Michael and I are in Ft. Lauderdale for a few days, and I wanted to make the most of my time here while he attended work-related meetings. I wanted to see if I could do some networking and maybe meet with a few up-and-comers in the creative arena. In particular, I’d wanted to meet with a branch of a PR firm who boasts authenticity and transparency in Miami. When I called them, using the number for their Miami office on their website, I got a machine with a very pleasant voice who instructed me to dial my party’s extension or leave a message.
So I left a message.
It stumbled out of my mouth, because what I really wanted was a friendly gatekeeper eager to help me get connected to the right individual. I didn’t know the name of who I should talk with, I needed help figuring that out. Sheesh.
Another website I found got me terribly excited. It talked about a collaborative workspace and this ingenious idea of a collective of creative talent that tickled along the lines of where my business is headed. As I clicked around the site, I couldn’t find any identity to connect with. No person, not even a phone number or email address. One paragraph on the about page listed a name, and then the detective work began.
I searched the name and it showed up in Florida Creatives. Ryan. I knew Ryan would possibly know of this person, so I sent him an email. And he did. He replied quickly with an email address and I sent an introductory email to this contact.
I got a phone call later in the day from the contact, and we had a great conversation that is the first of hopefully many. He laughed when I told him how I found him, and he was surprised that the site was that well indexed, since it was still in development. Ironically, he was in Orlando!
Everyone has reasons for having their website the way it is, but until they do usability studies, they don’t know what type of impact it has on their audience. If you want to do business with the public and other businesses, make it easy for them to engage with you. Remember that the first impression they get of you or your company could be the one from your website. Make it a good one that conveys the passion you have for what you do and for them.
