My wife and I took my youngest daughter over the weekend to see Toy Story 3. I knew it was going to be good, I expect nothing less from the entertainment juggernaut that Pixar has become. What I was not prepared for was how emotional of an experience it would be, or how it would touch each of us on different levels. On the drive home I told my wife that only Pixar could make me feel inordinately guilty about the G.I. Joes (With the kung-fu grip, of course) that I blew up with firecrackers when I grew bored with them!
Within the course of that one movie I found myself laughing loudly at some parts and certainly tearing up at other parts, particularly the ending. I do not want to be accused of releasing movie spoilers, so without giving the final scenes away, let me just say that there is a much deeper level message about finally letting go of childhood and moving into the sometimes scary world of adulthood, and yet keeping a fond memory alive and hopefully a piece of the heart steadfastly in childlike wonder and innocence. That crossroads that every person stands at sometime in their life between the immaturity and unbridled joy of childhood and the responsibility ladened, challenging and sometimes stress filled years of being an adult is a difficult place. There are things you must let go of to truly move on, and things that you need to retain that keep you from becoming a bitter, joyless, curmudgeonly grown up that lets life steal your sense of humor and fun. You have to determine what to lose and what to keep to take the next step and become a succesful, adjusted and mature person.
As a company I think there are similarities and parallels to be made here. In the infancy and through the childhood of a business you make the most of certain "toys" or tools in the beginning stages of life, and usually you have some kind of a website created that isn't all it could be but it gets you by while you grow. You get comfortable with it and the status quo becomes a relaxed space to stay in as long as possible, the pain of spending more money is daunting and you can convince youself to stay a child because of it. You inevitably reach a scary place of making a move into a new stage of growth and the next step in the crossroads of your company's life into maturity and thriving adulthood and you have to make some decisions about what to keep and what to release. There are certainly things that you must retain that got you where you are, your branding, your mission and vision, your philsophy of business, your integrity and service and so on. The message of your business may not change, BUT the methods in which you get that message out may need to change very drastically in some instances, and many times it's that outdated website that we hold on to because changing it just isn't a line item in the budget like other marketing channels like print, radio and TV.
I have gone over many times here on our blog about the importance of having a GREAT website in this day and age, and I think most business owner recognize, even if it is grudgingly at times, that it's a fact of economic life at this point. I won't bore you with that soapbox again.
My point is this, if you are out there today in a growing company that is still hanging on to the childhood website of yesterday, that served its purpose way back when, can I encourage you to finally let go and take that daring step into maturity? A new and powerful website can be many things to your company including a fantastic sales brochure, a tool to increase your back office efficiencies, a way to lock in your client's loyalty, a way to increase your customer's overall experience with your business and so much more. It can connect you personally with clients all over the state, the region, the country and frankly the world. It can present your brand to people that wouldn't have heard about you any other way, and also present the entire scope of your services to your current clients that will say, "I never knew they did that!"
The bottom line is you have to have the courage to let go and put some resources towards the web to really make the most of your brand and walk boldly into the future of your company. Don't fight it, embrace it and see where the new road takes you. If done right the journey into new territory will be one filled with victories and continued, sustainable and consistent growth. At Xapsis we want to make the reward worth the risk, so don't be afraid to say goodbye to those things that kept you going in the beginning but have outlived their usefulness. The past can be a place of wonderful memories and provide a foundation to build on, but it can also stunt your future growth if you try to continue to live there (speaking from a marketing perspective).
From where you are to where you want to be,
Doug
