One Day, One Job » business development

Treehouse

Willy Franzen — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:38:42 +0000

What have you done in the past week to make yourself a better candidate for the jobs that you’re applying for? E-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com and tell me. Seriously. Developing new skills isn’t just about being better qualified for a job–it’s also about showing employers that you’re constantly trying to better yourself and willing to invest time and money to do so. Companies love people who show a desire to grow into new roles. Luckily, there are more and more companies that offer online education with the purpose of actually teaching you applicable skills, not giving you a worthless piece of paper. One of these companies is Treehouse, which is based in Orlando, FL. Their “goal is to teach Web Design, Web Development and iOS, to everyone in the World who wants to learn.”

Climb Up to the Treehouse

I know this isn’t reassuring, but the stats say that most grads take many months to land a job. That’s more than enough time to learn some extremely valuable technical skills with Treehouse. Think you can’t afford it? Think again. Treehouse costs $25 a month (and they had a student plan at $9 a month, though I don’t see it on their Plans page). If you can’t scrounge that together, you’re not trying hard enough (and even then Treehouse offers a lot of their video content for free). I’ve actually used Treehouse to improve my coding skills, and it’s fantastic. The content is top notch, but it’s the code challenges that really help you make the most of it. There’s a reason that people pay for Treehouse when there are decent alternatives out there for free. Just like you (hopefully), Treehouse wants to keep getting better, which is why they’re hiring. Not all of their roles are a great fit for a new grad, but some are. Here’s what they’re looking for:

Video Teacher
Content Expert
Sales Rep
Lead Generator
Video Pro
Audio Pro

Whether you’re a good fit for these jobs or not, Treehouse could completely change your job search, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you try Treehouse?

FindTheBest

Willy Franzen — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:38:30 +0000

I know some people who research their purchases to death. They end up never buying anything because new versions of the products come out before they can make a decision. It’s a never-ending process. I’m all for doing my due diligence before buying something expensive, but I try to make it as quick as possible. FindTheBest is a site that makes comparing anything super easy. They’re a Santa Barbara, CA company that offers “a powerful tool for making quick and informed decisions.” Whether you’re looking for the best breed of dog for your lifestyle or the best financial advisor in your area, FindTheBest offers you just the facts “stripped of any marketing influence.”

AreYouTheBest?

FindTheBest calls itself “an unbiased, data-driven comparison engine.” They rely on three sources for all of their data: public databases, primary sources (manufacturer websites) and expert sources. They pull it all together and put into an easily digestible format that is sortable and allows head to head comparisons. FindTheBest also offers what are called “SmartRatings”–one overall score compiled from a multitude of ratings. They give you all of the information you need to make a decision, no matter how deep you want to dive into the details. While FindTheBest does offer advertising (there’s the business model), they are very clear that they will not make it “difficult and time consuming to distinguish objective information from paid placements.” If you think FindTheBest might want to list you as one of their best, take a look at their Careers page. Right now they’re looking for a Software Developer/Engineer and a Front End Web Developer/Engineer. They also have paid internships in Business Development and Product Management, so those could be decent alternatives for non-techies.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried FindTheBest?

Pop Labs

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:18:18 +0000

These days it seems that just about everyone claims to be an expert on things like social media and SEO, but very few people have a track record that shows a repeated ability to deliver results. Why is that? Because online marketing is really hard. We see stupid things go viral and think that anyone can do it, but we overlook the fact that getting someone to look at something is very different from getting someone to buy something. Pop Labs is an interactive marketing agency in Houston, TX that is known for getting results. I’m not just talking about for their clients either. Pop Labs nearly tripled their revenue between 2007 and 2010, which shows that what they’re doing works for them as well as for their clients.

Make It Pop

Pop Labs’ main focuses are SEO, Social Media, Conversion Optimization, and Advertising, but it’s really all about ROI. That’s why Pop Labs’ Case Stuides talk about numbers that can be directly tied to revenue. Pop Labs doesn’t have a long list of client names on their website (which is often how I judge big agencies), but that’s ok. It’s a lot harder to do good work for a “Consumer Services Retailer in Nevada” or a “National Marketing Information Provider,” than some big brand who already has resources that you can leverage. If you want to dig in and really learn about online marketing, then you should take a look at Pop Labs’ Jobs page. Right now they have some great positions for new or recent grads including:

Sales Executive
Business Development (San Francisco, CA)
Project Coordinator
Web Designer
Production Specialist
Marketing Specialist

These look like great opportunities to learn, so give them a good long look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Pop Labs?

Metia

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:23:09 +0000

Many of the best businesses are built by targeting a smaller niche and then taking the lessons learned from serving that niche to expand into new markets. It’s also how many great careers are built. Metia is a digital marketing agency that got its start serving technology companies exclusively. This put them ahead of the curve and force them to take on digital while most marketing agencies were dragging their collective feet. Now digital is what it’s all about, and Metia has 20 years of industry experience. Not bad. While they’re based in London, they have U.S. offices in Kirkland, WA and New York, NY. This allows them to serve clients like Microsoft, Microsoft, and Microsoft. But seriously, while Microsoft is all over their portfolio, you’ll also see names like Dell, EA, Rough Guides, and SEAT.

