My Two Cents on a Few Websites
In case you didn’t know, I earn a living as web consultant for political campaigns. I develop websites, formulate strategies, and try to turn online activity into Election Day results. I’m fascinated by the latest developments on the web, and every once while I like to give my two cents about the newest political websites. Here are a few I would like to highlight:
I can’t say enough great things about this website. The NRSC has an outstanding web team lead by Stan Olshefski and Richard Sales, and this website is truly a reflection of their abilities. The website looks clean and simple, but has numerous layers to give any visitor an adequate amount of information and entertainment. I really like the petition on the front page (collection of e-mail addresses should be the primary purpose of any website), and large blip.tv video screen featuring a great web ad on the situation in Berkeley, CA (editor’s note: imitation is the highest form of flattery). The website has a large emphasis on content. They regularly produce high quality web videos, and their blog is updated multiple times everyday. Most websites you visits don’t give you a good reason to come back, but the NRSC does more than enough to attract political aficionados to visit on a regular basis. I also really like their new “Two Seats” program, which allows you to form a slate of 2008 Senate Candidate and donate to their campaigns. They also have developed multiple web campaigns highlighting various aspects of key races that could decide which party controls the Senate. This new website coupled with the really well designed GOP.com truly gives hope that Republicans will be able to catch up with Democrats online this cycle. These two website are the gold standard for ecampaigns.
I don’t know who does Rep. Bob Inglis’ website, but I actually like it. Last week, Inglis posted this invitation to a dance themed fundraiser with a goofy outside-the-box video. I realize it’s cheesy, but it certainly gets people talking about it. The reason it works because it has the potential to be forwarded past the original recipients. This will lead to new people getting invited and new donors giving. The other thing I like about his website is the creative use of icon names like “O Donor, Where Art Thou”, “Get Down With Bob”, and “Real Conversations”.
While this is a great website, I have a few issues. First, there isn’t an e-mail signup form on the front page. Remember e-mail is the key to a successful web campaign. Barack Obama isn’t raising $60 million in February because he has heavy site traffic. It also lacks a splash page, which I also feel is essential for collecting e-mails. Finally, Rep. Inglis isn’t reaching out to blogs in South Carolina. I had to find out about this on the Politico. It is great that he is getting national attention from his web work, but only a small percentage of the Politico readers will actually be able to attend this fundraiser. While my readership certainly pales in comparison to the Politico, I willing to bet I have more readers who willing to donate to Inglis’ campaign here at the Shot. Producing an entertaining web video is terrific first step, but you can’t forget the purpose of this web video when deciding how to distribute it.
Last week on the Palmetto Scoop, Speaker Harrell promised to debut a new website. He delivered on that promise today when he launched the redesigned BobbyHarrell.com. It’s a good clean looking website built on Joomla. It also features a custom flash player with cool photos, several action items, intro video, up-to-date news items, and big red contribute button.
It’s a great website for a State House Speaker, but if Harrell is serious about running for Governor he needs to kick it up notch. E-mails are important for any political campaign, but they are particularly valuable for any major statewide race. BobbyHarrell.com attempts to collect e-mails using a both “newsletter” and “volunteer” pages, but this isn’t enough. He needs a splash page and an e-mail signup on his front page. It also completely lacks a shtick. Inglis has “O Donor, Where Art Thou”. The NRSC has “Two Seats”. Sen. DeMint has “100,000 Strong for Earmark Reform”. Every great website has some sort of fun and cool gimmick to translate online activity into real world results. Speaker Harrell’s website is a little vanilla right now, but Joomla is a flexible platform that should allow him to do a few cool things in the future.
I also want to note that Speaker Harrell’s Communication Director, Greg Foster, has done an outstanding job with blogger outreach. He treats us like members of the media, and that goes a long way in earning goodwill among members of the conservative blogisphere in South Carolina.
I’m not trying to brag about my work (I helped develop this website), but rather commend Rep. Nathan Ballentine on his superb blog. Rep. Ballentine gets it. He regularly posts on his blog, but what makes it great is how he does it. Ballentine uses humor to explain complex policies which transforms a typically boring subject into an unusually interesting post. He also blogs about his personal life, including his heart wrenching decision to finally sell his car:
You’ve heard me talk of my affinity for my car (and how tight I am with money).
Well, after 10 years of driving a 1995 car, I’ve made the decision that it’s time to part ways.
Let me pause to gather myself, please.
When I was looking through the paperwork tonight (yes, I’m a pack-rat too - another quality passed down from my maternal grandfather, JD Winburn), I noticed that on April 10, 1998 I bought the three-year old car with 27,195 miles.
Almost 10 years later, I’m letting her go with 195,000+ miles showing (note: the speedometer and odometer broke February 2007 so I figure I’m well over 220,000 actual miles).
Now before you think I’ve gone off the deep end and will now have a whopping car payment, I’m actually buying a car that’s ALREADY SIX YEARS OLD (2002) with over 70,000 miles.It wasn’t so much the fact that I didn’t know how fast I was traveling or how far I was traveling (for the past year)….or the sporadic flashing lights that would come on from time to time, it was the slipping transmission that finally got to me. Having to wait a minute or two before getting in gear isn’t that big a deal and I tried to hang in there the past six or eight months. Over the past few months though, the wait-time had grown to 10 minutes! When Sarah told me one morning last week (while we were sitting waiting for the car to get in gear, hazard lights flashing, and having to wave the neighbors around us in the street) “It’s time to get a new car. This is embarrassing. You’ve had this car since I was one”, that’s when I knew it was time.
It’s this type of personal entry that gets people to start seeing you as a person rather then a politician. It’s also the type of entry a ghost writing press secretary or consultant can’t replicate. Sen. Kevin Bryant better watch out because if Rep. Ballentine keeps it up, he might end up taking a backbench to this new member of the blogisphere.