The Aquent Talent Blog: Career Advice and Insights for Marketing Professionals

Your Website Could Be a LOT Better

2008-05-15T14:13:18Z

A conversation with Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus

Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus are the authors of Web Design for ROI, and will be featured in a webcast hosted by Aquent on May 22. Their approach to web design, while theoretically informed, is relentlessly pragmatic. As they put it, "Our work is about more than just getting people to think about web design. We want them to act."

If you want to improve the performance of your site, read their book. If you want a glimpse into their approach, read the rest of this post!

1. Web Design Isn't What You Think It Is

"Everyone thinks of design in terms of 'graphic design' - colors, fonts, logos, etc.," says Sandra. "We're working with a more strategic and multi-disciplinary concept of design, one that takes business goals as its starting point. Designing from this perspective allows you to determine whether or not all the elements truly support those goals."

"Our notion of design is really about problem-solving," adds Lance, "and goes beyond interface design or even experience design, because it doesn't just involve the creative folks. It involves all the different people on the team, from the business owner on down, and making sure everyone rallies around the objectives of the site."

"We decided to write this book," he continues, "because we were frustrated at the money being left on the table by under-utilized sites with a lot of potential. Design needs to be about helping a company succeed as a business, and that means thinking about costs, customers, and results. Ultimately, we want to take the discipline up a notch."

2. Small Changes Can Bring Big Results

"People are always surprised when we tell them they can improve site performance with relatively small, inexpensive changes. Well, it's true," Sandra explains. "Consider buttons. We've seen people increase check-out throughput by 40 percent just by increasing the size of the check-out button.

"Now, stop reading this and look at your buttons. Are they large enough? Are they legible? Are they placed appropriately? Do the most important buttons stand out? Adjusting these elements can cost next to nothing and can have a major impact."

"Another quick fix we recommend," Lance says, "is adding a functional tag line to your home page. That can solve one of the web's most common problems: 60 percent home page bounce rates.

"Web users have two questions when they arrive at your site: 'Is this what I expected to find?' and 'Does this site have what I'm looking for?' Your tagline should answer those questions instantly. I'm talking simple text, less than 10 words, that is descriptive, explanatory, and intuitive."

]]> 3. Your Site Is a Business and It Needs a Plan

"The biggest mistake most companies make is not having a site strategy," Lance asserts. "Without a strategy, you have no corporate agreement on what you are trying to accomplish. It also probably means that you are bringing off-line thinking and ideas to the online world. Developing a site strategy demonstrates that you respect the web as a unique medium with its own set of rules."

"To come up with a solid strategy, you need to know your audience," adds Sandra. "Few companies take the time to write down who their audience is and who among them are most valuable to the business. Since they don't know who they are talking to, they don't know what to say to them.

"Think about it. You wouldn't rent commercial space without knowing what you are going to do with it. Why would you develop a website without a clear purpose and a plan for accomplishing it?"

4. There Is a Difference between "Data" and "Intelligence"

"Once you've figured out your strategy and your goals, you need to configure a dashboard," Lance says. "It should be customized to your needs and should help you track those elements that really matter, what people call, 'key performance indicators.'

"You need to be strategic when choosing metrics, and that means thinking about what you are going to do if what you are measuring goes up or goes down. The numbers need to be connected to actions, so they should be annotated: 'This is up due to a partnership with X.' One line of text provides a context that doesn't just tell you the number, but tells you something about it."

"Just as your audience should guide decisions you make about your site," Sandra says, "you need to design your reports so they speak to their intended audience. Sometimes, the way you communicate results is as important as the results themselves. Really understanding your executive audience and applying the principles of information design to your reports transforms data into intelligence."

5. You CAN Make Your Site Better

"Having a plan and being able to clearly communicate that to all stakeholders and contributors is key to site improvement," insists Lance. "This is why articulating a strategy for your site is so important. Just the process of formulating the strategy can get people on board by providing them with a framework for understanding their roles and a vision for what they need to do."

