Of course, getting those results is a heck of a lot easier if you know what the end result looks like. So any marketing plan should start with the end in mind. What does success look like for you and your business? Do you want to increase sales 10 percent, collect names from potential clients to add to your email newsletter list or simply build your brand equity in a crowded marketplace?

Once you’ve identified the purpose of your marketing efforts, pick and choose from the resources I’ll be outlining over the next few weeks and watch your business begin to grow even more through effective marketing.

Your company has a newsletter that you mail to employees every quarter. It’s full-color, glossy with tons of photos and a boatload of information about company operations, exceptional employee endeavors and new initiatives that are succeeding throughout the organization.

But if you don’t have an accompanying website that builds on and expands your company’s publications, you’re missing one of the best opportunities to open a dialogue with your employees and keep them up to date with information that was too new to make the publication deadline.

These publication web portals – as we call them at the Inkwell – are becoming more common throughout various industries as Internet access becomes ubiquitous in the U.S. Online versions of your printed publications can do much to update employees and their families about important events taking place in the company as well as communicate any changes in benefits that will affect your staff both on the job and at home.

Rather than simply regurgitating that information that you included in your newsletter, the portal is the perfect place to publish timely information that can’t wait for the next publication cycle. If you’re considering a web portal for your company’s publications, here are a few things you might want to think about:

Brevity is crucial. Your employees and their family members are most likely accustomed to surfing the web. And, if they are, they’re going to expect short chunks of information rather than long form stories and articles.

Use the portal to publish information that wouldn’t fit in the printed publication. The beauty of the web portal is that you’re not limited to including only the information that will fit in an 8 or 12 page document. Keeping in my mind that items on the web should be brief, your staff can really maximize publishing loads of information on the web, so long as your employees know that’s where they can find it.

Give it time. Don’t expect the web portal to be an instant, overnight sensation. Like anything new, the portal will take some time to educate employees where they can find information and for them to get accustomed to visiting the site.

Be consistent. With updates, with communication, with pretty much anything that has to do with publishing on the web, the more you update the portal, the greater success you’ll have. If you only update the site sporadically, your workforce is less likely to visit the site and count on it for delivering quality information to them. Frequent updates literally can translate into more visitors.

For an example of a few publication web portals, visit this site for employee benefits or this site that is an add-on to an employee newsletter.