Web Site RFPs: Shoot from the Hip or Take Careful Aim?

At the web agency I work at, DC Interactive Group, I’ve answered our share of RFPs as more and more prospective clients realize the benefits of having a marketing partner that thinks creatively.

I’ve seen everything from two pages “outlining” (and we use that term generously) some general ideas and rather vague direction to documents that detail goal after objective after core requirements after proof of proficiency.

So, from the perspective of a marketing partner looking to supply your organization with an encompassing, yet succinct, proposal for a new web site, here are some pointers I have come up with:

Grand Opening: An Idea Who’s Time is Past or Ready for a Change?

Our favorite marketing maven, Seth Godin, had a small post on his blog today slapping the collective wrists of marketers everywhere for their shortsighted tendency to rely on grand openings and other event-based announcements. He correctly states that a lot of time, energy and money tends to get dumped into initiatives that are — by their very definition — short in duration and (most of the time) impact.