business issues, you can't build an effective website.

Everyone claims to hate "brochureware," yet almost everybody builds it. Tell us why you're such a fan of Amazon.com, the anti-electronic brochure...
When it comes to using the Internet as a business tool, I tell my clients to "Look for What's Different." If all your website does is recreate what already exists offline (like a brochure), then what's the point? Brochureware is a logical, intelligent first step for a company, and everybody does it, but it's totally wrong.

I like Amazon because it's a case study in "things you can do on the Web that you can't do in 'real life.'" It offers tremendous selection, easy filtering, a ton of sampling, personalization, and simple sharing of information with other buyers. All stuff that you just can't get in a physical store. Amazon doesn't just sell products, it completely changes the buying experience, to the point where the product purchased is no longer even central to the Amazon experience. Compare that to buying a book in your local bookstore.

What are some of your other favorite sites? And why?
To me, the Internet is all about utility, and I'm always looking for things I can do with the Web that I can't do offline. Some of my favorites are:

Peapod, grocery shopping and delivery. I can sort by unit price, search by product name, and create a personalized list of things I buy frequently. A lot easier and more fun than going to the local grocery store.

ListBot, the biweekly newsletter that I publish is my single most effective marketing tool for my consulting practice. It allows me to demonstrate my perspective and expertise, and keeps me in front of clients and potential clients in the process.

With ListBot, about all I have to do is write it, post it and click a button to send it. For $100 a year, they automate all the subscribe/unsubscribe requests, send me a daily email update, and send it out. Listbot is just one example. I'm amazed at how many tools are now available for the small business that let us compete against the "big guys," in a way that simply was not possible in the predigital world.

Continued...