Do you have someone that holds your vision in one hand and digital strategy in the other?

Larger companies do. It’s called a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and they make sure the technology and digital strategy all line up with the future goals and mission of the company.

Do you have a CTO or any other form of digital leadership? If not, you might notice that your web designers, SEO agency, social media expert, and every other consultant in the digital space, are leading parts of your company in their own direction.

You’ve invested too much and what you are doing is too important to throw your cards into the digital air and hope for the best.

What if you don’t really need a new website, just updated content? A web designer has more incentive to sell you the new website. What if SEO, or search engine optimization, isn’t the most important thing for your business right now? For an SEO expert, it probably will be. What if social media advertising isn’t the best use of your budget nor in line with the specific customer you want to connect with? For many social media experts, it is their only product and only frame of reference. For them, it’s always the right answer.

In addition to that, each consultant wants to put their own technology stack into your business and on top of your website. This results in a slow web site and a complex network of software that rarely gets used. It means confusion for you and your team instead of what all of this is supposed to do – empower you to know and serve your customers better.

I don’t like to believe that most of these consultants are trying to sell you something you don’t need. It’s just that their frame of reference is too focused on a single aspect of digital marketing and technology. They can’t see the big picture for your company to help you find what will connect you with the right customers; in the way you want to connect with them.

Digital leadership is vital.

Over the past 20 years I have worked as a web designer, developer, advisor, and CTO. I have seen hundreds of companies bounce from consultant to consultant, never really getting what they are looking for. Companies spending thousands and tens of thousands of dollars on experts that each have their own vision for their client.

What if we changed that? What if your first consultant was a web advisor, CTO, or some form of digital leadership? Someone who invests in understanding the heart and vision of your company first. Someone who helps you develop the right strategy and find the right people to make it all happen.

I believe in small and medium business and their role in making a difference in our lives. I want to see digital leadership – in web advisors, on-demand CTO’s, and any other form of digital leadership, become the normal.

Without digital leadership, it’s too easy for your message, vision, and potential impact, to never find its voice nor place on the digital scene.