Will Hardison

ECU vs Pepperdine Weekend

(Click images to enlarge)

Statue outside of Dowdy Ficklen Stadium.

Stands at Clack-LeClair Stadium.

1980 ECU Pirates. My dad is the last guy on the bottom row on the right.

Locker after my dad.

Locker room.

Dugout with head Coach Billy Godwin.

Stadium view from dugout.

Pirates in the Pros. Chad Tracy being one of the most recent notable Pro Pirate. Now playing in Japan for a cool 2 million.

Purple pool table

Baseball Lounge.

View of Soccer from Baseball Press Box.

Construction view from Press Box.

Track and Field from Press Box.

Softball in the distance from Press Box

Under the lights.

View from the Jungle.

I thought Duke was a smart school?

Learn a skill in college

I hate to tell you this, but college is about the last time until you’re retired where you’ll have as much free time. Instead of hitting up happy hours or playing Halo, why not take that time to learn a valuable skill? College is great, if you love learning definitions, but unfortunately definitions don’t help you build a successful career. So what is going to separate you from the other graduates in your major? I’d hire a marketing graduate who knows Photoshop hands down every time over one who doesn’t. Great ideas are one thing, but to be able to sit down and knock those ideas out is another. You tell me we should have an awesome brochure, and I agree, how much more valuable would you be to my company if you could also design the brochure?

Great Skills/Programs to learn in college:

1. Photoshop

2. Illustrator

3. Indesign

4. Dreamweaver

5. Coding in general (HTML, PHP)

6. Photography

7. Video Editing

Learning one would be great, walking into an interview and saying you can design and edit video would skyrocket your chances at landing the job.

Tags: college, design, job, marketing, PR, skills

Homemade light box

I’ve always wanted to figure out how to take clean, bright, and clear digital product photos. So when I landed The Naked Monkey as a client, I offered to take photos of their product to enhance their website. Without going out and spending $300 or more on a light kit, I turned to Google and found a nice tutorial for making your own light box. I thought I’d share my little arts and crafts project with you.
Step 1: I found a box. (I made a mistake, my box isn’t big enough, unfortunately I’ll have to make another one some day)

Step 2: I cut four windows in the box on each side. I measured in 2 inches from each edge to make a nice square window.

Step 3: I cut the top flaps of the box off and spray painted the inside of the box white.

Step 4: I took a sheet of white bristol board (thick poster board) and cut it to match the width of the box. I then placed the bristol board inside the box covering up one window. This will serve as my background.

Step 5: My next step was to locate white muslin fabric, which I did not find, but I found a similar fabric. Basically, you’re looking for a fabric that will let light through and also kill shadows.

Step 6: I cut my fabric to close 2 side windows and the top of the box. To hold the fabric down, I used masking tape.

Step 7: I had to find the right lights. I knew from previous experience florescent lights work the best. My only knowledge of florescents were desk lamps. So I headed to staples and bought 3 desk lamps with florescent bulbs.

Step 8: After some assembly, I positioned the lamps to shine through each fabric covered window (2 sides and 1 top).

As you can see, it creates a nice ball of light inside the box.

Step 9: Snap your photo!

This photo is without messing with any camera settings, it’s on automatic settings. I need to play around with it a bit more, but I am pleased with the results.

Tags: canon, homemade, light box, the naked monkey

2010 Lessons Learned

As 2010 winds down I’ve decided to put together a list of lessons learned while running a business. Hopefully this list can serve as a resource for other entrepreneurs looking to start their own gig in 2011.

Always, always, always get a signed contract for the work you are about to do.
Even though contracts aren’t worth the paper their written on most of the time, it’s always nice to have that security and a document to hold the client to. Somehow the signed contract for a really large project went missing this year, but luckily the client held to his end of the agreement and paid for the project.

Do not make the final payment due when the site “launches”.
I have learned this lesson over and over again and I finally have found a solution. I was kidding myself thinking that every project I started would get designed, developed, and launch without a hitch, and every project seemed to drag on, and on, and on with last minute tweaks and details. This absolutely kills your cash flow. Working on a project for 90 days on a 50% deposit is no way to be profitable. After 2.5 years I have decided to put a 60-day clause in my contracts. If the site does not go “live” within 60 days, the client still owes the remainder of the balance. I’ve come to the conclusion that most clients think once they pay the final invoice I’m going to magically find an island in the Bahamas never to be heard from again…I wish.

Make the contract be the “bad guy”
I’m always afraid that if I tell a client “I can do that, but it’s going to cost extra” they’re going to flip out and think I’m nickel and diming them to death. I’ve learned from several business mentors that you must always spell out the statement of work in the original contract meeting and then stick to it. If the client wants an added feature that is going to take you 5 extra hours to develop, you resort back to the contract and nicely explain “Mr. Client, I’d be happy to install a calendar that shows your upcoming events, but if you’ll remember all extra features outside of the original contract are billed at X amount a hour”. The client can’t get upset (well they can, but it won’t be justified) because it’s something they’ve already agreed to in the beginning.

Believe in your value
As web designers/developers/internet marketers, we offer an expertise service. Sure there are “do-it-yourself” solutions out there, but take a look at the DIY results vs a professionally designed and thought out website. I’ve let myself believe that if it’s easy for me, it’s easy for everyone…which is most certainly not the case. They are calling you because they can’t do it (some claim they can but just don’t have the time) themselves. You are providing a professional service; believe in your value. If someone laughs (I’ve had this happen) at your hourly rate they obviously don’t understand what it takes to run a business. A $90 hourly rate isn’t something you just pull out of thin air because you want to “make” $90 an hour. It’s a figure you’ve come up with (hopefully) that factors in fixed costs, variable costs, your average hours spent working on actual work (you’re not going to bill 40 hours a week) and several other factors based on your business.

Do not let your client’s crisis become your crisis.
I’ve pulled more all nighters running my own business than I did in college and grad school. I’ve learned that although you want to provide excellent service to your clients, they should also respect your time.  If you tell your client the site will launch on Jan 15, 2011 and they wait until January 14, 2011 at 11:59pm…they aren’t getting a launched website on January 15. Put due dates on content and explain to the client that for every day they are late on the content it pushes the launch date back. Do this upfront in the contract of course. Don’t surprise them with this after they miss the deadline.

Release clients who burn up your time.
We all take that client in the beginning phases of business because we want the work, but there comes a time in your business where you just can’t handle the “Hey can you go in and change this real quick?” e-mails. Trust me, 3-4 “Hey can you fix this…” e-mails can eat several hours of your time. If we were playing poker, I’d tell you “Know when to hold em’ and know when to fold em’”

Hopefully this lessons and advice help you and your ventures in 2011!

If you’ve got your own lessons, be sure to add them in the comments!

Tags: Business, lessons learned, mediaplug

Flying Solo

Yesterday marked a new era for MEDIAPLUG. Nicole started her new job as Social Media Specialist at Harrison College. It was a unique, but familiar feeling yesterday..working alone. I’m extremely happy for Nicole and her new career path. One of us had to go get a real job.

Most people thought we were crazy, girlfriend/boyfriend (now fiance) working together..but I knew it’d work. Nicole brought organization and administration skills that I very much lack and needed. She took care of all of the invoicing, proposal writing, e-mail newsletter, and she even picked up basic and advanced WordPress capabilities. Her most impactive attribute was her belief in me. She listened to my ideas day in and day out, took notes, and helped me implement. She must have 100 pages of notes based on my whiteboard drawings and ideas. She never complained once, even after hours.

Like the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Moving forward and getting married, we decided that having both of us in an entrepreneur-type role wasn’t the best financial way to begin a marriage. We also realized that MEDIAPLUG needed to fill more of a developer/designer type role to help move the company to the next level. So here we go….

Nicole- If you’re reading this (like she’s not…I’m going to send her the link a few times) I wanted to say thank you for all that you did at MEDIAPLUG and to help me. Harrison College will benefit greatly from having you on board. You’ll be running that place in a few years!

Side note- If anyone knows of a talented designer who can also develop (on wordpress) send them my way!

What is a triggering campaign?

A triggering campaign, also known as a drip campaign,  is an event or a series of events that are triggered upon an action. We mainly see triggering campaigns as e-mail newsletters, but they can consist of numerous marketing practices. This is a great way to stay in front of potential customers. Here’s a story on how a basic e-mail triggering campaign works.

Mr. Potential Client (we’ll refer to him from now on as Mr. Potential) logs on to your website. He pokes around…checks out the about page, looks at the services you offer, and decides that he likes your product/services but is still on the fence about buying. Mr. Potential clicks on the “Contact Us” page and notices that you have a newsletter. First, let’s stop the story right here…folks, take the time to come up with a catchy name and a great reason why someone would sign up for your newsletter. For example, I’ve seen “Have Awesome Delivered to your Inbox”, “The Daily Dose”, or you can create a group or a club like “The Insider’s Guide” so that Mr. Potential feels special. Back to the story. Mr. Potential notices the newsletter and decides this is a nice way to stay in touch with the company so he decides to sign up. After signing up (here’s where the triggering campaign kicks in) an e-mail is sent automatically to Mr. Potential welcoming him to the newsletter and explains 3 tips or industry related information that further builds his confidence in your company. We’re done right? Not exactly. In your campaign settings, you have set the campaign to send out 2 more e-mails at later times, 10 days and 25 days later. Now Mr. Potential will receives 2 more informative e-mails highlighting ways in which your company can help his company grow. Mr. Potential Client drops his first name and now just goes by Mr. Client.

E-mail Services that allow triggering campaigns:

Tags: addresstwo, drip campaign, e-mail marketing, mailchimp, triggering campaign

Learn To Say No

A lot of my recent blog articles have been inspired by the book “Rework” written by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37Signals. One of their mini-chapters hits on the topic of learning how to say no. While reading this, it was like getting sucker punched in the gut. The entire chapter was written entirely for me. It’s like they knew me without ever meeting me.

The chapter explains:

That it is so easy to say yes. Yes to a short deadline, yes to a new feature, yes to one more round of revisions on a logo, yes to a meeting you just really don’t want to go to, yes to answering the phone after 5pm, yes to lowering your proposal. It wont be long before the pile of items you said yes to will bury the work you should actually be doing. Have you ever had that feeling? The feeling of “I should really be doing X but I’m stuck on doing A through W”

We as humans, employees, and business owners tend to over commit. You know why? Because saying “No” is much more difficult than saying “Yes”. Why is that? Because we hate confrontation. Saying no means we’ll have to more than likely explain why and it could become uncomfortable. But do you know what’s worse? Dragging a project out, underperforming, or getting irritated because you’re doing something you just flat out don’t want to do. How many clients do you think your current client is going to send you if your work is poor?

The book gives the example of breaking up a relationship. Sure its really tough, and one person is probably going to cry, but it’s better to end the relationship and cry for a day or two than to live out an unhappy relationship for 50 more years.

I encourage everyone out there to learn how to say “No”. You’ll respect yourself more, your clients will respect you more, and you’ll find yourself a little less stressed with a little bit more free time. Now you’ll have time to work on things that really matter.

Tags: 37signals, Business, productivity, Rework, Saying No

WordPress Tutorial: How to change Permalinks

This video walks you through how to change WordPress’ Permalinks. Permalinks are what control the way your URL through wordpress is displayed. A quick change to the default settings can clean up a messy URL.

Tags: mediaplug, permalinks, wordpress

There is no such thing as an Overnight Celebrity

Do you remember when Lil Jon came out with his first, what I would consider main stream, hit “Get Low” It swept the club scene during the spring/summer of 2003, but most people had never heard of Lil Jon. I know I hadn’t. Which leads you to think, “Who is this guy? He comes out with one popular song and now he is well on his way to selling a million albums! Man, he is lucky. Why can’t I do that?” Actually, if you dig deeper you’ll learn that Lil Jon was a part of the original crew of Element Skateboards back in the 80’s, which is now one of the largest and well-respected companies in the skateboarding industry. He was also the DJ in a small group in Atlanta, “Mass Prophets”. Turns out, Lil John had been rapping on street corners, small clubs, and underground scenes for 20 years before he finally made it big. Same goes for the band Maroon 5. Most people think Maroon 5 was a band put together by a record label, backed by marketing dollars, and set out to sell a million albums. Wrong. Maroon 5 started as a high school garage band “Kara’s Flowers” and stuck together for close to 15 years before making it big and selling over 10 million records.

What’s my point? My point is that in business, or anything in life for that matter, you have to stick with it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, Lil Jon didn’t sell a million plus records recording his very first song, and Maroon 5 didn’t top the billboard charts with their first album. You are not going to become a millionaire, or even turn a substantial profit overnight. It takes years of dedication. I use this analogy all the time, but the Indian rain dance works because they kept dancing until it rained. Never give up. Work smart and stay on track. In the end, if you do the rights things, the right way, you will get the right results. It may not happen tomorrow, but it will pay off at some point.

Every day I struggle with staying focused and dedicated to MEDIAPLUG, it is tough to stick with something long term. I believe this is why there are only a handful of people who are actually really successful. I do it though, I’ve done my best to stay dedicated and on task because I know that in the long run it will pay off.

Tags: Business, dedication, element skateboard, lil jon, maroon 5, mediaplug

Meetings Are Like Chinese Finger Traps

While running a business I have learned that meetings are the Chinese Finger Traps of a company. It looks like you can easily escape, but you’re wrong. Meetings last far too long and get off topic faster than a Nolan Ryan fastball.

A few reasons as to why meetings are “Chinese Finger Traps”

-       Meetings almost never stay on topic

-       One person does all of the talking and the other sits and listens

-       It takes just as much time to “prepare” for a meeting as the actual meeting

-       A meeting with 10 employees costs the company 10 hours of productivity every hour, leading to decreased production and overhead costs

-       Meetings tend to snowball and lead to follow-up meetings. Ever heard the phrase “Let’s have a meeting about the meeting”

If you must have a meeting, here are a few ways to make it productive.

-       Set a timer, once it dings, meeting’s over. No if, ands, or buts about it.

-       Actually pull in a computer or meet at a location that the problem/situation can easily be discussed and explained. Show real issues and explain real problems.

-       Brainstorm a solution and assign 1 person to fix the problem.

-       Invite as few people as possible. A room full of 10 employees can get out of hand in a hurry.

Bonus Material: Scheduling Meetings.

Ignore Outlook’s, Gmail’s, TumbleMe’s way of blocking out time. These programs have been built to schedule on the hour and ½ hour. If a meeting should only take 12 minutes, schedule it for 12 minutes instead of 30 minutes. You’re wasting valuable time talking about non-related topics.

Tags: chinese finger traps, mediaplug, meetings, time wasters