I can’t walk down the street in Chicago without seeing a new salon or day spa. And just as quickly as they pop up, they seem to disappear. There’s no doubt that these kinds of businesses can make a killing if executed properly, but it’s become obvious to me that a lot of people have no idea how to run a salon. While I’m sure some completely mess up their economics, my guess is that most failed salons had trouble attracting customers. Salon Success Strategies is a Roseville, CA based company that can help. They’re a “full service marketing agency specializing in salons, day spas, and medical spas.” The company was started by successful salon and spa owners who saw an opportunity to share their knowledge by offering services and training.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
beauty,
California,
design,
graphic design,
marketing,
web development
About a year ago I woke up to a loud chirp. It wasn’t a bird (though we did have two birds fly down our chimney in two days around the same time). It was the smoke alarm. This wasn’t the “OH MY GOD THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE” alarm. It was the “let’s wake you up in the middle of the night so that you can change the battery” alarm. I ignored it… until it went off again five minutes later… and again… and again. So I’m in my underwear standing on a chair trying to disable this thing. It’s 3 AM and the smoke alarm is just out of my reach. I am at the point where I’ll do anything to go back to sleep, and there’s a baseball bat in the nearby closet…. and then I’m finally able to disable the alarm. I understand that smoke alarms with dead batteries can’t save lives, but there has to be a better way (especially considering that climbing on a chair when you’re sleep-deprived is pretty dangerous). Nest agrees. They’re a Palo Alto, CA based company that “takes the unloved products in your home and makes simple, beautiful, thoughtful things.” Their first product was a thermostat, and now they’ve just announced a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
analyst,
business development,
California,
consumer products,
data,
design,
engineering,
finance,
human resources,
Internships,
marketing,
operations,
paid,
product development,
sales,
software development,
user experience,
web development
One of the worst things about being able to build websites is that people constantly ask you to build them websites. They don’t understand that doing web development for your own projects is very different from doing it for clients. Even the simplest project can become a total headache when you’re trying to meet someone else’s specifications (especially when it’s family). I was never cut out for client work, which is why I stopped doing it when I was 18 even though it was really good money. However, there are many firms that only do client work. One here in Chicago, IL is called Tecture. They design and build “custom web and mobile applications, ecommerce websites, and custom content-managed websites” for all kinds of clients.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
design,
engineering,
Illinois,
Internships,
paid,
software development,
web development
When I was in high school, it was the golden age of free music. High speed Internet connections were becoming commonplace, and file sharers weren’t really being prosecuted yet. You could have (permanently) almost any music you wanted for free. Those days have long passed, but we’re in another period of at least semi-free music access. Thanks to companies like Spotify, you can listen to what you want when you want to… as long as you’re willing to put up with some ads. F# is a New York, NY based company behind many of those ads–they connect “brands to consumers through the power of music in purposeful ads.” Brands know that music is a great way to connect with consumers. And that means ad-supported online music services provide an amazing opportunity.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
advertising,
design,
entertainment,
interactive media,
Internships,
marketing,
music,
New York,
online marketing,
research,
social media,
software development,
user experience,
web development
I like skiing (even if I’ve only done it twice), but I like fishing, volleyball, walking my dog, and staying out of the hospital more. I can’t get over the fear that I’ll injure myself skiing and keep myself from doing all of the things that I truly love to do. I’m sure for a lot of skiers, they have the opposite apprehension (like my buddy Jason who used a ski trip to describe Quality Events in our Job Search Prep course). The only other bad thing about skiing is that once you get over the fear of injury, you have to get over the price of lift tickets. Or you did. Liftopia is a San Francisco, CA based company that aims to “help skiers and snowboarders get out on the slopes more often, and help alpine resorts generate incremental revenue.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
customer service,
design,
e-mail,
hospitality management,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
paid,
sales,
sports,
travel,
user experience
E-mail continues to be one of the most underrated marketing channels. Google’s launch of the Gmail Promotions Tab was definitely a scary development, but the inbox is still the most reliable place to reach people who have given you permission to communicate with them. The latest trend in e-mail marketing is personalization. That means that e-mail providers are entering the big data space. One example is Movable Ink. They’re based in New York, NY, and they want to make e-mail marketing just as agile as other online marketing channels. That means turning e-mails into “containers for live content that adapt to when, where, and how recipients open and interact with messages.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
data,
design,
e-mail,
Internships,
marketing,
New York,
online marketing,
operations
A few years ago infographics totally blew up. Outlets like USA Today have been using them forever, but everyone in the content business jumped on the bandwagon seemingly at once. Why? Because infographics are tailor made for social media. They deliver a lot of information in a short amount of time, and that makes them super shareable with crowds who tend towards a shorter attention span. Column Five is a company that was in the right place at the right time. They are a Newport Beach, CA based infographic design, social PR, and content strategy agency that landed at #291 on the Inc. 5000 with 1,504% three-year growth to $5.3 million in revenue. It helps when your client list includes the World Bank, GE, and Harvard.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
design,
graphic design,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
production,
strategy
The technology of the 90s and early 2000s was durable. Most devices were built like tanks because a few extra ounces (or pounds) here and there don’t really matter when many of the components are already so heavy. Today size and weight are main selling points for most types of electronics. The only problem is that today’s devices seem far more susceptible to breaking. It’s a tradeoff, but it sucks to be on the losing end when you drop your three-day old $600 phone on the grass and the screen shatters. Manufacturers and third parties have started offering all kinds of repair services, but they’re still expensive. Why can’t you just do it yourself?
