The Archives

Everything I've written about realted to "business"

1. I have a man crush on my Tax Accountant

   Thursday, September 11th, 2008 | 2 Comments

   When jumping in the entrepreneurial world there is much to consider and much to do; but almost nothing is harder or more important than having a really good tax accountant!

2. A Free Idea: The social CMS that isn’t a CMS at all

   Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 | 22 Comments

   I’ve been researching and sketching out a concept for developing a new light-weight CMS that isn’t actually a CMS. It is more of a social networking aggregate publishing system.

3. It’s a studio not an office!

   Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 | 7 Comments

   You may think its just semantics, but the difference is enormous. For creative teams, those truly creative and striving to push the limits of inspiration and innovation, environment is everything.

4. I dislike the new Walmart logo

   Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 | 16 Comments

   The new Walmart logo has a Kmart and Payless visual feel to it; a sense of cheapness. Not the low price type of cheapness; but the sticky floor, strange smell, unkempt employee type of cheapness.

5. Why We Turned Down Funding

   Monday, May 12th, 2008 | 3 Comments

   Funding isn’t a check box on the start-up list of “things to do”; it is simply an option for those who require help to get where they want to go.

6. Getting Serious & Freelancing

   Friday, February 22nd, 2008 | 14 Comments

   Last night I spoke at Refresh-DC about “Getting serious with freelancing”. My presentation was really a discussion on the transition from side-work to serious-work as a freelancer.

7. Upgrading to Web 2.5

   Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 | 29 Comments

   I am ready for a redesign of my own personal site. This has been a long-time coming, especially as I’ve been recently debating the form and function of this site. I am moving to a web2.5 look and feel; this more of a design satire then a reflection of personal taste.

8. Here Comes Another Bubble

   Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 | No Responses

   It has been debated time and time again — are we in for another internet bubble burst? Well … there is a great video floating around that might help shed some light on the question. A must watch, extremely entertaining.

9. Startup Weekend DC – Impressive Innovation or Complete Chaos

   Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 | 6 Comments

   There is something amazing happening in the Washington, D.C. area and it is spreading like wildfire – we are finally buying into what we’ve been selling; a social network. The Washington, D.C. web design and development community is coming together strong and now it seems that with a pinch of entrepreneurial spirit could be a […]

10. If YouTube Comments Met Real Life Situations

    Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 | 12 Comments

    I came across this video via Twitter this afternoon, thanks @Marchdoe, and I laughed so hard I had to share with anyone and everyone! It sort of reminds me of the nclud creative sessions — ha ha, kidding of course! Watch this video now! You won’t regret it, unless you’ve got something against funny.

11. Twitter for business, defined for those who don’t get it

    Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 | 16 Comments

    Twitter, it is one of those “web 2.0” phenomenon that’s got everyone excited, even those who don’t really understand it. Many of my clients and colleagues have come to me and simply put, say “I don’t get it”. It is really a question more than a statement – they’ve heard something that makes them think […]

12. Logic Based Design - Design is 50% Selling

    Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 | 13 Comments

    Imagine a world were design wasn’t subjective; imagine a world were design intentions were in-sync with design executions. A design’s worst enemy is not the input of a non-designer – a design’s worst enemy is when its designer can’t sell it. Design is only half the process, being able to sell that design is where […]

13. What happens when the talented get social? Meet Doug.

    Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 | 2 Comments

    Our industry is full of these quasi-celebrities whose fame is generally attributed to simply being social; well that and being extremely talented. But, many feel that these celebrities are the best-of-the-best standing on these unreachable pedestals — that simply isn’t the case; the pedestal part that is. While the big names that get us all […]

14. Don’t be a corporate web design bully

    Friday, April 27th, 2007 | 6 Comments

    The corporate web design bully is the organization to which takes and takes and who selfishly refuses to share and contribute. The web has undoubtedly gone social; especially within the community building this Web 2.0. Many of my previous employers love to utilize frameworks and JavaScript libraries but in that one-off chance they themselves […]

15. Cheap client translator

    Thursday, April 19th, 2007 | 11 Comments

    We’ve all been there; face-to-face with a cheap client. “Cheap” has a rather negative connotation, so lets be clear that there is a distinction between small business clients on a budget and unrealistic clients who expect greatness for next to nothing; cheap! There is value in what we do; don’t ever let anyone trivialize that […]

