Background:
For the next little bit, we want to take you on a journey! Sterling Steps is pleased to announce that we will be launching a NEW sister digital platform!
Over this blog series, we will take you through the steps of building a brand & launching a new digital platform!
The journey:
The start of a journey is always daunting. Preparation is key. That having been said, I am reminded of the saying on the inside of my Peloton shirt ‘start before you’re ready’. Is that the secret behind everything? Regardless, as cliché as it is, every journey starts with the first step.
What’s in a Name:
Sometimes, our creativity can become stifled when it meets a stumbling block. The stumbling block more often than not is domains. Since the early 1990’s one of the most important assets of any business is its domain. ‘Car.com’ as an example, is considered the most expensive domain and is valued at $872m. The domain is king!
The go button is pushed, and my creative juices percolate, I see colour combinations and designs as they form in my mind’s eye! A kaleidoscope of creativity forms into a brand! With a few clicks of a mouse, we have what will become the bedrock of the business. We sleep on the name and design and then comes the hardest part, typing it into a URL name finder. At this stage, three bad things can happen. The URL requested has been taken, but an alternative is available ‘.ionsoupexwaap’ or the URL requested has been purchased, but is available for re-sale at the low price of $80,000 or thirdly, your requested URL is classified as a premium URL and will start at $4,000.
The journey is rarely a straight line. Iteration after iteration, design after design, name change after name change, to the point when you can’t go on any further and then, as if out of nowhere…..we’ve got it!’ The URL requested is available! It’s alive, alive!
.ca or .com
This one is subjective, however, there are a number of different studies which show that Canadians trust .ca and if the majority of your business is conducted in Canada a ‘.ca’ lead is usually advised. However, it is always best practice to have both, always buy both. Even if you only ever use ‘.ca’. The worst-case scenario, if you don’t purchase both, would be if subsequently, a whale buys the ‘.com’, and sinks your business overnight.
Registering
Domain registration can be completed through a number of web hosting companies. Most have an interface where you can enter a chosen domain to determine its price and availability. Once you have finally selected a name, slept on it and ran it by friends and family, and ensured its availability, the purchase can be completed. As discussed, our recommendation is to always purchase the ‘.com’ and ‘.ca’ even if you have selected leading with ‘.ca’.
Domain registration is usually secured for an annual price, at the end of the year you will have the option of either renewing your domain or allowing it to expire. Most companies are pretty good at giving you the heads-up when the expiry date is approaching. Having said that, if my climbing experience has taught me anything, never rely solely on this. Always have a backup system in place. There have in the past been some very high-profile domains that were embarrassingly allowed to expire.
Setting-up social media
Social Media is, unfortunately, a necessary evil in today’s commerce. The end of the ‘successful era’ of companies not conducting or needing to conduct any social media is rapidly approaching. At Sterling Steps, our first recommendation pertaining to social media is to conduct a lay-of-the-land.
At this stage you will have a rough idea of your business concept and audience, we will move on to those topics in more detail, later in our journey.
Questions need to be asked, including which social media platforms do you wish to support? Where is your audience most likely to reside? What are your resources? What are your social media goals?
From a platform perspective, Instagram is always going to be a prime candidate based on its ownership and interaction with Meta (Facebook). Other leading options include Twitter and Snap Chat or if you have a visual element to your business, Pinterest is always going to be an excellent addition. You also, need to be cautious around social media. You never want to initially develop the wrong strategy or not have the resources to fully support it effectively. Other factors also, come into play, for example, if you support TikTok the Chinese government will have potential access to every single keystroke you make on every machine you use. For this reason, we do not recommend TikTok to our clients, unless they have a specific strategy connected.
After determining your social media partners, the next step is registering. All the social media platforms will have options for new business sign-ups along with support through analytical portals. These extremely useful dashboards will let you know how your audiences are interacting with your content. This information subsequently allows you to hone your strategy.
Incubation
Everybody works in different ways, and everyone learns in different ways. So, hence, everyone develops in unique and different ways.
At this stage of the process, you have likely been incubating your business idea for either months or years. Every detail needs to be determined and honed. I compare this process to painting a picture. Initially, you have an idea of what you are going to paint, let’s say a bridge. The first step in the process is to imagine and generate the outlines, what is the perspective how will the bridge appear. The next step is completing the details, selecting the colours, and determining the depths and contrasts. The process is constant refinement and constant enhancement. Your business ideas are beginning to percolate and flourish.
Social Media Strategy:
This social media strategy for years was an afterthought. Companies’ senior management who was hooked on television advertising would allocate a token gesture amount to SM advertising. So, let’s just check ‘our all the millennial marketers happy, now’, good, we will now sit through a two-hour presentation when a marketing agency tries to convince us we all still watch television. Digital was measurable, and you can’t fudge the numbers.
Brand Image:
The essence of the brand, what will it represent. Will it be a reflection of yourself or the future trajectory of your business model? This stage takes time, don’t rush. This will be what you will hang your hat on for years to come. As you develop your ideas, ask people their opinions, but remember you own the brand. The brand will slowly start to form and morph. If you’re a perfectionist, though, things start to get tricky. Just publish it already! A tweak here and a tweak there, oh I prefer this colour and this font, can we remove that, make that bigger? You get the picture. Sometimes you need to just release things into the ethos. This part of the journey is often the most challenging, always remember you are creating the foundation for your business.
Audience:
We need to understand and define the audience, as we have previously discussed. One recommendation we always make at this stage is to have an open mind on your audience. It will likely not be exactly what you predict. I am always reminded of a colleague who was telling me a story about his brother-in-law opening an internet café (these did exist). His entire business model was positioned to a higher end, more affluent audience, what he ended up with was a bunch of teenagers playing war craft.
Wire Frame:
The wireframe is the schematic of your website.
There is an old adage ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’, neither was any decent website! The initial task is to start identifying the real purpose of your website. What do you want it to do? We’ve determined the audience, but now we have to identify how they will use it.
Your website is also, just one component of your developing suite of assets; from apps, to social media. You need to look at things holistically as you develop your new ecosystem.
Core & Path:
This describes how people actually use or navigate versus the preferred route. Have you ever noticed a worn-away path in the grass just steps away from the intended tarmac path? This shows us the reality of individuals’ journeys versus where we would prefer them to go.
As you develop the website, you have to be continuously cognizant of both where you want your audience to head and ultimately what is the call to action you are trying to achieve.
Imagine your website and supporting assets as a cake. You have a number of different ingredients which you have to mix together. Your cake will be unique, but will likely follow similar principles. As you start to make your cake, you may need to substitute ingredients or make compromises or adapt your decisions.
Building a website is the same as driving up a mountain on a bus, where the road is just too narrow at certain points. As you make your way up the mountain, adding widgets, and plug-ins, customizing themes, changing global settings, and producing links and anchors – anything can go wrong.
You are not at the top of the mountain until you click the publish button.
Next steps: The actual business, Countdown to launch
