We just launched our new web site. Folks seem to like it. Check it out and see what you think. But that’s not what I’m blogging about today. Today, it’s the value of traffic driving tactics.

For a long time, we’ve been getting about 500 views a week. Since it was the old site, we didn’t really worry too much about it. Then, last week, we sent an HTML email to a few hundred of our friends and relatives as part of our launch plan. We got 5000 views! I’m not a math guy, but I think that’s like a 1000% increase in traffic. If it were an intersection and not a web site, they’d have a traffic cop out there to prevent gridlock! And this week, at the halfway point, we’re already at 800 (60% above our average), which I assume is a halo effect from the launch event. We’ll see how the week shakes out.

The old sales wisdom is, “don’t be afraid to ask for the order.” Well, I guess we have shown that if you want web traffic, ask for it!

Took about as long as it took James Joyce to write Ulysses, but our new site is up. Go check it out. Let me know what you think.

The coolest thing about branding is getting to know people from other places and learning about their cultures. The other day I was on YouTube, watching and listening to IZ videos. If you’re from Hawaii, you know what that means. If not, search YouTube for “IZ,” and treat yourself to some practical Aloha. This gentle giant’s sweetness came out through his voice and his ukulele playng (oo-koo-ley-ley). I get emotional over music sometimes. And there I was with my headphones on, tears welling, listening to this 800 pound man sing “White Sandy Beach,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “What a Wonderful World,” and “Hawaii ’78.” I even liked Pearl Jam’s version of “Hawaii 78.” Something I’m learning is that there is a lot more to Hawaii than meets the eye.

I was just adding the category “Find an agency,” and going through all the posts to see which ones should apply (check it out, there are a lot of them), and I notices that we’re coming up on the first anniversary of this blog. In fact, we hit the one-year mark on May 7. Haven’t blogged as much as I expected to. But looking back, there have been some pretty good thoughts in here, if I do say so myself. 20 days and counting.

Also, it’s starting to be Spring. So things are looking up around here.

We talk about this a lot. The thing is, agencies are willing to go to great lengths to get business from clients that fit. But all too often, a new business pitch becomes a fishing expedition, in which the client doesn’t get the information they really need, yet the agencies take valuable resources away from current clients in order to impress prospective ones. Anne Peck Gibbons shot me an email today with these 21 points for choosing an agency and cultivating the relationship. I thought you might find this helpful.

1. Decide what kind of services you are looking for. (Marketing? Research? Full-service? Media? Branding? Project work? Creative-only?)
2. Conduct an online search with a view to your strategic need.
3. Thoroughly review agency websites. (Review staffing experience, work samples, and client list.)
4. Check to see if they have prior experience in your category, or comparable.
5. Narrow the list to a dozen agencies.
6. Talk to their people. Over the phone, discuss the scope opportunity to see if they’re interested.
7. Ask around. Check out their references.
8. Whom do you feel comfortable with?
9. Find out how busy they are.
10. Narrow your list to five prospects.
11. Visit their location, if possible. If not, ask them to visit your’s.
12. Ask them to show you their best work and their worst work. Discuss why.
13. Ask for a rate card or samples of previous efforts, with costs associated.
14. Meet their top executives.
15. Give them a plan of what you’re thinking. And make sure you are both on the same page.
16. Make sure you have a good idea of the budget and schedule, in hand.
17. National, large clients conduct a pitch to see what the agency offers (either paid or unpaid). Small ones sometimes pay for sample work, or issue an RFP.
18. Choose your agency.
19. Hold them to their deadlines.
20. Love your agency and let them love you, by giving them strategic, rather than executional, direction.
21. Give yourself a 6–month clause, just in case you want out.

I always thought it would be easy to do the old Jackson Pollock paint drizzle thing. I always thought it was a clear case of an interesting, promotable guy creating a “style” that he could reproduce fast, in his sleep, and make a lot of money. Well, maybe that’s all true. But the paint drizzling thing is not as easy as one might think. And if you don’t believe me, try it.

My problem is knowing when to stop. Also, it’s hard do decide, on the fly, how much to use of a given color, or what color works well drizzled over what other color. Of course, unlike Pollock, we can just hit the refresh key and start over. Once he drizzled on a canvas, the die was cast.

Try it. Let me know what you think.

Just got back from Hawaii, where we were doing a lot of interviews and photographs for a communication audit for a client in Honolulu. More on that later.

I was blown away by one high-ranking individual who used much of my one-on-one time with him to educate me on the “spirit of Aloha.” Of course, everyone knows that Aloha means hello and goodbye. But when the Hawaii license plate refers to the place as “The Aloha State,” it’s not saying that it is the “hello, goodbye state.”

This very kamaaina gentleman explained to me, with great passion, that the spirit of Aloha includes things like loyalty and generosity. But those are fringe components. At its heart, the spirit of Aloha is “love, responsibility, and doing-the-right-thing.” It is not a balance of these things, mind you. It is all three, all the time. It is love always. It is responsibility for what you say and what you hear…out of love. And it is doing the right thing…not necessarily the popular thing…out of love and responsibility. What a great and profound learning this was!

I love these people! Mahalo! And Aloha!

Here’s a little help for clients and copywriters: I learned it from Anne McFadden, my creative director when I was a kid in Pittsburgh. I think she learned it from a guy at Ketchum, who learned it at Ted Bates.

Check it out. In 29 seconds, at a conversational pace, a professional announcer can say…69 words. So, count ’em up. For a 30 second spot, that’s all you get.

We just learned that we’re going to be branding a company in Hawaii, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about it as the initiative goes along. They are very polite people, but very strong. It’s refreshing, if unnerving, in contrast of the growing tendency toward posturing and bombast among business people today. Not to go down another rabbit trail (here we go), but have you noticed how business interactions have become more combative and loud lately? Anyhow, our Hawaii clients are not that way. And I’m glad of it.

We’ve been planning a visit in a couple of weeks. Mentioned it to our friend Audrey yesterday, and she said she had been to Hawaii once, for 35 minutes, when she was in elementary school. She was on her way to the Philippines, stopped for refueling, flying with her mom on a military transport—her dad was an Air Force pilot at the time. She said the cabin wasn’t very pressurized, and she ended up having her feet swell so she couldn’t wear her old shoes anymore. Had to get new ones.

Anyhow, we are boning up on all things Hawaii. I dig that the big island has a whole bunch of climate strata (I think it’s like 11 or 13), including a rain forest, an arid desert, a live volcano, and snow-capped peaks. Of course, they also have some of the world’s best coffee—Kona. And the original people of Hawaii created some of the most awesome boats in the world—outriggers.

By the way, did you have any idea you spelled “Philippines” that way. Very tricky.

I’m pretty psyched. I’ll keep you posted.

We have a tradition of sending friends, clients, and others Christmas gifts of coffee and original art. One year it was linocuts. Another year it was potato prints. A couple years ago we sent “art kits” and let our client create art for a competition.

Well, not to tip our hand or anything, but this year we invited our friend Carl Blair over to oversee our creation of some original works. Everybody worked on the process that resulted in a bunch of cool art. Of course the Carl’s demonstration pieces were the best. He actually gave us one, which may end up in the hands of a lucky client or friend via some kind of drawing (details to be worked out).

Anyhow, CB showed us some tricks and gave us some hints. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, and other good things. All in all it was a great afternoon for the Gibbons | Peck crew with our dear friend CB. Thanks Mr. Blair!