With the help of iFixit you can. They are a San Luis Obispo, CA based company that wants “to show the world how to fix every thing.” They seem to be having some success with that, as they landed on the Inc. 5000 with 223% three-year growth to $9.8 million in revenue.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
design,
education,
engineering,
Internships,
paid,
sales,
software development,
technical support,
technical writer,
user experience,
web development
There’s nothing like a live event, but we often can’t be where we want to be. The Internet has made things a little easier. Today video, audio, or commentary from any event can be shared all across the world as it’s happening. It took a while to get to the point where it’s reliable, but we’re mostly there. Livestream is a New York, NY based company that has played a big part in moving us forward when it comes to streaming live content. They offer “event owners a complete set of hardware and software tools to share their events with a growing community online.” This has led them to #750 on the Inc. 5000 with 613% three-year growth to $18.9 million in revenue.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
customer service,
design,
New York,
systems administration,
technical writer,
video,
web development
When you get engaged, everybody tells you how much fun registry shopping is. I’m still waiting for the fun part. Just kidding. The fun part was doing our Amazon Registry, which had all of the cool kitchen gadgets that I wanted. When someone bought us something on that, I got really excited. I was a little bit less excited about our registries at Simon Pearce, Bloomingdale’s, and Restoration Hardware. I’m very grateful to everyone who bought us a gift from those registries, but a blowtorch is way better than a water pitcher in my book. Now let’s go back to that last place we registered: Restoration Hardware. That ended up being our least popular registry (in terms of % completed), which is surprising when you consider that the Corte Madera, CA “home furnishings retailer” made the Inc. 5000 with 91% three-year growth to $1.2 billion in revenue. While that growth rate is lower than what we’re accustomed to, we can make an excuse for a company that passed the billion dollar mark (and is no longer eligible for the list now that they have IPOed).
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
administrative,
analyst,
arts,
buyer,
California,
curation,
design,
e-commerce,
finance,
interior design,
Internships,
inventory control,
Logistics,
nationwide,
New York,
planner,
planning,
retail,
style,
supply chain,
transportation
I try to avoid going to the doctor at all costs. While I’m not one of those people who constantly self-diagnoses via WebMD, I do try to use the Internet to inform my decision on whether an office visit is necessary (it usually isn’t). Most younger people are like me, they turn to the web first when they have a health issue. Patient Conversation Media is a company that aims to be found when people make those initial searches. They are based in Austin, TX, and they publish “doctor-reviewed health-related content online for consumers” and use that influx of traffic to connect “patients to [their] network of physicians and other health care providers.” Patient Conversation Media came it at #22 on the Inc. 5000 with 8,782% three-year growth to $9.8 million in annual revenue.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
blogging,
design,
health care,
human resources,
Internships,
journalism,
marketing,
medicine,
online marketing,
recruiting,
sales,
seo,
Texas,
web development,
writing
Amy and I have been in our new place for just over a month now. We love it, mostly because our landlord allowed us to get a puppy (but the neighborhood, deck, and everything else are pretty awesome too). We did a lot of looking on Zillow, Redfin, and other sites, but they all offered pretty disappointing experiences (lots of junk listings and hard to use interfaces). We eventually ended up using a real estate agent, and she found the rental for us. I was the first person to say that real estate agents were being made obsolete by websites, but my recent experience proved me wrong. Still, the web keeps becoming a better and better tool to find a place to live. Lovely is a San Francisco, CA based startup that is playing a role in the progress. They know “how painful it can be to rent an apartment and think it should be faster, easier, and more transparent.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
business development,
California,
design,
engineering,
graphic design,
Internships,
mobile,
paid,
quality assurance,
quality engineer,
real estate,
sales
I’m fascinated by Japan. I’ve never been there, but my wife and I are planning a trip there for our honeymoon. There’s an intensity to the culture that I absolutely love, but there are also some things I just don’t get. Pepsi flavored Cheetos is one, and anime is another. In case you didn’t know, anime is the Japanese word for animation. But here in the U.S. it’s typically used to describe “a Japanese-disseminated animation style often characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastic themes” (at least that’s what Wikipedia says). While anime isn’t for me, A LOT of people love it–and most of them are adults. Crunchyroll is a San Francisco, CA and Tokyo, Japan based company that caters to this audience by offering “the leading global video service for Japanese Anime and Asian media.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
animation,
bilingual,
brand management,
customer service,
design,
events,
