But the danger is thinking that social media is all we need. A good campaign drives traffic to your website. What will that traffic see when it gets there?

It should see a website that’s as provocative and well-thought out as what hooked them in the first place. If it’s not – if your website doesn’t tell your story accurately, is out of date, or not appealing – then your social media effort is wasted and you’ll have a disappointed audience.

Social media doesn’t replace your website, it partners with it to give it exposure that wasn’t possible just a few years ago.

I have limited exposure to Fenway Park and the last time I went there was to hear Sir Paul but I realized I experienced something that is common to anyone in that area.

If you’ve ever been stuck in the traffic when the game gets out, there are cars everywhere and everyone is trying to get to the exit first.

That’s your website. Competition everywhere trying to get to the same consumer first.

It’s not just one approach that’s going to get you there. It’s what you say, how you present yourself and what you do to get noticed. Some web development companies will try to convince you it’s all about SEO, but it’s the combination of all three that will get your website a home run.

This latest very long article is from CNN’s tech blog. Of of the points it makes, the most relevant one is in the sidebar. “If people online only share worthwhile info, these services might be more useful.” Thank you for that!

Privacy and the Web’s signal-to-noise ratio

BTW, I consider this blog to be worthwhile info.

“All I want to do is write a plan and architect implement the project and make you money.”

If you’ve never seen Amanda Palmer perform, you must.

From what I can see so far, WordPress is relatively simple to set up initially, but much more difficult to manage if you want your site to look distinctive. However there’s no question that WordPress is part of our web landscape now and will become the platform of choice when it offers the option of customized design.

So I’m signed up for two more courses and WordCamp Boston in the spring. And maybe I can maneuver a WordCamp in Phoenix this January if I play my cards right.

There’s another series of excellent training classes being given by Boston ?PHP?. Saturday I spent the day at an intermediate PHP class and I have to say my brain hurt by the end of the day. PHP is server side database scripting and you do need developer brain cells to manage it. But the instructor Michael Bourque assisted by Bobby Cahill were terrific and kept us involved and (mostly) on track.

So now there’s just HTML5, CSS3 and all social media left to master and I should be all set for the next 6 months.

Maintaining your company’s brand is critically important to keep your customers’ recognition and perception of your company and what it promises. It’s almost sacred.

Yeah, yeah. My website does that, my business card does that. This week my blog is a messy desk.

But as my blog was being ignored, I was learning the fine art of tweeting and posting on Facebook. There’s some amazing information out there and I passed it on to anyone interested – and some not so interested. All I had to do was write an intro and I became an expert.

The Facebook pages were fun – I “like” a great group of people. As for Twitter…

1 – DON’T follow Guy Kawasaki. I know he’s brilliant but your account will be completely filled with his drivel.

2 – On that note, anyone I follow that fills my page is gone, unfollowed and outa here!

3 – I know you can customize your pages, but most of the customization is GORILLA UGLY. Please, don’t repeat your logo 30 times or display your last vacation photos in magenta. The clouds are really nice.

3 – You have to learn the codes. Now bit.ly was easy (the condensing program), but thanks and recognition is @, I believe # links it back to you, and much more vocabulary I have still to discover.

4 – LOG OUT, people. I stayed logged in for convenience and both my Facebook account and my Twitter account were hacked. It became very inconvenient.

5 – Learn the Twitter etiquette. When you do, you’ll start being accepted in the “in-crowd.”

And to put it all in perspective, here’s a funny article from a couple of very funny bloggers. “Don’t tweet that: How not to be a Twitter dork”.