The single biggest mistake I've seen companies make in initiating a new site (or a re-design of an existing site) is what I call the 'poor catalog' approach. These firms budget dollars for building a site, then nothing else. That's like budgeting for production of a new catalog or capabilities brochure, then planning no further expenditures for using the piece in a direct mail program, as a response to inquiries, to distribute at trade shows and so on.

• A good rule of thumb is to devote half or less of your budget to initial site development, with the other half reserved for updates to the site and site hosting/maintenance and promotion for subsequent years.



• The second budget approach to avoid at all costs (no pun intended) what I call the bargain basement bandit. This is the person who is moonlighting, or doing their first site (after Aunt Molly's and their own personal home pages) or is the high school or college student son of a colleague. Nothing against these young people, in fact we will try to hire them if they can work with a system. The challenge is the quote they present is usually a real low-ball number. Even if they came close to meeting the criteria for choosing a supplier (a difficult task, indeed, because of the wide range of skill sets involved), they'll soon find the time required for your project is much more than they bargained for. And you'll soon find that they are hard to reach and that response time gets poorer and poorer. If you even consider going down this road, have a frank discussion up front about the time commitments. If you genuinely want to help your supplier get started and succeed, then don't let them sell themselves short financially or you'll both suffer.



• Another budget approach to avoid is the 'package plan' many small web shops put together. Rarely does even a simple web presence fit the pre-packaged approach suppliers develop to get you in the door or to make for an easy sell.



• Finally, if you plan to develop a web site or re-design a web site for better functionality, but have no printed literature, stop and do the printed literature first. We believe every business, with the possible exception of pure Internet plays like Amazon.com, and should have a printed capabilities brochure or catalog, or a series of flyers in print before attempting a web presence. Your web presence provider may be able to help you put together static, printed sell sheets as a precursor to developing your web presence.