We’ve had a productive 2010 to date with a lot of new sites heading out the door. And the good fortune and productive work continues with the news today that we won the pitch for the Spruce Pools web site.

We were one of three agencies pitching for the work and we’re delighted to hear we were the one they picked. Apparently it was the fact we approached the project not just in terms of building a nice web site but, as we always do, approached it as one part of their entire business and marketing strategy.

Sites do not sit in isolation of a business. Their existence needs to be considered in terms of how they interact and benefit the rest of the business and what the end user will get out of them. One of the things, we think, that differentiates enotions is the fact that we like to look at a business as a whole when starting a project and ask where the business is going, what its challenges are, and develop a site that answers these for 6, 12 and 18 months down the line. It empowers the end user, empowers the site and, naturally, empowers the business.

Our second site to go live this week is Manor Farm Broadchalke, a delightful bed and breakfast in the Chalke Valley, Salisbury.

Manor Farm is a handsome farmhouse dating from the 17th Century. A working farm, produce is home grown and the views from the guest suite look out over the two acre walled garden.

The site was designed in line with the client’s specific requirements, combining passive colours with plenty of photographs of the farm, buildings and attractions.

It’s a joy to have a portfolio of such varied businesses and styles. Keeps us on our toes and keeps things interesting!

Chapman Molony’s new site has gone live. The new site hopefully provides them with a more contemporary look, as well as full content management control of the site pages, news articles and calendar of events.

Search engine optimisation for their marketplace has also been applied, standard with all our site builds.

The site launch took place on a friday afternoon so that propagation of the domain could happen over the weekend and avoid downtime of the site during a busy week and any interruption to email.

If you are anything like the vast majority of companies I meet, you’ll have the Facebook site, you’ll have the Twitter account, you’ll be updating them on occasion with a sudden rush of adrenaline and enthusiasm and then you’ll leave them for months. Then you’ll come back to them again a few months later. Leave them for a few months. Back. Leave. Back. Leave. And so on and so forth.

If that’s you, you’re suffering from “Social Sweetshop Paralysis”, a fairly serious business condition but entirely treatable. This colourful, wonderful communication dreamland lies in front of you, but as you take your first steps in, you freeze. You know you should be using social media but you’re not exactly sure what for, where to look or, more importantly, why!

With the introduction of social networks, businesses have been given endless channels to market themselves. Whereas before they only had their web site, they now have the social networks, enewsletters, blogs, micro blogs, discussion forums, mobile alerts, PPC advertising, banner advertising, video channels. The list goes on.

The common fallacy with the web is that updates can be taken care of quickly and easily. Updates can be made quickly but, because of the speed of updates and because our thirst for information is so great online, the number of updates required outstrip conventional channels. We want updates, we want frequent updates and we want them now! The odd update, here and now, is not enough. If you’re going to use social media to communicate, you need to play by its rules which are frequent, focused and relevant posts.

Social Sweetshop Paralysis strikes so many people because the initial enthusiasm to use social media is quickly undermined by the sheer volume of work involved in feeding the channels and the lack of things companies usually have to say.

Whenever I discuss social media with companies, and advise to first of all consider who they are, what they offer, who they offer their service and products to and what their tone of voice is. Depending on the answers to these questions, we can then start to recognise what channels should be used and how they should be used.

Social media channels should not simply regurgitate the same information found elsewhere. The content featured should reflect the nature of the channel and the nature of the audience using that channel.

By getting in place a plan, from the start, which recognises what the channels are you are going to use, what you are going to use them for and the voice you will use on them, you can enter the extraordinary world of social media with your eyes open and aware of the job ahead.