Case Study: Running a Political Campaign Website
Judy Brodhead knew that winning the 2009 Naperville City Council election wouldn’t be easy. Luckily, setting up her campaign website was. Thanks to the guidance of Jim and Susan at J&S Tech Designs, Judy’s website was up and running from early on in the campaign and, according to Judy, played a large role in her victory. Here’s how the process worked for her.
Modest Goals
After watching Barack Obama use electronic communication in his successful presidential campaign, Judy knew a website would be important for her campaign. She had a few ideas of what she wanted – like the ability to upload photographs and post events on a calendar, for example. Most importantly, she wanted the website to always have fresh, up-to-the-minute information. Beyond that, she wasn’t sure of any specifics.
Working with J&S Tech Designs
She first met Jim and Susan at a local political event, and thereafter at various Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce meetings. Judy knew they had created other political websites, but what caught her attention was the fact that they work on the Will County website.
As Judy explains, “Counties don’t pick fly-by-night people to do their websites, because these websites are so important. I used to be president of the League of Women Voters of Naperville, and I was a frequent user of the Will County website, so I knew that it was very maneuverable and the voting candidate information is easy to find. The election returns are updated very quickly, precinct by precinct, and show up on a map immediately after they are received. This impressed me.”
While Judy vaguely knew that she wanted a website that was easy to update, Jim helped her develop an overall strategy. Jim suggested a skin for the site that stood out and looked terrific. They added digital photographs, discussed the content that was needed, and decided the best way to position her campaign. Jim also helped Judy set up PayPal, to collect donations directly from visitors to the site.
Eventually, as Judy gave interviews in the community and gathered endorsements, they were able to add links to the website. For example, the home page linked to the video of her interview with local cable community channel NCTV-17, as well as to questionnaires from local community groups and newspapers.
Solid Investment
Money was a concern, since campaign expenses can quickly spiral out of control, but the website turned out to be quite affordable. She says, “Susan assured me early on that no one else could give me what I was looking for at that price, and it was true.”
Judy freely admits that her website was a worthwhile investment.
“My website was absolutely the best money I spent in my campaign, no question,” she says. “People whom I ran into had often found it either by Googling my name or through links on other websites. I published my web address on everything I had printed, every card I handed out. It was great.”
In fact, when comparing her website to traditional advertising, Judy found it to be incredibly reasonable and cost-effective.
“If you put an ad in the paper, you may have to hire a designer to create an ad that will run only a few times. In addition, you’re paying huge dollars to the newspapers to run the ads,” she says. It’s common for candidates to run large ads in local papers in the last few days before an election. If there’s a problem with the ad, though, there’s often not enough time left in the election to do anything about it, and the money has been wasted. “But if something is wrong on your website,” Judy explains, “you can correct it immediately – no teeth-gnashing!”
Happy Results
Judy, of course, won her election. And she also won a deep respect for J&S Tech Designs.
“I could not have been happier,” she says of working with Jim. “He’s very calm, which is reassuring during the hectic pace of a campaign. He’s also extremely professional and reliable.”
She appreciated how straightforward it was to use her website. “Jim’s a great teacher,” she says. “He showed me how to update my website in about an hour or so one morning. This was knowledge that I was able to put to work right away. Jim, of course, would do the difficult things that needed a little more know-how, but I was able to update the website quite easily whenever I needed to, and the calendar was easy to use. If you’re able to use Facebook, you can update a website Jim designs.”
Overall, Judy sums up the process quite simply: “Jim does excellent work.”
To see Judy’s website, click here.
To see how we’ve helped others just like you, click here.
Case Study: Running a Political Campaign Website
Judy Brodhead knew that winning the 2009 Naperville City Council election wouldn’t be easy. Luckily, setting up her campaign website was. Thanks to the guidance of Jim and Susan at J&S Tech Designs, Judy’s website was up and running from early on in the campaign and, according to Judy, played a large role in her victory. Here’s how the process worked for her.
Modest Goals
After watching Barack Obama use electronic communication in his successful presidential campaign, Judy knew a website would be important for her campaign. She had a few ideas of what she wanted – like the ability to upload photographs and post events on a calendar, for example. Most importantly, she wanted the website to always have fresh, up-to-the-minute information. Beyond that, she wasn’t sure of any specifics.
Working with J&S Tech Designs
She first met Jim and Susan at a local political event, and thereafter at various Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce meetings. Judy knew they had created other political websites, but what caught her attention was the fact that they work on the Will County website.
As Judy explains, “Counties don’t pick fly-by-night people to do their websites, because these websites are so important. I used to be president of the League of Women Voters of Naperville, and I was a frequent user of the Will County website, so I knew that it was very maneuverable and the voting candidate information is easy to find. The election returns are updated very quickly, precinct by precinct, and show up on a map immediately after they are received. This impressed me.”
While Judy vaguely knew that she wanted a website that was easy to update, Jim helped her develop an overall strategy. Jim suggested a skin for the site that stood out and looked terrific. They added digital photographs, discussed the content that was needed, and decided the best way to position her campaign. Jim also helped Judy set up PayPal, to collect donations directly from visitors to the site.
Eventually, as Judy gave interviews in the community and gathered endorsements, they were able to add links to the website. For example, the home page linked to the video of her interview with local cable community channel NCTV-17, as well as to questionnaires from local community groups and newspapers.
Solid Investment
Money was a concern, since campaign expenses can quickly spiral out of control, but the website turned out to be quite affordable. She says, “Susan assured me early on that no one else could give me what I was looking for at that price, and it was true.”
Judy freely admits that her website was a worthwhile investment.
“My website was absolutely the best money I spent in my campaign, no question,” she says. “People whom I ran into had often found it either by Googling my name or through links on other websites. I published my web address on everything I had printed, every card I handed out. It was great.”
In fact, when comparing her website to traditional advertising, Judy found it to be incredibly reasonable and cost-effective.
“If you put an ad in the paper, you may have to hire a designer to create an ad that will run only a few times. In addition, you’re paying huge dollars to the newspapers to run the ads,” she says. It’s common for candidates to run large ads in local papers in the last few days before an election. If there’s a problem with the ad, though, there’s often not enough time left in the election to do anything about it, and the money has been wasted. “But if something is wrong on your website,” Judy explains, “you can correct it immediately – no teeth-gnashing!”
Happy Results
Judy, of course, won her election. And she also won a deep respect for J&S Tech Designs.
“I could not have been happier,” she says of working with Jim. “He’s very calm, which is reassuring during the hectic pace of a campaign. He’s also extremely professional and reliable.”
She appreciated how straightforward it was to use her website. “Jim’s a great teacher,” she says. “He showed me how to update my website in about an hour or so one morning. This was knowledge that I was able to put to work right away. Jim, of course, would do the difficult things that needed a little more know-how, but I was able to update the website quite easily whenever I needed to, and the calendar was easy to use. If you’re able to use Facebook, you can update a website Jim designs.”
Overall, Judy sums up the process quite simply: “Jim does excellent work.”
To see Judy’s website, click here.
To see how we’ve helped others just like you, click here.