Internet strategy can be either a deep and murky subject or one that seems so obvious as to engender a quick gloss-over. Neither of these views, however, is useful, as they both lead one away from a healthy approach to in important task. Forum One titled the most recent of our series of Web Executive Seminars "Six Steps to a Successful Online Strategy" to show that, while not trivial, he subject is also not out of reach. Our approach in these seminars is to focus on case studies, but several attendees wanted more background than we gave. Over the next few weeks, therefore, I will expand on my opening presentation and dive into the six steps, as well as others that may be useful.

All internet strategy efforts must begin with your goals and mission. The ax we tend to grind is "mission-focused, audience-centric," and that necessitates understanding what, at the end of the proverbial day, will make your organization a success. Know your goals, and build from there.

Theoretically, this is an easy step, but pitfalls can emerge, even here. Major areas to watch include:

• Losing touch with your mission - Clearly the possibility that, over time, your organization has taken on activities that are tangential to your mission is a bigger issue than an internet strategy. The focus of thinking about an internet strategy, however, tend to highlight such cases, so it is as good a time for deep soul-searching as any. The fact is that, if you keep doing program XYZ because you "always have," you will be tempted to give program XYZ a presence online, and then you will be adding to user confusion and/or misdirecting resources better used for core online initiatives. These conversations are inevitably wrenching, but use the opportunity that the internet strategy exercise creates to review what the organization is doing, overall.
  
• Focusing on non-goals - Make certain the goals you are listing are really goals and not tactics or outcomes. I have frequently heard organizations state goals such as "raise our levels of internet traffic" (an outcome, and not necessarily a good thing - what if your traffic jumps because the wrong audience visits more regularly?), "put our documents in the hands of policymakers" (a tactic - and what if they read them but don't act on them?), and "strengthen our brand" (an indirect outcome of doing other things well that is pretty hard to measure). The distinction is not semantic. Listing goals that aren't goals ensures you will focus too narrowly and not be creative in thinking about solutions. Your goals should tie directly to your mission: "raise levels of childhood literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa," "ensure implementation of policy decisions favorable to coastal conservation," and "ensure implementation of highest value health interventions by rural clinics in South Asia." These statements focus you on a desired state of affairs but do not already presuppose a solution or otherwise limit your analysis of how to bring about the desired ends.
  
• Ignore measurability - Note that the good goal statements above are all measurable. The opposite extreme from being too narrow is to be too mushy: "ensure refugees are happier" and "influence policymakers to help underprivileged populations." These statements capture the essence of what the organization wants to bring about, but are not well-defined enough to allow you to review your strategy at a later date and know it was successful. You may not think of yourself this way, but you are in the behavior change business: you want some group of people to act differently than they do now (write different policy, learn more, implement work differently, etc.). You goal statements should indicate the ways in which the world will look better if your initiatives are successful, and that probably means referencing changes in levels of major metrics, different behaviors by a known group, and so forth.
  

A final reminder that bears mentioning: Exec. Directors / CEOS, if your team can't articulate organizational goals like those above clearly, then congratulations! - you now have a nifty topic for your next staff retreat (which you should probably schedule in the next three weeks!). Again, the task at hand may be internet strategy, but don't let that detract from the necessity of making sure your organization is tightly focused on making the changes it wants to make.

Up next, target audiences...