strategy

Building a New Foundation for Common Craft

leelefever — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:10:23 -0400

For the last few months, we've been "foundation building." For us, this means taking the time to focus on the business behind Common Craft and how we communicate our business to you. Our goal is clarity - if we are clear about the exact business that we run, then we're more able to illustrate our value to potential customers. It's hard work and something we're excited to see come to fruition. Now that it's in place, we can really focus on videos.

The elements of the foundation:

Licenses - We've had a great experience reviewing our licenses. For the first time, a legal team worked with us over a matter of weeks and learned our business from top to bottom. They asked questions, they challenged us, they made suggestions. We came out of it with a new license agreement that:

1. Matches exactly with the business we want to run
2. Matches our plain English style (it fits on one page!)
3. Gives us confidence that our licenses are solid.

These are our snazzy license icons that appear at the end of each video:

Education - Coming out of the review process gave us new insight into the big ideas we must be able to communicate about our licenses. We updated our FAQ, created a Licensing Guide and a new video that describes how to share Common Craft videos responsibly. It's now on the front page and on the Store page - and below:

Click to play

Equipment - We've reinvented our studio to make video production more comfortable and efficient. You won't see big changes in the videos, but you might notice smiles on our faces thanks to having a studio set up that makes production a joy. The big change? We moved the whiteboard off the floor and onto a table, mounted the camera from the ceiling, added a connection to a TV and clamped on smaller lights with less heat. This is hopefully our foundation for years of videos to come.

New Commercial License - As a result of our review, we're now offering a new Commercial License. This license is for companies that would like to display Common Craft videos on their public-facing web site. We ask these customers to fill out a form to apply for a Commercial License.

New School Program - We want students to benefit from our videos. We're now offering a special deal for schools of all types. Entire school districts (K-12), independent, and post-secondary schools only need to purchase a single Site License to use licensed versions of our videos. Further, the Site License is offered to schools at a 50% discount. Apply for the discount here.

New Format: Kindle Books - We've started to adapt our videos into Kindle books that are availabe for purchase from Amazon's Kindle Store. More on this later.

So, we've been busy behind the scenes, but now we can focus once again on videos for you. We've been receiving some great suggestions for future videos. If you have one to add or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

On To Bluer Oceans

leelefever — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:49:42 -0400

The transition is complete. Common Craft has become a different company and our first products are coming out in the next two weeks.

A Bit of Background:

In 2003, I started Common Craft to focus on online communities. After being a professional online community manager for a few years (1999-2003) Common Craft gave me a chance to be a consultant for the first time. I loved it - I had a cozy little niche that enabled me to work on fun and interesting projects, like the March of Dimes - Share Your Story community. Even then, part of my services included plain English explanations.

Then Common Craft was essentially out of the market for the entire year of 2006. When we came back, my little niche had changed. It seemed like everywhere I turned there was someone claiming "community" as part of their area of expertise. These weren't just claims - a lot of people with real experience entered the market. From my perspective, Common Craft's blue ocean became red in 2006.

Of course, it was during this time that we began experimenting with online video. Not since discovering online communities had anything excited me so. Our time off in 2006 gave us valuable experience - experience that we used to create the Common Craft Show and the Paperworks format. Much to our surprise, it was the Common Craft Show that created a new business for us.

After we made our second video for the Show, Wikis in Plain English, companies began to ask about custom videos. Thankfully this was an opportunity we were ready to take and since, we've oriented Common Craft's business around our videos and what we call Common Craft Productions.

We see an emerging market for better explanations and Common Craft's future is focused on serving that market. We are an explanation company and our videos are our most popular product.

So, Common Craft is a different company. We have a product instead of a service. We are two people instead of one, and our future is focused not so much on community, but on better communication.

This is a great fit for us, especially considering the origin of the Common Craft name. I've always said that communication is the most common craft there is. Now we're out to prove that our version of that craft can make complex ideas easier to understand.

On To Bluer Oceans

leelefever — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:49:42 -0400

The transition is complete. Common Craft has become a different company and our first products are coming out in the next two weeks.

A Bit of Background:

We see an emerging market for better explanations and Common Craft's future is focused on serving that market. We are an explanation company and our videos are our most popular product.

So, Common Craft is a different company. We have a product instead of a service. We are two people instead of one, and our future is focused not so much on community, but on better communication.

On To Bluer Oceans

leelefever — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:49:42 -0400

The transition is complete. Common Craft has become a different company and our first products are coming out in the next two weeks.

