OnWired, a full-service web design/development firm and all-around cool place to work, is on a quest to find our next superstar web developer. We’re looking for someone with a creative mind, a keen understanding of user experience, exceptional communication skills, attention to detail, self-motivation, and the ability to hit the deadline every time.

On the technical side, you should be able to wrangle CSS, XHTML, PHP, and SQL along with the occasional jQuery. If you’re familiar with MVC (model-view-controller), that’s a huge plus. We’re not sticklers for fancy degrees. We just want someone who can get the job done.

You’ll get to work with a small, highly talented team of people who are incredibly passionate about what they do. We’ve got a contract to full-time gig waiting for the right person in our Cary, NC office, and we really need someone who can hit the ground running.

Now we come to the pay-off. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to send your resume along with a cover letter to HireMe@OnWired.com. Explain your love affair with web standards. Dazzle and amaze us with your past work. Promise us that if we hire you, all of our wildest dreams will come true. If you are convincing enough, we’ll be in touch to discuss a contract to hire position.

By the way, as we said, this position is based in our Cary, NC office. If you’re not already in town or if you’re not willing to relocate, we’re going to have to pass. If you run one of those outsourcing firms in India, please don’t email us offering to span the globe with your low-cost coding skills. And if you happen to be the widow of a deposed Nigerian military officer, we kindly decline your offer to share your immense wealth with us.

Please include your salary requirements when applying.

Desired Technologies

• Modern Web technologies
• WordPress
• SQL
• PHP
• MVC
• Work within XHTML5/CSS3 environments

Bonus Technologies

• ExpressionEngine
• Drupal
• Ruby
• CodeIgniter
• jQuery
• Have your own Wii-mote

I create and manage and edit online content - and I love it. Can’t get enough of it. I root around in it like a happy, plump piggy in her sty. I can provide strong marketing content-based material for online platforms all day long by weaving my words into beautiful tapestries. I create pictures by writing all the exquisite details of a story, so that you’re hanging on every word - even more impressive since it’s your own story and you’re the one who told it to me in the first place.

That’s what I do. Content.

I understand the importance of comprehensive Branding, but I come at it from the content perspective. I can’t design worth a flip. I don’t even know how to use Photoshop.

So it’s a good thing that I hang around creative geniuses who are brilliant masterminds in design. Branding isn’t complete without great visuals. You gotta have them - especially with how image-dependent our world is becoming (think how Pinterest is basically taking over and how Facebook is updating their News Feed).

The first visual that will impact your consumers is probably going to be your company logo. It should be. So, it better be good!

I was completely wowed by the comments made recently by one of our OnWired designers while he was talking about logo design. He wasn’t trying to be epic, but that’s what he ended up being.

Read on—>

I think there may be some confusion as to what a logo is. A logo puts a face on a brand. Your brand will be what tells people who you are and what you do and explains all the detail related to those services and convictions. This is done through your site, through your customer service, how well you perform and communicate in your marketing efforts. The logo will exist in the midst of all of this but it represents you, it doesn’t tell the full story nor should it.

Trying to force a mark to tell everything often leads to pigeon holing your identity by visually locking it in on such a specific form of technology. Such as how a cell tower looks now (2013) might be used by a business within a logo design, but in even 5 years a cell tower may shift due to changing technologies and then it’ll look dated. Some familiar with the industry might think when viewing it “You only handle 3G? Because that is a 3G tower.”

Nike’s swoosh says nothing about shoes or sports, but their brand does and the swoosh works with it all. A green mermaid says nothing about coffee or music, or movies but Starbucks has done all of that with their mark putting a face to it. Xfinity is a logo type used by Comcast to brand their services, it really says nothing about who they are or what they do at all, the story is only known through their marketing and the logo type is the identifier of that story.

Your mark (which ever direction you take) alludes to what you do graphically on a conceptual level, but your story will exist and be told through your new site, marketing and employee interaction with your customers and your new identity will be the face that represents the brand as you continue to grow and expand your business.

Brilliance from Von Glitschka

What do you think?
Got any ideas you want to share about logo design?

(Or are you too distracted by the fact that you had to read all this text without a visual to help you through it?)

What’s that—all you have left is the local coffee shop paper to advertise in?!?

Fear not small business owner—I have 3, yes THREE, ways to save your marketing day. One of them will even increase your SEO with Google, shhhh…

Head Out of the House

Have you been to MeetUp.com? No it’s not just gardeners comparing green thumbs or stay at home parents looking for sanity in an adult setting (although I’m sure it’s happening quite often).

