Today I’m a Bibliophile

Or bookworm, if you prefer. I have several books going at once. Something that happens all the time. Also something I’m not particularly good at.

I’m a genuine fan of audio books. And that’s particularly great for those of us who spend well over an hour in the car commuting to and from work each day. I recently picked up Genius by Jesse Kellerman and I’m about half way through that one in the car.

On top of that, I’ve been reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods for about two months now. My ability to sit and read at home is sketchy at best. I’m partly distracted by TV, but mostly just too tired. More often than not, I’ll start to read and two pages in, I’m nodding off. That said, my books at home get more attention on the weekend than they do during the week.

Okay, that’s two books I’m in the middle of. What’s more, I’m reading Richard Sheffield’s The Web Content Strategist’s Bible at work. And that’s all applicable learning, so I try to make notes and capture the tools I need to do my job more effectively.

So really, it’s three different books I’m working through. This doesn’t take into account the two books I’ve started and set aside in favor of another. Or the one I borrowed from a friend, started reading and realized it would be a while before I got through it. (I gave it back for now, so someone else could read it first.)

Perhaps it’s time I consider a sabbatical, so I can read all the novels, historical fiction, mysteries, memoirs and biographies that are on my wish list. Then again, I really don’t have time for that.

Today I’m a Content Strategist

I was introduced to the idea of web content strategy last summer, but didn’t fully grasp the true benefits until a few months ago. At its core, content strategy is planning for the delivery of information your customers want to receive, not just what you want to give them. I fell in love with this idea and have been reading, learning, tweeting, studying, asking questions and re-tweeting about content strategy every since.

Rather than go into what makes a good content strategy, I’m going to identify 6 indicators that your web project needs a content strategy.

1. Your project leads have never heard of “Content Strategy.” This isn’t necessarily bad, but it does present a challenge for getting them on board early enough in the process to make a difference. Build yourself a case study. Nothing speaks louder than time and money saved on a website that gets results.
2. Your writers don’t have enough time to craft their copy. A content strategy helps identify what content will be included, why it needs to be there and how you’re going to create it. And, to avoid a lot of rewriting, these basic elements should be determined before a writer even kicks off a project.
3. Your information architect (IA) is revising wireframes to match layouts. In the early phases of a project, planners and strategists determine business objectives and identify customer goals. Site maps and wireframes are ideally developed prior to creative kickoff and should remain relatively in tact throughout the life of the project.
4. The scope of your project has outgrown your timeframe. Without proper planning and strategy up front, a project can run astray with every suggestion, recommendation and mandate from the powers that be. Identify who is responsible for providing, reviewing and approving the content before creative development begins.
5. Your tech development team has started building the site with FPO images and placeholder copy. This harkens back to the early phases of discovery when we want to identify the what, why and how of content. Declare your plan, sign off on the plan and stick to the plan to stay on course. If you don’t, you run the risk of not only missing your deadline but blowing your budget as well.
6. Your creative managers are still tracking down assets three weeks prior to launch. No one likes to work under the pressure of time, limited resources and lack of direction. Take the time to organize your content — catalog what’s available to help identify what needs to be created and what can be deleted.

With a content strategy in place, you can prevent scope creep, avoid unnecessary costs and allow copy development and site design to be a far more creative process. Best of all, you’re likely to produce superior results.