Finding the passion
They are building an online business. In each case the online business for my students is based on their passion - this took a bit of drilling in some cases but far from dentistry. Once the passion was identified, we determine that the online project is sustainable, in other words, it attracts the excitement and attention of the owner regardless of the ups and downs.My students are comfortable and eager to learn. At each learning milestone, and there are plenty, I sweep the audience for an eyebrow check, which is of course the best indicator of whether they're with me or I lost them at the at 'here is the emergency exit'. Eyebrows work brilliantly for this, although I was caught out once while presenting to a group at a Beauty Institute who had undergone brow botox not so long beforehand.
Developing a digital strategy
Developing a digital strategy will vary depending on your needs. However, a simple step-by-step approach is useful.What goals do the students have for their business? During the workshops I deliver, I examine the student's goals. It goes a bit like this. Do you want to:- attract more local, national or global customers, supporters and donors
- create value for your customers, supporters and donors
- reduce your costs
- raise awareness about your organisation
- increase your revenues and donations
- have more targeted and effective marketing campaigns
- be more aware of what your customers, supporters and donors are saying about your organisation
- develop better metrics and feedback from your customers, supporters and donors
- ensure that people can engage with your organisation, including on their mobile phones
What online activities will benefit you?
The answer could be all or some of the list below:- establishing an online presence
- developing richer and more engaging content
- developing a search engine and/or social media marketing strategy
- expanding your use of digital communications tools internally
- digitising the support of your customers, supporters and donors
- incorporating e-commerce functionality for donations and sales
- optimising your content for the mobile web
- improve your metrics
How can your online activities help you achieve your goals?
- a cafe may want to use the web to drive foot traffic to its physical location
- a giftware store might aim to increase sales outside its immediate geographic area
- a furniture company may seek to reduce the number of returned products by providing online instructional videos for assembling items
- a community organisation might use an online forum to notify volunteers of opportunities to get involved with local events
- a charity might use social media to promote a fundraising initiative
Developing the website plan
Once you have thought about what you are seeking to achieve through your digital strategy, you could develop a checklist of your requirements. For example:
- provide up-to-date written information such as a website or blog
- interact with potential customers, supporters and donors via a social media platform or real-time text chat
- create the opportunity for clients and community members to make word-of-mouth referrals usinga existing social media platforms
- have detailed online discussions with existing customers using a discussion forum
- provide a sales platform using e-commerce solutions
- make your web content readable on smart phones, perhaps incorporating design methods that cater to mobile internet users.
Building the website
This is where the fun starts for the students. Their project gets legs, while they aren't using theirs because they're glued to their seats. The developments at this point are far too exciting to leave alone. Their own skills are now so advanced that they are worth writing home about - or should I say they are worth blogging and 'IM'ing about.I'll keep you posted with the website build progress of each student as they build away at their future. Thanks for reading!
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