The soundtrack for this email is “No Woman, No Cry,” a Bob Marley original, but I prefer The Fugees’ rendition.
I believe it’s the best work of my career as a medical device marketing consultant, so if you ever wondered what exactly does Joe do? check out the new site.
It still has that new website smell.
Is mobile now more important than desktop?
The site was looking sweet on desktop but had some errors when we called it up on our phones. That meant it couldn’t be released.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but it was the first time I’d ever had a launch delayed by the way it rendered on mobile.
I share this detail with you ahead of your next launch. If you get “bad phone,” you’re not ready.
Customers might give you a pass if the error isn’t too egregious, but board and executive suite members may be less forgiving.
Before and After
ImaCor really needed an overhaul from being “The Game Changer for Managing Complex ICU Patients.”
Now ImaCor starts with “What’s in it for the customer” instead of their technology.
What do surgeons, attending physicians, ICU directors, nurse practitioners, and trauma quality managers need? We address each right there on the homepage.
We have a looping video on the homepage. In 17 seconds and in silence, you understand what the product is, how to use it, and what you’ll get.
And we launched phase one of a highly functional cost calculator for a tenth the price a big agency would have quoted. This piece will be a great lead generator for ImaCor.
Thanks to Bruce Colthart on graphic design; Shelby Klein, Trenton Maki, and Martyn Chamberlin on coding; and Lucia for the video work.
So what else?
God bless her, my mother-in-law would say “so what else” right after you told her something significant on its own.
Well, Mom, in addition to some of the most satisfying work of my career, I got a new computer. A burgundy Surface Laptop with 512GB memory and 16GB of RAM. I spent the better part of two days getting my programs installed.
Here are the programs (besides the Microsoft Office Suite) I can’t live without: ShortKeys, Snagit, and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Adobe was tricky. They no longer support my older version and wanted to move me to their $15/month software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.
So I did a little research and found PCmover for $29 (the live chat lady gave me a 25% discount; I didn’t even ask). It let me transfer a whole bunch of applications from my old computer to my new, saving me at least $180/year.
Postscript: One SaaS I recommend is QuickBooks Online (affiliate link) versus desktop. The benefits: I no longer manually reconcile my bank, credit card, and PayPal accounts; and my accountant can log in directly.
Unlimited graphic design?
My friend Paula recommended Design Pickle a few months ago. They are an “unlimited graphic design service.”
I looked into it in September after Content Marketing World when I decided social promotion was a strategy I’d neglected for too long.
Shopping around, I gave Pebbled a try because their service included graphic design and website development for a reasonable monthly subscription.
The service was terrible: I didn’t last a month.
- They are a “job shop.” That is, tell us exactly what you want and we’ll make it. No collaboration, no calls.
- They refused to edit (photoshop) images.
- They took six days to turn a logo into a vector file.
- They took 10 days to create a PDF version of a web page.
- They are based in Australia, so customer service wasn’t working when I was.
Implication for your business: While I only sampled one “unlimited graphic design service,” I suspect most operate the same way. If you want someone to help you think through a design challenge, ask Bruce instead.
Fast Round
- How Google Gives Us Insight into Searcher Intent Through the Results – Whiteboard Friday
- Why do Photoshopped images look neon when you post them online? Here’s why.
- How much do 2,900 ImaCor postcards weigh? 36 pounds. I lugged them from Seattle to Chicago for a trade show this weekend. It’s the first time I’ve checked a bag in years.
Thank you for joining me on The Journey.
See you next week – or sooner – if you choose to reply to this email,
