Good. That's what clear, careful and creative communications do well.
Big Gnome gets back to basics.
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Peace at this bustling time of year. »
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Life has been good at Big Gnome. Silent on the blog, a little more vocal on the Twitters, but we’ve been heads down working on some really cool work, including a rebranding for an IT security firm.
To take a moment from the grind, I started Monday off in more relaxed fashion: I met Cass Tyson, a web marketing consultant who is new to the Upstate, for a great cup of coffee at Liquid Highway.
As we shared stories and laughs about what to say when a prospect asks, “How much does a web site cost,” to how the professional guidance we offer may seem so new-fangled that the client must simply trust and take some real guts to go for it. (Cass recalls encouraging a real estate client in the early 1990s to put their listings online. The client thought it was crazy talk – but they did it, left other firms in the Dark Ages dust, and are still successful today.)
Our conversation moved to the challenges of keeping up with technology, social media tools, and the tools that help you manage the dang tools…My challenge is finding a healthy balance between executing client work and keeping on the forefront of what online technology is available, understanding it, and being able to integrate where necessary or appropriate to help clients achieve their goals.
Being the perfect definition of a “late adopter,” it’s not typically natural for me to jump in on that stuff full-throttle. Growing up, my family was the last family to get a computer. An answering machine. Cell phones. We’d have to go to the Smith family house down the block to play Super Mario Brothers. When my brother Billy got a Gameboy, we’d all fight over who got to play it during 16-hour car rides to Milwaukee. My dad types with two fingers and my mom to this day is “off the grid” without an email address. (I love them for that, though.)
As an adult, I’m having to re-program myself to get over my reservations when learning about and integrating everything that is on the web.
And, I have to be OK with missing something. It’s impossible to read every post, tweet, email, or link. The point is, which Cass reminded me about, is that it’s all about developing genuine connections and communication with people. That’s what technology helps us do. It helps us start those conversations with prospects that could lead to great client relationships. It helps us get everyone to Barley’s for beers.
It gives us a platform to share and build what is important to us in life.
July 15, 2010
If you’re unhappy with your current place of employment, consider working at Etsy. They’re hiring – and developed a pretty hilarious little video about what goes into a day’s work at the company.
If Big Gnome and happiness didn’t exist in my life, I might have sent in an application.
April 22, 2010
Lately I’ve taken more time to ask Big Gnome clients and colleagues for referrals and introductions for possible new business. Last week, I took one of our clients, Palmetto Software Group, to On the Border for lunch to talk about who we want to have conversations with. If this IT security company were a restaurant, [...]
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