After doing some research, talking to others who have made a similar purchase and assessing the benefits of this potential investment, you end up deciding on what you think is a fair price.

When you hire a digital strategist for the first time, you will most likely go through a very similar process.   

To make a familiar comparison, the services offered by a digital strategist are very similar to those of a lawyer.  Lawyers are hired in the business world to help you navigate the unfamiliar waters of the legal world, as well as to protect your business.

A digital strategist also serves as a guide, helping you make the best decisions possible in regard to your digital communication investments.    Not only will they help protect your business like a lawyer, but they will also seek out new opportunities to help your business grow.

More often than not, a digital strategist will help you save money and will also help you avoid costly mistakes.

Don’t know how much it will cost to redesign your website?   A good digital strategist will not only help determine the best price for your web project, but will also help you avoid unnecessary “bells and whistles” web developers typically throw in that unnecessarily increases the overall cost of your project.

Need a digital strategist?  We can help.

What do we mean by that?  “Cool” isn’t a measure for success.  It’s hardly a marketing objective (for most products and services anyway) or even a business goal.  Twitter or Facebook might seem cool, but will they help achieve your goals?  If they won’t have any business impact, why use them?

If you have a written marketing or communications strategy, then you should never have to chase after buzzwords.

Remember, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter and texting are merely communication tools.  Your strategy should dictate which communication tools are the most appropriate and most effective for achieving your goals.

“Cool” makes you unfocused, strategies lead you toward success.

Don’t have a digital communications strategy?  We can help.

Remember, when people started blogging in the late 90s?  The early adopters wrote what amounted to daily diaries or ranted and raved about something.  Pretty boring stuff (I guess except to them).

Now there are countless respected blogs read by millions of people every day.  How did that happen?  They had a clear focus, useful content and then built a loyal following.

Twitter will follow the same trajectory.  Right now there is a lot of mindless bird chatter on Twitter, but certain bird calls will soon soar above the rest.

What are the best uses of Twitter for your organization?

1)    At the very least the focus should be about your organization’s expertise. Share links to related resources, book suggestions, events, etc.  In some ways Twitter is starting to replace newsreaders for some people.

2)    Tweet your events. One of the attendees at a digital conference we recently produced for the New York State Broadcasters Association tweeted the entire event, creating a permanent record that can be viewed by anyone unable to attend the event.

3)    Communicate with your core community. Identify 10 to 20 passionate supporters of your organization and ask if they will Tweet about resources and events related to your mission.  Obviously follow them on Twitter, so you can pass on their ideas to your community at large.

4)  Monitor trends. Search for keywords or #hashtags on Twitter to follow trends affecting your organization.  It’s a wonderful and easy way to monitor trends.

Still don’t understand how Twitter can be useful to your organization?  We can help.

When the focus is clear, it’s easy for people to grasp and recommend to others, expanding your core community.  Just think of the most popular websites and their focus:

* Google – Search
* Facebook – Social Connections
* Yelp – Business Reviews
* Craigslist – Classifieds
* Flickr – Photos
* YouTube – Video

What about bostonknows?  Our focus is  developing communities using digital tools.

To give your website more focus,  first establish your site’s goals.

Then you determine how to measure the success of your site in achieving that goal. Success doesn’t necessarily mean the biggest numbers, it means the right numbers.

You want your website to mainly attract your target audience, helping to further sharpen your message and firmly establish your community.

The best ideas are usually the simplest ones. The same is true on the web, whether you’re a neighborhood non-profit or a Fortune 500 enterprise.

Want to give your website more focus?  We can help.

Each commercial directed viewers to a website where they could watch any of the 90 videos any time they wanted. It was essentially a mini YouTube of stuff to do in Massachusetts.

One-size-fits-all advertising is dead. That’s what made this campaign so innovative and effective—they let viewers chose from what resonated with them personally. To engage today’s consumer, you have to customize your message and provide your audience with options. And you have to give them the flexibility to watch whenever and wherever they want.

Here’s what else they did—they established the depth of opportunities available in Massachusetts. Although each spot was short, the volume of material leaves the “There’s something for everyone” impression without having to drag out a tired cliche.

This is the power of a video archive. Want one?  We can help.