"Coming from the usability field," Sandra adds, "I know that some changes require an executive champion who can influence other members of the organization and drive the process through. To get the support of such a champion, we recommend initiating some small improvement projects that will serve as a proof of concept. Once you have some actual results, you can take them to the decision makers and say, 'Look what we did.'"

"Go for the quick wins," Lance concludes, "and use those to make the larger case. You may have to start small in a 'skunk works' kind of way, but people can't argue with data. Good ideas get killed for lack of a concrete business case. That's why our advice is, 'Make it concrete.'"

Image Courtesy of m. gifford.

What Do Web Designers Want?

2008-05-15T02:29:43Z

Greg Kuchmek, who is represented by Aquent's DC office, has been working on the web since 1994. That's when he was hired to help produce a webzine, Stim, started by Prodigy. [Editor's Note: For an interesting flashback to 1996, read Ty Burr's review of Stim, which he gives a B+, and Slate, which he gives a C+]. When that gig ended in 1997 he discovered that, "3 years web experience was amazing. I was 'senior' automatically."

Flash forward to the present and Greg now has 14 years web experience. If you want to hire someone like Greg (assuming you can find someone like him), what do you have to offer him? He has a broad range of in-demand skills: in addition to ground-up experience with the full suite of web technologies, Greg is also an able photographer, animator, illustrator, and writer. When he goes on a job interview, the pressure is on the interviewer.

What is Greg looking for and how can you convince him to work for you? Listen to his words:

1. Trust

I'm looking for an employer that respects that I have my skills and trusts me to use them. They hire me because I can do something and they can't. It's great when they let me do it.

It's not always like that. I've done jobs where the client was really looking over my shoulder and micro-managing. I understand that everyone's got their personal style, but when that's happening, I don't feel free to be creative and really do what I'm capable of.

2. Flexibility

I don't wear a tie to interviews anymore. I don't need to dress up at this point. I've also got a full studio at home, so I'm even kind of shocked that I have to leave the house! I guess I've been spoiled by working in places like Boston or New York where it's more flexible.

More than flexibility about where work happens, though, I appreciate it when there is flexibility around how things get done. There have been countless little jobs where they needed a photograph and I've told them, "Look, I can spend the day combing through stock or I can go take one." It's great when people are more open to the "I can do this right now" approach, than they are attached to the "this is the way we have to do it" approach.

]]> I find that you can get a good sense of an organization's level of flexibility from the architecture of the offices, the way the work environment is set up, and from the attitude of the people interviewing you. It's cool when you get the sense that you are talking to people who are doing a job and mainly want to know if you can help.

3. Appreciation

I had one job where the company was going through some structural changes and the new site was basically being designed by committee. The project had a lot of owners and, as it turned out, my design was literally being changed all the way up to launch.

I presented some things that I thought were pretty interesting, but they got shot down, and it was like "back to the salt mines." Anyway, the guy I was directly working for really appreciated the mock-ups I'd done. That mattered to me.

Sometimes the organizational situation sets limits on what's possible. I get it. Still, even if given the circumstances it can't be realized, it's nice when someone recognizes the potential of the design you envisioned.

4. Learning

While working for an agency in New York, I got the chance to make some animations for Japanese television. I had a personal interest in doing this because I knew, after the job, I'd be able to do more animations for myself.

The more you do, the more you know, and the more you know, the more resources you have - not just for the next job, but also for your next personal project.

5. Fun

I like to do this stuff. When I go home I draw, I paint, I do music. I'm an artist.

After my last gig ended, I spent 3 weeks working on a friend's website. For fun! When I'm considering a job, I want to know if it's going to be fun, because, if it is, I know I'm going to be more creative, and, in the end, create something I'm psyched about.

Image Courtesy of OxOx.

Random Aquent-Related Randomness

2008-05-13T14:34:08Z

Thanks to Google, I was alerted to an Aquent reference on a blog called, "Give, Get, Take, and Have." I don't know much about it, but, astonishingly, "This blog has often been found swimming miles from shore in the Indian Ocean." Go figure!