Be a Member of the Metia

That portfolio that I just mentioned. You should check it out. It’s a great way to get a feel for what Metia does and how they serve clients. You’ll also want to visit their Consulting, Services, and Technology pages. They dive into the specifics of what Metia offers clients. It’s the technology part that really appears to set Metia apart from other agencies that play in similar spaces. If you’re interested in joining Metia, take a look at their Careers page. They have a number of positions that might interest a new or recent grad including (some require more experience than others):

E-mail Production Specialist (Seattle, WA)
Outbound Sales Representative (Seattle, WA)
Business Development Professional (Seattle, WA)
Freelance French Bi-lingual Technology Writers (London, UK)
E-mail Production Specialist (London, UK)

I especially like the E-mail Production Specialist job. Most people don’t realize how big of a business e-mail is. Learn how e-mail marketing works, and you will have no problem landing a job.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Metia?

Buzz Referrals

Willy Franzen — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:38:30 +0000

Everybody wants their stuff to go viral on the Internet. The problem is that it’s way easier to do with funny pictures than it is with useful things like articles and products. If you can’t get the natural word of mouth flowing, you need to incentivize (bribe) people to spread the word. I’m sure that you’ve participated in some sort of referral program before (I love Gilt’s program), and hopefully earned some sort of reward. I’ve seen so many companies use referral bonuses to accelerate their growth, and it’s often amazingly effective. Surprisingly, most of these businesses build their own technology for referrals. Why do that when you can pay Chicago, IL based Buzz Referrals to do it for you? They’ve developed a platform that easily plugs into an existing site and creates “referral programs and buzz worthy promotions that drive new customer acquisition and increase engagement.” (Would any of you participate in an ODOJ referral program?)

Generate a Buzz

If you want to get a better feel for what Buzz Referrals offers, you should read their How It Works and FAQ pages. They’ll give you a better sense of how the product actually works. I was reminded of Buzz Referrals when I was writing about SitterCity yesterday (they use it to get new customers), but I’m sure I heard about them before considering they were part of Excelerate Labs’ Class of 2011 (it’s a Chicago startup incubator). This is all relevant because Buzz Referrals just raised $600k to grow their business. That may not sound a lot when you hear about companies closing rounds of funding in the double digit millions, but it should be enough to help Buzz Referrals get their product out to many more customers. And that’s exactly what their Jobs page shows they’re looking to spend money on. Right now they’re hiring an Inside Sales Representative, a Marketing Coordinator, and UX Designer. All of the positions look like they could be great for a new or recent grad, so check them out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How many friends have you referred to One Day One Job?

YipIt

Willy Franzen — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:35:50 +0000

I did an interview with The 99% (they have nothing to do with Occupy Wall Street) on job search and entrepreneurship that was published today. Read it, share it, Facebook it, Tweet it.

How can you not love daily deals? Great stuff at a great price. Unfortunately, everybody and their brother thought it was a good idea to knock off Groupon and start a daily deals site. This irritated merchants who were getting pitched incessantly, and it overwhelmed consumers with all of the options. While many of the copycats have died off, one company avoided a similar fate by taking a very different approach to riding the daily deal wave. YipIt is based in New York, NY, and they’re a daily deal aggregator. Every month they gather more than 30,000 deals from more than 800 sites and share them with their audience. They make money through advertising and affiliate fees paid by the daily deal sites, but there’s more to the story.

Get the Yips

We’re all familiar with aggregators. They pull together interesting stuff, and make it easy to consume in one place. YipIt does this, but there’s far more value in aggregation than most people realize. By scraping all of the daily deal sites for information like who the merchant is, what is being sold, and how many have been sold, YipIt has collected a gold mine of data. They know more about the daily deals market than just about anyone, and with publicly traded companies like Groupon, Yelp, Google, and Amazon participating in this market, this data is extremely valuable to the financial community–and also to the companies that operate in the daily deals space. It’s pretty brilliant that YipIt has been able to build essentially one product and market and monetize it in two very different ways. If you’d like to be a part of this and you have some serious quantitative/analytical chops, then check out YipIt’s Data Product Analyst position which is posted on their Jobs page. It looks like a really cool opportunity. Their other positions are in Web Development and User Interaction Design, but they require more experience.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about YipIt?

CoverHound

Willy Franzen — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:00:42 +0000

I have to admit that I’m feeling a little left out these days. There’s something that I’ve never done that it seems like other Americans are doing a lot of. I’m constantly seeing advertisements for it–on tv, on the web, on billboards, and even on banners pulled behind planes during the summer. I know it’s embarrassing, but I’ve never purchased car insurance. These poor companies have spent so much money trying to reach me, and I haven’t even looked into buying what they’re hawking. But if I was, I might try using CoverHound (if their service was available in Illinois). They’re a San Francisco, CA based company that is building the “technology and brand behind the future of insurance comparison shopping.” Why let commercials about cavemen, a guy with a deep voice, or “doing the right thing” sway you when you can base your decision on real data?

Got It Covered?

Considering that CoverHound’s comparison platform isn’t available in their home zip code, I’m going to guess that it’s not available anywhere yet. That means you can’t get hands-on experience with their software yet, but you can learn more about their services here. You can also read their info for agents if you want to get a sense for how they’ll be making their money. Since that’s pretty much all the information that’s available on their website, you should probably cheek out their press coverage too. I usually don’t profile companies that haven’t launched their product yet, but a guy from CoverHound has been hounding me to do a write up, so I figured I’d throw him a bone. Right now their Jobs page shows that they’re looking for a Software Engineer. They’re also looking for interns in social media, business development, analytics, engineering, community/customer management, and content creation, so if you’re looking for a job in one of those areas, it’s definitely worth reaching out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What insurance commercials do you find most annoying?

