The Three Too’s are at the epicenter of many web project #fails. Identify them and eliminate them.

I missed my second SVA Dot.Dot.Dot lecture in a row—shame on me. In this latest lecture the glorious ID, Jason Santa Maria goes over the logistics of print and web and the discusses the relationships between the two.

—Ian

Top 10 Things We Love About Our New Office

1)  An easy 20 min drive to Union Square or a 30 min express train to Grand Central Station.

2)  In person collaborations with our outrageously talented network of freelancers are more frequent.

3)  The orange couch fits, barely.

4) From our window, we can see the Hudson River/Palisades, the NYC skyline and the remarkably kind Parking Control Officers.

5)  The Hastings-on-Hudson train station sells superb coffee and pastries from Balthazar.

6)  Seth Godin is our (supposed) neighbor. (We have begun The SethCount to document sightings. Current count = 2.)

7)  There are no chain or fast food restaurants in the entire village of Hastings-on-Hudson.

8)  Commuter watching/Not commuting.

9) Our office used to be the extended dining room for Buffet de la Gare — the top rated French restaurant in Westchester County.

10) It’s New York not Florida.

*Bonus 11) The volunteer Fire Alarm siren always adds a little auditory pizzazz to conference calls.

—Ian

Web people just loooove Zappos.com.

I’m an avid online shopper and a lover of all things shoes, yet I’ve never bought in to the Zappos hype. Why? Here’s why.

Most popular women’s sandals on Zappos.com:

As a new mother of two, I’m one bad click away from Keens, Danskos and “FitFlops.” I don’t need any encouragement.

Meanwhile, over at Piperlime, the trusty “comfy and cute” search option offers me this:

Which means Piperlime wants to make sure I don’t show up on the next episode of What Not to Wear.

And I appreciate that.

When it comes to fashion, I don’t want to wade through all the Teva look-alikes to find the good stuff. Because truthfully, I don’t trust myself to make good decisions. I need somebody to present some carefully edited items and say, “Here. These are your options.”

Because if you spend too much time looking at Keens, Danskos and “FitFlops,” you start to think, “Well these ones aren’t so bad…”

—Britta

A few weeks ago, we sent a survey out to top digital agencies and design firms—companies we consider to be smart thinkers, trailblazers or just plain awesome. Results are in, and we wanted to share them with you. Shout out to all who responded.

Current Content Needs

• 82% selected content strategy as a current need, followed by ongoing content development at 65% and social media measurement/strategy a close third at 61%.

Staff or Vendors

• 29% have content strategists/content developers on staff. 35% use a mix of freelance/contract and in-house talent. 31% use a third-party vendor or contract strategists.

Content Schmategist

• For those not using content strategists, 42% thought writers could/should handle this function. 29% were concerned about finding a content strategist with relevant domain experience. And 15% weren’t sure how content strategy would improve their work.

Agency Report Card

• Overall, 41% thought there was room for improvement regarding content strategy in their organization. 35% found they were able to meet client requests. 12% admitted they were behind the 8-ball.

Where CSs Need to Improve

• 59% wished content strategists had a better understanding of business. 35% felt content strategists should have a better handle on UX.

What a Little CS Will Get You

• A comprehensive content strategy plan was selected by 71% as a content strategist’s primary deliverable. 29% weren’t sure what a comprehensive content strategy looked like. 53% selected a CMS assessment as a content strategist’s responsibility.

To Whom it May Concern

• Of the companies we surveyed, hiring content strategists is primarily handled by Creative, with Project Management a close second.

Other Content Needs

• 86% selected ongoing content (audio, video, editorial) as an upcoming need. 58% needed content for large websites. 71% have eNewsletter content needs around the corner.

Interesting to Note

• SEO was only mentioned twice in the (*=other) category.
• Mobile content was only mentioned once.
• The iPad was not mentioned at all.

This survey reinforces our thinking that content strategy and content development should be always be linked. Additionally content strategy as a practice is not just about copy writing but encompasses a much broader skill-set. Questions about this survey, or other industry trends you like us to hunt down? — trends@eatmedia.net

—Ian

“As the internet becomes a place for more sophisticated storytelling. Copywriters are only going to grow in importance.” Chapin Clark, SVP – R/GA

—Ian

Historically companies that have resisted change have suffered. I urge all traditional publishing companies, both in our roster and outside our roster, to watch this video through until the end. In today’s economy, due in part to disruptive technologies, we are all being challenged to look within our organizations and ask “are we doing what is best for us or what is best for our customers.” DK books and Thekhakigroup nailed these questions in this video. All assets in your organization, print and digital, need to be working in harmony with technology, Social Media, UX and one another. Content Strategy can help—Be inspired to tackle change.

—Ian

I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Brown, Principal, thingsthatarebrown at SXSWi 2010. After completing his rounds in Austin, he trekked off to speak at Mix10 which he designed. Watch this presentation and learn how designers and IA’s need to be thinking about content and content strategy in wireframes. The stage has been set, now content creators and content strategists need to think more like designers and IA’s. Then we can all make our clients more happy, go to the gym more and go on vacation. (Freudian slippage revealed.)

If you can’t view (Silverlight download and microtext needs some CS love) view the excellent presentation here >> Running with Wireframes.

—Ian

The last time I was at SXSW, it was year 2000. I convinced my ad agency bosses that as a copywriter on the Dell account, it was imperative that they send me AND my art director partner (the extraordinary Enrique Mosqueda) out to Austin to investigate all this interactive hoopla.

To put things in perspective, these were the days when we were making ads for PC’s that played music (replace your stereo!) and “Workstations” with “RDRAM technology, dual processor capability and a 133MHz front side bus.” (I can assure you no one in our company had the faintest idea what a front side bus was.)

At SXSW that year, there was a panel on something revolutionary called a Weblog. Epinions.com had just come out of preview mode. And panelists spoke of a future where Broadband would make it possible “to watch videos on our Palm Pilots and beam them to friends.”

And there was a group of cool kids who called themselves Content Strategists. These were the copywriters of the future, it seemed—the ones who would still have jobs in the foreseeable future. They lived in San Francisco, slept in late, worked from home or cafes, were incredibly well spoken and making tons of money. Some of them had blue hair. All of them wore jeans. (I have torn apart our office to no avail in search of my business card from 2001 with the title of “Content Strategist” printed in a glamorous shade of black. Enrique even jazzed it up with ironic lo-fi black square dots. No doubt it is in an old coin purse with expired credit cards, chinese fortunes and cute boys’ phone numbers pre-husband.)

Back in NY, agency folks from junior AE’s to group directors started jumping ship, trading the agency’s pristine environment of glass, leather and steel, where fresh flowers sat on reception desks of the agency’s 15 floors, for poorly ventilated one-room startups stuffed with desks, computers, bean bag chairs and boxes full of dotcom t-shirts. They traded print ads and press checks for banners and HTML, which they learned from Webmonkey cheat sheets.

Back then, we weren’t sure who would be left standing once the glitter inside the Silicon Alley snow globe settled. But we copywriters were adding “content strategist” to our business cards just in case. Even if we had no idea what it meant to be a “content strategist.”

Here we are 10 years later. I’m a partner of a content agency, which means I’ll be footing my own bill to SXSW 2010 (goodbye Driskill, hello Sheraton). Ian will be speaking about web content. And everyone will be talking about the iPad and its promise to bring our favorite magazines back from the dead. Looking forward to 2020, when all of next week’s excited chatter will seem just as archaic as that “front side bus.”

—Britta

Does your website have similarities to a Flea Market?  Learn how Content Strategy can help.