Anyway, the (possibly Canadian) author of this blog posted a link to an Aquent mini-site called, "The Business of Touch," which provides the world with annotated animations illustrating the proper mode of greeting people in a variety of countries from India to Czechoslovakia.

To that blogger, I say, "Thanks for sharing this with your readership!"

To everyone else I say, "If you or someone close to you is going to be meeting anyone in or from another country, please consult 'The Business of Touch' in order to avoid a potentially unpleasant and/or embarrassing international incident."

Image Courtesy of s.lowrie.

I Love Aquent's Creative Director

2008-05-08T18:06:31Z

You know how I wrote the other day that "people make the difference" at Aquent? Well, a week later, I still think it's true!

But you know, it's not just me. When we ask Aquent employees what they like best about Aquent, they consistently respond, "The people I work with." Guess what? I would say the same thing. I feel peculiarly fortunate to work with a bunch of people who are smart, funny, and friendly.

For example, take our creative director, Mark Saperstein (that's a picture of him in his incarnation as an undead warlock). Mark is a talented and funny guy who actually proposed to his wife via a job posting on our website (she accepted). He's passionate about zombies, cannibals, and Conan the Barbarian. He's also an articulate, detailed, and sometimes harsh, I mean, "frank," critic of creative work.

Aside from frequently asking me to be less boring, blogwise, he's overseen some of our endlessly clever direct mail and marketing pieces like the ever-popular "furry" card, the infamous "valium" card, the mirror card, the cow, the beach ball, and the Kim Jong Il: "I Ate the Big Slab at Aaron's House O' Ribs" card.

Mark's sense of humor has sometimes been too "out" for corporate consumption -- like when he wanted to advertise our interactive staffing capabilities with a pixelated rendering of a hand making an obscene gesture -- but it's never been too "out" for me, and, gosh darn it, I love that MMORPG-playin', kimchee-eatin', plaid-shirt-wearin', anime-watchin', erstwhile-astronomy-lovin', "what art school did you go to?"-askin' guy.

Did You Know?

2008-05-05T18:43:53Z

I saw this video on DeanHunt.com. Well, actually, Dean posted a slightly earlier version of it. The one below dates from June 2007:

The main point seems to be that the world is bigger, more connected, and changing faster than we realize. It's interesting in part because it illustrates at least one of the points it is trying to make: originally created for a presentation to 150 people, the various versions have collectively been viewed over 5 million times on YouTube.

There are a lot of thought-provoking tidbits in here and I encourage you to find them for yourself. To save you a fraction of time, I'll share these two with you:

- By 2013, supercomputers will exceed the computational capacity of the human brain;
- By 2049, a $1000 computer's capacity will exceed that of the human race.

As the authors point out, it is very difficult to predict what will happen between the first date and the second. One reason for this unpredictability is something Vernor Vinge dubbed, "The Singularity," way back in 1993. As he wrote then, "Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended."

In other words, once an intelligence greater than our own appears on Earth, the possible futures ensuing become as unknowable as the events occurring beyond the event horizon of a black hole.

Action Item: During your next job interview, ask the interviewer what plans the company has for The Singularity and the need to serve super-intelligent customers.

Customer Service, Blowing the Job Search, Titles, and Comment Spam

2008-05-02T14:17:46Z

Some quick stuff for today, May 2.

Customer Service

I had a little problem with my iTunes account so I sent a message to their support center. The first response I got concluded with:

"Good luck on downloading the song Matthew! Again, please let me know if I can do anything else for you in the near future. I am so happy I was able to help you today with your item. Have a fantastic day and take care! Cheers! Brittany"

I replied: "Thanks! Much appreciated. Now having a fantastic day, Matt"

To which she (Brittany) responded: "Thank you for your kind words and you are so welcome! Nothing makes me happier than to hear that I have pleased our iTunes family members."

I practically blushed when I read that.

