Being from Colorado, I like to go skiing in the mountains at least a couple of times a year with the family. It feels like a responsibility and justification for living in a climate that can be cold for many months out of the year. It’s strange how, at the same time, I always notice that the skis and associated hardware have changed slightly. You know, the color and design of the skis or maybe the way the boots and bindings work. I’m usually intrigued enough to see if the change could improve my ability to ski or to enjoy the experience.

Skiing in Colorado typically starts at about the same time as Webmaster World’s annual conference in Las Vegas, which kicked off on November 11th at the convention center and ended with the traditional pubcon gathering at the Hofbrauhaus 4 days later. I always enjoy catching up with friends and getting the latest information on the search engines and web development trends. If you have a web site and you want to promote it, this is the one conference no one should miss.

This year I noticed that every session had rows of tables for participants to place their laptops on, unlike past years, when we only had chairs and took session notes manually. I observed people multi-tasking from the rear of the conference rooms. IMs, eMails and tweets were flying back and forth on a variety of devices. I even noticed someone answering customer support messages from their web site using Live Person right in the middle of a session.

It made me wonder if I was missing something. I remembered my old skis and how they had lasted for so many years. Could there be similarities with web development? It seems like a bizarre correlation, but underlying web technologies are moving ahead at a relatively slow pace. We’re just bombarded with a lot of extraneous items that make it feel like things are moving faster than they truly are. The number of options and tasks that we have to monitor has surely increased, but underlying changes in technology happen slowly.

I guess what I’m trying to do is draw a correlation from my latest ski adventure to my latest web conference; after all, it is that time of year and I recently purchased a new pair of parabolic shape skis. Besides the significant difference in my ability to carve up the mountain slopes, I noticed that nearly everyone is now using the relatively new technology.

So what do parabolic skis have to do with this years Webmaster World conference sessions? During the widget (aka gadget) session, one of the presenters showed a slide that overlayed web usage and web traffic to corporate sites and social networks. It showed how valuable it can be to find ways to embrace Web 2.0 technologies and provide your content on these networks (and devices) in the future.

It seems like only a few years ago that we were introduced to web widgets, even though they have been around for more than a decade. I believe that is about the same time that Elan introduced parabolic skis. After attending the gadget session at Webmaster World this year we built and served-up several custom gadgets. Somehow, it reminded me of carving up the back bowl at Copper on my new skis…piece of cake!

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All too often I see businesses jump-into the marketing fray with strategies that leave me scratching my head and asking “huh?” It’s not just me; the puzzled looks span a variety of ages and demographics. The point of the marketing message was so unclear it had to be because a.) I am truly out of the loop and clueless, b.) the creative was waaay off-base, or c.) they didn’t really have a well thought out plan that addressed a consumer need and offered a clear path to a solution.

Let me suggest that “a” and “b” are often the stated reasons by the “suits.” It’s nearly unthinkable that a business in today’s environment will embark on something without a plan. And then I read this article in the New York Times: Why Twitter Turned Down Facebook.

Ignore the back-and-forth reasoning why Twitter and Facebook are not yet meant for the altar. What I find astounding are statistics like this (and I quote): “Twitter has raised $20 million from venture capitalists, but has brought in virtually no revenue, choosing growth over everything else. ” Does that sound familiar? Didn’t we go through something like this not even 10 years ago? How can you start something without the end in mind?

Yet, Ev Williams, the chief executive and co-founder of Twitter was quoted as saying: “So far, though, “we haven’t studied the business cases much.” “We literally have no business people in the company, so this isn’t an area we’re really focused on.”

Tell me, am I missing something? Please enlighten me. Unless Mr. Williams has a pile of cash and Twitter is his plaything, this does not make any sense. It reminds me of an old saying I had posted in my office: “Ready - Fire - Aim.”

So what can we learn from this? First and foremost, as I consult with companies looking to revamp their Web initiatives, I observe that they have not given one single thought to a business case. Not once have they articulated a “desired outcome,” a set of goals or even a key performance indicator. They see the Internet, or Web 2.0 as support means to a larger initiative; not as a marketing channel that can be infinitely measured, but also carries direct costs.

Without a plan (a business plan) these projects are usually the first to be cut when the company enters rough economic water. And that’s too bad, because rough times should call for greater marketing activity. But without a plan, a goal and proper measurement there is no way to justify the dollars and effort spent on a Web project.

I share a “needs assessment” process with new clients which forces them to tell me what they want their digitial initiative to do, what their calls-to-action are, what the desired outcomes need to be, and how they will measure it. Rather than thinking of the Web as just another marketing component, it makes them understand that it has to pay its own way and earn its keep. But without a business case, it’s like the old saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”

Agree? Disagree? Have a success story? Have a question? Share it with me at: bob_chernet@viewmark.com

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© 2008 Bob Chernet

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