You Are What You Tweet

For the past month or so, I’ve been investigating a potential new business, one that would be entirely web-based. (Years ago two paths diverged in a wood, and I chose to live in my car and climb full-time rather than learning HTML…)

The details are irrelevant to Ambler, but what I’ve learned about the Internet in the past few weeks is hugely relevant if Ambler wants to thrive in the future: People entrenched in the web world (even those that have never met each other) can know a whole lot more about each other than the rest of us do. And one day the rest of the world is (hopefully) going to catch up.

I’ve been going through the usual process of interviews, reference checks, and other unactionable-tasks-that-drive-my-type-A-personality-crazy — i.e. everything Due Diligence demands. I’ve met some great, talented people, and I’ve learned a lot. Part of my process has been adding some atypical methods to the typical: reading the blogs of potential partners, scanning Twitter accounts and message boards, and subscribing to RSS feeds.

Why? Because I’ve learned (too slowly it seems…) that who I work with is as important as what they can do. And the Internet is currently the best, quickest way to learn about the people that participate in it.

Unfortunately, our (outdoor) industry is not up to speed. Consumers and retailers are forced to make innocent, shallow judgments of the companies they work with, and the products they buy, based on the logos, advertisements and “athletes” that grace the pages of our popular magazines.

Blech.

I don’t want Ambler to do that. It may mean sacrificing some business if we’re not in the latest, teeny-bopper, cool-dude, pants-really-need-a-belt, snowboard magazine, but… pants falling off butts drive me crazy anyway.

Brands are no longer a function of witty ad campaigns created in boardrooms by people you’ll never meet. Access to customers – and access to businesses – has been flattened. Brands are, more and more and more, about the people that go to work there everyday. No longer do you need 100 magazines and 10 million dollars in print ads to reach out and touch someone. A cell phone and two fast thumbs will do just fine.

In the near future, our website, our blog and our Twitter account are going to get a lot more personal. If so inclined, you’re going to learn more about the team at Ambler:

• You’ll start to learn what I think is good business, and what I think sucks. You may even learn why I never touch PIN pads with anything but the second knuckle of my first finger on my right hand.
• You’ll learn what is important to Holly Ambler (co-owner and our designer), what two colors you should never combine, and (most likely…) what ideas of mine she doesn’t like.
• From Irene Tos (our Office Manager), you’ll learn what is good accounting, the importance of detail, and (maybe) important keys to parenting two teenage daughters.
• From Lucas Ambler, our 5-year-old Chief Visionary Officer, you’ll learn about the hierarchy of Transformers, how to spot a Jedi that will turn to the dark side, and why sharing new toys is so damn hard.

You may like what you read. You may not. Either is fine. Regardless, it’ll be who we are and important for you to know.

If you want to do business with us or buy our products, it’s important that you know who you’re dealing with — that we’re not a big company pretending to be small, for example — what we believe in, and how we work. Then you can decide if you wanna play on our team.

Honestly, I hope you do.