hinutech.com

This advertisement on Facebook:

goes to this web site:


I assume that the two are somehow related.  However, I was so turned off by being mislead when I clicked on the ad that I am not going to bother figuring that piece of the equation out.

Moral of the story: if you choose to advertise on the web (in Facebook, Google Adwords, etc.), be sure to make the sites where people ultimately land relevant to the link they clicked.  If you don't do this, you not only waste goodwill, you are also wasting money with each click.

Unlike cats, humans have three lives:

• Personal
• Family
• Business

In order to become successful, you must be able to balance each of them.  If you find yourself working 80 hour weeks in order to be successful with your business life, your personal and family lives suffer.  If you forego your work in order to focus all of your energy on your family, your business and personal (health, well-being) lives will suffer.  If you suffer from depression or other health concerns, your business and family lives take the brunt. 

I'm not saying anything groundbreaking here.  There are times when work needs to come before family.  There are times when family needs to be lifted above every other responsibility you have.  And sometimes, you need to focus on yourself before the other two. 

When each of your lives is in balance...when each is a source of strength for you as opposed to a stress-inducing drain...you will be successful. 

Most construction industry web sites are lousy.  Technically, they get the job done, but they tend to be a mess of project details and bouncing menu animations that don't effectively communicate the company's message.   CFS Construction wanted to buck the trend of bad construction industry web sites. 

On the morning of November 16, 2008, we went live with a redesign of the site for CFS Construction, Inc.  Here is the story of the whats and whys of that project.

CFS Construction wanted a site that was visually compelling, introduced new customers to their capabilities of delivering amazing results through construction projects while being a resource for subcontractors to obtain project drawings in order to place bids on projects. 

They chose to partner with Hinutech because of our advanced content management system, understanding of their technical needs and ability to design a site that is beautiful yet functional.

Visually Compelling Project Information

CFS Construction needed a way to tell its story to prospective customers in a compelling manner.  We worked with them to obtain images from some of their more recent projects and fashioned their site around those photographs.  We assisted them in developing a site that delivered a message consistent with their existing marketing materials while using the power of the web to dynamically showcase their work.

We broke the Project area of their site into subcategories such as Restaurant Construction and Hospitality/Senior Living Construction. 

Each sub-page is consistent in layout and lets them highlight a project in that area.

We created an image gallery for each project that expands images when visitors hover their mouse over an image -- reducing the number of clicks that visitors need to perform in order to see details on CFS projects.

Improved Communication with Subcontractors 

The relationship with subcontractors is at the core of CFS Construction's business, and they needed a way to work effectively with them.  We have been a partner of CFS for several years now and have developed an Internet Plan Room for their subcontractors which allowed for them to have easy access to construction project plans. 

With the new redesign for CFS Construction, we took that a step further and made several improvements to their mechanism of working with subcontractors.

When subcontractors login to the system, they are immediately greeted with announcements from CFS Construction.  These announcements tell subs when bids are due for projects and other important information from CFS.

CFS staff have the ability to manage their annoucements in the system.  The screenshot above shows all announcements in the system coupled with when they will begin displaying and stop displaying.

CFS staff can enter their annoucements in the system and set their display dates and expiration dates.  This allows them to enter information well in advance of when the annoucements will need to be seen by subcontractors....and the staff doesn't have to worry about removing the annoucements from the system since they can be set to automatically expire on a pre-defined date and time.

The CFS Internet Plan Room is freely available to subcontractors who work with CFS.  Subcontractors must create an account in the system in order to see plans, and once they do, they have the ability to scan folders and download plans for jobs on which they wish to place bids.

The CFS Plan Room is an intuitive interface for subcontractors, allowing them to have easy access to project plans.

The CFS Bidding Calendar lets subcontractors see when project bids are due.  Additionally, the page shows them the most recently added plans in the system.

We created a message board system for CFS Construction with the intent of decreasing the number of phone calls they receive from subcontractors and to develop a community around their company.  As time progresses, we anticipate the CFS Forums becoming a great resource for CFS subcontractors to obtain and share information while reducing the workload on CFS staff.

Here is Seth's assessment of the U.S. Presidential election as seen through the eyes of a marketing.  Good stuff.

