Chances are if you are a business owner, you have a web site.

Unless you hang out with a geek like me, you have never heard of Responsive Design. Why does it matter? What is it?

Responsive design is what happens when a website meets a huge big screen monitor, and a little laptop monitor and a Kindle screen and an iPad screen and an Android phone. The design addresses all of those. It looks good and works on all of those.

Really? how does that work?

In the example below, we have different designs for different devices. This particular example is one where we built different layouts for mobile both portrait and landscape, as well as an ipad version, and they are all loaded at the same time.

RWD we did for topgolf.com

The way it works is that a design is done for mobile first (hopefully) and then built to add content and scale up as the screen changes. That way, mobile elements only load what is necessary and each interface is optimal for each device. The code on the page determines what size either the screen or device is, and serves up the right layout to accommodate it. It’s really cool.

There is debate among geeks as to whether building a separate mobile site is better than building a site that has multiple designs at once like this. If you know geeks and have an opinion, you can argue with them about it. Me, I fall on the side of mobile-first responsive design. Nuff said.

If you have a well built site, this type of approach is an easy add-on. If you haven’t updated your site since 2005, you might want to think about doing so… and make sure to use responsive design. It’s going to become more and more important.

Had a meeting this week with a business owner who wanted to know if we understood marketing in his field. His field is different than ours. Suspicion is understandable.

Here’s the thing though? Some ideas are applicable to every industry. Basic principles about marketing are global. Marketing is really about getting yourself into the position to be at the right place, at the right time.

What we believe about marketing in the B2B space is pretty simple. You are good at what you do. You tell the truth about yourself, what you think and in some cases what you are doing as loud as you can, in as many formats as you can. You make friends. You make friends online, using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (or whatever channel applies to your industry.) You make friends in local groups as well. Those channels are sort of like ongoing conferences. You blog, which is where you let people in, online. Let them get to know you.

When you connect with others in your industry, you occupy their mind space, even if they just see your name. You do favors, answer questions. You be a friend. It’s important to go to conferences and networking events to meet people face to face too. But basically, you do good work and work on people -knowing who you are- in your field.

This is marketing. It’s not going to see an immediate return. But what will happen is all of these things, daily things that you choose to do consistently, build a wave for you. The wave translates into work and sales.

Did you hear me say consistently?

One of the things we do for our clients (try to do) is to help set them a routine. We want to program the people and give them a tool to use (the routine) so they can stay consistent in their marketing. If they don’t follow the routine, we email them, write persnickety blog posts knowing they will read them…as a reminder. We might bet them or challenge them to do the routine for a few months, with a hard deadline to check back in and see what happened.

Because we know, if they use the routine, they will see results.

We know you can’t just program tools, you have to program people. It’s the people who use the tools. Ultimately it’s their habits that will determine their success or failure. If you have a beautiful website and a wonderful blog but you don’t tweet, write or post? If you’re not making friends, taking part in the global conversation going on online?

Well, you’re not marketing. That’s what we think.

You have to be consistent. Consistent does not mean you try Tweeting for two weeks and quit. Consistent means you commit to a regular routine for a year. Yes, I said it…a year. Marketing builds a wave and that wave doesn’t happen overnight.

That doesn’t mean you have to do those things daily. You just have to do them regularly. You determine what regular is for you. The most important thing is to begin, to find your voice and to use it.

So do we know how to market for your industry? Maybe we don’t know which cliques are important in your field or the industry jargon that you use. But we do know the landscape and the habits you need to get results.

Try it. What do you have to lose?

I train a lot of our clients in how to use Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn.

One question I almost always get is, “Why should I bother doing this, I don’t see any value in it.”

The question frustrates me. I understand that people have demands on their time. I give them a routine to follow and if they follow it, much like following a diet, they will see results. The results are not magical or instantaneous. You’re not going to get an immediate vertical shift in traffic or suddenly become internet famous. So maybe expectations need to be examined.

What do you want to get out out of it?

There is a global conversation going on. If you are not part of that global conversation, you’re going to miss a lot. And if you follow the routine, over time you do see benefits. Your voice has greater impact. You’re able to get direct feedback regarding your products or services. You’re able to discover what’s important to people, and why, if you listen. The power of Twitter isn’t just in talking. It’s in listening. You learn, you get news quickly. There is immense discovery and there can be collaboration and encouragement. Yes.. you can see an increase in website traffic. There’s that too. But will it be quality traffic? Will the people who visit your site because of your efforts be there for the reasons that you hope for? Will your visitors be engaged?

It depends.

Let me put it this way. The five people you listen to and spend time with most will have the most impact on your life. They, above all others, will challenge you…or not. Those people have the power to influence you for good or for ill. If you surround yourself with achievers and positive influences, the impact will be positive and you will grow. The next most influential factor in your life? The books you read. A great book can change your thought life and give you direction, create understanding and train you.

Twitter, though only 140 characters at a time, can combine the essence of both. Of course you have to use it wisely, follow positive people. How you use Twitter will determine what you get from it. Read substantive articles that others tweet. See how other people solve problems and challenges. Get inspired. But you also have to be positive and you have to contribute your own substantive thought. That’s where quality traffic comes from. This is a place where the cream can rise, but you have to be the cream. There is no getting around it. The good news is, just being consistent, polite, friendly and informative on the things you already know can make you cream.

Twitter is a sphere where you can be positively impacted and positively impact others. If you want to use it to promote your business, great. Do that. If you want to use it as a vehicle for the dissemination of your message, that’s fine too. But social media isn’t a magic bullet. It’s a tool.

How you use that tool is up to you. So why bother with Twitter? What’s the value in it?

If you have to answer that question before you’re willing to use it consistently, there may not be any value at all.