I can’t remember what exactly inspired me to go shopping for my first website, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I believe it was late 2009 and I was starting a new life, going through the massive readjustment that follows the death of a spouse. I was also trying to figure out how I was going to support my seven-year-old daughter and my nine-year-old son through my skills as a writer. It was pretty much a “flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” time of life for me. The internet had been part of our daily lives for quite a while by then, and I had certainly spent my share of time surfing the web and visiting the websites of other businesses. For some reason, it occurred to me that I should have one, too. If a department store can have a website, why not a copywriter?

That first website was my pride and joy, and I expected it would sit there quietly promoting my business pretty much forever. A website wasn’t something anyone ever updated in those days – it was a “set it and forget it” kind of an arrangement. The problem was that, over time, my business changed. My business offer changed. The technology changed. The way people use the web changed. And the online opportunities for businesses changed. Three websites later, the team at Crossman Communications has just launched a web presence that is nothing at all like our first website.

I imagine you can relate to that!

There was some problem-solving involved in our efforts to shape our new website: I could never have predicted this almost a decade ago, but my business has evolved into an organization that provides two distinct sets of services to two different target audiences: we deliver content management services to successful businesses that want to show up better online, and we provide book coaching and editing services to people who are looking for assistance in publishing their first (and subsequent) books.

What complicated matters was the fact that I am a traditionally-published author with four books (and counting) to my credit. I have an author “identity” of which I am very proud. I wanted the reading public to be able to find out about my books and learn about me as an author.

The challenge was, How do you put all of that together in a way that people can navigate logically?

We opted for a main landing page at www.crossmancommunications.com that allows people to choose whether they want to visit the “Content with Clarity” content marketing micro-site, the “Awakening Author” book coaching and editing micro-site, or the “Susan Crossman, Author” micro-site.

We’re thrilled with the work Agenda Marketing has done for us on this website. It’s the most interactive of any site we’ve ever had – there’s a lot more video and many opportunities for people to download helpful support materials (some of them are still works-in-progress!).

The internet is continually evolving and it’s tough to keep up. Your current website is, unfortunately, just another step along the way to the next one. If you’d like some thoughts on what else is available to your business in terms of a new website, I invite you to contact us for a conversation about what that might look like. Having just completed a web re-do, this is a topic that is near and dear to our hearts!