May 2010 banner
Great thoughts
"Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing."

John D. Rockefeller
Philanthropist (and very successful businesman)

Tell people the benefits of what you do. Tell them what's in it for them. Tell them why you are different and why you are special. If you wait for them to figure it out, your competition will leave you behind.
 
Adams Jette Marketing
+ Communications
100 Argyle Avenue
Suite 202
Ottawa, ON  K2P 1B6
 
Tel: 613.235.5445
Fax: 613.235.5514
[email protected]
www.adamsjette.com
 
Websites, they are a-changin'
by Ron Jette
Astrolabe
Websites have changed considerably over the last decade. Once upon a time, people searched for your organization, landed on your home page and then tried to navigate to what they needed.
 
Now, thanks to search engines, they often bypass the "receptionist" and head straight for the boss. Instead of typing "Health Canada" or "Toyota," or "Kitchen Aid" into their favourite search engine, they might now type "Health Canada flu vaccine side effects" or "Toyota recall Prius" or "Kitchen Aid repair Ottawa." They want information and they want it now--they don't want to spend time chatting with the greeter at the door.
 
What does that mean for the home page? It still has a role to play, of course. And all the rules of usability still apply (Rule #1: Help them find what they need!).
 
More importantly, though, it means rethinking your second-, third- and even fourth-tier pages. Does every page immediately provide information that is relevant to the user? Does each one help visitors navigate to other parts of the website that may be of interest, much like a home page?
 
People are coming at your website from every direction and landing on pages that might be three layers deep in your website structure. That means you have to be ready to give them what they need--on every page

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FEATURED CLIENT:
NWAC2
The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) is founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote, and foster the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of First Nations and M�tis women within First Nation, M�tis and Canadian societies. NWAC is an aggregate of 13 Native women's organizations from across Canada and was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1974.

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Quotables
IPI logo (July 2008)

"They were not afraid to challenge us or make us think about issues that had an impact on our message. At the same time, they gave us options that helped us move forward.

"The writing was strong, positive and benefit-driven. Our expectations were high, their delivery was higher."

Mike Feinson
Innovation Partners International

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QuikTips
get smart -- Back in the day, quotation marks and apostrophes were little more than straight little vertical lines, half the size of a letter. This, typewriter makers figured, cut down on the number of keys needed because a straight--sometimes called a "prime"--mark could be used at both the beginning and end of a quotation.
 
Today, "smart" quotation marks and apostrophes--the little curly ones--are used to present a more professional-looking printed document.

When it comes to web pages, however, prime marks are a safer choice because depending on the quality of the HTML code and the type of browser, smart quotes may not display properly.