A Bit of Background:

We see an emerging market for better explanations and Common Craft's future is focused on serving that market. We are an explanation company and our videos are our most popular product.

So, Common Craft is a different company. We have a product instead of a service. We are two people instead of one, and our future is focused not so much on community, but on better communication.

On To Bluer Oceans

leelefever — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:49:42 -0400

The transition is complete. Common Craft has become a different company and our first products are coming out in the next two weeks.

A Bit of Background:

We see an emerging market for better explanations and Common Craft's future is focused on serving that market. We are an explanation company and our videos are our most popular product.

So, Common Craft is a different company. We have a product instead of a service. We are two people instead of one, and our future is focused not so much on community, but on better communication.

On To Bluer Oceans

leelefever — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:49:42 -0400

The transition is complete. Common Craft has become a different company and our first products are coming out in the next two weeks.

A Bit of Background:

We see an emerging market for better explanations and Common Craft's future is focused on serving that market. We are an explanation company and our videos are our most popular product.

So, Common Craft is a different company. We have a product instead of a service. We are two people instead of one, and our future is focused not so much on community, but on better communication.

Marketing Profs: How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

leelefever — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 16:45:23 -0500

How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

Online discussion forumsâ€”commonly referred to as consumer generated media (CGM)â€”are increasingly being used by consumers to ratify or criticize products and brands. Because consumers use these online discussion forums to check out other consumersâ€™ opinions and experiencesâ€”for pre- or post-shopping adviceâ€”they are shaping the perspectives of millions of consumers globally.

Good perspectives, and the author provides good advice for companies to be aware of the power of these online discussions in shaping the market. But what about reacting to them? What can a company do to preserve an online reputation?

What is missing is the value of being *involved* in the online discussions. Being aware is only part of the picture- the real issue is being able influence the online discussions and provide resources that enable the company to have a real voice that shapes opinions.

Companies who are concerned about their online reputation need to look for ways to participate in the discussions with a personal and honest voice.

Involvement may mean creating an online community of customers or starting a weblog. Only by being a part of the discussion can a company truly stick up for itself when it's being trashed online.

You can't respond to a weblogger with a press release.

Link Via: Reach Customers Online's RSS Feed

Marketing Profs: How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

leelefever — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 16:45:23 -0500

How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

Online discussion forumsâ€”commonly referred to as consumer generated media (CGM)â€”are increasingly being used by consumers to ratify or criticize products and brands. Because consumers use these online discussion forums to check out other consumersâ€™ opinions and experiencesâ€”for pre- or post-shopping adviceâ€”they are shaping the perspectives of millions of consumers globally.

Companies who are concerned about their online reputation need to look for ways to participate in the discussions with a personal and honest voice.

Involvement may mean creating an online community of customers or starting a weblog. Only by being a part of the discussion can a company truly stick up for itself when it's being trashed online.

You can't respond to a weblogger with a press release.

Link Via: Reach Customers Online's RSS Feed

Marketing Profs: How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

leelefever — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 16:45:23 -0500

How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

Online discussion forumsâ€”commonly referred to as consumer generated media (CGM)â€”are increasingly being used by consumers to ratify or criticize products and brands. Because consumers use these online discussion forums to check out other consumersâ€™ opinions and experiencesâ€”for pre- or post-shopping adviceâ€”they are shaping the perspectives of millions of consumers globally.

Companies who are concerned about their online reputation need to look for ways to participate in the discussions with a personal and honest voice.

Involvement may mean creating an online community of customers or starting a weblog. Only by being a part of the discussion can a company truly stick up for itself when it's being trashed online.

You can't respond to a weblogger with a press release.

Link Via: Reach Customers Online's RSS Feed

Marketing Profs: How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

leelefever — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 16:45:23 -0500

How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

Online discussion forumsâ€”commonly referred to as consumer generated media (CGM)â€”are increasingly being used by consumers to ratify or criticize products and brands. Because consumers use these online discussion forums to check out other consumersâ€™ opinions and experiencesâ€”for pre- or post-shopping adviceâ€”they are shaping the perspectives of millions of consumers globally.

Companies who are concerned about their online reputation need to look for ways to participate in the discussions with a personal and honest voice.

Involvement may mean creating an online community of customers or starting a weblog. Only by being a part of the discussion can a company truly stick up for itself when it's being trashed online.

You can't respond to a weblogger with a press release.

Link Via: Reach Customers Online's RSS Feed