Whatever Happened to Labor?

An excerpt from Seth's Godin's blog:

In a world where labor does exactly what it's told to do, it will be devalued. Obedience is easily replaced, and thus one worker is as good as another. And devalued labor will be replaced by machines or cheaper alternatives. We say we want insightful and brilliant teachers, but then we insist they do their labor precisely according to a manual invented by a committee...

Companies that race to the bottom in terms of the skill or cost of their labor end up with nothing but low margins. The few companies that are able to race to the top, that can challenge workers to bring their whole selves--their human selves--to work, on the other hand, can earn stability and growth and margins. Improvisation still matters if you set out to solve interesting problems.

As a business, we face this on a regular basis. Just yesterday I stumbled onto an ad offering business websites for $125. I had to admit that I was curious to see what a $125 website looked like, so I clicked through. Turns out that one $125 website looks quite a bit like the next $125 website. No attention to detail, no optimization for SEO, not even a unique look and feel appropriate to the brand or company. Immediately the Warren Buffett quote popped into my head; "Price is what you pay, value is what you get." Yes, these folks paid a low price for their websites, but none of them added any value to the business. Each of these businesses missed an opportunity to share their story—to tell their customers why they're here and why they're different.

I've had people ask if this "race to the bottom" in the fields of design and web development bothers me. If I'm honest, the answer is that, yes, it does—but probably not as much as you'd think. The reason that it doesn't bother me that much is because of our team. They do great work, and great work is worth talking about. As Seth quips in the excerpt above, the Ideavise team shows up every day looking for interesting problems to throw their entire selves at. We're blessed that we have clients who have trusted us with their interesting problems.

So I'll make you this promise: We may not always be the cheapest option (though we won't be anywhere NEAR the most expensive, either), but I guarantee that when you hire us you will get an entire team of people who are hard-wired to throw their entire selves at the project. Our goal is not only that you come out of the project with something tangible (a website, brochure, email newsletter, etc.) but also that that you come out of it with a solution—that we've addressed a problem or issue and that your business is better for us having served you. My business partner, Brian, likes to use this phrase; "Show Up. Add Value. Be Findable. Repeat."

If you find yourself needing some creative insight into something, well, creative. We'd love to be considered. Give us a call at (719) 355-3579 or (831) 887-0111.

Thanks for reading,

—Jason @ Ideavise

Wish vs. Want

"Some people wish they had something and wait for the magic to happen. Others want it to happen and seek ways in which to make things come alive."

—Brian DeLong

(Brian is the Project Director here at Ideavise, and normally doesn't speak in such flowerly prose. Who knew that a technology guy could wax poetic in a fleeting moment of complete existential awareness.)

Ideavise Press Release

Long Time Cycling Industry Professionals
Launch Professional Services Firm
Focused on the Needs of Small Businesses

November 10, 2009, Colorado Springs, CO — Industry professionals Jason Lombard and Brian DeLong are proud to announce Ideavise, a professional services firm. Their new venture is focused on bringing cost effective design, marketing, brand positioning and technology solutions to the small business market.

Capitalizing on their in-depth knowledge of the bicycle and outdoor industries, the Ideavise team offers stand-alone services such as; print and electronic design, broad-based marketing, brand identity consulting, as well as integrated business technology solutions. Ideavise also specializes in mobile web app development, website design, ecommerce implementations, email marketing and more.

Ideavise clients also enjoy the benefit of communicating through a single point of contact— even across projects that would normally involve several different companies. “One of the ways that we add value for our clients, is by saving them time and money through streamlined communication,” says DeLong, Ideavise Partner and Project Director. “Instead of trying to manage a vendor for design work, a vendor for marketing and a vendor for website implementations, we’ve established a company with the resources to accomplish each of these tasks. This saves our clients time and energy, and allows them to focus on running their business.”

In an ongoing effort to improve the level of service that their customers receive, Ideavise recently hired key positions to increase the depth and bandwidth of the team. Lending her unparalleled interpersonal skills as well as an extensive Mar/Comm background, Jackie Petro has joined Ideavise in a Marketing and Public Relations capacity, and Del Kahre brings his extensive programming expertise spanning multiple platforms, languages and operating systems.

Now entering its second year, Ideavise is proud of the strong relationships that they’ve built with top-tier industry companies, as well as their commitment to giving back through work with several industry associated non-profit agencies. “We’ve been excited and highly motivated by the response that we’ve received,” says Jason Lombard, Ideavise Partner and Creative Director. “It’s incredibly rewarding to have the opportunity to work with such an exceptional group of clients and more importantly, be able to build long term relationships—which is always important with brand strategy and technology.”

About the Company

Drawing on over 20 years of collective experience at cutting-edge companies, Jason Lombard and Brian DeLong noticed a void in the market. During their tenure at brands like Santa Cruz Bicycles, Light & Motion, Carmichael Training Systems and Fox Racing it became obvious that large-scale agencies existed to satisfy the needs of sizable companies, while smaller companies went largely unserved. Additionally, they noted that this void spanned multiple channels including that of the retailer, the distributor and the manufacturer. In response to this need, Ideavise was born in 2008 as a full-service identity agency specializing in design, marketing, brand positioning and technology solutions. With offices in Colorado and California, the Ideavise team works with clients all over the United States.

Ideavise can be contacted at (719) 355-3579 or via their website at http://www.ideavise.com.

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