Covergence

Or, why I'm committing to Toptal Visual designers group, a marketplace for the top companies to find the top visual designers for their projects.

I was watching Ron Howard's Cinderella Man with my two sons, 9 and 12 years old. It was troubling, on one hand, unbelievable on the other, watching the main character, a man of integrity, struggle to buy milk and keep his family warm during the Great Depression.

Dear Google, please tweak the kerning of your new logo. :)

Disclaimer: I know the Google designers are amazing and this is just my own optical preference.

I'd love to see the kerning tightened between the "G" and the first "o". :)

See my before and after tweaks.

Do you agree with me or not? Leave your comments below!

Scam "topfarmproduce.com" targeting web designers

My hope is by writing this I can spread the word and help fellow designers avoid being scammed.

The bait...

I received this email from my website's contact form:

On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 6:46 AM, Smarty Truck wrote: 
full_name : david
email : davidlewis957@gmail.com 
Message : Hello, i would like to know if you do web design and do you accept credit card for payment??

What does SEO mean?

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is a fancy word for ways you can make your website easier for search engines (Google) to find.

The best BBQ ribs I've ever had

Imagine coming home from a long day's work and welcomed by a wave of deliciousness so good it makes you close your eyes and smile? Or how cool you'd be in your children's eyes by making dinner time a memorable aromatic experience all day long?

3 ways to use LinkedIn from Scott Klososky

Scott Klososky is a serial entrepreneur who is a guru in the digital marketing space.

3 quick tips for using LinkedIn are:

1. Crowdsourcing: Utilize your LinkedIn network when you have a question about something. In one click you can reach out and receive great resources, tips, and advice on your problem.
1. MosaicHUB is another crowdsourcing resource you can receive education on a variety of topics on.
2. Warm leads: LinkedIn was originally made for this purpose - find people who can introduce you to someone you’ve identified as a prospect.
3. Surveillance: Monitor your connections' status changes so you can be the first to know of any important contacts that change jobs. Let's say you have a past client that you're on good terms with. Through surveillance, you're able to pitch them and their new company. Another way to use this tactic is let’s say you sell houses, and you see a status update that someone retired or changed jobs. That’s an opportunity for you to reach out to them and offer them something of value and create more of a connection which ultimately may lead to them choosing you as their real estate agent.

For more great digital marketing and social network advice from Scott check out his video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez8yA7wgZdk

4 questions to help you revisit or create your personal elevator speech.

Recently I was asked what I do in a great networking situation. I failed miserably! Since I've changed my professional focus I wasn't prepared to clearly explain what I do to this person and probably failed to make an strong impression.

Imagine you're waiting in a long line at your bank. The person in front of you turns around and you two start chatting. After some pleasantries, they look at you and ask "What do you do?".
If you aren't prepared, you could stumble as you try to explain this memorably in less than 15 seconds.

You never know when someone might turn into a client, or a lead to a client, or a friend. If you haven't revisited your personal elevator speech in the last 12 months it's a good time to take 10 minutes and go through this exercise.