And now for something completely different

Now that I am, ahem, a published blogger on Ektron.com, I decided that now was the perfect time for me to transition my personal blog from being all about Ektron to something that more resembles a collage of the thoughts that fill my head. Hence, the quasi-rebranding of this space. Never fear, there will still be plenty of Ektron-goodness here, but I’ll also sprinkle in some other non-Ektron topics from time to time.

Some things I can promise about this space:

This is what happens in my home state!

• Politics – There won’t discussion of any here. I enjoy talking about politics and watching all the fun that comes along with it transpire, but if you ask for my opinion, it’ll simply be that I’m voting for the person with the best plans, who knows how to make a tough decision, and is less likely to be corrupted then the other person – if you can identify that candidate, mark me down as impressed.
• Sports – I follow the same 4-5 teams that I have since I was a kid and am as loyal and faithful as they come. Perhaps we’ll bond more though in that I fully support the hatred of ‘evil’ teams like the Yankees, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Duke Blue Devils – they could all go away as far as I’m considered. I probably won’t write much about these teams specifically, but I do use sports analogies a lot, so consider yourself forewarned.
• Entertainment – I enjoy shows that make me think, and ones that don’t as well. That said, I’m 100% not into Jersey Shore, the Bachelor, or most of the other reality stuff (save Temptation Island, the greatest reality show premise ever), so I can promise you this will be the only reference to Snooki that you’ll ever see here.
• Technology – Tech is what I know, inside and out, with more than a decade’s experience in everything from web design and development, to CMS, to CRM, to support and hosting – I can promise you I’ll cover that. I’ve helped roll out major deployments for Fortune 500 clients, large associations, mid-market shops, and even SMBs. I’m happy to share information around these experiences if they can help you with your project(s), whether they involve Ektron or not.

So, that’s kind of where I’m at on this. One of the other things that you can definitely count on is updates to a video series that I call ‘In a Minute’. I usually post one or two of these each month and they’re meant to provide a quick 60 second look a hot topic.

In fact, here is the latest addition to that series, “How Often is Too Often”, which helps provide guidance on how much is too much (or too little) when it comes to updating your website, your social channels, and more.

As always, your comments are appreciated and if you have any suggestions for a future post, I’m all ears. Thanks for stopping by.

Why more than a 'spin around the block' is necessary

Have you bought a car recently? Like in the last year or so?

I have - and it's amazing how that process has evolved over the years. Gone are the days spent haggling with the salesperson for hours. Gone are the days of driving from lot to lot just to see what they have in stock. And gone are the days of being vulnerable to the smooth talking car salesmen (well, for the most part).

Think about it, what's the first thing you do when you want to buy a new car? I'll give you a hint; it starts with G and rhymes with oogle. Right?

The first step is to do a ton of research at Edmunds.com, various dealer sites, Auto Trader, and the litany of other websites. But that's just the first step. Which made me think - after dedicating more than a decade to doing what I do, how is buying software similar to buying a car?

Love at first sight (or site)

One day you're sitting there and you notice that your seats are a little worn, the CD changer is so yesterday, and the odometer just rolled over 150,000. Still, the car runs fine and you're ok with that.

But then a friend pulls up in a new car with an iPod hookup and kicking system, TVs in the head rests, seat warmers, the whole nine yards. All of sudden, you're suddenly in the market for a new car.

Subconsciously, you now start noticing every car on the road. You're noticing not just makes and models, but exterior and interior colors, are the drivers in the left or right lane, and even who's driving the car (I don't want to be the guy that buys the Canyonero where the cigarette lighter is replaced with a lipstick holder).

And then it appears -- like it was put there just for you. Your dream car. It's got sleek lines, the sun glistens off the body, and you know the short list you quickly thought of based on the last ten minutes of driving, just got narrowed to one.

I'm no car salesmen, but there are some similarities

So after you raced home to search the web to address any initial questions and arm yourself with some information, you're headed to the nearby dealership ready to drive one for yourself. And this is where the processes are really similar.

If you compare the steps in a typical CMS purchase to that of buying a car, they're going to involve the following phases in some order:

• A demonstration (the initial test drive)
• Discussions around what it can and can't do (brochures, web browsing, the salesperson spouting features, etc.)
• Finding out where the software is strong and where it's weak (how's the sound system/can I get a sunroof/what's the warranty like/can I drive it again/etc…)
• The Purchase (driving away happily)

But here's what's funny - one of these steps is routinely skipped in both processes, and that's the third step. Have you ever bought a car after just one test drive? Probably. But that trend is changing, and that's why so many dealers now allow you to take a car home for the weekend, to really see what it's like. If they believe in their product, they know that the more of it you see, the more you'll like it.

And it's the same thing when it comes to software.