GREE

Willy Franzen — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:29:06 +0000

There’s no doubt that Japanese companies have been and continue to be leaders in the gaming industry. Nintendo, Sega, and Sony are some of the names that you’re most likely to recognize, but it’s very clear that the old guard of gaming is facing stiff competition from upstarts like Zynga and ngmoco that are focusing on mobile and social gaming. While Japan has historically been big on console gaming, they’re not missing out on this trend. GREE is a Japanese that is fervently entering the U.S. market in order to grow a business that generated $1.7 billion in revenue last year. GREE is unique in that their U.S. based branding has been more about hiring than games. They’ve opened a San Francisco, CA office that they’re promoting heavily with billboards, referral bonuses, and even Google AdWords campaigns. They also acquired a company called OpenFeint to speed along the growth.

They’re Huge in Japan

While I love it when companies put a big emphasis on employment branding and recruiting, I’m a little annoyed by how difficult it is to dig into GREE’s business. Their website’s header includes some cool looking game characters, but there’s absolutely no information available about the company’s games. All the site really says is that their goal ” is to make mobile social gaming meaningful by building the best mobile social gaming ecosystem for users and developers worldwide.” The only tidbits of information come from GREE’s News page which mentions that they’re teaming up with Ubisoft for a new Assassin’s Creed mobile game and working with Gameloft on a “Gang Domination” game. You can also head over to OpenFeint’s site to learn more about their games. If you like what you see, then you’ll be thrilled about how many positions are posted on GREE’s Careers Page. Here are the jobs that seem best suited for new or recent grads:

Art, 2D Game Artist
Junior Web/Graphic Designera
UI/UX Designer, Mobile Games
Business Operations Associate
Strategy Associate
Android Engineer
IT Service Delivery Specialist
Software Engineer – Front End
Software Engineer, Game Backend
Software Engineer, Mobile Device Porting
Software Engineer, Mobile Games
Software Engineer, Mobile Integration
Software Engineer, Platform
Web Developer
Recruiting Coordinator
Junior Copywriter
Marketing Coordinator, Platform
Bilingual Executive Assistant (Japanese)
Customer & Community Specialist
Game Integration Engineer
Production Coordinator/Assistant
Executive Assistant

Like I said, GREE is extremely serious about expansion in the U.S., and that’s why they’re hiring so many people right now. There are a lot of jobs to wade through, but the variety of options is pretty wide.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play any GREE games?

Grubwithus

Willy Franzen — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:58 +0000

Sharing a meal is a great way to get to know people. Eating provides enough of a distraction to cover up awkward pauses that might come up in other settings without completely killing the ability to have a conversation. Yet very rarely do people use eating as a way to meet new people. You either eat alone or you eat with people you already know. Grubwithus is a company that throws a little uncertainty into your dining experiences by pairing you with strangers who have common interests for a tasting menu at a local restaurant. Grubwithus is based out of Venice, CA, and they’ve built a ton of buzz. I know a bunch of people who have already tried it and had good experiences, and I’d totally host a One Day One Job/Internship focused Grubwithus meal in Chicago if there was enough interest (e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com).

Jobwithus

The idea of meeting strangers for dinner can be a little intimidating, but stepping out of your comfort zone is kind of the point. To get a better sense of how Grubwithus works, you should probably read through their FAQ and etiquette guidelines , and then watch this video (you may need to click through to view):

It’s a pretty simple idea, but I think it has the potential to be pretty powerful. I especially think it’s a good idea for job seekers to give Grubwithus a try. While it may not lead to a job–just getting out and interacting with new people is great practice for interviewing and networking. And if you want a job with Grubwithus, you should definitely give one of their meals a shot first. Then you can apply for one of the positions that looks well suited for new grads. These include:

There appear to be some great opportunities for techies and non-techies alike, so take a look at the jobs and give Grubwithus a try.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you try Grubwithus?

Common Sense Media

Willy Franzen — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:18:47 +0000

On Tuesday I mentioned that I saw Mrs. Doubtfire for the first time in many years. One of the fun things about watching movies and tv shows from your childhood is picking up on all of the things that went over your head when you were a kid. I love it when writers are able to please both the young and the old at the same time. However, it feels like entertainment is getting less and less subtle, which means that it keeps getting harder for parents to monitor what kids are watching. That’s why Common Sense Media, which is based in San Francisco, CA, exists. They’re a non-profit organization that “is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.”

Show Some Common Sense

I generally think that kids’ enhanced access to media is a good thing. Exploring the Internet as a pre-teen gave me the education that I needed to be a web entrepreneur later in life. But the Internet is a much scarier place than it was back then. Keeping your kids away from media sources isn’t the answer, but how can parents know what’s ok to show to what age children? Common Sense Media’s ratings and reviews are a good start. They are based on 10 Beliefs that start with a focus on “media sanity, not censorship.” These aren’t the essentially useless ratings that you see on tv now–these are in depth ratings that really dig into all of the issues covered by a given show, movie, game, website, or other media source. Common Sense Media is all about providing information that helps parents do their jobs better. If you’d like to be a part of that, check out Common Sense Media’s Jobs page. Right now the best fit for a new grad is probably the Office Assistant position, but you may also want to take a look at the Business Development Associate position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’d you watch as a kid that you probably shouldn’t have?