It’s a great resource to get out and in front of your possible clients/peers with many functions to cover your client base. Are you a yoga instructor? Sign up for a New Age and Spirituality meet up and you’ll instantaneously be mingling with a dozen or so folks who may benefit from a little “One Legged King Pigeon” pose. That’s “Eka Pada Rajakapotasana” for you sanskrit pros. 

I could give more examples here but I think you get the idea. If not, hit me up and I’ll be happy to give some brain time.

Get on Google Places for Business

Where’s the first place you go to find anything? Google—you’re thinking Google right? One could safely assume your customers are also looking to ‘the Google’, would you agree?

Problem solved, you need to be on Google Places. You’ll show up for local searches, clients will find you quickly, and Google makes it simple. You can even add photos, information about your business, and connect it with Google+.

Get Social

Jump on Twitter, do a search for something related to your business offerings and make contact with folks that may need your help. Start following potential customers and begin conversations with them.

No, don’t spam them with your latest blog post or constant tweets of your latest product image. Actually speak with them. Learn about them as a person and be real; good things will follow.

Anyhow, I hope one or all of these items has sparked a little light in your brain. Happy marketing!

My mom called me this morning to wish me a happy birthday…

“Did you stay home to enjoy the day? Are you taking it easy?”

I didn’t even bother to stifle the laugh. I enjoyed a big, fat guffaw (it is my birthday, after all).

“No, Mom. I’m at work. But I came into the office and there were balloons! There was also a tasty, delicious slice of cake waiting for me. I can’t complain too much. Besides, it’s OnWired. So, it’s all good.”

Project management waits for no man…or woman, as the case may be. And neither does each of the other 10 million tasks that need doing at work on a Monday morning. And even though I did say a few choice words to my alarm clock this morning, it wasn’t because of having to go to work, but rather the typical early morning fuss and fight against routine responsibility.

Coming to work, coming to OnWired to work, is a pleasure - whether it’s a Monday or a Friday, or my birthday. It doesn’t matter, because it’s a great place to work: great people, great vision and great opportunity to impact online development is a positive way!

It reminds me of a video I saw recently about arbejdsglaede.
“What is arbejdsglaede?!” you may ask.

(How do you pronounce arbejdsglaede may be an even better question. Here: check out this video.)

Happiness at work.

It’s odd to think that it can really exist. But it does.
I have it at OnWired.

Why? How?

Because I like what I do - and I know that I make a positive difference in the areas I can influence. I also like the people I work with: my Boss, my co-workers and my clients. There’s great communication and the desire from the entire team to do our best and provide a great end-product that everyone can be happy with and proud of.

So yea, it’s Monday - and it’s my birthday - and I actually looked forward to going to work today.

If you’re looking for arbejdsglaede, you might want to consider checking out available positions at OnWired and sending in your resume!

I can’t wait to meet you!

While gathering all the reporting info and documents my accountant requested for last year’s taxes, I thought about that image. The simplicity of the words written in this short, sweet post rang true to me (as it had with the other 2.4K “likes”).

As the paper gathering had become quite extensive, I realized something needed to change. I began asking myself—How can I make this easier? What do I need to do to create a change? If I couldn’t simplify ALL of the process, how could I (at least) simplify a portion of it?

“Start small, and build on.” is OnWired’s motto,

So I did just that.

I decided to start with how OnWired sends and receives payments. I wanted to incorporate our clients because I know ultimately, if they’re happy, then the O’Dub Club is happy too.  I also wanted OnWired to receive payments with ease, and for clients to have the ability to pay them with that same ease. Simple enough..right? You know it!

I did a good amount of research, and learned Intuit’s PaymentNetwork offered just what we needed. It played nicely with QuickBooks (our accounting software) and seemed simple to use.

I gave it a try.

So far so good! This little blue button has already saved lots of hassles for our clients, as well as for me. By creating this “Pay Now” button we can send and receive funds systematically and efficiently. After clicking on “Pay Now” it allows clients to pay via direct payment, allowing OnWired to debit funds from a checking account OR via Credit Card. Both methods use fewer resources such as paper and ink. It also cuts down on the cost of gas to transport the snail mailed checks. 

OnWired is all about being GREEN, so we love this idea!

In addition, everyone saves money on postage, which just went up again and it’s faster than snail mail. No more hitting the store for stamps and then writing out checks—which you’ll eventually use up and need to re-order again anyway. No thanks.