"The polls open in a few minutes, and unlike pundits that wait until after the polls have closed, I thought I'd do the opposite. It's obvious that this is the most talked about election in the history of the world, and I think there are some lessons for every marketer, regardless of nationality or political leanings.

It turns out that one way you learn about marketing is by analyzing it. (The other way is to do it). Yet people hate analyzing three really useful but emotional examples of marketing that matters: politics, organized religion and their own organizations. I figure we can start here, with the easiest of the three.

This is a long post. Fine with me if you skip it and just go vote instead.

Here goes:

Stories really matter. More than a billion dollars spent, two 'products' that have very different features, and yet, when people look back at the election they will remember mavericky winking. You can say that's trivial. I'll say that it's human nature. Your product doesn't have features that are more important than the 'features' being discussed in this election, yet, like most marketers, you're obsessed with them. Forget it. The story is what people respond to.

Mainstream media isn't powerful because we have no other choices (see below). It's powerful because they're still really good at writing and spreading stories, stories we listen to and stories we believe.

 TV is over. If people are interested, they'll watch. On their time (or their boss's time). They'll watch online, and spread the idea. You can't email a TV commercial to a friend, but you can definitely spread a YouTube video. The cycle of ads got shorter and shorter, and the most important ads were made for the web, not for TV. Your challenge isn't to scrape up enough money to buy TV time. Your challenge is to make video interesting enough that we'll choose to watch it and choose to share it.

Permission matters (though selfish marketers still burn it). The Republican party has a long tradition of smart direct mail tactics. Over the years, they've used them to aggressively outfundraise and outcampaign the Democrats. In this election cycle, smart marketers at the Obama campaign toned down the spam and turned up the permission. They worked relentlessly to build a list, and they took care of the list. They used metrics to track open rates and (at least until the end) appeared to avoid burning out the list with constant fundraising. Anticipated, personal and relevant messages will always outperform spam. Regardless of how it is delivered.

Marketing is tribal. This one, for obvious reasons, fascinated me this cycle.

Karl Rove and others before him were known for cultivating the 'base'. This was shorthand for a tribe of people with shared interests and vision (it included a number of conservatives and evangelicals). George W. Bush was able to get elected twice by embracing the base, by connecting them, by being one of them.

John McCain had a dilemma. He didn't particularly like the base nor did they like him. His initial strategy was not to lead this existing tribe, but to weave a new tribe. The idea was that independents and some Democrats, together with the traditional pre-Reagan core of the Republican party, would weave together a new centrist base.

Barack Obama also had a challenge. He knew that the traditional base for Democratic candidates wouldn't be sufficient to get him elected (it had failed John Kerry). So he too set out to weave a new tribe, a tribe that included progressives, the center, younger religious voters, weary veterans, internationalists, Nobel prize winners, black voters and others.

Building a new tribe (in marketing and in politics) is time consuming and risky and expensive. Both set out to do this.

Then, McCain made a momentous decision. He chose Sarah Palin, and did it for one huge reason: to embrace the Rove/Bush 'base'. To lead a tribe that was already there, but not yet his. He was hoping for a side effect, which was to attract Hillary Clinton's tribe, one that in that moment, was also leaderless.

Seen through the lens of tribes and marketing, this is a fascinating and risky event. Are people willing to suspend disbelief or suspicion and embrace a leader in order to maintain the energy of their tribe?

If it had worked, it would have been a master stroke. He would have solidified his base, grabbed key constituencies of Clinton supporters in swing states and wooed the center as well. Three tribes in one pick.

In McCain's case, it failed. His choice cost him the economically-concerned middle (which went to Obama's carefully woven tribe). And it clearly cost him the mostly female Clinton tribe. Yes, he energized the conservative base, but he lost the election. If he had chosen Mike Huckabee, one could wonder what would have happened. Would this less polarizing figure been able to collect a bigger tribe for him?

This is a real question for every marketer with an idea to sell. Do you find an existing tribe (Harley drivers, Manolo shoe buyers, frequent high-end restaurant diners) and try to co-opt them? Or do you try the more expensive and risky effort of building a brand new tribe? The good news is that if you succeed, you get a lot for your efforts. The bad news is that you're likely to fail.

Motivating the committed outperforms persuading the uncommitted. The unheralded success factor of Obama's campaign is the get out the vote effort. Every marketer can learn from this. It's easier (far easier) to motivate the slightly motivated than it is to argue with those that either ignore you or are predisposed to not like you.

