Questions & Answers with Diana Popescu
optimized it Project Engineer
In today Q&A session, you will explore a specialist thoughts and ideas about:
- digital experience website development and management
- project management
- how to build a successful business model that will sell more and more and bring you the success you are looking for in the digital environment.
Tips and tricks for creative agencies but also great ideas on how to turn your challenges into opportunities.
Enjoy the ride!
Develop a successful digital experience for your customers
Q: Why is it important to have a solid online presence in 2021?
A: Think of it this way – if you aren’t online and you don’t shout out loud what you do, no one knows you exist. It is the only way to promote your products and services to a global audience. If you can solve a need, if you can truly help someone, bring value, then you should be online. You can also build a brand reputation online because when you engage with your audience they will connect with your brand more closely and they will be more likely to do business with you.
Q: What have your creative partners teached you about branding?
A: The creative agencies we work with are amazing, brilliant creative minds who can create the brand that you truly desire and need. At the end of the day, it is important to create something that would illustrate a clear picture of what you do. Think of a time you wanted to paint something (maybe you did when you were a student?) – you would first think of what you need to paint then you would pick the colours but would it make sense to the outside world? Would they see what you were trying to show? Maybe or maybe not. These creative agencies will help you pick the right strategy, the right colours, for you and will ensure that everyone understands the value you bring to the world. We live in a create discard era, and it is sad to see that we all create for the sake of creating. We need to approach business from a whole new perspective to be able to stand out from the crowd. Our partners will enable you to see the value you bring and will convey that into the right strategy.
Q: What is the role that website development plays in creating a successful digital experience?
A: If you want your company to be successful in the modern era then you need to have a digital footprint. As the backbone of your online presence, every type of communication, piece of content, or advertisement that you put online will drive the consumer back to your website. If your website isn’t built properly, then all of that effort you’ve put into driving traffic to it, would be wasted. Think of a force you apply in physics; you apply the same force to the object but if it moves too slowly in the direction you wanted it to move. If you want to achieve different results, then you need to apply a different force or apply it from a different angle. Your measurement of success can be seen in your KPIs, all you have to do is read it and adjust your strategy accordingly.
You need your website to establish authority. When it comes to finding a reputable business, consumers want to know where a brand stands in the industry.
The importance of a website cannot be overstated. But if this website is unattractive or hard to navigate, then you may be turning your customers away without even knowing it. In fact, a survey from Business 2 Community shows that 94% of people stated that web design is the top reason that they mistrust or reject a website. You can mitigate this risk by getting help from our creative guru’s.
Q: How can website management enhance website development impact?
A: As you can imagine, your website isn’t static, your website is a living entity that needs maintenance in order to operate properly. If you think about your car, even if it’s a new or a second-hand car, it requires maintenance, MOT checks, oil and filter change on a regular basis. The same applied to your website, if you leave it unattended, it will most likely crash.
Security is the most important reason that website maintenance is so important. Even if you are using WordPress with ACF Pro or Elementor or other CMS’s out there, you will need to ensure that your site is keeping up with software and security updates. Failing to do so gives hackers the opportunity to steal your data and harm you in ways you couldn’t think possible.
Not to mention that Google does love an updated website and it will raise rankings for websites that are updated regularly. A higher ranking increases your visibility resulting in more conversions. Updating your site with valuable information, fixing broken links, removing duplicate pages, and keeping your content updated will help drive both new and returning visitors. Win, win-win for you!
Turn challenges into opportunities
Q: What do you believe are the major challenges a creative agency faces today? What about the solutions that could help them overrun their challenges?
A: I would say the biggest challenge that creative agencies face is not knowing what is possible, not possible from a technical perspective. They sometimes create these amazing UX and UI’s that aren’t feasible and then they need to rethink their strategy and therefore waste time or go over budget with their projects. That’s where we come in to mitigate that risk by holding hands through the entire process. We assist them during the discovery phase by creating a comprehensive scoping document and costing the project.
The other important challenge is time management, hence why we provide account and project management for all of these development projects. We manage the entire project life-cycle, from client communication through to delivery so they can focus on what they do best – create an amazing brand for their clients.
The other challenge is the process itself. Most of the time we analyse their current tools and processes and immediately identify areas for improvement. We incorporate those processes with ours to reduce the time we spend in doing ‘’busy time’’ as we call it. Moreover, we assist them with the implementation and ongoing monitoring of these improvements.
Implement your strategy to deliver the ultimate business objective
Q: Tell us more about how project management enhances business consulting impact?
A: To be honest, I love what I do, I love helping other businesses out there run their business in a more Eco-friendly way. I guess that is the reason why I am fascinated about the circular economy and always looking at ways to improve productivity, to ensure that nothing gets lost, that everything is valued. I’m currently studying environmental engineering, an aspect that will be integrated into the business in the years to come.
Project management is more than just operations, more than having someone to help you with some admin tasks, project management is about the vision, about being able to predict what could happen during a project, as well as leading a diverse team towards a successful project.
I have applied all of the techniques I have learned into the business and I have helped many businesses run their business/projects in a more sustainable way.
Q: What are the key elements of a successful business model?
A: Success can be measured in your KPI’s but you need to have those nailed in order to measure your success. Those should be added in your business planning which will define the success or failure of your business model. Effective business planning will guide the overall trajectory of your business. It all starts with defining your vision, mission and goals. Once you nailed these you need to define the process, your internal and external process for achieving what you want to achieve in the business. This is the time to create the ideal process for your business. Not to worry, if you haven’t created it, as this is something that evolves with your business.