Does your company have pains with accepting payments from clients? Perhaps some of your clients have expressed aggravation in this area. My hope is your pains are totally different from mine and you have this all figured out. If that’s the case, good for you! I’m happy for you. (And why haven’t you shared this with me?)

Seriously though.

Maybe you need a way to accept payments for things other than invoicing. Do you have an upcoming seminar or event you are hosting you’d like to charge for, but not sure how? Do your clients need a way for their customers to pay for products? The way of the world has shifted to a more accurate and speedy solution in accepting payments…and it’s wonderful. It’s time to join in!

If you’re not allowing your clients to pay you online—you should be. If you have a client who isn’t already doing this, recommend that it’s needed—and seek help. OnWired can certainly accommodate this type of request. Reach out to us here and let us help you get started today.

I’ve been marinating on the panel discussion from the January TIMA event and really taking ownership of the question (and answer) to “What is the most desirable quality of the New Hire in the web industry?” (see previous blog). And I had just ended with…

The discussion took an interesting turn when someone - I can’t really remember who is was (it may have been Zach) - mentioned that desirable new hires should also be self aware. To me - that was the real kicker.

Self awareness is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an awareness of one’s own personality or individuality.” 

And to me, this is the much stronger and more prized quality in a new hire than passion for the job or an entrepreneurial spirit that takes ownership of company development. The self aware new hire is the crème de la crème of candidates, because he/she will be able to focus their passion and shape how they take ownership of the company’s evolution by understanding how their skills, talents, interests fit into the bigger picture.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking…this isn’t limited to the web industry - and I agree with you. But I think it is particularly vital within the web industry because of how fast our industry is evolving.

Hardware and software both are moving forward by leaps and bounds. What is capable to do via the Internet changes every day. Any number of our favorite web systems push updates to their platforms on any given day and affect (hopefully positively) how something works. We need people in this industry who know who they are, so that they can know how best to plug in (and then hang on for dear life). We need people who can evaluate their own growth and evolution of online experience, so that they can appropriately effect change as they input development and create tomorrow’s best idea. Passion is great, but it is better if it can be acknowledged and then harnessed appropriately in order to produce the best possible outcome.

We all know that this industry is dynamic. The web is the wild west; it’s the place for innovators and creators. So, why do we think we can approach it without being completely in touch with what we bring to the table?

Can you think of an experience of working with someone who wasn’t really aware of their contribution, assuming that their basic MO was enough? Or someone who got into the biz, because it was “the place to be,” and then, when the heat turned up, realized that they didn’t have the passion, skills, interest to keep moving forward?

We are marching forward (or running to keep up, as the case may be) - and there are no “time outs” or “breathers” for those who just aren’t able or willing to pay attention to how they are going to contribute to the evolution of the web.

Hire the self-aware candidates, the ones who actually have an opinion on how they can best make a positive impact.

The question came up - “Who is your dream hire?” - during the January event hosted by the Triangle Interactive Media Association (read my intro to the TIMA event here).
What makes someone a desirable member of the team?

The Panel, of course, came up with a wide range of answers - some funny and some serious. I am always interested in hearing what business leaders within the web industry have to say about the kind of people they want on their team. I know plenty of talented individuals who are on the job hunt and I love to make worthwhile connections whenever possible.

I was most interested in Zach Clayton’s answer, he’s the Founder and CEO of Three Ships Media, which included “an entrepreneurial spirit.”

Thee Design in Raleigh tweeted it: “You need to have a entrepreneur mindset, to survive in a field that’s always changing. - Zack of @ThreeShipsMedia #futuristspanel”

We work in an industry that is always developing, because the technology is getting better, more robust, more creative. There are more possibilities always presenting themselves, and having people on your side who are considered self-starters or entrepreneurial thinkers will ensure that you’ve got diverse and creative brainpower ready to help the company solve any problems that come up.

I completely agreed with that answer, but it didn’t surprise me. And I don’t mean to sound like an pretentious know-it-all, it’s just that I’ve found that to be a commonly accepted truth within the industry - at least the areas of the industry that I’ve worked for - the more brilliant minds actually owning the issue and working through it in order to solve it…like their pay check depended on it (uh…because it did), the better pool of options there was to work with.

The discussion took an interesting turn when someone - I can’t really remember who is was (it may have been Zach)- mentioned that desirable new hires should also be self-aware.

To me - that was the real kicker.