Attack ads don't always work. There's a reason most product marketers don't use attack ads. All they do is suppress sales of your opponent, they don't help you. Since TV ads began, voter turnout has progressively decreased. That's because the goal of attack ads is to keep your opponent's voters from showing up. Both sides work to whittle down the other. In a winner-take-all game like a political election, this strategy is fine if it works.

So why didn't the ads work this time?

The tribe that Obama built identified with him. Attacking him was like attacking them. They took it personally, and their outrage led to more donations and bigger turnout. This is the lucky situation Apple finds itself in as well. Attacking an Apple product is like attacking an Apple user.

We get what we deserve. The lesson that society should take away about all marketing is a simple one. When you buy a product, you're also buying the marketing. Buy something from a phone telemarketer, you get more phone telemarketers, guaranteed. Buy a gas guzzler and they'll build more. Marketers are simple people... they make what sells. Our culture has purchased (and voted) itself into the place we are today.

Did I mention you should vote?"

My 401(k) has been slaughtered so far this year.  My investments are way down.  I just read a headline that Chrysler might not survive without government aid (goodbye Jeep???).  Jobless claims keep rising.  Everything is miserable, right?

Wrong.  I am seeing, firsthand, that companies and non-profits are making investments in technology.  Based on everything that has been happening with Hinutech for the past 4 weeks, it is looking like I might have to turn away business by the end of the year so that we don't disappoint people. 

Why is this happening?  Smart organizations are seeing the value of making investments in their web presence.  They are looking for ways to increase the stickiness with their customers, donors and other contributors to their bottom line.  The forward-looking organization sees technology as a competitive advantage as opposed to simply something into which they are sinking money.

Things like Customer Relationship Management, social networking and providing for user-generated content are allowing organizations to get closer to their customers and derive real value from their technology investment.

I'm pretty charged about the possibilities for the next 6 months, and I'm even more excited for what we will accomplish for our new customers.  They will be poised well for the future -- regardless of the state of the economy.

I love that phrase.  From a business point of view, it means using your own products.  Hinutech has adhered to that concept from the beginning of our existance when it came to hosting our site, portal and blogs.  However, the company fell short when it comes to our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.  Excuses for not using it were plenty -- we weren't big enough.  We didn't have enough customers.  We could keep track of everything via email.

That's been mostly true, and I haven't dropped the ball on anything yet.  But, I have found myself growing increasingly disorganized.  My calendar is always up to date with meetings, but I didn't schedule the "smaller" customer interactions.  If I wanted to send an email to a customer, I would do it when I got around to it...sometimes that would be days.  Now that I am using our CRM system, I create a task for myself to send an email or to call a customer, and I receive reminders to do so.  Even better, these calls and emails are tracked in the system so that I am aware of when I last worked with a customer. 

Where this gets really snappy, is I am able to track everything from projects as they relate to specific customers.  For example, I am planning on deploying a new version of the Comprehensive Facilities portal this weekend, and there are numerous steps that have to occur between now and then.  Each step involves a different contact at CFS.  I am able to track calls, emails and meetings as they relate to each person and each step in the project.  Allowing me to ensure that every bit of the project is handled appropriately and that each person involved knows what their responsibilities are.  As time goes on and I do more work with CFS, I will have a history in my system of what we have done for them and who the players were in the project. 

Another great use of the CRM system allows me to manage leads.  When forms are filled out on in the Hinutech portal, the CRM system automatically creates leads for me.  This allows me to build a history of people's interest in our company and products, and most importantly, ensures that no contact with customers gets lost.  I am able to see new prospective customers in the system and track everything we have done to earn their business.

Good stuff....it makes me more productive and ensures a better experience for our customers.  As time goes on, I will discuss some of these capabilities in more detail, but I am very, very happy that I have chosen to change the course of Hinutech to be more customer-focused through our adoption of our CRM system.  When it comes down to brass tacks, my reasons for not doing this earlier really come down to laziness.  Life is better with a little bit of structure.

I haven't been shy about my political leanings on this blog, and happy doesn't begin to describe my feelings about Tuesday's election.  I have heard from many that they never thought they would see an African American elected in their lifetime.  They are proud of America, and they are proud to be Americans. 

