Changes in name and scope

My website was down recently. Actually, both of them — this one and Cops 2.0 — were down as I moved web hosts somewhat unexpectedly.

(Long story short: Cops 2.0 was hacked, and after I tweeted about it, a different host tweeted back that they’d love me to consider their new service. I talked with them a little via Twitter and email, liked what I heard, saw the price was right, and made the switch. Folks, that’s how to rock social lead generation and customer service. But that’s a blog for another time.)

While the transition was in progress I thought a lot about the changes coming to Cops 2.0, notably a change in scope. Then I thought about changes (mainly of the cosmetic variety) coming here too, and about how my business has changed in the year since I designed this site.

I’m doing more with corporate clients than I anticipated this time last year. I’m also moving toward some projects which I think will help the community, both on the individual and the organizational side. The blog name “The Outstanding Investigator” only fit half of that, and I needed something that addressed the organizations too.

“Communications Forensics” is a good hybrid name because I’ve always been one to pick apart and analyze, turn over what works and what doesn’t work. I primarily serve the digital forensics community, and I serve enough of law enforcement that they would get the reference too.

But why does it matter enough to write a blog post about it?

I suppose mainly because it shows my professional evolution, from someone on a steep learning curve to someone whose aspirations have (at last) crystallized. I have more experience with client communications now, and I can speak with more authority on where those experiences have led.

Although initially, I didn’t want to write a duplicate of the PR/marketing blogs I read and put a “forensics” stamp on it… I realized not long ago that this may not be such a bad thing. A lot of tech types don’t understand how this stuff works; they’d rather focus on forensics. Yet communication is central to helping attorneys, detectives, corporate clients, the media, and community members understand forensics and high tech crime issues.

I’ve made a few tweaks to the site content that more accurately reflect my business. They are on the “Why hire me?” pages and subpages, and notably on the “Services” page, which is a more black and white representation of what I offer.

In fact, each item on the “Services” page is one I plan to get into in greater detail on this blog — which makes it an amalgam of the groundwork I’ve laid at Cops 2.0, and a PR/marketing blog with a forensics stamp. In other words, the blog strategy is based on the work I do, even if I never mention clients by name.

I mentioned several months ago that I was planning to do a survey, and I still am, probably after the holidays at this point. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear from you:

Whether you provide digital forensics software or services, what PR/marketing issues do you want to know more about?

Image: Brawn via Flickr