Avoid the lemon

Any software partner (CMS or otherwise) who really stands behind their technology will not only encourage you to go for a "test drive" of their technology with a quick spin around the block, but will push for and recommend a full Proof of Concept test of the software so that you can truly experience the application. By doing a POC that includes installing the software on your servers and spending days (not minutes) "test driving" the software against a set of pre-defined objectives, you can be certain that it's the right application for you.

In a software evaluation, you're likely to uncover the following:

• Things that it does better than you expected
• Things that it does worse than you expected
• How easy/hard it actually is to work with (the demo always makes it look so easy!)
• How much effort is really involved to deploy and manage it on a regular basis

Isn't it helpful to know these things before you buy? Of course it is.

Yet, what's interesting is that a lot of software vendors think this is an unnecessary step. In my eyes, anything less than this kind of commitment from your software "partner" is like buying a car based on the test drive, instead of buying from the dealer who loaned you the car to test drive for a few days because they stand behind their vehicle!

Happy trails

If you take nothing else away from this post, my hope is that when it comes time for you to look at potential solutions (CMS or otherwise really), you work through an evaluation process. As a sales guy, lengthening your decision cycle is not in my best interest, but it is in yours.

A great demo or test drive might make a great first impression - but once you pull off the lot, it's yours - so take the time to ensure it's exactly what you need before you sign on the dotted line.

Follow me at @jonmkee and @ektronchicago on Twitter. Connect with me at Jon Kee on Linked In. Friend me on Google Plus or Foursquare too.

New post featured on Ektron.com

So, some pretty exciting news. I am now a featured blogger on Ektron.com, so you'll have to work just a tad harder to keep up with all the excitement since you'll be redirected over there... Here's the info about my inaugural post:

The social media train continues to move forward, fast. Are you onboard?

"When it comes to social collaboration and community, I imagine that if you have a full time job in marketing or sales, you probably aren't devoting enough time to social. I get it, time is precious… But I suggest you reconsider.Recently, I was in a new employee was handed the keys to the Twitter account and Facebook page for their organization (Note: this is a multi-billion dollar organization). Upon checking the Twitter page, the last update was several months in the past meaning in the digital world, followers likely assumed that the organization was in trouble or understaffed..."

Enjoy!

Social Proofing - how consumers really shop these days

How are your customers deciding that your product is the right fit for their needs? Are you sending them direct mailers? Email marketing? Putting QR codes on the product packaging? Gasp -- looking in the yellow pages?

There are tons of things you can be doing as a marketer to reach prospective buyers, but are consumers seeing value in them?

I'd argue that yes, there are a lot of positive effects to the traditional marketing channels. You obviously can't ignore them. However, a lot of buyers are leveraging social proofing as a critical step in the buying process, which is what this installment of In a Minute is all about.
Give it a watch and think about how you can enhance your marketing efforts to reach buyers in all stages of their buying process.

 



Follow me: @jonmkee
Find me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4707404&trk=tab_pro

Got a topic for a future In a Minute? Comments are welcome and appreciated.

How to support your mobile initiatives in 2012?

Rather than write a lengthy blog post about how best to reach your mobile goals in 2012, I've started what I hope to be the first in a series of videos called 'In a Minute'. You can check out the video below, I'd love to hear what you think. On that note, please no comments about my overly short haircut...

Looking back at 2011

Though 2011 isn't officially in the books yet, we're definitely in the home stretch. Therefore, I wanted to get a quick post up with some recollections of the past 11 1/2 months as well as some educated guesses for what 2012 will look like.

Looking back.
2011 has been a really interesting year. Of course, I imagine that at the end of each year, I have the same thought, but nevertheless, I digress..

The Mobile Revolution?
We've heard a lot of people within the industry talk about mobile technologies taking off, and rightfully so. However, it is still baffling to me that mobile is a secondary requirement for many projects. For every client that 'gets it', there's 3-4 more who look at mobile as something they'll do "at some point". That's astonishing to me. Walking down the street, and just about everywhere else, people are consumed with their mobile devices -- yet, you don't think people care what your site looks like on a smartphone? It's just strange, And here we are in 2011, and it seems like companies are OK falling behind their competition, yet again. If you don't know history, you're bound to repeat it -- right?

Ektron 8.5 Delivered.
Many, many years ago, I saw a preview of Ektron 8.0, almost two years before it was actually released. And 8.0 was a great release, with content targeting, mobile support, in context editing, and other enhancements. Unfortunately, 8.0 is easily forgotten when you see Ektron 8.5. Ektron knew it needed to be a big release and it delivers. It's faster. It's easier to use. PageBuilder is cleaner and simpler. The developer enhancements are widely acknowledged (by people with a lot stronger tech knowledge than I). If you're an Ektron user and you haven't upgraded yet, add that to your early 2012 project list.

Newest Buzzword? Risk.
I don't know if it's the down economy, but I've never heard the term risk bandied about as much in my life. Newsflash -- everything has risk associated with it. If I don't put gas it my car, I risk running out and being stranded. If I don't buy food for my family, I risk us starving to death. If I don't pay the heating bill, I risk the gas company turning off the heat. I'm all for alleviating risk, but can we focus less on CYA, and more on ROI?