Blowing the Job Search

Having some PR responsibilities here, I often respond to ProfNet queries, particularly when they apply to careers and job hunting. Because my responses are thoughtful, but do not always see the light of day on the other side of the querying reporter's in-box, I thought I would quickly share the helpful hints I provided a writer putting together a piece on how people damage their job search:

1) Not doing enough or any research on the target company or the hiring manager. What do they do? What are their goals? Who are their competitors? etc. You better know!

2) Not leveraging your network to get an introduction, a recommendation, or anything else to differentiate you from the pool of applicants. Related problem: Not having or cultivating a network in the first place.

3) Swearing or almost swearing (ex. "friggin'") in the interview.

4) Forgetting you are being interviewed. In other words, acting more casually if the interviewer takes you to lunch, etc. Remember: Until you get that offer letter, you are being watched!

]]> I hope, that by sharing these cautionary reminders, I've saved some (professional) lives.

Titles

Came across a blog post written by someone we've been helping find work in Canada. He needed his university transcripts for a visa and recorded the following conversation with someone in the transcript office:

Registrar: And you didn't even give us the name of the company we're sending it to!
Me: What?
Registrar: There's no company name on the address that you faxed us.
Me: "Aquent."
Registrar: Excuse me?
Me: A-Q-U-E-N-T. Aquent. That's the name of the company.
Registrar: Oh, THAT's the company! We thought it was the lady's job title.

Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be an "Aquent."

Comment Spam

As many bloggers know, but them what don't don't know, is that there is such a thing as "comment spam." Obviously, there are robots or spiders or whatever roaming the internet looking for blogs and then leaving comments that generally advertise prescription drugs, enhancers of male potency, and pictures/movies of questionable provenance.

Occasionally, these comments are unexpectedly poetic or existentially poignant. To whit:

"these comments are great, and what would happen if instead of living your life by the socio stereotypical blueprint that everyone else has in store for you, the do, have ,be model where you go to work, make some money, and that defines who you are; wha..." (all typographical errors in the original)

What if we could break out of the "do-have-be model"? I think that, for the first time in our lives, we would know and enjoy true freedom. Are you with me?

Image Courtesy of meyshanworld.

Voices of Aquent

2008-04-30T14:23:22Z

At the end of last year I wrote a post proclaiming that I was going to make this blog more about Aquent. As part of that effort, I've wanted to introduce more and more voices from around the company into this channel. Of course, I've continued to highlight Aquent talent, their insights, abilities, and achievements, and I've also given periodic shout-outs to my environmentally conscious and often funny comrade-in-blogs, Tim Donnelly. But I know I could do so much more.

For starters, check out our Tampa office. The folks down there were talking to me about starting a local blog and so I asked them to say a little bit about the market for this one. I ended up speaking with Tampa's Isela Santisteban, and this is what she told me:

"I've been working with Aquent for the last 9 years, first in Miami, then Fort Lauderdale, and now here in Tampa.

"Tampa is like the mid-West of Florida. It's a great place to raise a family, have fun, and go to the beach! A lot of businesses are located or headquartered down here - Home Shopping Network, OSI Restaurant Partners (that owns and operates Outback Steakhouse, among other properties), and Publix Super Markets, for example - and there are plenty of opportunities for people looking to work in healthcare, finance, hospitality, technology, consumer packaged goods and related fields.

"About half the work Aquent talent do in Tampa is interactive. The rest consists of marketing, graphic design, and print production. Our clients include a number of high profile companies as well as agencies with major accounts. The way the market is right now, I can find a job for anyone with interactive experience at any level.

"What I love about my job is that today's talent becomes tomorrow's client. I'm still talking to people I placed 9 years ago and I'm sure there are people I've just begun to work with that I'll still know 9 years from now."

It's not unusual for Aquent staff like Isela to be with us for a long time. This sort of longevity gives our clients and our talent a lot of continuity. It also means, as you can imagine, that the Isela's of the Aquent-world are centers for ever growing networks of talented, creative professionals. To get in touch with Isela or any of her equally enthusiastic and connected colleagues, call them at (813) 287-9119.

