Category: Building a Brand

They Like Us, They Really Like Us!

I love award ceremonies. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s seeing and hearing from stars when they’re vulnerable but trying really hard. Maybe it’s seeing George Clooney in a suit. Or maybe it’s just because I love movies and music, so the Oscars, Globes and Grammies are all on my Tivo list (and I even … Continue reading “They Like Us, They Really Like Us!”

I love award ceremonies. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s seeing and hearing from stars when they’re vulnerable but trying really hard. Maybe it’s seeing George Clooney in a suit. Or maybe it’s just because I love movies and music, so the Oscars, Globes and Grammies are all on my Tivo list (and I even forgive my son Hudson for being born during the entire span of the Grammies two years ago).

But awards have started to take on a new meaning with Saffire. We’ve entered Rodeo Austin, a Saffire Client Pro website we did last year and the craziest thing has happened.

We have won every award we entered.

I’m not trying to brag, but I’ve got to tell you; it’s felt pretty good. It’s made me feel validated for thinking there was a place for us in the fair and rodeo industry!

I couldn’t be more excited about our offering. And it’s awesome to have so many others confirm that they like it too.

Next time, I’ll tell you why we decided to launch Saffire in the first place. Stay tuned!

Getting Up Off the Couch

I’ve always told customers that it’s really hard to get online leads and sales from offline marketing efforts. I’ve said this not to discourage them from doing it, but to set realistic expectations. It’s just really hard to overcome inertia to get people off the couch where they read their email and to their computer … Continue reading “Getting Up Off the Couch”

I’ve always told customers that it’s really hard to get online leads and sales from offline marketing efforts. I’ve said this not to discourage them from doing it, but to set realistic expectations. It’s just really hard to overcome inertia to get people off the couch where they read their email and to their computer to type in a URL.

Well now I’ve experienced this for myself.

We sent out about 1,700 postcards to fairs and rodeos across the country, and we’re holding our breath to find out if anyone is interested enough to call us. I have to remember that it will take several exposures to our name before people respond, but like I also always say, patience isn’t my virtue!

Here’s the postcard. I think it’s so fun, but let us know what you think.


What are your experiences with direct mail? We’d love to hear success stories!

Eight Followers

As a consultant who has built websites across many industries since 1995, I’m accustomed to (and love) helping people build their brands online. But it’s been awhile since I’ve done it for myself. Now that we’ve launched Saffire, I’ve gotten a taste of building our own brand from scratch. And let me tell you one … Continue reading “Eight Followers”

As a consultant who has built websites across many industries since 1995, I’m accustomed to (and love) helping people build their brands online. But it’s been awhile since I’ve done it for myself. Now that we’ve launched Saffire, I’ve gotten a taste of building our own brand from scratch. And let me tell you one thing I bet you already know.

It’s nerve-wracking!

I’m used to having the feeling of never getting to do quite as much as I’d like. But it’s taking it to a new level for it to be about something so near and dear to our hearts.

Eight followers. That’s how many Twitter followers we had last night. And we knew all of them. It’s a dauntingly small number, especially thinking about how to increase it dramatically. (Please follow us! :))

So we followed a bunch of fairs and rodeos, which is our target audience for Saffire. In our dreams, they’d follow us back, or at least come check out our product that creates best-in-class event websites. But either way, we look forward to keeping our finger on what’s going on in the industry… and sharing it when we think it’s something our customers would care about.

I’ll try to document what we’re doing to build the Saffire brand and product, so check back to see what we’re up to and offer us ideas if you have them. And cross your fingers for us that we’re well into the double digits soon!