Alas, enough about the past.

Looking Ahead
I'm smart enough to not go out and make bold predictions about the world ending or Apple going bankrupt, so here are three things that I expect to happen in 2012.

People Actual Get Social.
Sure, there are millions of people of Facebook and Twitter, but many of them don't know why. Facebook is a little easier to comprehend because there are more personal connections forged there and there is a lot of water cooler type talk that's transitioned there. But Twitter/Foursquare/etc. are really primed to go more mainstream in 2012. When people start realizing the power these tools offer, and become more accustomed to seeing and using them on their mobile devices, we'll see a completely different social universe. On the plus side, at least we appear to be past the point of people tweeting 'going to the restroom, back in 5... or 10'.

Blogs will Come Again.
Even with dwindling attention spans, many social posts still reference something else, and blogs are a great landing spot. With the ability to abandon typical writing standards for the more informal, conversational blog tone, users will realize that somewhere between a long blog post (like this) and a tweet, is really the sweet spot for communication.

Specialization will Reign Supreme.
We see this across all avenues. When you go to Burger King, do you want a cheeseburger and Burger King cola, or do you want a cheeseburger and a Pepsi? Of course it's the latter (unless you're in Canada, in which Burger King carries Coke products (which I usually prefer, except during a recent visit where the goal was to find a Dr. Pepper and the local BK let us down)). While many tools will force feed you with their 'all in one' solution, successful vendors like Ektron will continue down the best of breed path, allowing you to pick who you think is best for each of the important elements of your marketing plan, instead of being dictated to you. In my book, it just makes sense.

So, am I off my rocker this fine afternoon? Let me know what you think and if you have something to contribute, be sure to comment below or drop me a note at jon (dot) kee (at) ektron (dot) com. Happy holidays!

Ektron 8.5: Strong Enhancements and Improved User Experiences

I've been playing with the Release Candidate of Ektron 8.5, which has been available for a little more than a month now, and there are some noticeable improvements that will make existing customers want to upgrade as soon as the new release is officially available (estimated end of Q3).

For those not familiar with Ektron, you'll want to note that Ektron is firmly committed to a provider model approach, offering a best of breed solution integrated with our enterprise CMS, instead of a one size fits all approach. It's a pretty simple vision -- why settle for average analytics/search/marketing automation/etc. when Ektron has tight integrations with industry leaders like WebTrends, Search Server, SalesForce, and others?

Rather than focusing on trying to be everything to everyone, Ektron has made the conscious decision to focus on creating the best WCMS and allow the other industry leaders (WebTrends, Search Server, SalesForce, and others) to continue to do what they do best -- using Ektron as the common bond. It's really an intelligent approach, especially if you already have some of these elements in place.

Improved UI
One of the first enhancements you'll notice is a simplified user interface. Gone is the blaring orange background that while useful as an added source of light when working in the dark, was often cited as an area that needed improvement. The text based navigation and use of contrasting greys/blacks/blues in 8.5 is much easier on the eyes and is simply cleaner from a graphical perspective, and the Workarea performs noticeably faster.

Localization
A second area included in the 8.5 improvements is Ektron's localization and translation capabilities. In prior versions, site visitors would automatically see the default language match when content wasn’t available in the selected language. In 8.5, users can designate a fallback locale, ensuring that visitors receive content in the most appropriate language based on their geographic location. In addition, Ektron's best-of-breed provider model approach includes integration with tools like LioNBRIDGE and other leading translation providers, giving you the best of both worlds.

Search
Now based on the Microsoft Search Server, Ektron Search brings new features including faceted navigation, dynamic search relevancy tuning, federated search, automated query suggestions, search analytics reports, and more. Search is another area where the provider model comes into play and Ektron plans to offer support for additional search tools in the very near future (stay tuned).

Developer Improvements
I've seen tweets that call Ektron 8.5 a "love letter to developers", so I have to assume that there are major improvements to the development layer (though I'm not a dev and can't comment personally). I do know that the Framework API (initially introduced in version 8.0) provides an added layer of consistency that helps developers maximize their efficiency when developing Ektron websites. In addition, 8.5's support for a true three tier architecture providers IT with increased flexibility and scalability when architecting their Ektron solution.

Conclusion
There's always excitement when an industry leader like Ektron offers a new release, and 8.5 has had no shortage of buzz thus far. I've been showing 8.5 to new prospects for about a month now and the response has been overwhelming positive. While there will always be ways to improve and evolve the software, 8.5 is definitely another big step in the right direction. If you're interested in downloading a version to play with today, feel free to email me and I'll be happy to help you out.

What do you think? Have you tried 8.5? How can we improve Ektron? Your feedback is appreciated, and encouraged. In fact, much of our roadmap comes from direct feedback from partners and clients, so tell us what you think!