On another note, and speaking of Florida, right now Aquent's training arm, AGI is busy putting on the CRE8 Conference in Orlando. One of the presenters there is none other than Todd Tibbetts, a consultant with Aquent Studios in Seattle, whom I've mentioned here before. He's blogging about his adventures at CRE8 and, more than anything else, making me feel like I'm missing out on something magical. We'll be hearing more from Todd in the days to come, so stay tuned!

Image Courtesy of soupboy.

People Make the Difference

2008-04-29T20:18:54Z

Back in 1992, our CEO wrote a letter to all Aquent employees outlining the four principles that guide us in the work we do. The first principle, and the one that has consistently spoken to me, is, "People make the difference."

OK. We're not the only company that espouses this value. In fact, we're not the only company for which it is true -- this slogan can be applied to many organizations, especially those which provide specialized services, such as doctors, lawyers, architects, tattoo artists, and so on.

But I'm on board with it as one of our guiding principles for several reasons. First of all, it's true in a literal way for us. We don't have a secret formula or patented product that makes us different or better. Aquent IS the people who work here and the people we represent.

Second of all, this is how our clients tend to see things. As I mentioned in my post on customer loyalty, the two things that matter most to clients of staffing companies, particularly niche-players like us, are (1) the people or talent represented by the firm, and (2) the relationship with that firm's representatives. (The latter also confirms the findings of Michael Lowenstein and others.) In other words, it's good to have a principle that actually reflects the interests of our clients.

]]> Finally, although the principle in itself may not be differentiating, the people associated with Aquent actually are. As the principle states, "Products, services, and technologies can all be copied." What cannot be copied, replicated, or reproduced are the living, breathing individuals who work for Aquent. More importantly, the same goes for the relationships they build and maintain with living, breathing individuals all across the world.

I've begun thinking about this in another way. "People make the difference" can also mean, "Aquent's human-ness makes the difference." It doesn't make us different from other staffing firms, the specific humans who work here need to do that, but it does make us different from all the technologies colonizing the staffing space from job boards and their aggregators to vendor management systems. No resume filter or robot can review creative abilities or marketing acumen, pick up on the nuances of "fit," and connect a person with unique abilities to a company with unique needs. I'm enough of a sci-fi buff to believe that it might be possible in the future, but I'm also enough of a student of philosophy and human culture to believe it's highly unlikely.

For now, anyway, human-ness can't be faked or manufactured. And that's what we're banking on.

Image Courtesy of Nrbelex.

Do Presentations Bore You?

2008-04-18T19:43:32Z

I am generally bored by presentations, business, academic, or otherwise. I fidget, I doodle, and my comments or questions tend to fall into the "distracting/sometimes comedic" category. And while I've sat through my share of boring presentations, I will freely admit that I have likewise conducted some of my own. Moreover, I have known the searing pain and embarrassment of consciously doing so.

I've tried to play with the genre in order to liven things up. At academic conferences, I've eschewed the traditional reading approach and spoken ex tempore. In business contexts, I've used Godin-esque PowerPoints featuring provocative images and 5 words or less per slide, and I've even daringly presented without a PowerPointed net.

Still, I have yet to try Pecha Kucha. A Pecha Kucha Night is an event whereat designers present their ideas on design under rather strict limits: Each presenter gets 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide. If you do the math, you'll realize that gives each presentation 400 seconds, or a little over six minutes.

The founders of PK Night, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture, realized that, if you "give a mike to a designer (especially an architect) ... you'll be trapped for hours." At the same time, they wanted to create "a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public." Incipit Pecha Kucha.

I'm loving the concept. Can you imagine a speaker telling you, "Yes, I'd be happy to present at your conference, but I refuse to speak for more than six and a half minutes"?

If that sounds like a dream come true, CALL ME! I would be happy to speak anywhere, on ANY SUBJECT, Pecha-Kucha-style. Even if I'm boring, the light at the end of the tunnel of boredom is coming atcha in twenty 20-second increments. So don't worry. It will be over soon.

