Blog: Fresh Tilled Ideas

MA Named Best 'New Economy' State

Posted On: November 19th 2008
By: Alex Fedorov

Just read a great article about why Massachusetts was just recently named one of the best "New Economy" states. My favorite exceprt is:

"In recessions, there are higher levels of entrepreneurship because people who are laid off will use that opportunity to start a business," he said. "We won't be in this predicament forever. States that foster risk-taking and treat this time as an opportunity will be in a better position when they emerge - they'll be growing, instead of replacing the investments they slashed."

Read the entire article here.

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

The Link Building Enigma

Posted On: November 17th 2008
By: Dave Pye

What is link building?
Link building is a very general, umbrella term used to describe any activities or tasks that involve getting other web entities to link to yours. Links are of the most value when they are “one-way”, meaning they link to you but there is no reciprocal link in return from your site to theirs. Search engines see one-way links as more objective because without reciprocation there is no need for another site to link to yours, unless they were truly impressed for some reason. One-way links are measured as more “objective” for that reason.

What are some practical examples of link building?
Link building activities can include relevant directory submissions, careful and relevant paid link brokering, press release/article authoring and submission, forum and blog commenting, linkbait strategies, providing link-friendly and free onsite resources and much more.

Why is link building so important to SEM?
Google, Yahoo and MSN consider one-way incoming links to a site to be “votes” for the site. It is also a good idea to ensure that any link to your site contains specific keywords that you are targeting, as search engines are very likely to begin associating link text with the site said link resolves on. The more general links to your site the better your overall chances for well-ranked keywords. The more targeted and relevant incoming links the better you will likely do for the keywords you are using in your hyperlinks.

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

Web Typography Tip: Quotation Marks vs. Prime Marks

Posted On: November 3rd 2008
By: Kristine Jubeck

Don't use prime marks (a.k.a. “dumb quotes”) in place of quotation marks. You’ll look...well, dumb. The purpose of prime marks, or hatch marks, is to indicate inches and feet.

She was 5'2" with eyes of blue. "I'm not dumb," she said. "I'm prime."

Quotation marks have distinct “open” and “closed” forms, unlike hatch marks, which are straight up and down.

“I’m not smart,” he replied. “I’m a quotation mark.”

Here's the code. Now go out there and look smart!

&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not smart,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a quotation mark.&rdquo;

Source: Thinking with type by Ellen Lupton

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

Which type size on websites?

Posted On: November 2nd 2008
By: Richard Banfield

There is often debate between designers and clients on the font sizes for headings, body text or highlighted text elements on websites. I personally like a slightly bigger font. Even though I have healthy eyesight I still prefer reading a slightly bigger font on websites. It's sometimes hard to convince traditionally trained graphic designers that big is better online. I came across this posting on realitive font sizes by Wilson Miner, which seems to close the argument on this.

The image shows how a magazine page, printed at 11pt, compared to a website at 16pt look almost the same when held up side-by-side.

"After years of wondering why browsers defaulted to 16pt text sizes I’m starting to be convinced that long text really is significantly more readable on screen at precisely that size."

This post reminds us that design is realitive and rules for print or PowerPoint cannot be automatically driven to web design without consideration.

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

Wordpress for iphone V 1.1

Posted On: October 30th 2008
By: Phil Percuoco

Wordpress has introduced a free download located in your app store on your iphone or your ipod touch. Takes just a few minutes to load and setup. Then you write posts, upload photos, and edit your WordPress blog from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Click here is more information on the download.

"it is so apple" - Alex, Jamacia Plain Boston

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

Big Shots at CDIA - Photography Experts Speaker Series with Tony Corbell

Posted On: October 30th 2008
By: Phil Percuoco

The Center For Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) is bringing in big photographic talent with vast knowledge to make some noise in the Boston digital art and photography community. next up is Tony Corbell : photographer, traveler, educator, author and member of the Camera Craftsmen of America.

The topic of Tony's talk will be "Lighting".

The event will be held at the CDIA's campus in Waltham, MA at 274 Moody Street, Studio C on Tuesday, January 27th, from 6:30-9:30pm. The fee is $15 for CDIA students and alumni and $45 for the rest of us. For more information and registration go to www.cdiabu.com/bigshots.

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

Some tips on interviewing for a position as a web designer

Posted On: October 29th 2008
By: Phil Percuoco

This year, our company experienced incredible growth. With this growth, we are often looking for candidates to hire as web designers. Often my experience of interviewing these potential candidates is funnier than you would imagine.
Here are some tips:

Have more than one copy of your resume. We once had a candidate ask for their resume back because it was their only copy!
Dress appropriately. Most offices these days are casual – business casual. We once had a candidate show up in a Karate outfit. Make you wonder if they always dress like that?
Be early for the interview. By just hanging out in the sitting area, you can learn a lot about the company and its employees.
Never say you are uncomfortable interacting with customers. Since Web Design is a service business you will need to speak to customers on occasion
If you are really hungry and want the job, don’t be afraid to ask for it! Also, ask if there is a quick project you can do so they can test your work. Here is a chance to impress.

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

How to close the door when you work in a open office floor plan.

Posted On: October 28th 2008
By: Phil Percuoco

Most large companies have converted their work area for employees to have an open floor plan. The purpose of this is not to take away your privacy but to allow more natural light into the office from the outside windows and also promotes a more unified work environment. So the days of closing the door to your office are over! I have discovered that wearing headphones in the office during select times sends a signal to your co-workers that you are focusing and need to have some privacy (in effect, a closed door moment).

Give it a try.

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

Flex Camp Boston 2008 is Back!

Posted On: October 27th 2008
By: Phil Percuoco

Flex Camp Boston is a full-day event featuring some top industry experts on Adobe Flex and AIR from both inside and outside Adobe. Come advance your Flex skills, meet members of the Adobe Flex team and network with local companies and fellow developers. Sessions will be geared towards developers with moderate to advanced level of experience with Flex and/or ActionScript. There will be plenty of giveaways, raffles and swag (and lunch).

Date: December 12, 2008
Time: 8am-5pm
Location: Bentley College, Waltham

Cost of admission is $30.00. Click here to register.

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink

Account Manager, designer and Search Marketing Specialists Needed

Posted On: October 22nd 2008
By: Richard Banfield

Help!

We recently launched JetPack (that's our web marketing for small businesses company) and we're desperately looking for young people to help us do account management. Ideally they could be recent grads or working but looking for something new. We just need young, energetic and smart people. We don't need them to be expert in web marketing, we can train them. What we need is 'smarts' and energy. They'll be on the phone and email with clients most of the day. No sales, just chatting about their projects and keeping things on track.

Do you know anyone that might be interested?

Comments (0) Post a Comment Permalink