The Cobbler's Kids are Barefoot

When it comes to updating your marketing materials there are none more guilty of neglect than marketing professionals themselves.  When your daily focus is on the marketing success of your clients, updating and developing your own materials is far down the list.  As the saying goes, "success breeds contempt."  In this case, that contempt is born out in the form of self-neglect.  Our own websites and marketing collateral quietly mature, slowly becoming less relevant and effective as we soldier off to foreign lands to battle in the marketplace for other kings.

Perhaps it is easier to forget our home-bound spawn as success in the field leads to referrals, new jobs and growing opportunity.  It's not until those skirmishes are done that we return home, look around and realize that battle is still at home.  The cobbler's kids have no shoes - the plumber's toilets always run - the website designer's site is always out-of-date.

As the year draws to a close, and we sit to take a breath, let's not relax too much.   Now is the time to beat the new year to the punch.   Draw up a chair and drag out the samples and successes of the past year.  Shine up the website, order new business cards, update the brochures, review your contact lists.  It'll be time to march off to work another's field very soon.  Plant your own crops now so you have stores ready for the year ahead.

Our own website is now (gasp) 8 years old - 4 since the last update.  Time to trash the tables, roll out the divs, the jquery, the social media links, and run the validator.  Time to clean house my friends.  Don't delay.  This Spring you'll be cleaning someone else's.

Electronic Parenting

Now that each of my kids has a cellphone, I notice that like most parents I tend to relax a bit knowing that I can reach them and they can reach me anytime there is trouble.  But it makes me wonder about the next generation of parents who have now begun to extend their electronic relationship with their children vis a vis nanny spy cameras which allow them to watch their kids from work, or gps tracking for children so parents can know where their kids are at any moment.  Will they relax that grasp further still, believing they are always "in touch" with their kids, even if it's remotely?

I like the idea of being able to talk to my kids away at college via a video chat on our computers.  But this will never be an adequate substitute, for me or for them, over our time together - in person.   Kids need that interaction and to know that mom and dad are near, ready and willing to help.  Parents need to show kids their value, not with more expensive electronic touches, but with something much more valuable:  time, and hugs.

Another start....

As I sort of expected, I dropped the ball. So here's my chance to pick it up again and start fresh. In the ensuing weeks I will endeavor to post on topics related to motion graphic design, broadcast design and video post production (both editing and compositing issues). It's been a while since I've updated the website - and years since I touched this blog - but fortunately we should see that resolved soon as well. A relaunch of titlesafe.com is currently scheduled for late September 2009. The last number of years have seen such growth in new media delivery - especially for video - that the current site needs a complete overhaul to come into compliance with WC3 standards and to take advantage of more current video content delivery systems. Additionally this will give me the opportunity to move some of the website development and Search Marketing stuff over to our new domain. netmediapros.com (also launching in Sept 2009). I know, for a guy that does this stuff for a living I have been pretty terrible about marketing my own stuff. Well you know what they say about the cobbler's kids.

It's my sincere hope that the last 20+ years in this business will have imparted to me at least one or two insights I can share each month. The purpose of this blog will be to focus on the wonderful world of video post - my first love - and leave the new media ramblings to another blog. Stay tuned.