international,
Internships,
Japan,
marketing,
media,
mobile,
software development,
translation,
user experience,
web development
While I love the economics of building a business entirely online, there’s still something that feels hollow when I tell people that I make and run websites for a living. Maybe it’s the fact that a solar flare could wipe out everything that I’ve done (though you could say the same about an asteroid for any business). Deep down there’s a part of me that wants to build, market, and sell a tangible product. Unfortunately, that’s way harder than building a website. Maker’s Row plans on changing that. They’re a New York, NY based startup that wants “to make the manufacturing process simple to understand and easy to access.” While 3D printing is getting a lot of hype right now, almost all products are made by more traditional manufacturers. If you want to make something, you’re going to need to find someone to manufacture it for you. Maker’s Row will help you find them.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
apparel,
design,
Internships,
Manufacturing,
marketing,
New York,
web development
While yesterday’s organization’s name was a play on Rhodes Scholar, Road Scholar has no affiliation with The University of Oxford. Today’s company does. The Oxford University Press is not only a department of the University, but it is also “the world’s largest university press with the widest global presence.” You can trace its origins all the way back to 1478; however, their U.S. presence only dates to 1896. Oxford University Press now has two offices stateside–one in New York, NY, and the other in Cary, NC (there other offices all around the world). They both play a big part in furthering “the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
academia,
data,
design,
editing,
editorial,
education,
information technology,
international,
Internships,
marketing,
New York,
North Carolina,
paid,
product development,
public relations,
publishing,
sales,
social media
When I was growing up, I was anything but a youth against establishment. My school had a dress code, and I’m not sure that I ever violated it (ok, I may have forgotten to wear a belt once or twice). Even outside of school, I wore the same khaki pants that I had to wear at school (but with sneakers and a t-shirt of course)–I think I outgrew my last pair of jeans in 7th grade. It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’ve never owned anything from Volcom. In case you’re not familiar with the brand, they’re a San Clemente, CA based “designer, marketer and distributor of premium quality young men’s and young women’s clothing, accessories and related products.” The company was founded in 1991, and came out of Orange County boardsports culture.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
accounting,
administrative,
apparel,
arts,
California,
design,
fashion,
graphic design,
Internships,
merchandising,
retail,
sales,
sports,
unpaid
I remember when social media was a great way for upstarts to get a lot of attention. It wasn’t that long ago, and it’s still possible, but we’re already at the point where big brands dominate social. Why did this happen so quickly? Because brands can afford to throw big bucks at expensive agencies to do social for them. One of these agencies is BLITZ, a Santa Monica, CA based company that makes “brands Favorites by building digital ecosystems that result in durable connections between brands and consumers.” And when they say brands, they mean BRANDS. We’re talking Nike, Dell, Adobe, Starbucks, Red Bull, Disney, Microsoft, and lots more.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
advertising,
brand management,
California,
design,
graphic design,
interactive media,
Internships,
marketing,
media planner,
online marketing,
outreach,
project management,
social media,
software development,
strategy,
web development
Who watched the season finale of Million Dollar Listing New York last night? I did. I love that show, even though it seems to be more about petty squabbling than actually selling real estate. My biggest takeaway from the show is that selling a property is all about generating interest and getting people in the door to see it. If a realtor can do that, they’ll sell properties. However, most agents can’t throw open bar parties with half dressed models to attract attention–that kind of marketing only makes sense with multi-million dollar properties and six figure commissions. The average realtor needs a more affordable, simpler way to market properties. That’s exactly what BoomTown offers. They’re a Charleston, SC based software company that “has generated millions of leads for real estate teams.” 4,329,036 leads to be exact. They do this by offering “a complete online system that leads more Internet home buyers to [an agent’s] virtual door, then gives real estate agents proven tools to turn clicks into closings.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
blogging,
customer service,
design,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
real estate,
sem,
seo,
software development,
South Carolina,
technical support,
user experience,
web development,
writing
