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

I wanted to acknowledge the great Friday evening at Anne and Dave’s last week.

Anne, Dave – thank you so very much for your wonderful hospitality and the amazing meal. It always makes me feel so good when we get together – some good soul food! It’s too bad that Oneuma and Colin were not able to make it, but with her sister getting married, it would have been too hectic a pace for them, I’m sure. We’ll have to catch up with them next time for sure.

It was so nice to see Ralphie looking and feeling great. What a relief that he is finally all better. What a sweet Monkey Boy!  I can’t wait until the puppies meet Calvin!    If anyone has any particular ideas about how to go about our puppy play date, please let me know. I’ll be thinking of locations…..I think it would be great to see them play in some open space.

Andy, Dave – Thanks so much for giving us the screening of Real and the in-production To The Rescue video on Friday. We felt very privileged to be the first ones to see both works, outside of those who have been involved in the productions, of course. We are so proud of you both and we were very impressed with how you pulled together both productions.  There were particular elements to Real that really touched us and we’re sure that it will have the same effect on others who see it. We are really looking forward to seeing the final cut of the music video as well. Bravo boys! Keep going! You’re going places !!!

As usual, we’ll keep you posted on the wedding planning developments…More to follow…

And remember, it’s “A and T”……not “T & A”…  ;P  LOL!!! I’m still laughing at that one…….. Thanks for all of the laughs guys!

Love Tina