The Cobbler’s Kids Got New Shoes
We had so many excuses for not revamping terrostar.com sooner. Things like, “We’re so busy working on client projects, there’s just no time for our own site.” That one takes me back to when my daughter was first born…I don’t have time to cleanse myself or feed myself properly because I’m too busy with this baby. Never mind that my husband, my niece and nephew, and all the grandparents were there. My favorite excuse – the one we used all the time – is, “It goes back to that old saying, ‘The cobbler’s children have no shoes’.” I wish you could hear the “ugh” sound I’m making as I type.
Over a year ago, we had meetings about our website. We made plans. I wrote pages of content. Our designer, Stephanie, created beautiful mock ups of every page. We created functional specification documents and a navigation structure. And then, nothing. It just never happened.
What changed?
In February 2018, I attended the Bureau of Digital’s annual Owner’s Summit conference In Charleston, SC. A presenter was talking about his company’s hiring practices for new designers and developers. One of the questions he asks his candidates is, “What’s your favorite website?” If they say anything other than their own, it’s a red flag.
You see, he believes that the key to staying on top of your profession is to be continuously experimenting. Always tinkering with your own digital properties and that those should be examples of your best work. Then he turned to us – the audience of owners and (in my case) directors – and asked, “Is your business’s website your favorite? Are you proud of it? Do you use it as a selling tool?”
Me: Ummm, not so much.
He went on to talk about how his team created some of their best and most profitable outcomes by experimenting. They leveraged their staff experience and their own internal pet projects to come up with the ideas that turned their clients into evangelists for their agency.
Procrastinating Sucks
We can make plans, schedule tasks, set milestones and then sit back and be really proud of ourselves. But, if we don’t deliver, why bother? We have a long list of wonderful clients (we love you all), but we can’t control you guys. Sometimes you’re too busy working at your actual job, to give us an approval or a page of content on time. We get it. But, we can control ourselves. When it comes to building our own website or working on our social media profiles, we can control that. What did we get from pushing our own “shoes” to the back burner? An outdated website with issues.
The truth is, until the last few months, we just didn’t make the time for it. As the agency director, that was my bad. So, I decided we were done procrastinating. We made the time. We became our own client and we’re so proud of the outcome! The new terrostar.com is clean and engaging. It’s a reflection of us – of the us we want everyone to see.
Check out our core capabilities:
No website is ever really done. After it launches, that’s when the real work begins. But, it feels really good to see it go live; elevating the digital landscape.
By Brenna Love