oneshinydome

I decided to write a little about my experience with designing email campaigns for verticals. Over the last several years I’ve had the opportunity to manage a team of designers tasked with designing direct response email campaigns for over 2000 and categories within searched keywords and phrases . They ranged from Medical Transcriptionist to Lawnmower and everything in between.  I stopped really trying to build up a portfolio of them because frankly it wasn’t about the design being “pretty”, but more about being effective in terms of clicks and conversions. Recently I’ve been designing a lot for lead generation, specifically payday and travel. In any case, the experience from designing and revising creative in order to increase conversion rates has also increased my knowledge base. If you find yourself in a position within a company that shares data with you, it’s critical to your learning curve. Do you know how hard it is to convince high level executives to do A/B testing by only changing the color of a call to action? Don’t even get me started on subject lines.

Advertising, Design, email campaigns, lead generation, Technology A/B testing, categories, click thru rates, conversions, Design, email campaigns, keyword phrases, keywords, lead generation, pay per click

Recently while looking for full-time employment, I stumbled upon job requirements from several searches that wanted an “Office Assistant(with web design skills)” or some that basically wanted someone that could accept an entry level salary but have the skill set of a 10 year Photoshop master! It’s funny how so many employers now are wanting an individual with incredibly rounded skill sets to come on staff for so little pay.

Just found another one:

Job Duties:
- Update Currents Websites/blogging
- SEO/SEM work
- Filing
- Assistance in Order Fulfilling
- Work with AI and Photoshop to create files
- Work with AI and Publisher to create Print Materials
- Manage Websites and Email Accounts
- Basic Knowledge of Hosting Systems
- Sales Assistance ( the right individual can obtain a commission for new business)

So you need to be a blogger, a sales assistant, fulfill orders, file stuff, have SEO/SEM experience, manage websites and be a designer. I am surprised it doesn’t request a little PHP, and database knowledge too. Basically anything that has to do with internet (because we don’t know) we want you to do for around $32,500 a year or maybe we’ll do hourly and you can cover your own insurance, how’s that sound?

Design, Freelance, Social Media Design, employer, job market, skill set

This seems to be all the buzz for clients I talk to. They’ll say “We really want a web 2.0 website”. When in reality, for them, it comes down to the buttons being rounded corners , the mouse over effect dramatic, and the overall look and feel very shiny, dimensional navigation. So , after researching what other people are defining as web 2.0 , I found webdesigner depot. I like the site itself and they show 25 examples of web 2.0 at it’s best. What I noticed is that many of them have the blog look to them which is fine, but definitely reinforces the word “template” back into your vocabulary. Even they notice the patterns of rounded corners, grid layouts and big shiny navigation.

Design, Navigation, Websites blogs, Design, templates, web 2.0

I’ve been researching mobi to teach myself how to build sites for smart phones. I haven’t really convinced myself of the value as I have the iPhone and can browse just fine. However , I have found a few companies that have developed functional mobi sites for example Bank of America – probably in the top 15 for usabilty and function. I’ve also found a few photographer sites that work because of their galleries, one good one I found – matt bango photography. I guess I need to redesign my personal website and also do a mobi for my portfolio. I’m sure it won’t hurt. Anyone having some insight on how to shorten the learning curve would be appreciated.

Mobi Design, iPhone, Mobi, sites, Smart Phones, Wap