We're frustrated. Not punch-holes-in-the-wall frustrated, but frustrated nonetheless. It stems from our trying to figure out the best way to describe PeakTwo services.

(Yep, this is going to be an introspective post -- one that chronicles a bit of entreprenurial identity crisis, but if we can't vent here, where can we).

Right now, we're dealing with a lot of development projects, designing and building websites from the ground up, or refining and improving existing sites. It's satisfying work, and we'll take it, but we're also have two worries: we're concerned clients are not realizing the total potential of their marketing efforts, and, quite frankly, we don't want to get pigeonholed as just another web dev company.

Building a site is one thing; developing and managing complete marketing strategies (anchored by a strong online presence, sure) is where we really get cooking.

For us, it's about follow-through. Plenty of companies want that shiny, new website, but they make the mistake of firing it up and then walking away from it as if it will be this sentient, self-managing entity. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Developing the site from scratch usually means a fair amount of design and new content creation. For many of our clients, we've taken site development it from a dead start, coming up with company identity (e.g. logo and taglines). These inevitably transfer to additional collateral. But along with the identity elements, clients should also think about how to leverage the messaging muscle we've put into building that site. There is always essential corporate messaging that provides primary themes for new media outreach and traditional awareness campaigns. It has value far beyond the development of a company mission statement or executive bio.

As you move forward with a site launch or redesign, tune in to all the variables required to make it a real success. Then think about how each of those variables is actually integral to your entire company identity, and can therefore be used to power a much more comprehensive marketing strategy.