A picture may be worth a thousand words.

But here’s something for you to think about. When someone sees an image (your web images), WHOSE words will come to mind?

Meaning, WHAT meaning (i.e. words) come into your customer’s mind when they look at your website images.

And if you don’t have any idea about the words that WILL come to mind when someone interacts with your site (i.e. interpretation) , then you have a serious problem on your hands.

Here’s what I mean…

Your website should NOT be a work of art

If you’re reading this post, I’ll make a safe assumption that you have a website for your business.  Let’s not gloss over this one significant point.   It’s about your business.

Awards are useless… unless they’ve brought in business and continue to bring in business.  I.e., unless they have marketing value.

Here’s an example for you.

Late one night a few weeks back I saw a show on cable called “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.” The show’s host needed to shake a restaurant owner out of his rut, because the resturant was losing money fast.  And the chef/owner seemed oblivious as the business was failing around him.

The problem?

Well, how about having won too many awards too long ago that just didn’t matter anymore.  The chef was clinging to the past and creating “works of art” instead of serving up food that people wanted to pay for and enjoy.  So instead of a full house every night, he’d have a total of 10 people per week.

You do the math.

Would you rather have a packed house night after night, or not?

Now, the question for you to consider is what this means for you…

Your website is an extension of your business

Period.

Let’s just dispel all the myths and start right here.

It’s not about having a “brochure” online.  To be honest, when was the last time you actually read a brochure about another business, say from someone you met at a networking event or from the last sales person to come by your place of business.

So get this part right.

A site that does not promote your business using carefully crafted language (i.e. an actual marketing message) that YOU choose is a complete waste of your time, money and energy.

Works of art certainly have a vital and meaningful role in our human experience.

But we’re talking about business here.  And on that note, here’s a scary thought for you to digest:

One school of aesthetics (which “may be defined narrowly as the theory of beauty, or more broadly as that together with the philosophy of art”) believes that the interpretation of a work of art takes place in the mind of the person perceiving or experiencing the piece of art.

Meaning, the artist has no control over the “intended” message, since artistic interpretation is an interaction between the work of art and the one experiencing it.

What does this mean for you?

Well, wouldn’t you rather be the one in control of (i.e. crafting) those “thousand words” making up your marketing message? Or would you rather leave it up to someone’s act of interpretation?  The choice is yours.

Next Steps…

Any questions?  Comments?  Did we hit a nerve?

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