Here are some quick questions it’s important to ask before you decide what you should do online.

Even if you answer only half of them you’ll find some insights, gain focused on goals and might even come up with the greatest plan ever to promote your business.

1. Your brand
What are you doing online? Do you have a website? Do you have any place where you engage consumers on your website? Are you doing all the talking or do you encourage conversation and feedback? Do you have any audio/video on your website? (Your TV ad does not count)

2. Your competitors
What are your competitors doing in the digital space? Have they already worked out how to have a conversation with their audience? What are the advantages of your competitor’s online profile and what will you need to do to beat them?

3. Your industry/community
What is your industry doing online? Are there any online trends you should be aware of? what are the ideas you like? How can you become a bigger part of this industry?

4. Your audience
Who are you talking to and why? Who are they? Who are your evangelists? Where are they online? What is your niche audience? What do they like to do? How can you help them make it better?

5. The creative concept
What will get people talking about you? How can you be different than your competitors? What are the triggers for audience engagement? What should be your online brand? If your brand can produce a show - what show will it be?

6. The production plan
What is the scope, time line and budget? Who’s going to manage the team? What are the software requirements?

7. Production
Who will be doing the programming, design, audio/video production (if needed) and testing?

8. Marketing
How can you spread the word? What is the launch plan? What are the PR opportunities? Do you have a seeding plan?

9. Maintenance
Who’s in charge of the following: data entry, design, marketing, linking to content, comment moderation, spam management, email list management and measurement.

Did I miss anything? Let me know.