Today my wife and I got our puppy from the breeder. He is a Braque Francais. Here’s a picture. He doesn’t have a name yet, so we’re taking suggestions (just hit reply–and bonus points if it’s French). I’m already completely in love with him, and that means that I’m headed down the path of buying ridiculous merchandise for my dog. Amy and I already made one trip to the pet store, and that resulted in extensive use of my veto power. One way I might be able to limit the damage is by subscribing to something like BarkBox. It’s a monthly subscription that gives you “a combination of 4-6 treats, toys, and hygiene products that have been hand selected” for your dog. While BarkBox is the product (and it came first), the company is Bark & Co. They are based in New York, NY, and they are “dedicated to building products that foster the health and happiness of dogs everywhere.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
animals,
design,
e-commerce,
Internships,
marketing,
mobile,
New York,
online marketing,
software development,
user experience,
web development
Yesterday we took a look at View The Space and how they’re changing the commercial real estate business. Today we’re going to talk about the kind of real estate that you’re more familiar with: residential real estate. While I was looking for a new apartment, I did most of my searching online (though walking around the neighborhood that you want to live and looking for For Rent signs is an underrated tactic). While Zillow was my preferred searching tool, I ended up on Trulia a lot. In case you’ve never used it, Trulia is a site that “displays more than 4.5 million real estate and rental listings nationwide.” The company is based in San Francisco, CA and also has offices in New York, NY and Denver, CO. They’re only about 9 years old, but they’ve grown to nearly 500 employees and are already publicly traded.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
advertising,
analyst,
California,
Colorado,
data,
design,
graphic design,
human resources,
marketing,
mobile,
New York,
online marketing,
real estate,
recruiting,
sales,
sem,
seo,
software development,
user experience,
web development
When I was a kid, a magazine subscription was one of the best gifts that you could get me (especially to Beckett Baseball Card Monthly). I loved the excitement of receiving mail, and I loved the magazine format. Today the only magazines that I receive in the mail are the ones that come free with memberships. Almost all of my content consumption is digital now, but that doesn’t mean that the magazine is dead. Issuu is “the world’s fastest growing digital publishing platform.” The company is based in Palo Alto, CA, but they also have a significant presence in Copenhagen, Denmark (focused mostly on design and engineering). Issuu’s goal is to change the publishing industry by “making it a more democratic, colorful and free place to be.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
analyst,
California,
customer service,
Denmark,
design,
Internships,
magazines,
marketing,
online marketing,
paid,
publishing,
social media,
software development,
user experience,
web development
If you haven’t had one of your social media accounts hacked, you certainly know someone who has. It’s pretty obvious that the social-ification of the web has made the Internet a much more dangerous place. Not only can malware spread more quickly and efficiently, but hackers have access to far more personal data–and that allows them to abuse the trust that you have in your online social connections. While this is kind of scary on an individual level, it’s much more frightening for large companies and organizations. Riskive is a Baltimore, MD based company that sees what’s happening. That’s why they’ve built an “enterprise grade security technology dedicated to identifying, monitoring and preventing risk across the socially connected enterprise.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
business development,
community management,
design,
entrepreneurship,
human resources,
innovation,
Internships,
marketing,
Maryland,
research,
risk management,
sales,
security,
social media,
software development,
user experience,
web development
Being “domestic” isn’t something that a lot of young people aim for these days. The word often denotes a negative connotation, which is why you might find it odd that a career-minded woman who used to work at Google has made a made a name for herself by embracing domesticity. Brit Morin is often called “Silicon Valley’s Martha Stewart,” and she just raised more than $6 million live up to that comparison. Brit is the founder of Brit + Co., a San Francisco, CA based “online platform and e-commerce company that inspires and enables the digital generation to make.” Domestic skills are important, and Brit + Co. is bringing them back in style with the power of the web.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
arts,
blogging,
California,
crafts,
design,
e-commerce,
food,
Internships,
mobile,
operations,
social media,
software development,
user experience,
web development,
writing
You’ve probably noticed that most of the small businesses that you interact with aren’t all that tech savvy. Whether you’ve visited their websites or tried to make a purchase, it’s often glaringly obvious that the owner shouldn’t be anywhere within 50 feet of a computer. The problem is that being online and tech savvy is becoming more and more important to running any kind of business. Merchants who can’t keep up will have a hard time. MOpro makes it easy for business owners to do all of the technical and marketing things that they might not be able to do on their own. They’re a Los Angeles, CA based company that expands “the digital possibilities for small businesses.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
business development,
California,
copywriting,
customer service,
design,
human resources,
Internships,
local,
local marketing,
marketing,
online marketing,
photography,
post production,
product management,
production,
sales,
social media,
software development,
