"Do as I say..."

I wrote that first entry a while ago, and now, I've written another first entry. And I like them both. But it's my blog, so I can have two first entries - inconsistencies and all.

My father has many great qualities: he is kind, stoic, savvy, a good husband and father, and a voracious reader. But one of the qualities that makes him most interesting is that he is an absolutist. At least, he likes to appear to be one. By that, I mean, he will not, under any circumstances waiver from his point of view, no matter the facts, the logic or the (un)importance of the topic. Whether it was how to tie a hook to a fishing line or whether there were WMD in Iraq, it is his way or the highway. In fact, for many years argument of any kind was not really "OK." As a result, he was always right. Of course. I'm OK; you're OK. Because I say you're OK.

The problem with the dogmatic approach to childrearing - or life - is the inevitable exception. Sometimes situational: like intentionally running a red light on a deserted street at two in the morning. Sometimes chronological (as in, things change): like, it turns out there are no WMD in Iraq. These not uncommon exceptions led him to repeat a common phrase whenever he would break his own rules in plain sight of his rebellious son: "Craig, do as I say, not as I do."

I burden you with all this because, ten years into the digital revolution, and after leading hundreds of meetings and issuing countless "point-of-view" documents to encourage my clients or sister agencies to join the march to an interactive future, this is my first blog. How do I explain away the horrible hypocrisy of telling my clients to free up their minds and take a chance with a new way of marketing? Insisting that they stick their neck out, in the words of the classic Alka-Seltzer spot, "Try it, you'll like it," while they fret about the potential for the next phrase: "I tried it. I thought I was gonna die!" How can I tell them to loosen the bonds of their "brand" and engage with their customers online while I sit quietly on the sidelines of Web 2.0?

Well, I'm taking the dive. I will no longer have to quote my father in this area. As of today, I will do as I say.

POTE (if the White House can do it - POTUS - so can I) is going to be a blog discussing the many issues of moving our industry from the last 50 years of analog mass marketing to the next 50 years of...something new. I'll share with you my dogmatic views on these changes (we all become our parents, right?), and if you're out there reading, you'll disagree. And we'll enlighten each other. For the last 10+ years I've been selling the proposition that in the new marketing, the cutting edge is safer than the trailing edge. At this point, that contention is well proved - as long as you approach and negotiate that edge with the appropriate tools and with reasonable intentions.

I hope I haven't bored you with background. I can't wait to get started tomorrow. Again.

First site

Since 1996, I've been living, breathing, strategizing and leading the development of websites. Commerce sites, lead generation sites, ad campaign sites, microsites, massive sites, corporate sites, pro bono sites. Sites for doctors and patients; for flyers and drivers; for buyers and sellers; for architects and entrepreneurs. For virtually every type of client and constituency but myself.

So, now, it's my turn. I have developed for myself, in less than 60 minutes, a solution that for others I've spent as long as 12 months on. And I've done it without any of the strategic navel-gazing, creative posturing, corporate angst or legal maneuvering that many of my clients and colleagues have endured (or insisted on). Of course, those efforts tended toward global-types of "solutions" and were in support of "world class"-types of brands, so often there was quite a bit of...something (ego, money, revenue) hanging in the balance. But for me, today, I launch into this effort with only my thoughts and experience to guide me, and a few opinions I've developed along the way.

So, you may wonder, opinions about what? Well, this blog is going to be about my experience of the transition from analog marketing on proprietary channels to digital marketing via the internet and related media. I hope that my experiences will be of some service to someone out there. I'd like to share not only the problems with you (they are many, varied and endlessly entertaining), but the solutions that I've come across.

Who is this blog for? Probably not those global, world-class companies. If they are still suffering from the problems I'm talking about here, they better stop searching blogs for solutions. No, this is for the mid-size marketer who has trouble getting the kind of advice he or she needs to jump into this arena. I'm hoping that the conversation stimulated here will provide the thinking to make such a leap more comfortable.

I guess I'll start tomorrow.