The Blockbuster on the busy corner near my house just closed. As my kids and I rifled through their used videos I was struck by the how high the slashed prices seemed and by how little I am willing to pay to own a DVD these days, let alone rent one. (In fact, I don’t want the DVDs taking up any space in my house… a whole different topic.) Certainly we all know that Netflix, OnDemand and Redbox have dramatically changed the movie watching landscape. But, the most fascinating question to me is how did Blockbuster, the once undisputed heavy weight champion of DVDs, get so far behind the progress curve?

So many analogies and principles can be built off of this observation, but ask yourself this simple question, could this happen to you in your own industry? Are you so busy doing the work of selling DVDs through a corner retail store that you don’t take the time to look up and look out into the future to develop the next, new, more inventive line of business? And will this lack of attention to the future (which could really just be a few weeks away) end up being the obvious blind spot that knocks you out of the competitive business and into the new dinosaur age.

Matt and I ask ourselves this question often when we think about Factor1Studios. What does the future hold for us in business? What does the web look like as it continues to evolve? What trends are momentary fads and what changes are permanent, representing the new way things will work? And most importantly, what current and future realities most impact our clients when it comes to communicating with your markets about your organization or business? Seeing the future isn’t a magic trick or a hoax, it’s a necessary skill if you plan to move beyond survival.

This has been in the works for a while now. We went all wordpress, all html5 with it. Its also super mobile friendly. Try it now! Go ahead, drag the lower right tab of your browser and make your screen smaller. All the content re-wraps with ease and grace. Ipad, android tablet, iphone, blackberry, windows mobile phone (yes, we even care about the 5 people that own one of those), etc, it all fits.

Working out some bugs, adding in some new portfolio projects, etc. We are focusing on some of our best work, so it will be a small portfolio. 9 – 15 projects. We have a full client list for our added credibility.

So we’ll be adding more stuff to the site over the next few days and weeks. Sit tight and enjoy the new site.

Wow, we have been crazy busy. Our last blog post was in december 2010. Lots going on around here at factor1. Very exciting start to the year. Thought I should share some tid bits so you know we are still alive.

What have we been up to you ask?

First, lots of site launches. Like tcsdelivers.net,  discoverrevo.com,  calvaryhartford.com,NoahMunck.com,  TheHPchurch.com, Newhopedurango.com,  HopeFarminc.com, sisterssosevents.com,  blog.azpolicy.org, stonepointchurch.com and more we cant talk about here (stuff for agencies). I’m pretty sure we have actually launched almost 20 sites so far this year.

We also moved offices a few weeks ago. Our lease was up on our last place and we wanted to be in a different part of town. This is very nice space for us. Quiet, professional, comfortable, and easier to find. And more room for bike parking.

Whats coming?

Some huge site launches. I’m talking massive projects(crazy custom wordpress driven, html5, ipad specific stuff) that we are super excited about. More in a few weeks. Also, be on the look out for a new factor1 site coming soon. The code is written, the content is being fine tuned, and we are adding in portfolio pieces. Maybe in may you will see the fruits of our labor. Inside geek info: its all HTML5, CSS3, WordPress powered, scalable from big screens to iphones, and crazy fancy in the code. We are pretty excited.

Now, back to work!

yes, today is Shannon Noack’s birthday. If you have worked with Shannon on any of your projects, you need to wish her a happy birthday!

or I think she said she wants this classic shirt from veer.

I draw pictures all day

Also noteworthy today, Shannon has been on staff with Factor1 for 2 years now. She has put up with all kinds of projects, shenanigans and sometimes chaos for 2 years. That deserves some sort of merit badge!

Factor1′s own Matt Adams was awarded the “Marketing Superhero of the Year” award from the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce at their Annual awards dinner, on January 14th.

This Award is to recognize all of Matt’s volunteer work and role on the Chamber’s marketing committee.

http://copanews.com/Article.aspx?ID=775

Sure many of you think Veterans day is a fluff holiday for banks and government. We take the day off here at Factor1. Want to know why?