Brafton

Willy Franzen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:10:35 +0000

There’s a reason that web startups with no semblance of a business plan but heaps of traffic continue to get venture capital funding. Consistently driving high quality traffic to a web property is extremely difficult, and almost all businesses need attention to succeed. Quality content is the cornerstone of driving traffic (that’s why I looked for writers when I was hiring interns), and content generation is not a core competency for most businesses. It is for Brafton. They’re a Boston, MA based “online news and content agency that offers integrated content marketing services.” They don’t brag about who their clients are like some other types of agencies (you can request live client samples), which makes sense since clients typically want people to think the content is coming straight from them.

Be Content at Brafton

I doubt any writers from Brafton will be winning Pulitzer Prizes, but I’m sure that’s ok with them. Their goal is to help their clients reach more customers by developing content that grabs attention and performs well on search engines and in social media. Brafton has a section of their website that is devoted to their business model, so I highly recommend that you read through that–including their case study–so that you can get a better sense of how they operate. They also provide information on their different teams, so you’ll probably want to read up on Account Management, Content Writing, and Social and E-mail. If you’d like to join one of those teams, you’re in luck because Brafton’s Careers page shows a ton of entry level opportunities. These include:

Graphic Resource Coordinator (Boston, MA)
Blog and Content Writer (Boston, MA)
Market Research Executive (Boston, MA)
German News and Content Writer (Remote)
News and Content Writer (Chicago, IL)
Inside Sales Representative (Boston, MA)
News and Content Writer (Boston, MA)
Jr. Web Developer (Boston, MA)
Business Development Executive (Boston, MA)
Business Development Executive (Scottsdale, AZ)
Content Marketing Specialist (San Francisco, CA)

You won’t be writing the next great novel at Brafton, but I’m sure you’ll learn a ton about developing content for the Internet with a focus on ROI. That’s insanely valuable these days.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Brafton?

Underground Elephant

Willy Franzen — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:42:53 +0000

Company names usually take one of two directions. They either explain exactly what the company does (i.e. Accuweather), or they tell you absolutely nothing about what the company does (i.e. Benzinga). There’s a third type that sounds totally random but actually has a significant meaning, and those tend to be my favorite. Underground Elephant is one of those names. The company is based in San Diego, CA, and they offer “a complete turnkey solution” for customer acquisition in “a wide range of vertical markets.” How is this relevant to their name? Underground Elephant plays a huge role in their clients’ businesses, yet their participation is essentially invisible to everyone but insiders.

The Elephant in the Room

If you’re not familiar with the performance marketing industry, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. How can a company that delivers tons of customers to their clients do so without being noticed? Watch this video on Underground Elephant to get a better idea of how their business works.

While what Underground Elephant does a good job of keeping a low profile when working for clients, they haven’t been able to do the same in the San Diego media. Their CEO was named a Most Admired CEO Finalist for the third consecutive year by San Diego Business Journal, and they’re also one of San Diego’s fastest growing private companies. I guess an elephant can only hide underground so long. Now that you’ve found them, you need to take a look at their Careers page. Right now they have some great openings for new or recent grads including:

There are a ton of great entry level or near entry level job opportunities at Underground Elephant, so don’t look past them. Not only does Underground Elephant look like a really cool company to work for, but they’re based in San Diego.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard bout Underground Elephant?

Benzinga

Willy Franzen — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:20:45 +0000

I have a simple investment strategy: Buy AAPL. I’ve had a few other winners, but Apple is the reason that my portfolio is up over the past 5 years. I’m not much of a trader, so I typically buy a stock and hold it indefinitely. If I took a different approach to investing, I might want to spend time on Benzinga. It’s “an innovative news and analysis service that focuses on global markets” and is intended for developing “actionable trading ideas.” Benzinga has offices in Chicago, IL and Dover, DE, but it’s very clear from their Careers page that everything important happens in the Southfield, MI office… very clear. There’s something about Benzinga’s site that reminds me of a social gaming site, which I guess is appropriate since stock trading is the ultimate social game.

Zing!

Benzinga has its own editorial and research team, so they’re not just aggregating financial news and spitting it back to you. They actually focus on three key areas: real-time news, actionable trading ideas and insightful commentary.” It’s hard for me to judge how good the content is considering that I’m not a trader, but Benzinga seems to have generated a good amount of buzz in the finance community. I’m pretty sure that I had heard of Benzinga before, but yesterday someone from their team reached out to me to tell me about some of their positions for new grads. I took a look at their Careers page (which is all about Michigan), and saw some great entry level positions. Their current openings include:

Developer/Programmer Ninja
User Interface / User Experience Expert
News Desk
Talented Writers
Business Developer
Public Relations Guru

There are some great opportunities here to dive in deep early in your career. Take a look at the positions and see if Benzinga’s offer of Faygo (why not Vernors?), Bigby Coffee, Moosejaw tees, and U of M or MSU football tickets is enough to woo you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you checked out Benzinga?

AppSumo

Willy Franzen — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:05:26 +0000

Want to give AppSumo a try? Be sure to use this link to sign up.

