Executionists, Inc.

We’re proud to announce some of our recently launched projects!

Studio DNA Salon
www.studiodnasalon.com
November, 2007

The Million Lights Project
www.millionlightsproject.org
November, 2007

The Festival of New American Musicals
www.lafestival.org
November, 2007

Discrimination Attorney
www.discriminationattorney.com
October, 2007

The Safe Sippy
www.thesafesippy.com
September, 2007

As a project manager at Executionists, Inc., I view website development in three phases: pre-production, production, and post-production. (Can you tell we’re Los Angeles-based?) The quality of the pre-production phase will generally establish how quickly a client’s site will be completed. Clients love to help, sometimes to the detriment of the project (see: Executionists Take on Dogbert). However, this is the stage of the process where client input is crucial and greatly appreciated.

Meaning: content, content, content. The most important way a client can help us help them is by being prepared with content for all sections of the website. During our initial meeting with a client, we will establish a content checklist, complete with a listing of all the approved navigation within the site. While we do our job designing the site based on this navigation, we expect the client to do their job by providing all content that will eventually be placed on our neatly designed pages.

The consequences of not having content ready or sending it to the web designer in pieces could be significant both for the client’s pocketbook and the development timeline. It takes more time to put the content on the site piece by piece than all at once. Additions of new content after the site design has begun can lead to issues with navigation and page layout.

It’s also important for me to note that we, are not copywriters. Nor are we grammatical experts. When the client does have all content ready to go, we strongly recommend hiring a professional editor/proofreader (we can recommend some). In grade school we learn that editing is the most important part of writing. Don’t give a web developer any content that is less than web-ready. The more typos and misspellings there are, the more it eats into the budget originally established for design and technical development.

Want more information about pre-production? See our Kick-off Questions. If you can answer all of these, content writing will be easier. All that’s left to do is to have us make your website.
Julie Dwyer
Project Manager

So you’ve spent XX amount of hours of your time or paid someone $X to do it for you and now you are the proud owner of a blog. (Lucky you! Congratulations!)

Now the real work begins, because no matter how eloquent and topical we think we are, making a commitment to write blog content on a regular basis is… well… a commitment. In our office, we had the bright idea to rotate blog writing duties among our staff of talented project managers, designers and coders, but here it is “blog deadline” and nothing’s been submitted by the designated blogger. So here I am, stuck with the posting duties again.

Don’t get me wrong, a blog has been a valuable asset to our online presence. In our experience, benefits of updating your blog include:

1) Increased exposure for your company on the web, adding credibility.
2) Improved SEO power! If you search for “executionists” on the web you’ll see many of the results come from our blog.
3) A chance to showcase a personal side to your company and its employees.
4) Opportunities to showcase your witty and extremely clever rhetoric on topical issues plaguing your industry today.
5) A place to have a dialog/network with your Blog readers by responding to their comments on your posts.

In conclusion, a blog is a helpful, fun and powerful marketing tool, but take heed of our warning: it takes time and concerted effort. Not much, but effort nonetheless. Hope you read, enjoy, and take to heart this week’s valuable insight.