Blog Posts About: personal

A few months ago, we spent an afternoon with Jamie Friddle, a writer for Seattle Magazine, who was putting together a story on Common Craft. We were so excited. A few weeks later a photographer came to take pictures.

As Sachi will tell you, the process added a layer of anxiety to her day over the next few months. What would the article say? What photos would they use? I'm happy to report that the anxiety was all for naught. The 4 page feature appears in the May 2009 issue of Seattle Magazine and we love it. Jamie's writing captured, in a compelling and interesting way, what we're all about.

Read the article.

It's time for our 2nd annual Year-End Lessons Learned post. 2008 was a great year for Common Craft.  While we published a number of videos that we're very proud of, 2008 was all about building a foundation for the future of our business.  Going into 2009, we're feeling confident that we have a solid foundation in place - and now is our time to put more videos into the world.

Here are a few things we learned: 

Overall Business:

Build Foundations. Think hard about long term opportunities and what could stand in your way.  Ask: What needs to be done now so that road blacks don't occur in the future?  For us, it was legal documents, our new studio and our Store.  These work together to allow our video licensing model to scale for years to come.

Care About Contracts. If you strip everything else away, the skeleton of the business is supported by the promises you make to people.  Contracts and agreements should be well-written, specific to your business and reflect the exact promises you're making.

Always Test Business Models.  Companies who are dedicated to being small still need ways to grow.  We started three new business experiments in 2008: Our video store, Kindle Books and the Explainer Network. 2009 will be when we understand the extent to which these experiments work - and likely adjust and start new ones.

Constantly Build Brand.  At the end of the day, your brand is what matters. Your product can disappear and your brand will still have value. Make business decisions with your brand as a top-level priority. Ask: Does this match with the brand we're building?

Know What Business You Are In.  Over 2008, we realized that we enjoyed a focus, not in marketing/promotion, but in education.  By making this distinction, it's easier for us to make business decisions and build a brand that reflects this focus.

Start Now.  If you have an idea, do whatever you can today and solve problems when they need to be solved.  Duct tape and popsicle sticks can go along way when used to test a concept in public.  As Guy Kawasaki would say "Don't worry, be crappy."

Have a Positive Impact.  Look for opportunities to have a positive impact, whether it's through your business, or willingness to go the extra mile for someone.  The returns may not come immediately, but they will come many times over in the long run.

Be Good to Those Doing Good.  We love that our videos are used in schools and by non-profits - and we want to see more of it. Unfortunately, these kinds of organizations aren't usually well-funded. It helps us sleep a little better at night knowing that we're offering our videos to these kinds of organizations for free and at a huge discount for the presentation quality versions.

Small is Still Beautiful.  We continue to be confident that we don't want to grow and manage a team.  We are small, happy, flexible and having a blast.  I've talked with too many disappointed people who thought growing a business with many employees was going to make them happier.

Working with Others:

Assume Positive Intentions - We're so happy to be able to put our videos into the world for free with a Creative Commons license.  Unfortunately, people aren't always aware of our licensing and we sometimes contact them to help them understand.  This is a great opportunity to look like a bully.  We've learned that the best way to approach these situations is to be friendly and assume positive intentions.  Most people mean well.

People Want To Do The Right Thing - It's true.  We see this nearly every day as people ask about the proper ways to share our videos.  Our challenge is education - not policing.  If the rules are clear and easily understood, the vast majority of people will follow them.

Every Contact is an Opportunity.  Never, ever underestimate the power of taking the time to respond to someone who reaches out to you.  It's sometimes hard and time consuming, but the greatest things sometimes start with answering a simple question.

Consider Community Instead of Competition.  Everyone has a choice in how they look at the people and businesses in their niche.  If you think about the potential of reaching out to them and sharing with them, hardcore competition seems to look a bit outdated.

Tools:

YouTube Creates Brand Awareness.  Our Common Craft Show videos have over 4.5 million views on You Tube alone. Sure, we're giving content away for free, but this volume of awareness creates new business models, like our Store.  Had we chosen to make our video subscription-only, I don't think we could have created the brand awareness it would take to be successful.

Video Licensing Works.  Organizations of all types are looking for quality educational videos. Licensing "Presentation Quality" versions of our videos via our Store offers them an easy path to find, purchase and download videos for internal use. From day one, this model has exceeded our expectations and we expect big things in 2009.

Own The Supply Chain. Today it's possible for a small company to operate almost every step of chain that delivers content to customers.  From concept to production to marketing, to the digital download, we manage each step of the way with the help of very affordable services like PayPal and e-Junkie. This wasn't possible until recently.

