Web Presence

Mike Huckabee, "Do the Right Thing"

• His "fantastic online presence" solution was put together for $11,000.
• The original proposal from "a vendor experienced in political Web site design" was $250,000 plus 6 percent of contributions

On the Web, less will get you more, often as not. Many of the best frameworks to maintain content and web communications are free to use. Pay only to match them to requirements, then ongoing maintenance and support.

Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Youtube, started with a founder or two, web standards, and worked their way up. Waiting for boxed software solutions and training was never an option.

A Fantastic Online Presence Need Not Cost Big Bucks

And with well defined goals, it shouldn't take long to develop. One visionary, one web designer, is historically an ideal situation. In the Huckabee campaign, it was a web developer and a finance director.

Mate skilled web development with precisely defined goals, carve out a piece of the web. This is the well proven, if not well trodden path. The truth is that core Web technologies are a simple commodity, essentially free to use for setting up infrastructure. Mystique continues to sell better on the open market. It has a much bigger sales force. To feed.

Simple Works Best

The original Web was designed to enhance and simplify person to person communication, including content sharing. It started simple, and remains simple, at the core. There is no need to navigate yet another social networking "lobster trap" just to share content and communicate. Simple allows direct access to the tools that built these social networks!

Just like real life, person to person works best. Imagine if every time an organization wanted to communicate with their clients or customers, they had to find a news reporter to relay the story. That is why most web advertising does not work.

Talk is Cheap, the Savings are Real

The Huckabee solution worked out to a few cents on the dollar versus the "experienced" solution.

The Web keeps changing, faster all the time. Yet simple continues to work - better all the time. Simple is a refreshing contrast to the video game mentality that has crept into web interfaces. Start simple, stay simple, focus on communication, save time and money now and into the future.

Why A Consultant?

The next great thing in hardware, boxed software, or on the web is not necessarily an opportunity to move an organization forward. I am purposefully not a reseller of any product. I am a business consultant, with a business degree.

As a consultant, not a reseller, with a business degree first and tech certifications second, this is my understanding of the priorities:

• First, define a business need
• Second, develop confidence and trust by demonstrating integrity, knowledge, and capabilities
• Third, review potential solutions in light of existing capabilities, infrastructure, and timelines
• Fourth, begin implementing only when a value proposition demonstrates a clear need and benefit
• Fifth, "train" the technology to present a clear interface to end users.

Web Presence is becoming a business necessity, too often unmet, too often mired in confusion. I don't have all the answers. But I do appreciate every opportunity to demonstrate the integrity, knowledge, and capabilities that will earn your trust.

doug.brethower@lakedata.net 417-327-6673 Rt. 1 Box 23F Preston, MO 65732 http://www.lakedata.net