Parrotheader.com

In some ways the mere thought of creating a blog related to my take on developments and trends in my profession is laughable. I already have a hard enough time keeping my personal blog (this riveting site) updated as it is. Just imagine the potential pitfalls that could be caused by adding another blog to the equation; I would be spreading myself too thin. Not to mention there are thousands of blogs on online marketing already out there. What could I possibly add to the noise that would matter?

But it's still something I'd like to tackle at some point, if only just to flesh out some of my thoughts and ideas into words. I read (and these days, listen via podcasts) to so much news in my field that I feel I have a strong grasp of the bigger picture outside the confines of my little universe. And while a lot of marketing people (particularly those reporting the latest marketing news) like to talk in theory and generalities, I think one of my greatest strengths is my common sense. I can understand the bigger picture and theoretical possibilities, but still cut through the fluff to get to what really matters on the day-to-day perspective for myself and my clients.

The field of web analytics is a shining example of this. We have so much data via a myriad of tools at our disposal these days. Companies are constantly announcing new developments with shiny new reporting features. But what good are all these features and GBs of data if someone doesn't have the time to sift through it all? The sheer volume of data can be so intimidating that some people would rather simply ignore it than try to deal with it.

I might make the occasional professional post here in the near future if I feel the need to sound off on something particularly compelling. But for the most part, I want to continue to keep this a personal blog. My department already has a loosely-organized blog (The Schablog) that we've recently given a face lift in preparation for our company's new site launch. But we're planning on taking our official blogging up to a more professional level in the very near future with a more robust blogging platform (probably Movable Type.) That platform should allow us to have a hierarchy of personal blogs underneath the larger departmental/company blogs. Once that system is in place, it will likely assume the role of my professional blog.

Fear not though, I'll continue to do my best to make random posts about strange coffee commercials and the build-quality of children's toys in this space.