For the purposes of this article, we’ll assume that you, the reader, know nothing or very little about online marketing in general. With that in mind, I’d like to share common means of advertising online.

Planning
The first key to marketing, whether it be online or not, is planning your campaign. If you don’t have a business plan now, you need to write one and come back to this article. Joe Kennedy has written a terrific guide on business plan development in his book, The Small Business Owner’s Manual. I highly suggest reading it as you complete your plan. (more…)

I’ve heard it said that 1 hour of planning saves 3 hours of execution. With regards to web development, I would suggest that the savings of planning is closer to a 1:30 ratio. Building a website is alot like building a home. It’s rather difficult to add a basement to a home, after the fact. The same goes for web development. Adding features and content, which was not planned for prior to project inception can be time consuming and costly.

As more and more companies go offshore for their development needs, it is important to understand how that effects the communication and execution of a project. I’ve had the opportunity to work with staff from India, the Philippines, the Ukraine, Russia and Estonia. While there are cultural differences, which need to be addressed there are things that can be done to grease the wheels of communication and turn out successful projects when going offshore. (more…)