video,
web development
What do Laura Bush, Julia Child, Katharine Hepburn, Sandra Day O’Connor, and Eleanor Roosevelt all have in common? Besides the fact that they all are/were women, they were also all members of the Junior League. I’ve heard of the Junior League from friends Facebook posts, but I never really knew what it was today. It is “one of the oldest, largest and most effective women’s volunteer organizations in the world.” There are 155,000 women involved in 293 Leagues across four countries, and those Leagues make up The Association of Junior Leagues International. The organization was founded in 1901 and is based out of New York, NY. Their aim is “to develop exceptionally qualified civic leaders who collaborate with community partners to identify a community’s most urgent needs and address them with meaningful and relevant programs and initiatives that not only improve lives, but also change the way people think.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
design,
development,
graphic design,
Internships,
member services,
New York,
non-profit
I spend as much time as I possibly can enjoying nature, and I’m convinced that nothing can rival its beauty. From rock formations to the spots on trout to mushrooms and wild flowers, it’s incredible how much enjoyment I can get from simple stuff. While people often try to create their own beauty, the most successful attempts take some hints from nature. That’s exactly what Kevia does with their jewelry. They are a Portland, OR based company that offers “handcrafted sustainable jewelry” that is inspired by the natural world.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
design,
fashion,
Internships,
jewelry,
marketing,
online marketing,
Oregon,
paid,
style
Sales is all about relationships. Whether you’re trying to convince someone to make a one time purchase or enter a ten-year contract, you need to build a certain level of trust and empathy (the level is much higher in the latter case). Sometimes it only takes one conversation, but it often takes many more. A sales person has to be organized to ensure that his or her communications are continuously moving towards a sale. The tools for doing that used to be a rolodex and a notebook, but that has obviously changed. What hasn’t changed is the need for mobility in a customer relationship management system, and that’s exactly what Base CRM offers. They are a Chicago, IL based company that “is paving the way by building the next generation of CRM software.” They realized that most competing software is a burden (not a useful tool) for salespeople, so they decided to build something that people would actually want to use.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
account management,
administrative,
blogging,
community management,
customer service,
design,
Illinois,
international,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
Poland,
sales,
social media,
software development,
user experience,
web development,
writing
Everybody thinks that they need a revolutionary, unique idea to start a business. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. It’s often much better to do something well than to do something new. That thought has been reinforced by reading about Beyond Spots & Dots. They’re a Pittsburgh, PA based “full service advertising agency dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients.” They’ve only been around since 2006, but they saw 151% three-year growth between 2008 and 2011 to $3 million in revenue. There are probably thousands of agencies in the U.S. that offer similar services, and even dozens or hundreds in Pittsburgh, yet Beyond Spots & Dots has still found a path to growth.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
advertising,
design,
graphic design,
Internships,
marketing,
online marketing,
Pennsylvania,
software development,
unpaid,
web development
My parents still have some of my childhood art around the house, though they probably have 10 pieces of my sister’s art for every one of mine. It’s not that they love her more (I keep telling myself that), it’s just that she’s actually an artist. Not only has she produced way more art than I have, but hers is also much better. As much as most artists would hate to admit it, the art world is largely a meritocracy. Art House Co-op is a Brooklyn, NY based company that is democratizing art by organizing “global, collaborative art projects.” Their projects are open to everyone, so even I could participate if I wanted to.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
administrative,
arts,
communications,
design,
Internships,
New York,
paid
Have you ever looked up a doctor online? When you type the name into Google, you’re often inundated with useless results (kind of like when you’re job searching). There are “reviews” that aren’t really reviews, and “information” pages that don’t offer any useful information. While most doctors prefer to focus on medicine over marketing, the truth is that a successful practice requires a continuous flow of new and returning patients. The Internet will continue to play a larger role in how people find doctors, and Treatspace wants to ensure that patients accurate, helpful information. That’s why the Pittsburgh, PA based company is focused on putting “facts online that connect providers, patients, and health professionals.”
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
blogging,
design,
fellowship programs,
health care,
Internships,
marketing,
medicine,
online marketing,
Pennsylvania,
product management,
software development,
unpaid,
user experience,
web development,
writing