Listen to Twitter.  Twitter Search is a powerful way to understand brand perception.  We not only listen, but use Twitter to respond to questions or just thank those who comment.  Twitter is going to be interesting to watch in 2009.

Finally:

We learned that you can't underestimate the power differing points of view.  Sachi and I have similar values, but look at the world, ourselves and Common Craft differently.  We talk about the differences and the opportunities.  I don't believe we could be successful if we thought alike and I encourage others in business to find people who think differently and talk with them.  Debate, challenge, ask questions and remain open to new ideas.

See also: 15 Lessons Learned in 2007.

Over my life as a dental patient, dentists have told me to pay close attention to brushing the back of my bottom front teeth. Unfortunately, this piece of professional advice had a hard time getting into my daily routine.  That changed recently - I'm now much more likely to brush these teeth - and it's because a new dentist took an extra 30 seconds to explain something important - why.

There I sat, with a small liquid vacuum cleaner hanging off my jaw, waiting for the dentist to check in on the work of the hygienist.  After some poking around, he said "you need to take some extra time to brush the back of your front teeth and the outside of your upper molars." Yeah, yeah, I'd heard it before... brush better whatever.  He then said "Do you know why that needs extra care?"  Hmm. No.  "It's because those teeth are positioned near your saliva glands, which are constantly pushing saliva on them, causing them to decay more quickly." Whoa. I had no idea.

It was like a new world of dentistry opened before my eyes.  It only took a couple of sentences to change the way I think about how my mouth is built and become motivated to prevent my own anatomy from working against me.  The dentist didn't just give me some abstract command to be a better tooth-brusher, he made sense of it - he gave me a way to see why.

Through nearly 50 comments and 15-20 emails, you have spoken. You don't want to see politics on Common Craft. I agree that it is the right move - political discussions will not appear on the Common Craft web site. We may make videos about events that relate to government, but these will not reflect personal/partisan views.  A couple of things:

1) First, wow.  We are both so excited to see such amazing comments. The thoughtfulness is inspiring. Thank you so much for being involved - we are lucky to have people like you around us. My Mom even got involved via email (thanks Mom!)

2) I was surprised to see so many responses in email. One of my favorites simply said "Listen to Sachi." It's good advice. As I mentioned in a comment on the entry, it seemed as though people were more open to the idea of talking politics when they emailed me directly. 

3) This discussion highlights the ways in which Sachi and work together. On our "About" page, Sachi is named (lovingly) as the "Chief Party Pooper."  It fits well - Sachi is ultimately reasonable, rational and risk-averse.  In this way, we are a team.  It's my nature to dream and to take risks.  Together, we create a sense of balance.  When I mentioned our "ongoing discussion" in the last post, it doesn't just apply to politics. We have ongoing discussions about everything, all the time.  It's through those discussions that we find middle ground and ultimately the ideas that help us be successful.

I've learned to never underestimate the value of having people in your life that disagree with you and are willing to talk about why. It has helped me keep my feet on the ground when that's where they needed to be.   

Sachi and I have an ongoing discussion that I want to share with you, dear reader, because I want to hear your feedback.

When I was a consultant, people would ask me what subjects are appropriate for a blog.  Inevitably I would say that it should reflect the person behind the blog and what is important to them. It should be multi-faceted and provide personality along with on-topic content.  I would also say that context matters - company blogs deserve special care, for instance.

So here I am with the Common Craft blog and there are two things that are very important to me right now:

1. Making videos

2. The Presidential Elections

My instinct is to talk about both on this blog.  I have a lot to say about the elections and I'm very passionate. However, I'm making a conscious effort to keep Common Craft on-topic and apolitical.  A few reasons:

1. You didn't subscribe or visit to hear my thoughts on politics.

2. Common Craft is a brand and a business. It could be a risk to make political positions a part of a brand that hopes to  appeal to as many people as possible.

3. Common Craft is both Sachi and me.  While we agree on some things, I would never speak on Sachi's behalf regarding politics.

However, I am very passionate about this election and I feel that it's my duty to stand up for what I believe and to be a part of the discussion in places where I can have the most impact, including this blog. I have other ways to share my views, but nothing that compares to this blog's reach and potential. 

We are living through an absolutely profound part of history that will impact us all. In my heart I know it could be a big mistake to suddenly share my politics on this blog, but it's so very hard not to take that step.

What do you think?