Hi. I’m Rob.

So, you clicked on my link from my Twitter profile.  Hooray for you!  I do the same when I want to know if someone’s worth my attention, 140 characters at a time.

As a Twitter user, you probably have a short attention span.  I’ll make this quick.  Here’s what you need to know:

• I’m the creator of awesome children’s music products called That Baby DVD and That Baby CD.  They feature kid-friendly covers of songs written by Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Natalie Merchant and more.  It’s kids’ music for people that don’t like kids’ music.  If you need a baby gift idea, or you’re just sick of the children’s music in your current rotation, visit ThatBabyDVD.com!  If you write about or sell children’s products, let me know.  I’ll be happy to send you some samples to enjoy.
• I also made the first DVD and CD series especially for Jewish babies called OyBaby.  Check those out too–50,000 Jewish babies can’t be wrong!
• As the CEO of a small business and a marketer with 15 years of experience at companies such as Microsoft and Avenue A/Razorfish, I consult with companies large and small.  Need help getting into blogging, social networking, podcasting, or SEO?  Visit the home page of this site to learn more about what I do in this regard.

Thanks for the follow.  Nice to tweet you!  And now, back to my twitter profile.

Dear Recession,

I’ve decided that your time is up.  I’m done with you, and you are officially over. Over like Madonna and Guy.  Over like the Cleveland Browns’ playoff chances.  You are, as Stephen Colbert would say, dead to me.

My personal "Dead To Me" list, 11/25/08

You’ve been bumming me out for several months now, killing off financial institutions, car companies, and perfectly harmless countries like Iceland.  But from this day forward, I am living my life as if happy days are here again.  Because, dear reader, they are.

Even in bad economies–especially in bad economies–businesses and people adapt.  Hard times make us focus and prioritize.  Gone are the scattershot, unmeasurable ad campaigns.  They’re replaced with smarter, more measurable forms of marketing.  Companies that have grown fat and bureaucratic question the need for all those middle managers and flatten their organizations.  And speaking of flat, they realize that the world is flat, and they can outsource much of their work to experts who can do it faster, cheaper, and better.

Efficiency is only part of the story.  Down times are also a boon to risk takers and those that dare to dream big.  Google was born in the ashes of the dot-com crash.  HP started during the Great Depression.  Sixteen of the Dow 30 were started during recessions, including Microsoft (source).

And finally, recession or no recession, capitalism persists.  People still need Christmas and Hanukkah gifts for their babies.  Companies need energetic, creative talent that can see a downturn as an opportunity in disguise.  And all of us need to get the hell back up and start moving again.  Because you, recession, can’t keep us down any longer.  We’re over you.

If you agree and are looking for someone to help you power through it all, check out the rest of this site and let me know what I can do to help.

I’m pleased to announce that I have a new website, of which the Rob The Explainer blog is now a subset.  In addition to the usual topics I’ve covered on the RTE blog to date, my new site will serve as a central portal for my many websites and business pursuits.

If I played my cards right, you should still be subscribed to the RSS feed, and it will give you only the posts in the “Rob The Explainer” category.  I also invite you to subscribe to the feed for the entire blog, which you can find at the site, www.robhwolf.com.

Did it work?

My wife and kids are really the stars, but there I am, too: