From the beginning One Day One Job has been built on top of WordPress. To many it’s simple blogging software, but it’s amazing how far you can take it with a little bit of tweaking. The problem with self-hosted WordPress (as opposed to WordPress.com) is that it requires running your own server. You can find a host that makes it easy to get started, but as soon as your site starts to grow, you’ll run into problem after problem. I used to spend at least a week’s worth of workdays every year worrying about server stuff (downtime, optimization, security, and all kinds of other details). That all changed when I moved my sites to WP Engine. They are an Austin, TX based company that “host tens of thousands of the 75 million WordPress sites and apps on Earth.” I’ve had almost zero downtime since I switched, but more importantly, I no longer worry about my server configuration (and I’m even paying less than I used to for hosting).
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People are completely irrational when it comes to travel deals. Sometimes it means wasting an entire day of a five day trip in some random airport (in the opposite direction of where you’re headed) to save a hundred bucks. Other times it means spending hours looking for the best fare only to end up paying more than if you had booked right away. It’s almost become a sport–even really rich people do this–and that’s why travel websites are such a great business. You can get a ton of attention for only saving people a few bucks. Smarter Travel Media is a Boston, MA based company that has developed “a unique group of online travel planning brands” that cater to the massive number of people who gain immense pleasure from getting the best fare or rate. The brands include Airfarewatchdog, BookingBuddy, Tingo, OneTime, Smarter Travel, and SniqueAway.
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Nearly every Internet business needs to either buy or sell traffic to make a profit. Companies like Google and Facebook are the ultimate traffic sellers, while companies like Amazon, Expedia, and GEICO are massive traffic buyers. (There are some companies like Ask.com that do both and play the arbitrage game.) Companies on both sides of the transaction are always looking for a new edge. For traffic buyers, they want cheaper, higher quality clicks. For the sellers, it’s all about finding new ways to get users to click. Taboola is a New York, NY based company that serves both parties quite well. Put not all that simply, “publishers, marketers, and agencies leverage Taboola to retain users on their site, monetize their traffic and distribute their content to drive high quality audiences.” Taboola’s tagline is “content you may like.” I find that interesting, because the average Internet user won’t ever realize that he or she is interacting with Taboola.
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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.
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Every business has to make a decision about what kind of payments they’ll accept. Some take cash only, many accept credit cards, and some even accept local currencies like Ithaca Hours. Typically, making it easy for customers to pay you is a good business decision (unless you’re one of those scummy companies that loves to tack on late fees). Unfortunately for some businesses, accepting payments isn’t always easy. This is especially true for certain industries like online gaming, dating, and rewards. Paymentwall is a San Francisco, CA based company that offers “the leading digital payments platform for globally monetizing digital goods and services.” They offer payment options for over 100 locations in more than 25 languages (and offices in Berlin, Kiev, Istanbul, and Manila) with options including “credit card, debit card, mobile payments, land-line payments, prepaid cards, ATM, terminal transactions, bank transfers, direct bills” and more.
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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.”
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I find Flo from Progressive pretty irritating, but I think that’s kind of the point. The car insurance business is all about branding, and that means getting a name to stick in your head. The fact that you probably know who Flo is is proof enough that brand advertising works even if it’s annoying (though I know some of you are screaming, “But it doesn’t affect which company I buy my insurance from!”). While big brands often have big advertising budgets, they need an exceptional agency to generate a strong ROI on those budgets. I’d say that Arnold Worldwide is an exceptional agency. Not only is the Boston, MA based agency behind Progressive’s Flo campaign, but they also have done work for Jack Daniels, New Balance, Surfrider Foundation, and Volvo. Clients like those demand great work, and that’s exactly what Arnold Worldwide has produced for them.
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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.”
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I’ve been working at eating healthier for a while now. I have a huge appetite–and it gets bigger when I work out, so it’s not easy. I’ve made a lot of progress by shopping only around the perimeter at the grocery store and avoiding snacking, but I know that the latter is hard for people. If you’re going to snack, you might as well try to be healthy. NatureBox is a company that wants to make that easier for everyone. They’re a San Carlos, CA based ” high-growth e-commerce company that is reinventing the way people purchase healthy foods and groceries.” While I’ll assume that they have bigger plans, they’ve started by offering a monthly subscription that helps you discover “healthy, hand-picked snacks.”
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I’ve been dabbling in social media marketing since social media became a buzzword. I’ve typically been disappointed by the results. I’ve learned that it’s harder than it looks (and that most people don’t want to be social about their job search–which is why we built GIF Me a Job). The prospect of having millions of people telling their friends how awesome you are is pretty tempting, but it’s just not going to happen for most businesses. There are certainly exceptions, and many of them are major brands. When you already have millions of customers, it’s a lot easier (but still really hard) to truly engage them through social channels. SocialCode is a Washington, DC based “social marketing solutions provider” that “builds targeted communities, engages those audiences and converts them to customers and evangelists for leading global brands.”
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I have a platonic man crush on Ramit Sethi. I’ve pretty much been stalking him since 2007 (when I started ODOJ) by subscribing to his blog, signing up for his e-mail list, reading his book, poring over his Delicious links, and buying one of his courses. We even met in person once. It was in the lobby of a trendy W hotel waiting for him, and when he walked up I played it cool by slamming my head into some stupid lamp that was hanging over the lounge chair that I was sitting on. Why am I so obsessed with some random Indian dude who is only a couple years older than me? Because he has built an amazing business that helps people achieve their career and financial dreams. I tend to gag at most of the advice that I hear from “career experts,” yet when I see something come from I Will Teach You To Be Rich (Ramit’s company–he used to have to reiterate that it’s not a scam because the name sounds so questionable), my eyes get all dreamy and I just start nodding in agreement. I occasionally even yell “YES!” at my computer.
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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.
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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.”
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Yesterday was a day to celebrate our freedoms. Being able to speak and express ourselves freely is the most important in my book. Even though we have that right, there is no guarantee that anyone will listen or pay attention to us. If you want to be heard, you have to promote your voice. That’s what See.Me is all about. They are a New York, NY based company that has built a platform that allows artists of all kinds to “share the best of what [they] do and gain recognition and support within [a] vibrant international community.” It’s a place to get exposure, meet other artists, and even earn financial contributions from those who want to support your work.
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I remember when Facebook was just for friends your age. Now it’s common to be friends with your parents, your parents’ friends, your professors, and your coworkers. I don’t know anyone who is friends with his or her doctor, but I can just imagine posting a picture of an awesome dessert that you’re about to eat and getting a notification saying “Dr. Jones commented on your photo: ‘Are you sure you want to eat this?'” Nobody needs that (ok, maybe some people do). We should probably give doctors their own social network so they can talk amongst themselves. That’s exactly what Sermo is. They’re a Boston, MA based company that “created the largest online community, exclusive to physicians.” They already have 125,000 medical professionals participating, and I’m sure that number will keep growing.
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While I’ve been getting much better about making healthy food choices, sometimes it’s impossible to resist a burger, fries, and a milkshake. It’s hard to find a more efficient, yet enjoyable way to consume calories. If you’re going to do it, you need to do it right–and that means going to Shake Shack (we’re getting one in Chicago soon!). It may sound like a dive, but it’s actually run by the same restaurant group that runs one of New York City’s best restaurants (Gramercy Tavern) and used to run one of the world’s best restaurants (Eleven Madison Park). The company is called Union Square Hospitality Group, and they’re based in New York, NY. They have restaurants that fill every niche, and they’re all excellent. I’ve been to a couple of them (with multiple visits to Shake Shack), and I’ve always enjoyed my meal.
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There are certain “brands” that I follow on Facebook that could be in my feed constantly, and I wouldn’t get annoyed. There’s my dog breeder, my favorite fishing lodge, and Bonobos. They don’t really need to advertise to me–they just need to keep posting content. But most brands are going to have to be smart about how they reach me; otherwise, I’ll ignore them. How can they be smart? By using the data they have on me to deliver perfectly targeted ads. GraphScience is a company that helps brands do this. They are based in Palo Alto, CA, and they “leverage the social graph to generate revenue and optimize marketing spend on Facebook.” I will never get as excited about an ad as I will about a video of my soon to be puppy, but I know that brands can do better than what they’re doing now.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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We all know someone with hypertension (aka high blood pressure)–nearly a third of people over the age of 20 in the United States have it. It’s a seriously health issue, but it’s common and relatively easily treated. Pulmonary hypertension sounds like it would be a similar malady, and in some ways it is, but it’s also much rarer and far more serious. Because it’s currently an incurable condition that can be extremely deadly, you’d think that it gets a lot of attention from the medical establishment. However, because only about 1,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, it doesn’t. Pulmonary Hypertension Association is trying to change that. They are a Silver Spring, MD based non-profit that is working to “to find ways to prevent and cure pulmonary hypertension, and to provide hope for the pulmonary hypertension community through support, education, research, advocacy and awareness.”
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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.”
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When social media marketing first started getting serious attention, I was all about it. SEO had been huge in helping me grow this site, so I thought that social would be the next big thing. But as I started working on using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites to drive traffic, I realized how ineffective they were. I’ve recently decided to give social another shot because I see a lot of companies making it work for them (though I fear that the Careers space will never be as social as it should be). Most companies that take social seriously use a platform “to measure, engage and advertise across social media.” Unified is a New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, and Chicago, IL based company that offers exactly such a platform. Unified’s software is especially focused on “activating social audiences and impacting consumer actions.”
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I spent last night in Las Vegas as a stopover on the way to somewhere far more relaxing. I’d never visited Vegas before, but everything about it reminds me of a cheesy game show. It’s not really my thing–if I wanted that, I’d just turn on GSN (aka Game Show Network). In case you’re not familiar, GSN “is a multimedia entertainment company that offers original and classic game programming and competitive entertainment via its 77-million subscriber television network and online game sites.” The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and also has offices in New York, NY, Waltham, MA, San Francisco, CA, and a few other cities. GSN has been around for almost 20 years now, and they’ve expanded on what used to be mostly rerun based programming with original game shows and tons of online games.
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I’m getting married tomorrow! Amy and I are extremely excited to share such a special event with so many friends and family, but we’re both a little nervous… about the weather. There are thunderstorms in the forecast, and I have a bad history with lightning. Whether it rains or not, the wedding will go on, it will be great, and people will take lots of pictures. We have a great photographer who will capture many of the special moments, but our friends and family will do their best to supplement him and his crew. We decided against using an app to collect photos from friends, but we definitely considered it. Wedding Party is a Palo Alto, CA based company that offers an app that allows you to “capture all the amazing photos from your wedding.”
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The quickest way to convince your friends that you’re a nerd is to start talking about safety. There’s nothing cool about smoke detectors, security systems, or locks on your doors, but they’re all extremely important. It’s easy to take your personal security in your home for granted until your house gets broken into (happened to me in college) or your smoke alarm starts chirping in the middle of the night and you can’t turn it off (this is more frustrating than scary). There has to be a better way of protecting ourselves without having to be a total freak. Canary is a New York, NY based startup that is working on that exact problem. They have developed “patent pending technology to bridge the physical world and the mobile world” and keep your home secure.
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I hate cheese. I’m not sure when it started, but almost any cheese other than mozzarella completely grosses me out. Although it may be partly psychological now, it’s mostly a smell/taste thing. I swear everybody except me loves cheese–though people start to see my side of things when the stinkier varieties come out. As a result of my peculiarity, it’s a bit uncomfortable for me to write about Sartori, a Plymouth, WI based “fourth-generation family owned and operated” cheese company. How can I encourage you to go work for a company that produces products that I find so offensive? I guess it just shows how committed I am to helping you start a great career.
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I’m getting married a week from today, which is why Amy and I went to three dance lessons last week. We’re not looking to do anything special. We’re just making a last ditch effort to be merely below average when 200+ people watch our first dance. The standards for dancing ability are a bit different for Youth America Grand Prix, which is a New York, NY based non-profit that runs “the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition.” Every year they put up more than $250,000 in scholarships so that some of the world’s most talented young dancers can get the training that they need to pursue a professional career. The competition was started in 1999 by two Bolshoi Ballet dancers, and has gained momentum ever since.
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I find marketing extremely interesting because the tactics change rapidly, while the basic principles never do. If I was hiring an agency, I’d want a team that brings together the old and the new, even though I often have a strong urge to go with whatever’s new. Adpearance is a Portland, OR based digital marketing agency that crafts “campaigns that launch from the solid foundations of traditional marketing, but with the added benefit of statistical analysis.” They’ve taken the best of both worlds and combined them into a complete offering that is focused on the most important thing: client ROI.
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