One true copy
My vision for vrbtm.co
We’ve just deployed our first beta iteration at http://beta.vrbtm.co, which means I have some time to switch gears and think about what vrbtm means to me.
What is it? That’s a question that comes up a lot when I mention that I’m working on a project with Wes. Well, I guess it’s a content approval platform. Sounds kind of weird right? It consists of a big word (platform), a vague word (content) and a boring word (approval). It also requires a lot of explaining. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I like talking about this and I’d like for people to talk to me and others about it. Having a descriptor that sounds boring, vague and enterprise doesn’t lend itself to a lot of follow up questions.
This is where “One true copy” comes in. It’s still three words and still needs explaining, but sounds much more interesting. Which leads to follow up questions like these (totally didn’t make these up for the sake of this article).
One true copy? Of what?
Any type of content. Text, video, photo, PSD, AI, MP3, ZIP, etc. Doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have to ever save multiple versions of the same piece of content and manage that yourself. Or worse, have other people manage your content that follows some arbitrary system.
So, this thing is supposed to manage my content for me. How are you doing that?
Well. We’re not yet. We’re focusing on the approval part for now, which is the tail-end of your content management. The hand off. We’re working back to front.
Wait, it doesn’t manage my content?
It manages your content hand-off to an external entity (a client). For example, when you’re done creating your fire mixtape you can send the mp3 file over to Uncle Snoop and he can approve or reject it. Approvals are legally binding and are set up such that both parties are in complete understanding of which version of your fire mixtape is final.
I see.
Yeah. We’re working on the approval/rejection piece now, but our end goal is to manage your content from start to finish. We’re not trying to make a tool that creates your content. Use your own tools. Keep on using Sketch for your mockups. Save the file out as you normally would but without the crazy_filename_v5_FINAL_FINAL_CLIENT_REVIEWED_FINAL.svg. Save it as just crazy_filename.svg. Overwrite the same file over and over again. We’ll handle the versioning, delivery, management, protected access, feedback and contract part of it. The management part — so you can just worry about creation.
Yeah, I think I get it now.
Keep on using your project management tool too. Use a phat ültra ‘trix in Google Drive to keep tasks in check? That’s cool, we’ll provide a Chrome extension that drops vrbtm links or sends files from anywhere to anyone. Stay in your tools, just keep things vrbtm. One true copy.
Okay. Ok. Enough!
One true copy. One true copy. One true copy.
Branding is something I’ve struggled with in the past. As a cop out, I’ve used a single emoji as the logo for products I make. Spitsy’s logo was 💦. Then, Peach 🍑 came out and I was convinced that this makes sense. I took it one step further and thought that a great strategy test would be to define your product in emoji. The more emoji you need to get your product’s unique selling point or brand across, the more you have to work on defining what your product actually is.
Here’s vrbtm, in emoji: ♳
Yeah. Maybe not an emoji. But it’s a symbol and I got it from the emoji drawer, so come at me.