I know that a lot of people are getting sick of daily deal sites, but I’m a huge Groupon fan (maybe because my fiancée works there); however, I must admit that the daily deal e-mail that I’m most excited for every day comes from AppSumo. They’re an Austin, TX based company that offers amazing bargains on software, online courses, and other tools that are extremely useful for entrepreneurs, web professionals, job seekers, and anyone who wants to use technology to a fuller extent. I’ve used AppSumo to buy things from Udemy (a PHP course), Tout (an e-mail management tool), StickerMule (awesome custom One Day One Job stickers), and a bunch of other cool companies. Each purchase has been valuable for building my business, and they’ve all come at unbelievably low prices.

Be a Sumo

AppSumo was founded by Noah Kagan just oner a year and a half ago. He’s a guy that I’ve had a chance to hang out with, and he’s super smart and extremely interesting. That’s why it’s no surprise that he’s built the company to more than half a million customers in that time. Unfortunately, you can’t get the AppSumo story for free on their website. Noah is a smart businessman, so he charges $79 for the behind the scenes story and charges $500 for an hour of one-on-one time (those are discounted prices). If I were you, I’d buy both of them and use them to try to land a job with AppSumo. They have a “For any reason anytime before you die” 100% money-back guarantee, so if you don’t get hired, you can totally get your money back. You can see all of AppSumo’s current and past openings on their Jobs page, so check that out. Right now they’re looking for a Python Developer and two Business Development Sumos, but they’ve had past jobs in Marketing, Design, Customer Support, Quality Assurance, Copywriting, and Taco Eating.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever bought something from AppSumo?

QuinStreet

Willy Franzen — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:03:36 +0000

In March of 2009 I got an e-mail that looked a lot like the spam you typically see when you’re a webmaster with a publicly listed e-mail address. When someone refers to my site as onedayonejob.com, it gives me the hint that the e-mail was probably automated and that I should send it to my Junk folder. But I was still intrigued by the following sentence: “I am reaching out to see if you will be interested in selling your site and would like to discuss potential acquisition opportunities with us,” so I followed up. Over the next few months I traded e-mails with a guy who works at QuinStreet about potentially selling the site, but we never even made it to the offer stage. The reason that the Foster City, CA based company was interested in One Day One Job is that they’re one of the leaders in vertical marketing and online media. They have tons of online properties, and they use them to market and generate leads for other businesses. They’ve been at it since 1999, so they’ve been around the block a time or two.

Take a Ride Down QuinStreet

QuinStreet’s main areas of focus are in Education and Financial Services (two extremely lucrative markets for lead generation), but they also work in Home Services, B2B, Medicine/Health, and Premium Brand Advertising. You won’t see QuinStreet promote their properties on their home page like some other online media companies do, and you won’t get too many details about what they actually do. Online lead generation is extremely competitive, so secrecy is really important. They do have a What We Do, but it’s extremely limited in its explanation of QuinStreet’s business (you’ll find a little more on their How We Do It page). If you really want to learn more about QuinStreet’s business, their Investor Relations site is probably the place to go. What might even give you a better sense of what they’re working is their Jobs page. By investigating the positions they’re hiring for, I’ll bet you’ll get even more insight into the business. You’ll also see some great opportunities for new or recent grads including:

Employee Benefits and Compliance Assistant
Client Strategy & Development Associate
Data Services Associate (Reno, NV)
Inside Sales Rep
Inside Sales Rep – Home Services (Portland, OR)
Jr. Java Developer
Jr. Vertical Manager (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Jr. Web Producer (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Marketing Analyst
PPC Media Associate
SEM/PPC Media Associate (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Media Associate
Media Associate – Home Services
PHP Developer
Vertical Manager – Online Marketing
Web Designer

If you’re interested in online marketing, QuinStreet would be a great place to learn, so give these positions a look and see what appeals to you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about QuinStreet?

Fractured Atlas

Willy Franzen — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:09:09 +0000

No matter what you majored in, it’s tough out there right now (ok, computer science might be an exception), but chances are that there’s some sort of entry level job somewhere that will get you on a career path that you’re happy with. That’s not so for a lot of artists. That’s not to say that there aren’t some amazing job opportunities for Arts majors, but where do you work if you actually want to make a living selling your art? (No, the punchline isn’t Starbucks.) You have to be an entrepreneur, and that’s not easy–especially when you also have to put as much energy as you can into creating. Fractured Atlas is a New York, NY based non-profit organization that facilitates “the creation of art by offering vital support to the artists who produce it.” It’s about providing artists with services, programs, and information that will help them to achieve financial security and enable them to keep creating.

Liberate the Artist

If there is any group of people that doesn’t need liberating, you’d think it’d be artists. Yet, that’s Fractured Atlas’ motto. It’s all about financial liberation. If artists can use Fractured Atlas’ programs and services to run better businesses, then they can be free to keep creating art. What I find interesting about Fractured Atlas is that they take a “non-curatorial” position, which means that they don’t discriminate based on what they think of your art. Their offerings are the same for all artists, and they include: Fiscal Sponsorship, Health Insurance, Liability Insurance, Professional Development, Special Offers and Discounts, an Open Ats Network, and Advocacy. This year Fractured Atlas’ membership exceeded 16,000, which is a lot of artists. If you’d like to be part of helping Fractured Atlas’ growing even bigger, take a look at their jobs on Idealist. Right now they’re hiring an External Relations Associate, which looks like a great opportunity for a new or recent grad with some experience in grant writing.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Fractured Atlas?

