Archive for September, 2009

That old proverb of “the shoemakers’ children have no shoes” has a lot of truth to it, at least when describing the nature of my company (JWA) and, more specifically, my company’s Web site (www.jwapr.com).

The thing about clichés is that although tired and often overused – and frowned upon by creative writers – they have to have some validity or else they wouldn’t become clichés, right?

In any event, “the shoemaker’s children have no shoes” refers to persons who commonly neglect their own family or company because they are too busy providing their expertise or professional services – or just working all the time – on behalf of others. In doing so, they fail to care for what’s closest to home.

Translate that to my profession and my company and you have the ironic “shoemaker’s twist” that JWA is in the business of providing all sorts of media, including Web sites, for clients, and yet for the past few years we’ve had barely a suitable online presence of our own.

Well, this shoemaker got his younguns some shoes.

I’m pleased to now have a completely redesigned and redeveloped Web site at www.jwapr.com. It’s taken a while, but I’ve finally carved out enough time between account work and projects to develop, organize, and implement a new Web site that provides a more in-depth and telling story about JWA, I believe.

I’m excited about this new site, not because it’s self serving or provides me with a forum to espouse my thoughts on certain topics, but because it provides an opportunity to showcase our work and the work of our clients. Our story really is told best through them.

So now we’ve re-launched our Web site to provide a canvass for us to paint you a picture of what PR and Advertising and Integrated Marketing practices are like in the real world, within various industries, and under changing and challenging circumstances.

Welcome to jwapr.com. I hope you’ll find that these shoes fit to your liking.

A client recently referred to me as “Jim” by mistake, and apologized profusely because we’ve known each other a long time and have worked together for years. When he caught his error and said, “Chris, I don’t know why I called you Jim,” I assured him “no worries” and that it’s a common oversight because of the name of the company on my business card and letterhead.

Jim Wood & Associates (JWA) is the company I proudly own and operate under its original name as my father, Jim Wood, founded it in 1982. I’ve often counseled clients about name changes, noting the importance of brand equity and how long it takes to build a good reputation in business under a certain moniker. In short, don’t take the decision on name changes lightly.

And I didn’t. Those few instances where new friends, acquaintances and business contacts are confused by “Chris Wood” running a company named after “Jim Wood” pale in comparison to the countless benefits of being related to – and learning business from – a man who created a successful newspaper publishing company and public relations consultancy from scratch, through decades of hard work and doing things the right way. An associate of Jim Wood is a great thing, indeed.

When taking the reins of this consultancy, there was no way I was going to change the name of our PR firm just to stroke my own ego or save myself a few awkward moments when having to explain the current ownership and management structure. Who cares about that anyway?

What clients care about is that you deliver proven professional services with great value, and that you can be counted on to help them solve their problems through better communications practice. Believe me, no one knows how to do that better than Jim Wood.

So for Jim Wood and this associate, we welcome you to JWA.