Rob's New Media Blog

2009-05-06T09:50:00.001-07:00

Another great Businesses Without Borders meeting this morning at Kopy Kat in Granby. I feel truly fortunate to find myself among such people. From computer repairmen to investment advisors to photographers and artists, all have the energy and drive to succeed and the desire to keep the local business community healthy in these challenging times. A great networking opportunity with my exact target demographic: Small business owners who aren't looking to spend thousands on marketing and advertising in the Old Media world. I invite you to discover the very affordable, New Media way of getting out your message to the community be visiting www.gmnewmedia.com. I also very much welcome comments and questions in this very forum regarding the products and services I offer.

My thanks to Peter and Julie for their gracious hospitality. I'm blogging via Blackberry mere moments after the meeting... Whodathunkit?

2009-04-30T11:37:00.001-07:00

Greetings from California! Visiting with family for a few days with a side-trip for business. Another way the New Media world is changing how business is done: I'm able to offer clients on the west coast my affordable services via the web! I hope to bring good news back to home base!

Assuming I survive a plane ride with a few molecules of the pig flu that the Old Media is trying to scare me to death with, I'll be back to home base shortly.

Rob

2009-04-25T23:48:00.001-07:00

Testing my new fancy-schmancy Blackberry blogging thingy.

Whodathunkit?

Rob's Motivations and Passions

2009-04-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

About me. Hmmmm.

A proud American, a pariah in the world of broadcast TV news and a prisoner of gadgetry. Passionate about unbiased, revealing, and smart journalism, repsectful of the power of the Fourth Estate, and utterly disgusted with the tattered condition in which it’s current stewards are shamelessly maintaining it.

…And now the bright side!

I love the work of television news and the opportunities it gives me to meet different people and experience new things almost every day. I work with quality people determined to do good work under a smothering management and production style that continually stifles our efforts. The healthy challenge of constantly pushing and prodding from within the system for positive change keeps my intellect engaged and the ever-evolving technological advancements I interact with keeps my mind sharp.

…Which brings me to the New Media world!

Old media television news is ”de-evolving” into harvesters of mostly low-hanging fruit. It’s our primary food source. Hand us a story on a silver platter via some professional public-relations or government liaison, and it’s coverage galore! Generally, it’s big news PROVIDED BY, not critically covered by, a partnership feeding off of big money spent by big people in big cities for big audiences with small expectations.

Meanwhile, where the premium stuff is, up near the TOP of the fruit tree where extra effort, ingenuity, determination, and the willingness to take chances gets you your quality spoils and can really make a difference in the world… Well, let’s just say TV News has left a lot of good fruit to rot.

New Media is changing that. Almost every day we hear how big media is dying on the vine (What is it with me and the agricultural references today?) because they can’t compete in a New Media world. We don’t need a large slow-moving public relations or government apparatus collaborating with a large, slow-moving, apathetic, lathargic, and in some cases malicious media apparatus to communicate our messages to the world.

Most of us who work hard for an honest living, care about our values and the state of our union, refuse to feast on low-hanging fruit and refuse to accept the distorted images of reality on a television screen anymore know the truth. We see the truth with our own eyes, TELL the truth with our language, share the truth with others via New Media and engage in the REAL world that revolves around us. We don’t need big media anymore. On the other side of that coin, more and more people are saying they don’t need ME anymore… Maybe I’ll get a government bailout! Yeah! That’ll fix everything! What unintended consequences could possibly emerge out of such a noble act!? (If you tip your computer to one side now, a copious amount of sarcasm will flood out of the vents)

That’s why I’m passionate about and doing my darndest to become a meaningful part of New Media! It’s both exciting and disconcerting at the same time. I get my paycheck from old media. I will always try to improve upon old media from within for as long as possible. I’ve been a part of old media for almost 20 years. But I see my old media role withering away (more agriculture!) and I refuse to just give up on the profession and personal passions that I hold so dear! At the same time, I’m not a businessman or a salesman. Can I become independently successful before my old media role evaporates completely?

We’ll just have to keep breathing and find out! At least it won’t be boring.

I invite you to visit www.gmnewmedia.com , my first venture into the New Media world and tell me via this blog how I’m doing!

Thank you for your time and interest.
Rob

At Least It's Not Boring!