Globe Pequot Press

Willy Franzen — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:33:51 +0000

I’m a big reader, so I usually end up getting quite a few books for Christmas. That’s starting to change because I’ve moved the to the Kindle for most of my reading, but I’m still a book collector. In fact, I have an award winning collection on fly fishing. A good number of those books come from a publisher called Lyons Press, which is now owned by a larger publishing company called Globe Pequot Press. They’re based in Guilford, CT, and they focus on four categories: Outdoor Life, Regional Interest, Special Interests, and Travel. These categories are represented by imprints that include FalconGuides, Knack, Skirt!, Insiders’ Guide, Footprint Travel Guides, and Popout Products. When you put all those together, you get a pretty decent sized publishing company.

Take a Trip Around the Globe

Globe Pequot Press published its first book in 1947, and for it remained quite small for its first quarter century. They focused mainly on local topics and worked with local towns and their historical societies. They eventually expanded to cover areas like “New England history, biography, architecture, antiques, genealogy and travel,” and as they grew they started to attract the attention of bigger players. In the 80s a series of acquisitions and changes in ownership began and continued up until 1999. That’s when Globe Pequot Press settled in Guilford, and since then they’ve continued to grow by buying or adding new imprints. You can learn a lot more about the company by browsing their site and taking a look at the titles that they publish, so I recommend that you do that before heading over to their Jobs page. Right now GPP is hiring a Digital Production Assistant and a Business Development Specialist. Take a look at the jobs and see if Globe Pequot Press is the place for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What books are on your Christmas list?

Travelzoo

Willy Franzen — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:15:38 +0000

On Saturday I’m heading to Aruba for two weeks! (Don’t worry, you’ll still get your daily e-mails–even on Christmas Day.) I booked well in advance, so I got a decent fare, but it’s still about four times more expensive than traveling at a different time of year. If you want to travel during the holidays, you’re probably going to have to pay through the nose. Still, it’s worth looking for a deal, and there’s no better place to do that than Travelzoo. They’re a New York, NY based company (with 23 other offices all across the world) that has perfected the art of the travel deal. They don’t just go out and find low rates–they actually “research, evaluate, and test thousands of deals to find those with true value.” Although it’s not exactly the same, they kind of do for travel deals what I do for jobs: curate. Though they have 250 experts working on it, which is 249 more than we have.

Take a Trip to the Zoo

Travelzoo’s site is about as basic looking as it gets. It’s simple, clean, and uncluttered. It may not look like the site of a publicly traded company, but it certainly stands out from other travel sites that seem to bombard you with useless offers. I guess that’s why they have 24 million members, though the fact that they require you to be a member to see their deals has to help with that too. Beyond travel, Travelzoo has also moved into entertainment deals and local deals, but travel is definitely their bread and butter. What’s so unique about Travelzoo’s model is that they’re not for sale. Yes, they accept payment from advertisers, but they only publish deals that they are confident will make their members happy. There’s no way to get on Travelzoo except offering a high quality deal. If you’re liking what Travelzoo is all about, then take a look at their Jobs page. They have a ton of openings, and a few look perfect for new or recent grads including: Associate Producer (Chicago, IL), Producer (Chicago, IL) Assistant Producer (Miami, FL), Producer (New York, NY), Assistant Producer – SuperSearch (San Francisco, CA), and Producer (Toronto, ON). Travelzoo’s Producers are “top-notch journalists whose commercial acumen would impress the Donald himself.” In other words they take on a role that includes researching, writing, producing, account managing, sales, and a lot more–they find the deals and get them live on the site. It sounds like an extremely cool role, so check all the positions out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you used Travelzoo?

Hotel Tonight

Willy Franzen — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:03:26 +0000

Want to try Hotel Tonight? Use this link to get $25 off your first booking.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I either book hotel rooms way in advance or the day of. When I reserve a room in advance, I’m usually looking for more than just a place to sleep. Price is still important, but it’s not the most important thing. But when I need a room for tonight, I want a place that meets my minimum standards for the lowest price. As long as I can get a good night’s sleep without being bitten by bedbugs or woken up by a domestic dispute, I’m happy. It’s the latter situation that can be frustrating for bargain hunters. You know that the hotel is at 12% capacity, but they still won’t give you anything better than the AAA rate. As long as they can cover the cost of cleaning the room, they should be willing to take you. Hotel Tonight is a San Francisco, CA based company that is making it easy to get rooms for up to 70% off at the last-minute.

Job Today?

At least for now, Hotel Tonight is completely app based. You can’t even search for a hotel on their website. They want you to whip out your phone (Android or iPhone) when you need a room and book from there. Every day they launch new deals at noon local time, so that’s the best time to check the app (some stuff does sell out). I spent a little time playing around with the app, and the deals look good, but they’re not mind blowing. If you stay somewhere expensive you can save a few hundred bucks, but a more basic hotel room might only come with $10-$20 in savings. Still, Hotel Tonight will help you find a good deal with almost no hassle, and it provides a great yield management tool for hotel owners. If you’re interested in the intersection of technology and hospitality management, then take a look at Hotel Tonight’s Jobs page. Right now they have some great opportunities available including:

Take a look at the jobs. Hopefully one of them will be a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite hotel?

W3i

Willy Franzen — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:19:57 +0000

Sponsored Job: PEAK6 is a Chicago, IL based proprietary trading firm that specializes in inventory and risk management, and they’re hiring a Junior Project Manager.