Image Courtesy of Sam Takes Photos.

5 Keys to Successful Loyalty Program Management

2008-04-16T18:41:00Z

If you talk to marketers who have run customer loyalty programs, they can pretty quickly tell you the basic keys to program success. I've set them out as best I can here, though I recommend reading the last key first.

If you think I'm right on target, or way off base, please leave a comment.

1. Listen to the Customer

In order for the program to be meaningful and attract participation, you need to offer participants things they want. To find out what those things are, you have to ask them. Then, when the program is up and running, you've got to continually ask them if they are really getting what they want. Were they happy with the item they received? Was the customer service up to snuff? Were their expectations met? Is there anything else they'd like to see in the program? And so on.

The listening should never stop. You've got to keep checking in with them to update and expand your offerings to meet their changing needs and wishes.

2. Act on What the Customer Tells You

If you're going to go to the trouble of asking what customers want, and they are going to take the time to respond, then you've got to deliver. If they want pet supplies, offer pet supplies. If they want home and garden accessories, offer home and garden accessories. If they want it, and you can get it for them, do it.

More importantly, if there are problems with fulfillment, customer service, or the account management process, you've got to fix them. The program is supposed to be a benefit to your customers. If it turns out to be a hassle or a disappointment, it will fail.

]]> 3. Manage Expectations

Listening to customers and responding to their requests is a no-brainer. Nevertheless, you need to be prepared for the most obvious request: discounted services. This may not be out of the question, depending on your business model, but it can bring with it several complications. First and foremost, offering discounts may fall outside the authority of the program manager, and therefore be difficult to implement. Second of all, it might make the tracking and redemption of reward points unworkably cumbersome.

Finally, it just might not fit your business. In the staffing industry, for example, it's hard to imagine one of our clients engaging two of our talent when they only needed one, or asking someone to work more hours once a project was complete, just to earn a discount. While a loyalty program like this may be a differentiator at the outset, it's difficult to see how it would figure into purchasing decisions after that.

4. Measure, Measure, Measure

As the name implies, a "Loyalty Program" is supposed to drive "loyalty." But this poses a number of interrelated challenges to anyone who wants to demonstrate whether it is working or not. Specifically, you need to decide how you are going to measure "customer loyalty" in general, then you have to decide how you are going to measure the success of the program in itself, and THEN you have to measure how the success of the program relates back to the loyalty it's supposed to engender. The folks at Marketing Sherpa published a "how to" piece on assessing your loyalty program which suggests a number of possible metrics, all of which seem useful, but none of which strike me as definitive.

At minimum, one needs to measure usage: How many participants do you have? How many of them actually take advantage of the program? And how much do the ones who use it, well, use it? To gauge the significance of usage levels, you'll need to establish a cost-per-user target, and then regularly compare that to the actual cost.

Naturally, if you can create a program that pays for itself, or even generates profit, then the question of whether or not it is really promoting loyalty becomes moot. If, however, the program always runs at a cost, then establishing the linkage between program performance and customer loyalty demands constant vigilance.

5. Ask Yourself: Will a Loyalty Program Truly Make Our Customers More Loyal?

As you can read in my conversation with Michael Lowenstein of Harris Interactive Loyalty, there is not only serious disagreement concerning the best way to measure loyalty, there is also disagreement around the best ways to generate it in the first place. I tend to agree with Mr. Lowenstein when he points to the real differentiating power of a positive customer experience, not only with your product, service, or brand, but especially with the employees of your company, and I'll tell you why.

When I first joined Aquent some eleven years ago, we were considering the institution of a "Frequent Hire Program" to promote loyalty and customer retention. The program never came to be, but in the course of listening to our customers (see Key #1 above), we discovered some important things about what mattered most to them.

Since our clients work with us because they have projects which require specialized skills and years of demonstrated professional experience, it was not surprising to learn that the thing they cared most about was the quality of our talent. That mattered to them far more than cost of service or speed of delivery, for example.