1. We are thankful to the men and women who fight for our rights.
2. While no one on staff here at Factor1 has served directly, we all have friends and family that have.
3. Our great military doesn’t fight to keep America free so we can overwork ourselves.
4. We enjoy taking a few extra holidays here at factor1. Not because we dont have better things to do, but because we value family time, and feel that because we live in such a great free country, we should enjoy our freedoms, just at home. So we take more holidays than the normal company, and I think we are healthier because of it.

So go home, and celebrate Veterans day with your friends and family. Thank a vet, and enjoy your day!

So last month we launched the all new factor1 website. Over the last few weeks we have heard tons of praise, comments and questions about the site. I want to share some background to it. Not because I think we are cooler than sliced bread, but because I feel like we did things different, in a good way.

Some background.
There have been 5 or 6 (maybe more) versions of the factor 1 site. Each design was often born out of boredom, disgust, or some need that wasnt being met. And to be honest, most lacked in creativity.

In the past, our methodology was pretty simple. We wanted a clean corporate feeling site, that would appeal to a business owner, non-profit director, church pastor, my mother, your mother, and the dog. We would often use safe images, typical content, and basically end up with something predictably average. Which is terrible considering we expect more input from our clients on their projects.  What hypocrites we where right?

Onto the new site
So we threw it all out, and found some core things to stand by. here they are.

1. We are fun. I, Matt, am a goofball. We love having fun, laughing and enjoy each others company here at factor1. Our site needed to reflect that.
2. We are not corporate. Jeans, Flip flops, and helmet hair are the norm for me. I rarely wear slacks. I only wear ties to funerals. Not even weddings (ask Shannon, I didn’t wear one to her’s either, but I did have on a suit). So corporate gibberish text was not us.
3. We are simple. No, not simple in thinking, just simple in a less is more, be clear, say what you mean kind of way.  Again, our past sites had tons of content that said nothing but corporate speak.
4. We are easy. No not that way, get your mind out of the gutter. We are easy in the sense that we dont want to over complicate things. Sure some contracts and proposals get long. At the end of the day, we wanted our users to find our site easy to use, read, and find what they need.
5. We are passionate about what we do here. One of the big reasons factor1 exists, is because we deeply care and love what we do. So passion, excitement, and love needed to show on our site.
6. While we would love to appeal to everyone, its just not possible. And the truth is that if we have to stretch to appeal to someone, it may be a hard relationship to maintain. So we want to make sure our site attracts people who want to work with a firm like us. If they dont, they dont. Good luck to them.

So our site was born. We went from 30+ pages, to 12. clean, clear and easy to use. And best of all, its way fun. To be 100% honest, this is the first site of our own that I have truly loved. Sad that it took 7 revisions over many years, but i think it took that long to work through the junk.

How can this help you?

• Find who you really are. Sure goals and projecting who you want you customers to see is a valid point, but dont loose site of who you REALLY are.
• Break things down to small chunks. Simple goals and bite sized pieces
• Pick your priorities.
• Let things simmer. Sometimes good ideas need to cook longer before they are ready.
• Break the mold. Just because its the norm, doesnt mean its for you.

I’d love to continue this conversation. I think this is a growth and exploring yourself  kind of exercise, that needs to be revisited often.

There are a lot of things going on around here, I thought maybe I would share. 

1. Shannon (our rockstar resident web designer) is getting married tomorrow.
Congratulations Shannon & Spencer!

2. Ryan (business development partner & marketing guru) and his family will be moving to Seattle at the end of May to pursue starting a church. Ryan will still remain a partner here at factor 1, and be working with internal and client projects the same as he does now. But now we can say we have offices in Phoenix & Seattle. Should be a very cool experience for all of us.

3. I (matt, creative director, IT guy, janitor, & former head designer) and my wife Stephanie (factor 1 accounting gal) are adopting twin baby boys from Ethiopia. We should be home with 6 month old Noah & Ezra in early June. 

Thats the big news around here. What’s new with you guys, our faithful readers?

Just a quick post to get the word out. We are hiring for a part time web designer / intern. So GO!, tell your friends, family, pet rock, people you don’t even know.   

http://www.factor1studios.com/work-here