Stay tuned. I don’t want to bore your with an überlong post (it’s Friday, after all). I’ll finish this up next week. Promise.

We’d love to grab your hand and lead the way to this brave new web world of online marketing.

Our first four tips (and yeah a tiny sales pitch):

Design Still Matters
Just not how it used to. The focus is less on the “wow” factor and more on the user interface and getting tasks completed. If it’s been over two years since your last website—we should talk.

Marketing Goes Wild with Visuals
Yes Pinterest and Instagram have blown up. Why? People love images. Infographics are an excellent method to quickly show important information in a snapshot of visuals. Take a peek at your website—is it text heavy and in need of a simpler message?

Mobile Web = Responsive
The smart phone crowd has breached the coveted BigMac waters. Yes, there are over 1 Billion smart phones served. Put yourself in your visitors shoes, pull out your phone and load your site. Is it enjoyable, could it be better?

Video
Guess how many videos are watched each day? More than 4 billion online videos are watched every day and 68% of them are shared. So yeah—the Internet loves video.

Know this: After 72 hours, most folks retain about 10% of text that they’ve read, 65% of an image they’ve seen, or, wait for it… 95% of a video they watched. Let’s create a video that not only will speak to your audience but resonate.

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Stay in touch with OnWired by registering for our periodic Newsletter. We’re not going to spam you. Promise. Cross our hearts. Hope to die. (Oh, maybe not that last one.) But we are going to send out thoughts and recent news to challenge you to consider whether your web presence is up to snuff.

Have you heard of TIMA?

I hadn’t until this past Fall - it was when a friend of mine, another online diva, mentioned that her company was planning to send her to TIMA’s 2012 Internet Summit and…had I heard?...and was I going too? I literally LOL’d (laughed out loud). I was in the middle of a relocation and too busy with boxes and cleaning and packing and unpacking, not to mention staying on top of my professional objectives, to think about attending a conference that I hadn’t even heard about.

And then, while she was there, she started texting me. And getting her connections to text me.

@jabusfield You should be here #isum12
@jabusfield I hear you’re in the #socialmedia biz. Why aren’t you here? #isum12

Which bothered me enough (in a good way) to pay closer attention to what I was missing. And boy, was I ever missing out!

“TIMA is a local community of interactive marketing and design professionals dedicated to enriching members’ careers and knowledge in digital media. We unite interactive technologies and traditional marketing principles through networking and education.” (see the TIMA About Page)

And I knew that this association was something I wanted to get more involved with in the new year. No better way than to attend their January event, “The Futurists” Panel. And I give OnWired much thanks for supporting my curiosity and desire to connect with other makers-n-shakers in the local web community.

I’ve been marinating on a couple of take-aways, less about marketing specifically and more about the industry in general. I’m a New Hire to OnWired (as you may have read) and there are a lot of firms in the local area looking for new team members as well. What makes someone stand out? Who are the “desirables” within our industry?

Who do you want to hire?

We’re also assimilating our new faces.
Have you checked-in to see the new members to our Team?
If not, you should. We promise they’re pretty.

First, we’d like to introduce Laura Schuchart (see her OW bio here). She is our new Client Marketing Consultant. And you’ll have an opportunity to speak with her at the onset of your interest in working with OnWired. She will listen and identify how our services can bring your dreams to life. And then, she will apply her business development know-how to our Proposal to make sure that our online development will compliment your company’s goals and objectives. Because that’s the whole point - your website and your online marketing efforts should support how your business wants to impact the market…that’s what we’re here to help you do!

We’d also like to introduce Jen Busfield (read her OW bio here). She’s been a contracted member of the OnWired team since the summer of 2012, working to develop our social networks. Promoting great stories and projects is something she loves to do - and during the end of 2012, we learned that she’s also got a knack for keeping up with details (and oddly enough, she likes to do it). So, we’ve added her to the team as our Project Manager, and she will continue to expand on her Social Media Manager duties as well. Makes sense since she’ll be in the office a lot more than before. After you’ve agreed to get started with OnWired, you’ll hear from Jen and she’ll be in charge of managing your project through to completion. And note, we’ll be calling her JenB so as not to get her mixed up with our darling, Jen Chester (who gets dibs on “Jen” since she’s got longevity benefits).

Make sure that you reach out to our new team members. They’ve both got a lot of really fun online projects outside of OnWired too! Find Laura LinkedIn and providing a positive influence on her sphere of influence. And JenB’s online expressing all sorts of creative content.