infinite42

This may sound like a bit of an accusation but please read on.

I was wandering around the National Gallery in London today and staring in wonder at the amazing works by Rembrandt, Monet and Da Vinci. What is it that makes these so special? After all, they are just pictures, aren’t they?

It struck me that one reason is that here you are viewing the original work. This makes a big difference. It doesn’t matter how many copies you’ve seen on postcards, in books or even online. When you see the original the effect is amazing. You know that this is the source of all the copies. This is the piece that the artist worked on in the first place. You know it’s been touched and looked at and admired by many thousands of people.

How does this relate to a website? I knew you’d ask.

The internet is great because it allows easy replication of content and distribution worldwide. This means that the internet is full of copies of original work. Think about it. Bloggers copy posts from other blogs (if they are kind they will link back to the original work). Writers take original content and change it (just a bit) and build their own site. The worst is when you claim credit for someone else’s work (you are a fake).

The problem here is that this is not adding much value and certainly not creating anything original. What happens when you find something on the web that is original? You take notice. You read it. You might contact the author. You might even spread the word about it. These are good things for website owners.

What can you create for your site that is truly original? It doesn’t have to be a Cannelleto or a Cezanne. Above all, don’t be a fake.

Wordpress Expert talks about whether Apple will integrate Wordpress with the iPhone. To me this seems like a great idea. Take two excellent products and combine them together and you get more than the sum of the two in terms of useability and market buzz.

I hope Apple will put Wordpress on the iPod touch too since the WiFi lets you use it online.

If you have multiple websites or multiple products then a great way to increase their buzz and value is to make them work better when they work together. How about a Florida vacation rental website and a book about saving money when you visit Walt Disney World?

It’s time to step away from the computer and think about how you can make two plus two equal more than four for your website…

Yesterday I talked about my visit to the Apple store and how the desire to show stuff to your friends makes a product more appealing. I had a conversation going on in my head about buying an iPod touch and went back to the store last night to make my final decision.

Now I’m here, it still looks great, it’s still $300…

How can you apply this kind of buzz to your website and make it desirable and worth showing to other people? What can you do to make your customers feel really special or clever or richer or #1 at something? It’s a hard thing to do, but if you don’t do it you’ll just be out there competing with all those other average websites.

So what happened? How did my story end? Why don’t you finish the story and leave me a comment?

This is not an appeal for charity.

I have an interesting conversation running in my head right now. Two nights ago I stood in the local Apple store playing with a shiny new iPod Touch.

I want one, but it’s $300…

Now I’m not generally one for impulsive purchases and I’m pretty analytical. The sound and video quality is great and the touch screen interface is amazing. But is Google Maps really useful if you can only use it where there’s a wireless connection? Would I really want to download YouTube videos and watch them on the screen?

In the end I walked out of the store empty handed. All the marketing in the store hadn’t convinced me.

Yesterday my colleague came in to the room and started showing off his new iPod Touch. He said how amazing it was and everybody crowded round to take a look and play with it.

Now I really want one, it’s $300…

What’s going on here? I now want the thing even more because a friend has one, other people are impressed by it and I could show it off to my family and friends. That’s not very analytical is it? But it applies to so many things that people buy.

If people feel that buying an item will satisfy a desire and improve their status with friends then they are much more likely to make the purchase. In some ways they are buying it for their friends.

You can apply this to your website too. What does it offer that visitors will desire? What will make them feel good? Maybe valuable tips & ideas, or some secrets, or a way to save money. What does your website offer that they can tell their friends and family about?

This is a hard thing to do and not many people get it right. If you can do it then you will have a better website.

I’m going back to get one tonight, I’ll find the $300…

I’ll let you know what happens

PS. So why did I use iPhone in the title when I’m discussing an iPod?

There are a lot of parallels between great website design and gourmet cooking.

I enjoy cooking and I’ve been inspired many times by Gordon Ramsay. He has a passion for great food and amazing customer service. If you want to have a great website then have a think about these:

1. Great cooking starts with the best ingredients. For a website, if you have high quality images, well-written content and relevant links to your site then this is a good start
2. Michelin 3-Star restaurants use the freshest ingredients. Make sure your content is kept up-to-date and don’t allow it to go stale
3. 3-Star restaurants also show great consistency. Is your website consistent with itself and with your email messages and with your advertising and with your interaction with customers?
4. Great dishes are simple and use a balance of tastes that complement each other. Does this remind you of your site, or is it a random mix of ideas and technologies?
5. Successful chefs show amazing passion which comes through in the food that they serve. Is your passion evident in your site?
6. Successful restaurants have a clear theme and delight their customers so they spread the word and keep coming back for more. Does your site do this?

It’s easy to get distracted by fancy technology and quick schemes to grab visitors. Ultimately though you’ve got to ask whether this is helping you to have a great website which customers like and keep coming back to.

You can get yourself a 3-star website too.

Hell’s Kitchen is back on Fox and Gordon Ramsay is angrier than ever. His famous outbursts and insults make for great reality TV but behind all this there is a talented and passionate man who cares about one thing: the food that he serves to his customers.

Gordon Ramsay is a great example of a guy will only settle for the very best, and will (almost) stop at nothing to be at the top of his profession. Starting with a couple of restaurants serving wonderful food, he’s built an empire of three-star restaurants, books and TV shows. But it all comes back to a great product: the food.

Watching Hell’s Kitchen last night set me thinking about websites and online marketing and products. Is your product absolutely the best it can possibly be? Your product might be a website, or something that you sell on your website. Is it great enough that people look at it and say “wow, that’s really amazing”?

If it is, then they will come back to your website for more. And they will tell some friends about it. The friends will take a look and say “wow, that’s amazing”. And so it goes on. Just like a great restaurant.

This is the way to build a successful product and/or a website that goes with it.

Otherwise, you’re just serving up fast food to anyone that stops by…