I cannot think of a time that is more appropriate for a new look for First Page Media than right now. Due to some lousy circumstances and bad luck, then some great luck and even better decisions, we have both lost everything per se and gained it all back and then some in a matter of six months.
For those new to our business, we are a work from home, bring your own device, get the job done organization. Our offices are home offices. That just makes unfortunate situations more unfortunate, like house fires. That’s exactly what puts us where we are today. Today, in a brand new (to us) house – a substantial upgrade from our old one, and with more space to do just this kind of stuff more effectively and efficiently, I can turn the page on what has been a brutal six months. Those six months included 5 in a hotel room, one in the lovely home of my brother and sister in law, and another in a house full of totes, boxes, and unfinished projects.
As of today, those are memories versus hurdles, and forward we move.
For the record, somehow, we launched amazing websites, earned awesome new clients, and made decisions on how we will grow. I will be the first to admit however that I considered a big change in direction. Instead, we are incorporating that direction in our roadmap going forward.
Rebranding First Page Media… ASAP
One of the casualties of the first was the loss of pretty much all of our letterhead, business cards, documentation (we are mostly paperless), promotional materials, polo shirts, tee shirts, etc. We also have a new address anyways, so we would need to replace most of it anyways. Also, I love the colors, but maybe its time to tweak it. While I am a devoted Colts, Yankee and Sabres fan, our logo colors are directly derived from the Seattle Sounders FC logo. There are a few reasons, but one of my role models in this industry is Rand Fishkin (who wrote an awesome book that every business owner should put their eyes on), and he resides there. I guess that is my no-longer-a-secret motivation behind the specific color scheme.
Also, there are more ways I intend to market First Page Media, and our current logo is cumbersome in a way, and I would like something more minimalistic.
If there is the last reason, it is the sudden love for Museo 700. When I first used it, there was almost no sign of it anywhere. Now, I see either it or a very close derivation of it everywhere I go, including my local grocery store. I think I am ready to move on from it. It’s almost becoming my own little Comic Sans.
New Services and Pricing Coming Up
One thing I struggle with is competitively pricing myself regionally versus comparable organizations. We are not entry level – at least I don’t think after this long, we can be. In fairness, our overhead has grown, yet pricing has stayed the same for 3 years for the most part. That said, pricing is going up, and I will not grandfather in clients like I had in the past. I used to brag about a 97% retention rate of clients, and that is absurd. Clients don’t leave because we offer services equal to or greater than organizations that charge twice as much with less support (business hours versus 24/7). While on paper, that sounds great, but the balance sheet and logic of it state otherwise.
Bad news aside, big enhancements are coming up with our services, specifically for our SEO Clients. Instead of email-only reporting, we are shifting shortly to a web-based reporting tool available 24/7, and linked directly from our Client Portal. This is a very big deal, as not only will it be more available and “live”, but it is also far more comprehensive in nature.
Other refinements to our Client Portal, such as project management client visibility is in the works.
Certainly, our clients have already enjoyed enhancements to our web hosting services with 100% uptime since it went live, as well as our dynamic form capabilities, including payments via Stripe and HIPAA protection.
We’re Now “Open”
While we haven’t stopped working – in fact, we have had our most successful quarter as far as launches are concerned in our history – we are now back to full operations. It’s a great feeling, and we really appreciate the patience from our clients.
