The red mark on my back is not a rash.
I got it by repeatedly patting myself on the back.
Martyn Chamberlin and I completely redesigned and relaunched my MedicalDevicesGroup.net site in eight days.
Please, check it out and tell me what you think of it. Be as critical as you can possibly be.
The Design and Functionality Thief
It’s a pretty design, yes?
I completely stole it. I mean, completely, from Andy Crestodino’s OrbitMedia. See for yourself.
The advanced functionality? A most generous John Jones, who foresaw the LinkedIn tsunami back in October 2015 and aggressively recruited LinkedIn subscribers ever since, gave it to me.
I’m not the least bit shy or compromised about my blatant plagiarism.
You (and everyone else) wouldn’t have known about Andy and John unless I told you. The union of (people who visit Andy’s site) and (people who visit Joe’s site) has, until today, comprised of two humans: Joe Hage and Martyn Chamberlin.
Incredible time and money savings!
My complete overhaul came in at a fraction of a fraction of my projected budget. It took eight days instead of 8-13 weeks.
I didn’t pay for design. It was there for the taking – and you can steal design unabashedly too, as I advised in my 2012 video, “How to Rebuild Your Medical Device Site From Scratch.” (Watch it if you need to update your site.)
But you won’t mimic my “complex functionality coup” for free, unless you have a Jones-like benefactor in your life.
Sorry, Man. It’s good knowing people, you know?
Eight Days a Week
So how’d we do it in eight days?
That nice boy, Martyn.
- Martyn pushed his new-job start date back a week, just for me. What a blessing.
- His wife and son were away. I was his only client, his sole focus.
- We have a great working relationship. He “gets” me. It was fun being reunited, if even for a week.
- Even though I was in Nashville all last week, singing with my chorus at the feet of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s very best instructors, I worked around the six hours of daily instruction in the Belmont University cafeteria, mostly.
- We knew what the design was. No wireframes necessary.
- We repurposed almost all of the existing content. Just made it prettier.
- This one’s important: I pushed for the Minimally Viable Product (“MVP”). I have 30-40 improvements in queue.
Before and After
For your entertainment and my historical record, here are the before-and-after side-by-sides.
And for context, of the three major sites that support my business:
• MedicalMarcom.com, for my medical device marketing consulting;
• MedicalDevicesGroup.net, to support the LinkedIn group; and,
• MedicalDeviceEvents.com, for my events (also recently redesigned)
… the Medical Devices Group was the least important. I hadn’t touched it materially since its 2012 launch.
But now my strategy to support the 350,000-member group had to change. Instead of the LinkedIn group being the “big dog” and my site, the “tail,” the roles are now reversed. That’s why the investment of time and focus, and why so urgent. See last week’s Journey, We’re Not Gonna Take It, if you don’t know the backstory.
Okay, so here are the pictures.
Homepages: Night and day, right? I temporarily retired the Medical Devices Group Advisory Board for “MVP” reasons; it’s on the list. Colors contemporary. Featured items mimic LinkedIn conversations, a brand new feature. Blog posts more attractively laid out.
Webinar pages: New is contemporary, adds social proof of happy photos on top; webinars more attractively displayed.
Blog pages: A similar story. I took out the ad with my photo (it was inviting people to submit articles; they never used it). The sidebar might return; not sure.
Brand new contact page: This had no precedent. I had been using my “email trick” but this is more elegant and has the added advantage of categorizing the reason for the contact and storing it in my Drip database.
I love the way this came out. Note a subtle trick: Those three icons and short descriptions remind visitors what kinds of services I can provide.
Martyn and I think it’s the best work we’ve done together. Your feedback most welcome. Be as picayune as you’re willing. Anything you think can be improved, probably should be improved.
Fast Round
-
Quartetting. I almost never sing in a quartet. It’s too hard; too time-consuming. In a quartet, I’m the only bass. If I need a breath at the wrong time, a word or phrase goes completely unsung.
The performance aspect of four guys onstage versus 50 is completely different. And the best quartets labor over each. and. every. syl.lab.le.
Can you imagine? I just don’t have the time or patience.
Last week was an exception. There was a side event called the “Harmony Brigade.” 40 of us learned eight songs. We showed up and were randomly paired. We “competed” the same day. It was stress-free, I missed some notes (big deal), and fun! We came in second. Enjoy(?) our performance below.
-
Crash into me. A Dave Matthews reference, but my computer crashed today. Microsoft phone support told me a replacement was my only option. Miraculously, the system booted once I arrived at the store (of course).
Fortuitously, Matt contacted me for the first time in a week. (Just got back from his honeymoon.) Congratulate him!
Long story short, I put him on the phone with the Microsoft guy, they kept my computer for a three-day diagnosis and/or update, and – on their advice – I bought a new computer so I could work the rest of this week!
When my computer is fixed, I can return this one for a full refund! In effect, a $2,500 loaner computer. Now that’s great service!
-
I’mma let you go. I talked enough and you have to get back to work.
Thank you for joining me on The Journey.
See you next week – or sooner – if you choose to reply to this email,
P.S. My chorus, Northwest Sound, is singing a ballad so beautiful, I wept three times while in character. I can’t wait until we’re on the International Stage so I can share it with you.
