Starting a new business takes a lot of work. Starting completely from scratch without any idea of "what you want to be when you grow up" requires even more effort and may be considered a mild form of insanity. When you do start fresh, though, you can certainly say that at the point of conception that you have nowhere to go except up. The potential is unlimited.
Most of us are already in business or in a career and won't have that greenfield opportunity, which may be a good thing! It is easy to dream up too many options and never get anything done. However, many times there is nothing better than having a blank slate to work from. And there is one distinct example - when it comes to your website, your storefront, your voice on the phone, etc., starting from scratch can provide the opportunity to make it all to fit together. This gets us to the theme of this post - developing and maintaining a cohesive communication strategy.
I did a search for the word "cohesive" and found the following at WordNet:
cohesive (cohering or tending to cohere; well integrated) "a cohesive organization"
In other words, every element of what the public sees and hears - the home page, the voice on the phone, the video clips, etc., should mesh together to support your brand. This is not to say every page has to be exactly the same. The elements just need to mesh. If your message and theme is chaos then make it so across the board! (is cohesive chaos an oxymoron?). Working from a blank slate affords you the opportunity to think it through and come up with a strategy. Take the time needed, research the competition, ask your peers, ask your family.
Once you decide upon your theme, find the easiest possible way to maintain it. Find a good content management system so that everyone in your organization can help you provide fresh content for your site. You can get help with the initial setup of a website, but if you can’t easily provide new and updated content then the site will quickly become stale. Don’t try to string together too many different objects or widgets. It will just make it confusing to the customer and difficult to maintain.
For many entrepreneurs this fresh start may be their last chance to project a cohesive and professional image. Once things start to get busy, it is very difficult to keep track of all the elements that make up your storefront. Time goes by and the entrepreneur finds a new widget or tool or system that would add great value to their tool set. After a while the "seams" start to show and the presence starts to look like a patchwork quilt. You will want to make sure you have and follow a strategy to keep your presence cohesive. Just like us, as companies mature their "face" will start to show a few wrinkles. You go to the home page on their web site and they proudly state their company motto. You go to another and magically they have changed from being "the leading provider of xyz" to "the top seller of abc" or "the best solutions provider in the city". You call them up on the phone and they have a wonderfully recorded message touting yet another angle.
Now this is not to say that things should not change or evolve. Quite the contrary, things should always exist in a state of "constant and never ending improvement". Just let your content be the media for the change. As any small business operator knows, it is very difficult to keep all of the elements in the same theme. It brings to mind a comparison to "herding cats". Just try to keep to your original strategy or go 100% back to the drawing board.
What are you doing today to ensure that your image and your communication efforts are cohesive?
Bill Cooey
We help companies to create a Cohesive Communication, Collaboration, and Content Management Strategy!