The other thing that mattered to them a great deal, and frequently determined whether they chose to work with us or with a competitor, was the quality of the relationship they had with their account manager or sales rep. This was somewhat surprising, but perfectly understandable.

To make a good placement, you need to know more than a set of skill requirements; you need a solid understanding of the work environment, the company culture, and the type of person who will best "fit." That sort of knowledge is only garnered over the course of developing a relationship with a hiring manager and their company. Because such relationships cannot be easily replicated, since they take time and personal commitment on the part of the agency, they serve as true differentiators and form the basis of real loyalty.

As far as I can tell, in situations where competition is intense and there is little product differentiation, a loyalty program may be the only thing that separates one option from another in the minds of consumers. In most other cases, and, frankly, even in this one, it's ultimately up to your people to make the difference.

Image Courtesy of ul Marga.

"Make Yourself Indispensible" - Talking with Aquent's Chris Spangler

2008-04-15T14:00:26Z

You might not expect a graphic designer working as part of a program support center housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to say, "The majority of work I do gives me creative freedom," but that's exactly what Chris Spangler, who is represented by Aquent's Baltimore office, told me when I spoke with him last week.

I gave Chris a call because a poster he had designed on assignment won first prize in the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area (CFCNCA) Communications Contest. (To see his winning entry, you can click here.) As it turns out, designing posters, which he has done for everything from promoting IT security within the agency to celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, is just part of his job at HHS (or, more accurately, SAMHSA/PSC). He has also designed and illustrated annual reports, brochures, and info-packs, he's designed logos and updated brand identities for various governmental programs, and he's even had the chance to serve as photographer at meetings with ambassadors and other functions.

"Working for the government is great job security," Chris says, but what really appeals to him is "... feeling like your making a difference by helping people with the stuff you're creating. I've designed a book on preventing bullying, I worked for a year and half on materials related to 9/11, and I put together a publication on responding to bio-terrorism attacks. You've got to look for different ways to find satisfaction in your work and these types of projects help do that for me."

]]> With a background in graphic design, photography, and comic book illustration, Chris worked for several small ad agencies in the Baltimore area before Aquent contacted him about working at HHS. There, his range of abilities has made him a widely sought-after part of the team. He finds a lesson in this for those just starting out in their design careers. "Make yourself as indispensable as possible. To do that, you need to learn as much as possible and develop a diverse set of skills."

On behalf of Aquent, I'd like to congratulate Chris on his award-winning work. If you'd like to see a few other examples of his abilities, take a look at this poster he created for a Holocaust Remembrance Program.

On the lighter side, here's a wedding invitation he did for one of my colleagues (part of which is shown above).

To get in touch with Chris, please contact our Baltimore office.

A Simply Smashing Resource for Designers (Web and Otherwise)

2008-04-08T14:44:24Z

Random searching in Google brought me to this site: Smashing Magazine. Created by two German fellows (they live in Germany, anyway), who claim that, "Our aim is to inform our readers about the latest trends and techniques in web-development - clearly, precisely and regularly," the magazine threatens to, and I quote, "SMASH YOU WITH THE INFORMATION THAT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER. REALLY." Well, forewarned is forearmed.

I browsed through the "INSPIRATION" category and found this post on "Beautiful Handwriting, Lettering, and Calligraphy." You have to scroll a bit to get into the meat of it, but they have collected an amazing assortment of lettering styles and approaches.

There's also a lot of great stuff in their "FONTS" category, if you are into that sort of thing. My guess is that, once you get an eyefull of the "Breathtaking Typographic Posters," or the "60 Brilliant Typefaces for Corporate Design," you will be.

Now go get smashed.

Image Courtesy of woodleywonderworks.

Dropping SEO Science

2008-04-04T14:26:38Z

The other day when I posted Laurie Baldwin's thoughts on the five things that people forget about SEO and SEM, I forgot to mention the sixth thing: you can rap about it.

