October 12, 2005
Flashback: Preparing for the future in October 1997
NOTE: As readers of hypocritical are aware, I tend to do a lot of digging through old files, electronic or otherwise. I've built up a great deal of content over the years, and some of it is rather interesting from a purely historical perspective.Digging through some old files on one of my old machines, I came across this gem. The original composition date? October 1997. Eight years ago. The more things change, the more the stay the same. Are the difficulties facing blogs and RSS really that different from the early days of email and the Web?
For context, Diversity was a small marketing agency for which I worked. Needless to say, they didn't really "embrace" the direction I proposed.
Enjoy.
Obviously, in order to capture two more clients that are sizable and create the revenues to pursue existing and developing technology, we must devote time to marketing. However, this must be focused marketing. As a small shop, we won’t find profit by the “shotgun” marketing approach. We can rely on “word of mouth” business for our “do one job and get out” clients.
Now, we must dedicate both time and resources to researching potential targets and making a focused effort to acquire them as clients. Our targeting VND was a perfect example. We must dedicate that same sort of time and effort to several larger corporations. Granted, it hurts in the beginning, but it should pay off in the end. This will give us the financial resources necessary to support Diversity, as well as our combined one-year and three-year visions.
Second, we must possess marketable knowledge and resources. For a long time, Diversity’s “selling point” has been sheer knowledge. Recently, a selling point has become our joining of knowledge and technology. We must begin to use the technology we currently possess. We must exploit its possibilities. Once we’ve mastered what we currently possess, we must make a concerted effort to “move ahead.”
To this end, I have already begun using my position as Network Administrator to push the limits of this technology. One of my first “steps” here at Diversity was pushing the idea of using e-mail for internal communication. From that, the use of e-mail grew to incorporate the purchasing of Exchange Server and our own domain name. I think we would all agree, it would be difficult to “go back” or ignore the use of this technology now. It has simply become a vital means of our office dynamic and our client relations.
Now, I’m concentrating on using all of the ability we have gained with our recent purchase of NT and Office97. It is my hope that I can increase my own knowledge and teach others in the office the benefits of this technology.
I feel I must continue pushing the available technology, regardless of the people I have to drag kicking and screaming into the future. Why? Because I feel we are at a time, much like publishing found itself 10 to 15 years ago. (In 1983, “desktop publishing” was almost unheard of. Now, try to find a printer that concentrates on waxing and running PMTs. It just doesn’t happen.)
Print media is about to make a jump again. It’s going to make a jump from static to active content. And, if Diversity is to continue “communicating” with these people, we must be willing to forego some of the bonds of safety found in our print world.
I’m not saying, “print is dead, let’s move to electronic media.” I am saying, let’s prepare Diversity for the revolution that is surely coming. We should be well prepared to make the leap, when we see the appropriate time to leap. Let’s not push the cutting edge, but let’s not fall behind the learning curve.
The most exciting part of this whole thing is: if we continue to keep pace with technology, we’ll get to incorporate all the things we love about Diversity. We’ll get to do the creative, the video content, the audio content, and the copy. And, we’ll get to put all of it together into one comprehensive deliverable. Granted it will be more of a challenge, but in the end, it will also be more rewarding. What’s more important than all of that? It will keep Diversity a current a viable communications firm. We have to evolve and adapt to remain successful.
Flashback: Preparing for the future in October 1997
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