Merge

One can tend to worry about what the competition is doing and what he needs to change internally on his end to respond. Others, when building a website, will look at their competitors and copy them. Have you ever noticed that an industry's websites--say it's real estate, lawyers, CPA's, etc.--all look very much the same? They're worried about what the competition is doing and so they copy them.

Nothing great came out of copying somebody else. Instead, focus on yourself.

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In Merge's eight-plus years, if there's one thing that's constant it's change. We've seen three new offices in three years, a totally revamped model, and today we're working on tweaking how we're organized internally.

This may give some people pause. "Do they know what they're doing? Why do they change so much? Are they to be trusted?"

A client of ours has a quote on their wall (and I paraphrase) “Our employees have the entrepreneurial spirit in which they embrace risk and change.”  Merge flies the same banner. Team Merge knows that, if anything, change is constant.

Why? Helen Keller says it best, "Life is either a daring adventure, or it's nothing."

Innovation happens in a state of risk and change. This is where good things happen. Merge looks nothing like we did eight years ago and in 3 years we'll probably look nothing like we do now.

Or at least I hope so. Let's change.

Bottom Line: Change is good and it's necessary for innovation. If you want to get better, change.

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Build your business before you build your house, so the proverb goes.

In our consumer crazed society, where twenty and thirty-somethings are living like their fifty year-old parents, it seems like the proverb has been rewritten: Build your house before your business.

The web sees a similar treatment. Many-a-company build their websites before they build their business. The web is magical. Social Media is the silver bullet. Newsletters, SEO and Blogs, the new hope.

A new shiny website won't save a failing business, nor will it make a mediocre business great.

The web does not make a great company. The web--done right--makes great companies greater.

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In the eight years Merge's existence, I've noted distinct stages of our business. Each stage, or chapter, brings forth a new set of challenges, opportunities, frustrations and joy. In essence, growing a business is like life.

No. It is life.

Life is sloppy, imperfect, wonderful and exhilarating all at the same time. The movie Parenthood illustrates this so well:

[Gil has been complaining about his complicated life;
Grandma wanders into the room]

Grandma:
You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster.

Gil:
Oh?

Grandma:
Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!

Gil:
What a great story.

Grandma:
I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me
that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited,
and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the
merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller
coaster. You get more out of it.

Merge was fortunate to share the beginning of one of our new chapters last night with about 100 friends. We had a blast. And with great anticipation, we look forward to being the co-author of this next chapter with all of our great friends. Thanks for living it with us.

By the way, our new chapter is called: "A New Way to Web." If you'd like a sneak peek to what this chapter is going to be about, join us on April 21st at noon for our webinar.

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Half of team Merge took a retreat this past weekend.  It was a two-fold deal, first, experience what our newest client has to offer so we can rock their Digital Strategy.  The Mountain Club at Cashiers invited us up to stay for the weekend to get a real feel for what sets them apart.  We owe them a huge thank you, it really is an incredible place.  The second premise, get better.  On a lot of fronts.  We think we are the best at what we do.  We have a team of incredible people, all specialists in their respective areas.  This doesn't mean we shouldn't dig deep and see if we can do things better. 

To help facilitate the process was our friend and consultant Cliff Smith.  I can't tell you how much added value you get from an outside resource, especially one as good as Cliff.  He was really able to get us outside our own heads, and think of ways we could improve we would not have thought of on our own.  The path managed to lead us from our own internal processes to Spain of all places.  To make sense of that, towards the end we were given the question "Wouldn't it be great if we were like...?"  What companies, organizations and even countries would we look like given the choice.  Lots of answers bubbled to the surface, including Spain which immediately came to mind based on three months of vacation, afternoon naps and tapas.   There were obviously some great companies mixed in, and the entire session made us think about what really motivates us to improve.  Money, quality of life, sheer competition, fantastic work. What is it really and how can we get there? 

Bottom Line:  The answer is probably different for eve

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