2009-04-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

Posted April 25, 2009

Well, life got in the way a little this week. I had a big project related to the 10th anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School. Sad stuff. I’ve finally and officially joined the Grand County coalition of Businesses Without Borders. I imagine it’ll be next week before www.gmnewmedia.com is listed on the site as I just fired off the paperwork. And I’m just starting to invesitgate on-line advertising in the Sky High News to increase my visibility.

Some good news! I am encouraged by the success of my good friends, Logan and KC Smith, who have had a very successful re-launch of their website:

www.lipstickranch.com

They offer retail sales of fabric artwork and picture frames with an emphasis on “Women of the Old West.” Additionally, Logan is a very talented and meticulous woodworker with a gift for restoring antique furniture to it’s original glory. The website has been re-energized with a new media project. KC is offering to demonstrate and teach her skills in a new series of educational videos offered on-line on their website. The interest in her work has exceeded expectations and continues to grow. Another example of the power or NEW MEDIA. The kind of power I would love to help small business and individuals access through Grand Mountain New Media.

Grand Mountain New Media offers very affordable, NEW MEDIA marketing and sales solutions for small businesses and individuals looking to thrive in our challenging economy. Far more effective and with a much wider reach than traditional broadcast or published advertising, Grand Mountain New Media utilizes the NEW MEDIA tools of the world wide web, media streaming and high-definition video production to offer business owners and individuals new and exciting methods of accessing the marketplace. All at prices that will please you.

Additionally, Grand Mountain New Media now offers local business networking through the Grand County coalition of Businesses Without Borders! With the development of all new websites we design, our clients in Grand County will be offered the opportunity to be seen on the Businesses Without Borders website. Marketing your small business through a coalition of others determined to keep Grand County dollars in Grand County. Visit us at www.gmnewmedia.com to learn more!

More soon… Clients from California!? Stay tuned…

Rob

BIGGER Businesses Without Borders

2009-04-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

Posted April 17, 2009

I’ve now had the pleasure to attend a second Businesses Without Borders meeting for Grand County in at the Azteca restaurant in Fraser. I’d say about 60 people attended and the atmosphere couldn’t have been better. What a great group of people! Great people with great motivation and a great opportunity for networking throughout the coalition. Everyone had an opportunity (30 seconds) to describe and pitch their business and I had thirty seconds to describe Grand Mountain New Media and my vision for it’s growth. Although I don’t mind speaking in front of groups of people, I think I could’ve done a better job with my time this go-around. One mis-impression I seem to have left people with was that I was a newcomer to Grand County. I’ve lived here for 11 years! Anyway, we’ll continue to press on and I’ll do whatever I can to get my message and the company’s name out there.

Thoughts feel scattered this morning… Too much coffee?

As I stated in the meeting, I invite anyone to comment on the website, www.gmnewmedia.com Any way I can improve my on-line and off-line presentations for the business, my products and services pitches… Anything I am doing wrong, or right, with this venture. Please write your comments on this blog. I am no salesman and need all the advice I can get!

Thanks!
Rob

Portfolio Online

2009-04-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

Posted April 12, 2009

I’ve taken screen captures of some of my past work, created a ‘Portfolio’ page on www.gmnewmedia.com , posted it there and have placed it all on-line. These pages were developed using website building programs from Comcast and Earthlink. I actually own the www.americanpridecolorado.com site. It looks like the owner of the company it’s currently tied to has closed down his business in Grand County, so I am thinking of re-tasking the entire site to archive and display my video production work. A very big idea that will take a signifigant amount of time to implement. I’ll keep you posted on it’s development if I decide to go forward with it.
While other sites I’ve created use “Site Building” programs from large web-hosting companies, I have developed the www.gmnewmedia.com site from scratch. No templates or previous designs were used in it’s creation as I want it to be completely unique. I’m hoping the site itself is a good example of the creativity and writing that are available to future clients.
Some other recent developments: I have sent out some mailings to other potential clients who I feel might benefit from the services we offer. I’m still thinking about an on-line advertisment on the Ski-Hi News’ website. I would like to know how many people visit it on a daily basis before I commit. I am also very much looking forward to the next Grand County Businesses Without Borders gathering on Wednesday and sponging up some more energy, techniques, and knowledge from others who are thriving on our economy.

Irons in the Fire

2009-04-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Posted April 8, 2009

Well, we’re certainly building up a head of steam! I’ve made many more business contacts and continue to be heartened by the spirit of those in our community I’ve met who refuse to back off, lie down, or quit in our challenging economy. It reinforces my own strength and fortifies my resolve to do the same.

