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A Ramble on Responsive Design
Responsive Design is the latest mantra to gain traction in the web community. Ethan Marcotte threw down the gauntlet and challenged the web design community to seriously reconsider how we think about design and code. Responsive Design is an approach that encourages us to build websites that respond to a user’s behavior and environment – i.e. a single code base that adapts to multiple devices. With a peck of flexible grids, a dash of media quieres, and 1/2 a cup of incredibly smart javascript, you could bake a single website that tastes yummy in people’s browsers, tablets, phones, TVs and whatever other crazy device hits next. Hallelujah – device ubiquity problem solved. Kind of. I’ve got nothing against Responsive Design. In fact, I think it’s great. This isn’t a critique of responsive design inasmuch as it’s a critique of how … Continue reading
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Working Remotely With a New Baby
Our team is popping babies out left and right. If you join us, be careful as odds are, you (or your spouse) is about to get pregnant. I’ve been wondering how I could help Peter, Reid, Brandon & Lucas prepare for something they have tried to imagine but can’t know until they are in the thick of it. Having a child is challenging for anyone, but if you are also trying to run a company from home, its a double header. There were a few simple pieces of advice that truly helped me. Some were environmental and other behavioral. So I got the team together and here are the thoughts we wanted to share. From Shane: You need your own space. This is simply non-negotiable. First of all, babies are loud. They hoot and holler and cry and shriek and … Continue reading
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Retreat!
I just returned home from the latest Modern Tribe retreat. Four times a year, the Tribe brain trust takes 4 days to dedicate to the business. As hard working folks, it’s easy to become fully focused and dedicated on our clients. We want to provide excellent service. We want to provide the best designs, and the cleanest code. As a consequence of this focus, it’s easy forget that we are also business owners. As we encourage our clients to examine their internal processes, stay in touch with their users needs, polish and craft their marketing messages, and enjoy themselves a little along the way, our own process, marketing and growth is so often neglected. What’s a business retreat look like? We set an agenda. This usually takes a solid hour itself. We break things up by “needs a computer,” “fun … Continue reading
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On Setting Goals and Running
I’m a chubby dude. I’m not rotund by any means, but I’m a little more ‘Jolly Old St. Nick’ than I am ‘teen werewolf heartthrob.’ With my first kid on the way, I’ve decided to get in shape. From what I’ve heard, having a kid can really whipe you out, so it’s best I get this underway before he comes. I’ve been here before. I actually enjoy a lot of physical activities, so having spurts of fitness coupled with periods of healthy eating isn’t unheard of for me. It’s always been pretty half assed though. The thing of it is, I see this same half assed approach in other people and it drives me bonkers. “I wanna launch a product, but…” “I wanna be a ballarina, but…” or “I wanna freelance full time, but…” It’s the dabbling that’s a problem. … Continue reading
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Becoming a Modern Tribe
Hi. I’m Shane. 10 years ago, I started a company of 1. It was a healthy mixture of dream and desperation. With a lot of love from some great people, and some sweat, it worked out. I solved some cool problems and surfed when most of my friends worked. Freelancing let me make my living from home and coffee shops. I supported myself and eventually a family. What started as a backup plan became a career. It was fun. While I loved being in business for myself, after 5 years, I found myself wishing I didn’t have to be in business all by myself. I wanted to collaborate with other awesome people. Across town, Peter meandered a similar path. Eventually (with a little prodding) Peter quit his job at a tech company in the valley and started freelancing full-time. We … Continue reading
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If You Can Be One Thing, Be Dependable
Early in my career as a business owner, I thought being clever was more important than being on time. In retrospect, I probably would have never renewed a contract with my 20-year-old self. Flash forward and today my partners and I run a service business that thrives for a simple reason: we consistently deliver, time after time. As one of our longest clients recently told me, “I am buying peace of mind. I could give it to someone cheaper, and then either manage it myself or have to worry they might fail. I can trust you guys to take care of it and I will go focus on what matters most to my business unit.” In short, we’re successful, because we are dependable. Finding a vendor, employee or partner who will consistently play their part is one of the great … Continue reading
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Art & Commerce
Levis Channels American Nostalgia While Off Shoring Production. But they do it beautifully. This advertising campaign from Levis has been following me around for the last few weeks. Produced by Wieden + Kennedy, the nostalgic Americana advertising campaign is entering it’s second year. The campaign grew to include a segment focused on Braddock Pennsylvania. Braddock is the kind of middle American town that has suffered greatly in the current economic climate, but also struggled greatly with the post industrial turn of the American economy since the mid 80s. The campaign has caused quite the uproar in both the ad and social justice communities. It seems they both hate it, but for different reasons. I want to get into this a bit, if only to help clarify my own thinking about it. I’m not actually an advertising guy anymore. Though early … Continue reading
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Making Money with WordPress Audio
This year at SXSW, I put a panel together on the topic of WordPress. We focused on the business side of the open source platform, primarily the three core revenue models heavily employed today: Services / Consulting, Premium Plugins / Themes & Premium Content. We got extremely lucky and nabbed some of the industry leaders in each category.
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Surfing 101 as a Metaphor for Sales
I put this presentation together for our team trip to Sayulita this year. I love to surf and often see parallels between surfing and life.
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Get the Most Out of Subcontracting
Every person on a career path has a dream. Musicians want Grammys, startups want acquisitions and surfers want world titles. When I chat with freelancers, the most common aspiration I hear is, “I want to partner up with other freelancers to take on a bigger project and build a company.” When running an agency in today’s new economic model, you are bound to end up using independent contractors in your business. If that is in your plan, how do you get started successfully? How do you transition from a one-person shop to a team using other freelancers? Read the entire article at Mashable