16. Your last impression is as important as your first

    Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 | No Responses

    The most important thing next to your first impression is your last. It is well known to many of us that making good first impressions are crucial in laying the foundation for any relationship – a successful business relationship being no exception. However, many of us put so much attention and focus on making a […]

17. When those without the internet get it, will they get it?

    Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 | No Responses

    The nclud team recently attended the Refresh DC meet-up this past week and it got us thinking – do we really care about the global impact of the mobile web? Should we care? Or, when should we care? As strong supporters of Refresh DC, we showed up in force and the presentation was terrific. Wayan […]

18. “Viral Marketing” is your Buzz Word of the year

    Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 | 3 Comments

    Online “Viral Marketing” is the buzz word of the year! Last year we couldn’t get enough of “User Experience” and the year before that “SEO” was all the rage. While many of us trying to innovate the industry laugh at these buzz words of yesterday – we need pay attention. Whether you work for yourself […]

19. Six most uniquely creative business cards of SXSWi 2007

    Sunday, March 18th, 2007 | 9 Comments

    We all love the web, but are often given the pleasure or forced into designing outside that medium (depending how you look at it). Brand logos and business cards are of the most common tasks given to the traditional web designer – right or wrong, amazing things can come from the truly creative. At nclud, […]

20. The business card five second rule

    Thursday, March 8th, 2007 | 15 Comments

    It is all in the title; never be more than five seconds from your business card. This is more common sense marketing than it is some eye-opening, jaw-dropping business epiphany. We are so immersed in this industry that it is often easily overlooked that there is more to your presence than your web presence.

21. The greatest design tool is customer service

    Thursday, December 28th, 2006 | 4 Comments

    Regardless of how powerful, persuasive, influential or informational your design is; it will mean nothing if you’ve ignored well designed customer service. I’ve been touting the concept of Business-Oriented-Design for a while now and customer service is very much apart of that larger idea. Whether you consider yourself a designer, developer or artist – you […]

22. Web Design Freelancers – how important is maintaining your client list?

    Monday, September 18th, 2006 | 11 Comments

    They say, statistically it is seven times harder to get a new client than it is to maintain an existing one. I’ve often wrote about the uniqueness of this industry at our present point in time – I wonder if we work in an environment that is an exception to this age-old rule of thumb? […]

23. Introducing ConceptPreview

    Monday, May 22nd, 2006 | One Response

    ConceptPreview is a simple CSS based navigation tool. It was created primarily for web designers to quickly, effortlessly and subtly integrate a utility to present multiple design concepts. Often times web design concepts are required to be presented within HTML to help give accurate visual representation of the intended design.

24. Amazing Identity Theft Deterent

    Saturday, April 22nd, 2006 | 2 Comments

    I had a revelation at the Dog Park this afternoon with regard to Identity Theft. Everyone is so worried about Identity Theft; more specifically those stealing our information from the trash and using it to gain access to our financial accounts. You hear about this on the morning news, read about it online and are […]

25. Marriott VP: ‘Engaging the customer in a changing market place’

    Tuesday, February 14th, 2006 | 2 Comments

    Early last week, two vice presidents of brand research from Marriott International presented on the topic of brand management; this to an intimate group of 35 brand managers throughout the Washington D.C. area. Their speech titled, “Engaging the customer in a changing market place” touched on the concept of a brand being a promise, […]

26. Net Trends: 6 things to expect in 2006

    Friday, February 3rd, 2006 | 4 Comments

    Early yesterday morning, in Washington DC, a small group of about a hundred ‘web managers’ gathered together to discuss “Net Trends”; more specifically, what to expect in 2006. The topics of the morning included: Web 2.0, mobile/ transportable content, e-commerce, interactivity, privacy and security. These topics were obviously not discussed as new topics, merely as […]

27. Great Job Posting for Design Types

    Thursday, February 2nd, 2006 | No Responses

    I came across this job posting today and found it hilarious. I think it is always great when a creative company can have a little fun with their job postings. Do apply!

28. 5 Rules to Success (Simple and Sweet)

    Thursday, February 2nd, 2006 | 2 Comments

    Short (simple) and sweet: