The one thing I didn’t do during this whole time is properly brand my own company and produce a proper website for Hotcakes New Media. Over the course of the year, I’ve had time to think about where I’d like to take Hotcakes, considering the market in Ottawa and my competition. As a result, I’ve rebranded Hotcakes as a Creative Company, first and foremost, with a production division. Part of the new branding was trying to come up with a company image that I felt reflected my personality as well as the type of work we produce. The result is a funky, brightly coloured, young and fresh company image that stands out in the dull Ottawa marketplace.

The reason for the rebranding is two-fold: First, because I just wasn’t getting the work I needed to sustain a livable income with my current branding (which was all about promoting production, yet didn’t have the work to back it up), and second, because I saw a gap in the market between marketing companies and production companies. There are NO creative agencies in Ottawa! (or none that I could find) That means searching for “Ottawa creative company” in Google puts my website on page one.

So what exactly did I do? I’ve completely redesigned the looks and the content of the main Hotcakes website (found at http://www.hotcakesnewmedia.com). The new Hotcakes site is simple, and clearly showcases us as a creative company. It’s about giving people confidence in who we are, what we’ve done, and what we can do for them. I’ve also developed a new site specific for production (found at http://www.hotcakesproduction.com). The new production website follows the same structure and looks as the main site, but clearly shows exactly what kind of production work we do, and goes into more detail on those individual work items. It’s designed mostly to catch Google keywords, optimize my ranking, and link people back to the main site. Finally, I created the Ottawa Video Production Blog (found at http://www.ottawavideoproduction.ca/blog). The blog, again, is a technique used to increase visibility within the community, as well as within Google. Search engine ranks go up dramatically when fresh content is posted on a regular basis, and a blog allows us to do that. It also adds specific keywords that might not normally show up, and increases content dramatically. It IS good to toot your own horn.

I’ve also been hard at work building a physical and electronic booklet to mail and email to potential clients. I need to spread the word about Hotcakes, and not rely entirely on people seeking me out. I will soon be actively seeking new clients, sending promotional materials, and advertising as much as possible to maximize the way people find me.

Yes, Hotcakes may have turned one… but without a BIG push and some important new clients, Hotcakes will not see year two. So I better get back to work now.

A7