The fellow who made this, Chuck Lewis, is also known as "The Poetic Prophet," and, more to the point, "The SEO Rapper." In addition to dropping science on the importance of design and coding - "please don't use tables even though they work fine/ when it come to indexing they give searches a hard time/ make it easy for the spiders to crawl what you provide/ remove font type, font color and font size" - he kicks serious k-nowledge on conversion, social media, and paid search. Check it out, boyeeeez! (I almost can't believe I just wrote that.)

Long story short, if your page rank is illin' and your SEM isn't "fillin'" it, go on and pick up on what the SEO Rapper is puttin' down. He'll school y'all. Peace. Out.

Special "shout out" to Shelli and Mariam in Aquent's Detroit office for turning me on to this dude.

June Dershewitz on Careers in Web Analytics and Avoiding the "Report Monkey Trap" - A Podcast Experience

2008-04-03T19:32:35Z

June Dershewitz has been a web analyst for almost as long as that has been something to be. Currently a member of the leadership team at Semphonic, a top web analytics consultancy, June is a passionate advocate for the field of web analytics as well as a thoughtful and informed adviser on how best to pursue a career in it. An involved member of the web analytics community, June was an early instigator of "Web Analytics Wednesday" and is currently running for a seat on the Board of Directors of the Web Analytics Association.

For this podcast, I spoke with June - the first interviewee to ask me, "You do know that I grew up on a goat farm, right?" - about careers in web analytics, the changes she's seen in the field, and avoiding the "report monkey trap." I invite you to listen in on our conversation. You can do so by clicking on the Flash device below. You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link. Finally, this and other Talent Blog Podcasts are always available on iTunes.

A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:

02:36 - "Web Analytics" is really about "people"
06:28 - "The technology has changed quite a bit - THANK GOD!"
08:43 - Omniture, Visual Sciences HBX, WebTrends, and the limits of Google Analytics
10:47 - Analysis starts with thinking about your goals
12:25 - Things to consider when hiring a web analyst
13:21 - Avoiding the "report monkey trap"
14:59 - Going from "what people are doing" to "why they are doing it"
17:00 - The value of using staffing firms to get project-based contract work
20:12 - Advice for people just starting out in web analytics
21:13 - The origin of "Web Analytics Wednesday"
23:06 - A WAA campaign pitch: Vote for June!
24:53 - "It's important that every company has someone on staff who owns web analytics"
26:03 - Happily employed (and unemployed) as a contractor

Image Courtesy of linkerjpatrick.

Every Job Is a Project

2008-03-31T20:25:34Z

I always get in trouble when I start a post this way, but I'm a slow learner...

The other day I was talking to a friend who happens to be in marketing. When I first knew him some seventeen years ago, we were in a band together and he was one of the two guys who had a real job (I was not the other one). Back then he was doing market research, I believe, for a computer manufacturer and has spent most of his subsequent career in the tech sector working for some well-known brands as well as some fairly niche ones.

The only reason I bring this up is that he just started a new job. I wasn't too surprised because he always seems to be starting a new job and I said as much. "I don't look for them," he exclaimed, "they find me!" Then he laughed and said, "Well, I have had 7 jobs since 1999."

Talking to my wife about this later, she said, "That's going to look bad on his resume." I told her I didn't think so for a couple reasons. First of all, he keeps getting hired, so his employers apparently don't care. Second of all, I don't think they should care. Why? Because of something else he said: "I think of jobs as projects."

When you are looking for a job, the focus should be on what you accomplished and what resulted. Seeing your accomplishments as projects is a great way to communicate exactly that. Whether you worked somewhere for one year or ten doesn't matter. Almost any job, especially in the worlds of design and marketing, can be described as a single project or a series of projects. The cool thing is that doing so allows you to package your experience in discrete, easily digestible chunks of real-world value and revenue-generating impact.

Now, dish up a heaping platter of these tasty morsels and tell your next employer it's suppertime! Bon appetit!

Image Courtesy of Lady-bug.