Marketing and communications professionals are constantly looking for creative ways to promote their businesses and organizations. It`s a way of life. Where a normal person sees a refrigerator magnet, a marketing specialist sees a chance at continuous visibility. Where a normal person sees a free postcard, a marketing specialist sees potential publicity for his company`s new service. Where a normal person sees a collection of pictures and words online and calls it a website, a marketing specialist often does the same thing, and that`s a problem.

The web is our most powerful, yet most neglected tool in marketing. Very few organizations truly take advantage of its power. Many of my clients become my clients because they need to update their branding. They need a new logo, office materials and marketing materials. They most often have a website, but it typically isn`t what they want to update first. When I ask employees what they want to get out of new branding, the answer is either "nicer business cards and things to send/give out" or "don`t bother me." This is a tremendous insight into that fact that selfishness is a huge motivator. Employees rarely visit their company website unless it`s their job to do so.

They personally give out their business cards and other collateral and they want those materials to reflect well on them. Or, in the "don`t bother me" group, they just wannt to do their jobs and don`t want to be hassled by some annoying designer. At any rate, the website becomes secondary and employee`s needs are first.