Most sites can be broken down into two categories: those which safely deliver content within the outlined web standards and the sites which are constantly trying to identify those boundaries and then break them by doing extraordinary things. In case you missed it recently, there was a big buzz around Ashton Kutcher and CNN. Kutcher challenged CNN in a “Twitter-off” where he believed he could beat the news giant in a race to get one million followers on the fast-growing social media site Twitter. The unique thing about this event is that it embraced the new technology and demonstrated a new way to communicate to a massive audience. Whether you were a part of that event or not, it spoke to the power of technology and the evolution of a new and constantly improving platform for communication and information. This is what the internet has become.

”Looking good” online
It’s become common for an employer to perform an immediate background check on a perspective candidate by looking them up on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. You are completely exposed. In parallel, you are your brand, whether you’re a company or an individual, and the internet is where your audience will find you and learn about you. It’s time to start to thinking about how you and your brand extends beyond your physical presence. Now would be the good time to take inventory and teach people about the potential of you and your brand. Instead of becoming the lame duck waiting for people to find you, be proactive and invest the time in fostering your voice, vision, mission and activities. If there’s anything unique about you and your offerings, incorporate and promote that message clearly within your website. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are a great way to keep people abreast of what you’re up to, and are hard to beat as PR vehicles for you and your company.

Dynamic content: up-to-date
We are in the time of “now” and the ability to make content dynamic. Ensure your content is current, up-to-date and consistently reflects your vision. A majority of sites are built on platforms that allow the owner of a site to be able to edit content on-the-fly. This kind of platform is called a Content Management System–CMS for short–and it allows all of the information of your site to be updated quickly and efficiently in real-time. A prime example of a website utilizing a CMS would be a blog, but this is just a beginning in the world of creating real content that matters. What does this all mean for your brand? This allows you to sit back, understand what content people are accessing and form and shape the content directly for your audience. You learn from their behavior and build a better forum that speaks more directly to them. If your audience finds you interesting, they’re going to want to invest time in learning about you. Also, the content you produce is easy to transfer to your social networking sites. With just a few clicks, you can post directly to Facebook or Twitter and generate more traffic to both your intended network as well as the millions of other users who can now find you on these media platforms. Just remember, content is still king, so make sure your site content–blogs, static pages, and interactive elements–is unique, compelling and adds value to the users’ life and experience.

If you build it, they will come
As they said in “Field of Dreams,” if you build it, they will come. Also very true with the net. If you put a website up, of course you’re going to get traffic, but most likely it will not be much to brag about. So in reality, we need to talk about conversion and how we can use the traffic from that conversion to generate believers, followers and preachers of you and your brand. That is the golden key to a successful site on the internet. Create a brand and philosophy, build a website as an extension of that brand, then generate a following and offer them enough to want more. Once you have your site established and it is at a point where you are happy with it, get connected on social media and utilize the great power of these networking tools–you’ll tap into a whole new audience.

What do you have to say
Create your vision, set your goals and support that overall presence with a nice space on the internet which is all your own. The internet creates communities, clubs, friends and support groups, among other things. Audiences become heavy “die-hards” with cult followings when they find a place that speaks to them and their identity. Whether you own a company, or are a freelancer/contractor or are just an all-around interesting person with an online presence, take inventory and think about the overall feng shui of your “house.” Do this well, and chances are good you’ll notice a marked interest in what you’re up to–and in real time.

An idea with “legs”
You wake up from a dream in a surreal state of mind, jump out of bed, and look for a pencil to write down the parts you can remember. This is where grand ideas are born and nurtured, in this dreamworld where we’re not hindered by our limitations but rather motivated by our aspirations. Whatever those aspirations are, they make your idea the next “great” idea. Because these thoughts are fueled and furnished by your life, it becomes a great idea to you and the hundreds of thousands of people who live a life similar to yours. There’s value in that idea, it’s got potential. And what’s a great idea if you can’t share it? This is what will separate you from your competition: your willingness to dream, foster your creative spirit, test and feel out your idea and set it in motion to fly.

