small is the new BIG

Remember when?

The school was SO big?

The walk from one end of the school to the other was SO long?

The lockers in the hallway were SO tall?

The seniors (the top end of the school) looked gigantic compared to you?

I don’t know about you, but these questions caused me some anxiety as a little guy. How would I ever make it from one end of my high school to the other in 15 minutes? I would surely be late for my class.

Recently, one of our children happily mentioned that she had recess in the BIG room. I know this BIG room as our preschool’s gym. It is not a big facility, but in the eyes of our child this room is IMMENSE.

When you are little, your thinking is smaller. You don’t have the wide variety of experiences to draw from that future years will bring.

When you are marketing these days, you MUST think like a child – think small. Get into the head of your customer. What is her problem? What keeps her up at night? How can you make her life easier? How can you connect with her in a significant, distinctive way?

Get that combination right and you’ll be able to ‘open’ the door for customers all the time. Understand and recognize the ‘macro’ trends that affect your business, but master the nuances of your customer’s wants and needs on a miniscule level.

The world is a BIG place, but success happens in small increments.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

The new MSN.com: Useful and Easy

I know it is ‘Google this and Yahoo that’ from a Web portal perspective these days, but I am intrigued and ‘silently cheering’ when a competitor joins the fray -- especially when that competitor is as ‘liquid’ and potentially innovative as Microsoft.

The new MSN (browse it here: http://www.msn.com/preview.aspx) is still in Preview Mode, but it shows promise for the successful software company.

If you own a Web site, work with one, or are thinking of starting one, you should read my 3 tips on why MSN presents a seriously effective ‘destination’ for you and me. You may not be competing against the big boys, but these are ‘practices’ that can be incorporated into even the smallest ‘mom and pop’ Web site.

1.    Let it breathe: White space or ‘negative space’ gives you room to think, relax, and choose. The previous MSN.com felt crowded like a mall on the day after Thanksgiving. (BIG SALES!!) This iteration encourages the visitor who casually browse from top to bottom. Check out the vertical room between the links.

2.    I love the advertising: What? Who would ever say something like this? For most, advertising is a distraction to meeting their needs. I completely understand that without Web advertising much of what we see on the Web would not be possible. Seriously though, the advertising on the new MSN.com is subtle and unobtrusive – just the technique to encourage a few clicks, not just a land grab of impressions or soft brand-building.

3.    Waste a little time: Read a little news; monitor my stock quotes; browse the local beat – CHECK, CHECK, CHECK. The new MSN’s got all the standard items at the ‘portal buffet, but they’ve nicely sprinkled in the ‘other stuff’ for those interested in ‘popular searches’, Twitter trends, and Facebook updates. With social media’s rise, the Internet has catapulted like a cannon by ‘just news, sports, and weather’.

The new MSN may not change your world, but it offers a credible offering compared to Google or Yahoo. Check it out. Here’s hoping it exits ‘Preview’ very soon.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Where do you start your Internet day?

So where do you start?

When you first jump online, what’s your ‘leaping off’ point? For many of us, it’s the usual suspects: Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Wikipedia. Oftentimes, it’s the default that came pre-loaded with our operating system.

A forgotten portal (home page) that may be making a comeback is MSN. Microsoft’s recently made some noise in the interactive space with its Bing search engine. Since Bing’s US launch in June of last year, Microsoft has increased its US search engine market share. According to Wikipedia, Bing increased its ‘search share’ from 8 percent to 11.3 percent in the last 6 months of 2009.

Microsoft first got into the search game in 1998, but was quickly dwarfed by Google and its meteoric rise. I am an avid Google user for searching, but I'd really like to see someone push the mighty company to make the search behemoth even more competitive. Maybe Microsoft's Bing is that answer. 

I’ve ‘tested’ other home pages over the years (iGoogle, My Yahoo), but I’ve stayed true to MSN.com. The others have certainly presented more appealing offerings from a usability, look and feel, and content standpoint, but MSN became familiar – and I’ve stuck with it.

I noticed something different during a recent visit to MSN.com. It was like someone moved my remote control – something just wasn’t right. A large ‘The new MSN is coming’ banner screamed at the top of the page: ‘CLICK ME’. I couldn’t resist.

So before I give my breakdown of this bright and shiny MSN.com, do me a favor and tell me 2 things:
1.    Where do you start your Internet day? Why?
2.    Check out the new (Preview) MSN and let me know what you think.

Stay tuned for next time when I’ll review the new and improved MSN.com.

Until next time,
Dan Naden