My house was a staging location for the Barack Obama campaign.  Beginning Saturday morning and ending around 10:00 election night, we had about 100 people through our doors working together to get out the vote, making calls, canvassing and taking part in democracy.  It was beautiful. 

Dennis Kurlass, owner of River Bank Cafe in Hamilton, OH, solidified what this election was all about.  He received a call from the Obama campaign that an older gentleman needed help voting.  He was blind and had no form of identification, and he desperately wanted to vote.  Dennis picked him up at his house, drove him to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to have an identification card made and drove him to the polls.  Once there, Dennis went into the booth with the gentleman, read the choices to him and placed his finger on the button of his choice allowing the blind man to push the button.  Dennis relayed this story to me through tears of pride -- in himself and in our country.

This election wasn't momumental because we elected an African American.  It was monumental because people who had never been politically active before felt enoughh passion for their country to sacrifice their time and homes to become involved.  The felt a sense of duty to become involved in democracy.  They realized that their voice could be heard, and they worked tirelessly to ensure that it happened. 

I am so proud of what we accomplished on Tuesday.  I am proud of my new friends.  I am proud of our country.  Mostly, I am proud and in awe of the dedication that people showed to organize and stage a revolution.  A revolution where we loudly and clearly stated that we are tired of the way things have been going.  We believe we can be a better country.  We believe we can and should provide health care to people who can't afford it.  We believe that opportunities await us.  We believe that good things are ahead.  We believe that our government is accountable to the people.  We believe that community is stronger than isolation. 

Tough times are ahead, and Barack Obama has his work cut out for him.  He doesn't have to go it alone, though, because he has created a community of supporters that will work with and for him.  We who have worked so hard for the Obama campaign realized during the past months and years that our voice is loud.  We own this country.  He is accountable to us.  And we are energized, strong and willing to chip in and make our country, and world, a better place.

"I Believe" From R.E.M.'s Lifes Rich Pageant

"When I was young and full of grace
and spirited--a rattlesnake.
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor not to tell

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need, there’s the key,
Your adventure for today, what do you do
Between the horns of the day?

I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and give and take
And foolish said my fool awake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor, on your honor

Trust in your calling, make sure your calling’s true
Think of others, the others think of you
Silly rule golden words make, practice, practice makes perfect,
Perfect is a fault, and fault lines change

I believe my humor’s wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and full of grace
As spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You’re on your honor, on your honor
I believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the key

I believe my humor’s wearing thin
And I believe the poles are shifting

I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in."

Twitter Vote Report allows people who see something to say something.  The power of the many will shine a light on problems and irregularities with tomorrow's vote. 

It is a beautiful thing when people are empowered.

I will be keeping track of what's happening in Hamilton, OH at our various polling places throughout the day.  Follow me on Twitter to keep track and to see me being a small voice in the Power of Many.

Slate.com published an article called "A Radical Business Plan for Facebook -- Charge People" that proposes a novel idea for online businesses....something so crazy that it just might turn the entire world of businesses who sell online services upside down.  The idea?  Charge people for your service.  I know it's nuts, but I have a confession -- Hinutech charges people for our service.  Our customers actually pay for things like site design and access to our portal. 

Why do we do this?  Well, when I was in college, I took a couple of classes with words like economics, finance and business in the course descriptions.  Each of these classes said that in order for businesses to maintain their statuses as businesses, that they had to have this thing called income.  Income, it seems, let's a few things happen: 1. people get paid, 2. companies can invest to improve their products and 3. companies stay in business and continue benefitting those who choose to pay for their services.  It's a strange system, but it works.

So, why the snarky post?  I am seeing a disturbing trend where prospective customers are balking at paying a monthly fee.  I guess they don't like our structure of not relying on placing advertisements on sites in order to generate revenue.  I suppose they see the fees we charge as out of line with free sites.  They are.  We cost more than free sites.  We cost more than standard web hosts.  Why?  We do more for our customers.  Our software is superior to what is offered by others.  Our service is second to none.  And you know what?  You pay for that.

So, with all that said, if you are asked to pay for a service like Facebook in the future, it's up to you to determine if the benefits outweigh the cost.   If they don't, by all means, don't pay.  If they do and you still don't want to pay, well...