When an idea goes too far
Recently, Pepsi decided it was time for a rebranding effort, one that would (hopefully) speak to a younger demographic. The end result was a series of new brand marks intended to represent emoticons or facial expressions. These emoticons are the very same things used to express emotion in text and instant messaging, among other things. The study and extensive idea pitch used to present this new brand was convoluted and loaded with a lot of overreaching theories and relationships, many of which were completely lost on the intended audience. This prime example of how an idea spiraled into a really bad execution started with a pitch by the Arnell Group—the same Arnell Group responsible for the heavily criticized and failed attempt to rebrand PepsiCo’s Tropicana Orange Juice. The effort to re-brand the iconic orange juice maker was such an epic failure per consumer feedback that Tropicana decided to ultimately revert back to their original packaging. Even after this fiasco, Peter Arnell of the Arnell Group stayed calm and defended his agencies ideas/concepts passionately. Was this a series of flopped ideas or was this simply another large agency with an impressive portfolio who gained the trust of a client and then proceeded to let them down–not just once, but twice?

Do your research
One could make the argument that the Arnell Group’s ideas were not researched thoroughly or that they tested improperly for the market. Whatever the case, companies need to follow a certain set of conventional steps for an idea to succeed. Once you get the feeling of excitement and revel out of your system, and you still have the energy to proceed, do your research. Even if you have the potential to create the next “big” idea, it may already be out there. There are millions of people in the world and it’s highly likely that someone has thought of your idea as well. Once you get your background research out of the way, set a goal for your idea. What is its purpose, how will it materialize, can it generate money or simply just help people, will you give it away for free and who is your intended audience? These are just a few questions that start the process of helping you attain your goals.

Plan Your Success
Ideas are what they seem—thoughts, dreams, aspirations. Now that you’re ready to execute, it means that you’re also ready to assume the role of the entrepreneur. Even the greatest entrepreneur needs a little help. Plan your actions wisely and hire a team with experience in your market: If you need to fix a tooth, you don’t go to the mechanic. After all, it’s your idea, your baby, your concept—nurture it with seasoned professionals who have experience launching brands and understand the amount of effort, time and dedication involved to become successful. Find the right team who will be excited and care about your brand as much as you do, who will go the extra mile and evangelize your new company with confidence and success. Your company will be more successful for it.

One-on-one speech is the easiest and most common form of communication. Without it, all you have left to communicate are images and words. Pretty simple when you break it down. But what happens when you’re not fully utilizing your opportunity to be heard, to be understood and sold?

With consumer attention spans getting shorter than ever these days, one of the most common ways to cut through a lot of this “noise” is to develop a concentrated point of view. You can do this by knowing your audience, understanding their needs and trends, and more importantly, realizing their expectations and delivering a promise which will gain their loyalty.

It all starts with a simple message, which is at the core of any successful brand. And to do this, you have to know who your audience is. Are you speaking their language, and directly to their needs, desires and emotions? If you’re doing this and focusing on exactly what your product is, what it does and how it can improve your customer’s lifestyle, you’re on your way to building a strong brand, loyalty to it, and most importantly–sales.

Of course through all of this you need to maintain focus on aesthetics and design, which is becoming increasingly important to consumers. It might even help to think of design as a philosophy since opinions around “good” design can be so subjective.

Impactful design is how you, as a company, can evoke and speak directly to the needs of your customers, in their language. Companies today must begin to “think” differently. In many markets, the notion that Advertising Sells is still valid. Now, with the invention of social marketing and growing dependence on consumer reviews, the traditional models are becoming less popular. The need to cut through the noise is increasing as consumers are becoming more educated. We have come full circle to a place where we need to actually start building a better, more efficient product and speak directly to our audience. It’s the consumers who have made us all more conscious of our surroundings and become better producers.

This lesson will reign true every time you return to a store looking to replicate your last shopping experience with a certain sales associate: A focused message, look and feel, and customer experience is what will make your brand the one that consumers will seek out time and time again.