Website updates with portfolio artwork are nearly complete. Hope to have it on-line by Thursday or Friday.

Direct mail and more personal visits are on the agenda as well…

More soon!
Rob

Upgrades and Local Networking

2009-04-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

Posted April 5, 2009

A busy couple of days for this fledgling venture. I have already made some changes to www.gmnewmedia.com that make a better use of the available space as I’ve added a few news items to the home page and some “small print” to the ‘Rates’ page. I took the opportunity to freshen the look up across the entire site as well. The beauty of websites: They aren’t set in stone.

John DeCicco from Carquest Auto Parts in Granby has graciously allowed me to use him as a reference. He now runs a small chainsaw sales and repair shop out of his store. Need to take care of some beetlekill around the property? John’s the guy to see. He offers heavy logging support, chain sharpening services and small engine repair services along with his auto parts sales. I mention John because he was one of a few clients of mine before Grand Mountain New Media existed. We developed a website featuring his new chainsaw sales, repair, and service business in a new retail location. Then we tweaked it, published it, revised it, tweaked it some more, and then a little more. All while the site was on-line.

I’ve heard from more than a few business owners in my travels around Grand County about how previous attempts to develop websites haven’t gone very well and have left a few bank accounts depleted without much to show for it. I hope that if you’re considering developing a website, don’t want to spend thousands in the process, and don’t want to pay for the finished product until you are complelety satisfied, you’ll talk to John and ask him about the way I do business. I think you’ll be pleased.

I can hear the obvious question being asked now: What’s the website? Let’s see some of your work! Well, in dealing with the economic realities we all face these days, John has recently modified and streamlined his venture to a point where the website dosen’t accurately reflect the business that it is today. So I’m planning to place some of the artwork from the site on www.gmnewmedia.com for your review. I’ll let you know when I get it posted!

My additional thanks to Francie de Vos from Grand County Businesses Without Borders for allowing me to partner with her coalition on the new websites we have under development. I’m calling it “Local Business Networking” and am offering it on all of our web products. If you’re not familiar with Businesses Without Borders, I highly recommend checking them out.

www.gcbwb.com

All for now! I look forward to any insight / compliments / criticisms / comments anyone out there has to offer.

Happiness and success to you.
Rob

Businesses Without Borders

2009-04-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Posted April 2, 2009:

I was privledged to meet with many Grand County-based business owners at Wednesday morning’s Business Without Borders (GBWB) gathering in Granby. I will be joining that organization immediately. So good to see decent people willing to work hard and not give up in this economy. A healthy mindset that reinforces my own. I was able to make some good contacts and even meet with some competitors, who happen to host the GBWB website. It’s worth the $30 I’ll be paying to join and be listed on the site. Competition is good!

I can already see that I’ll be having to modify the http://www.gmnewmedia.com/ website to accomidate some new ideas and thinking absorbed in the meeting.

Last week, immediately after receiving business cards from the printer, I went out and personally contacted 26 small businesses in town who didn’t appear to have websites. I am also considering a small run on the Ski-Hi Daily News website. An ad in the paper itself is simply too expensive for me to absorb at this point. Not that the world is beating a path to the site or this blog at this point, but any ideas out there would be greatly appreciated. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a salesman.

Six days post-launch and no new clients yet…

Greetings! 2.0

2009-04-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Or, should I say, Hello AGAIN! I've decided to re-launch my blog using Blogger. It seems to have much more popularity and available features than the previous program I was using. I'll be posting on BOTH for now to keep things consistent.

Original post dated March 31, 2009:

Thank you for looking in! If you’ve arrived via a link from http://www.gmnewmedia.com/ , it is my hope that you found the site useful, easy to navigate, and came away with the sense that it’s not just another traditional, cookie-cutter corporate marketing site. My goal is to simply fill a niche I feel is missing for small businesses and individuals who refuse to quit breathing in this challenging economy. Affordable NEW MEDIA! High-definition, high-quality, and cost-effective website design and video production tailored for the new ways we can all grow and be successful. I designed and published the Grand Mountain New Media site from scratch and I’ll be evolving and modifying it often as the business grows.

So here we are 4 days after launch and I’ve got a blog already… Whodathunkit.

Looking forward to working with my future clients and re-tooling for our challenging and exciting future!

Thanks!
Rob