I recently discovered an awesome iPhone/iPad flight simulator/shooter game called MetalStorm: Wingman. It’s free, and it’s a lot of fun, but the publisher is constantly trying to eke revenue out of the game. There are ads, upsells to buy new planes and weapons, and suggestions of other apps to download. It’s that last one that caught my attention, and it led me to a company called W3i. They’re based in Sartell, MN, and they are in the business of “intelligently connecting people to apps.” They do this with both mobile and desktop apps, and they provide an opportunity for app developers to both expand the reach of their software and make money by promoting other apps.

Put the App in Apply

Believe it or not, W3i isn’t some startup. They’ve been in the business of promoting apps for over 10 years (and they’ve been profitable for most of the time!). That means that they’ve had to constantly adapt as the landscape of software downloading has changed. Some companies would get crushed by all of the changes in technology and app store rules (depending on Apple’s whims must be tough), but it sounds like W3i has responded by doubling sales since last year. If you want to really dig into what W3i does, you can read up on their offering for both desktop apps and mobile apps. You may also want to check out what they’ve done for some of their clients. If you like what you see, you’ll want to head over to W3i’s Careers page, which is beautifully done. You can learn about Life at W3i, browse careers by department, or head straight to a list of all of their current openings. The best positions for new grads include:

There are a ton of awesome opportunities at W3i, so hopefully one of them will be just what you’re looking for. If not, you can also apply for Future Opportunities. (I’m assuming that all of these positions are in the Sartell office because nothing states otherwise, but W3i also has offices in San Francisco, Berlin and Minneapolis.)

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What are your favorite apps?

Spartz Media

Willy Franzen — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:28:29 +0000

Life isn’t nearly as exciting with no new Harry Potter books or movies coming out. I’m pretty bummed about it, but probably not nearly as bummed as the people who hang out on MuggleNet. In case you’ve never heard of it, MuggleNet is “the world’s #1 Harry Potter site.” It was started by Emerson Spartz when he was 12 years old, and it quickly started generating a ton of traffic. And with that traffic came some serious revenue opportunities. As MuggleNet turned into a real business, Emerson rolled it into a company called Spartz Media and started launching new entertainment focused sites. Some of the bigger names include OMG Facts, Gives Me Hope, and SmartphOWNED. Spartz Media is located in Chicago, IL (about 3 blocks from me), and they’re reaching more than 8.5 million people every month through their web properties. They’ve been at it since 2009, though MuggleNet has actually been around since 1999.

OMG Jobs

I actually learned about Spartz Media from a guy I occasionally play volleyball with who works there (though I’d heard of MuggleNet before that). He made it sound like a pretty cool place to work, and how can it not be when your business is all about making websites that entertain people? You can check out all of Spartz Media’s brand here, just make sure that you don’t end up wasting a few hours. What’s cool about Spartz Media is that it’s not all fun and games–there’s a science to what they do. Whether you want to be part of the fun, the science, or both, you should take a look at Spartz Media’s jobs. Right now they’re looking for a Business Analyst and a PHP Developer, and if you look at their Team page you’ll see that there may be other potential opportunities in Design, Web Development, Project Management, Editorial, Community Management, Business Intelligence, Analytics, and more. If you do end up applying, be sure to let them know that we sent you (and if you want an intro to my fried, just e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com). It’s a really young company, so I bet it’s a great place for new grads.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Spartz Media’s sites is your favorite?

TaskRabbit

Willy Franzen — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:33:30 +0000

Want to try TaskRabbit? Here’s $10 to get started. (The link only works if you’re setting up a task, but you can sign up and then use it.)

We all have stuff that we don’t want to do, don’t know how to do, or don’t have time to do. We’d love to pay someone to do it for us, but finding someone to hire to do it is on that list of stuff that we don’t want, know how, or have time to do. TaskRabbit is a company that wants to help people overcome this predicament. They’re based in San Francisco, CA, and they’ll get you “in touch with friendly, reliable people who can help you get just about anything you need done, and put some free time back into your life.” Through the power of the Internet, they’ve been able to build a network of “TaskRabbits” and connect them with people who need stuff done. It’s the same basic marketplace with a fee model that has made companies like eBay, Craigslist, and Airbnb huge successes. Here are the details on how TaskRabbit works.

TaskRabbit Get Me a Job

My biggest questions about TaskRabbit surround quality and safety. If I invite someone into my house to mount my tv on the wall, I want to be sure that they’re a) not a serial killer, and b) going to do a good job (a tv falling through the floor would be a bummer). TaskRabbit covers both of these bases by background checking their TaskRabbits and having a feedback and rating system on the website. Here’s a video on how TaskRabbit “puts some free time back in your day” (e-mail readers may need to click through to see it):

TaskRabbit is already operating in Boston, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Orange County, and they’re expanding to Portland and Seattle soon. They’ve also set up some partnerships that allow people to join together to get Whole Foods shopping, IKEA delivery, donation pickup done. I’m definitely going to try it out, though it doesn’t look like anyone has had a tv mounted in Chicago yet.

So what can TaskRabbit do for your job search? I’m sure there are tasks like printing resumes that you could offload, or you could even become a TaskRabbit to start earning money on the side. However, the most interesting option is probably a career with TaskRabbit. Right now they’re looking for a couple higher level Engineers and Founding City Managers in Portland and Seattle. None of these positions are explicitly entry level, but the right amount of experience from internships and college could make you a good fit. And one last option is to browse through TaskRabbit’s team page to see what other kinds of positions they might offer in the future.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried TaskRabbit? Use this link to get a $10 credit.

Crowdtap

Willy Franzen — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:48:15 +0000

In the good old days companies would print a 1-800 number on their products soliciting “Questions, Comments, and Concerns.” My guess is that they got a lot of calls from 8-year-olds and 80-year-olds, and not many from people in between. This was ok for a long time, but brands are slowly coming around to the idea that interacting with their customers is probably a good thing. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are helping, but most brands still use them to push information instead of engaging with consumers. Crowdtap is a New York, NY based company that has developed its own network that “allows marketers to easily collaborate with and mobilize their targeted brand crowd of influential consumers for real-time research, collaboration or powerful word-of-mouth marketing.”

Tap into Crowdtap

Market research is often time consuming and expensive, but Crowdtap is changing that. They’re able to deliver high quality interactions from influential consumers in an instant. How? They reward people who participate on Crowdtap.com (their corporate site is Crowdtap.it). I signed up and got asked all kinds of random questions. It was interesting to see what kind of research brands were doing, and I’ve already earned $2 in Amazon gift cards. If you want to sign up and try it out, here’s a link. If you do use Crowdtap, you’ll instantly notice that they’re working with all kinds of big names including American Express, General Electric, Old Navy, Pinkberry, and Pepperidge Farm. Brands like those wouldn’t be signed up unless Crowdtap delivers some really valuable insights. If you think that Crowdtap is on to something, then take a look at their Careers page. Right now the only entry level opportunity posted is Junior Software Engineer, but there are also a few internships and a mid-level Strategic Relationships Manager position posted.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Crowdtap?

Synthetic Genomics

Willy Franzen — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:31:40 +0000

When I think of the energy industry, I think of big machines like oil drills, windmills, and coal elevators. Microbes and genetics just don’t come to mind. Synthetic Genomics is a company that is aiming to change that. Energy is just one of the industries that they are working to disrupt as they develop “breakthrough genomic-driven solutions for major global issues.” Right now Synthetic Genomics, which is based in La Jolla, CA, has put a heavy emphasis on working with the energy and chemical industries because there is so much potential for gain–especially in terms of the environment; however, they’re also working on things like food production, human health, and water availability. It’s all about “turning novel science into life-changing solutions.”

Synthetic Opportunities

Obviously commercialization is a key concern for Synthetic Genomics–they need to develop technologies that can actually make money, but they seem to have decided that fixing some of the world’s most pressing problems will provide plenty of revenue opportunities. Makes sense to me. From what I can tell Synthetic Genomics is really all about developing the technology. Once they have something that is ready for the market, they find partners in the industry to put the technology into action. I wish I could dive deeper into the specifics of what Synthetic Genomics does, but words like “environmental genomics, microbiology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, plant genomics, genome engineering, synthetic biology, and climate change” tell me that I’m in over my head. If you have no problem following along with their What We Do page, then you may want to consider taking a look at their Careers. Right now they’re hiring a Research Associate and a Research Associate – Production R&D. They have a bunch of other positions that require more experience/education, and the only other job that you might want to take a look at is the Business Development Associate position.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Synthetic Genomics?

Cvent

Willy Franzen — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:30:27 +0000

Yesterday we told you about Blue Chip Career, so here’s another reminder to check them out. They offer personalized guidance from seasoned executives to help you overcome your biggest job search challenges. Get paired with one of their experts and receive the inside scoop on how to land the job of your dreams.

My girlfriend and I are having a housewarming/birthday party this weekend. We invited people by e-mail, and we’re keeping of track of who is coming through a Google doc. That’s about as simple as it gets in terms of using software for event management. I don’t think our solution would cut it for companies like Verizon, Yahoo!, Walmart, and Oracle. They need something a little more… industrial strength. That’s what Cvent offers. They’re a McLean, VA based company that offers comprehensive event, survey, and eMarketing software solutions–exactly what large companies need to make sure that every little detail is taken care of when they put on an event.

Have a Cventful Job Search

The best way to get a feel for the scale that Cvent operates on, you need to look at some of their key statistics. They were founded in 1999, and since then their software has managed more than 275,000 events, sent 850 million e-mail invitations, and managed 30 million event registrations and survey responses. You can learn more about what those solutions look like here. You may also want to dig into some of the Resources that they provide–it’ll give you a better sense of the kinds of problems that they solve for their clients. If you like what you see, then you’ll want to check out Cvent’s Careers page. You’ll see some great openings that seem suitable for new or recent grads including Blogger/Social Media Associate, Business Development Associate, Information Security Analyst, Mobile Application Developer, Product Consultant, Quality Engineer, Sales Associate, Software Engineer, Systems Analyst, Systems Programmer, Systems Support Engineer, and Technical Support Engineer. There are lots of options, so hopefully at least one will intrigue you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Cvent?

Care.com

Willy Franzen — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:58:13 +0000

When you’re young your biggest responsibility is taking care of yourself. But eventually you get a dog, buy a house, have kids, and even have to start caring for your aging parents. As the responsibilities pile up, many people have to seek professional help to handle it all. I’m not talking about mental health professionals–I’m talking about babysitters, nannies, dog walkers, senior caregivers, and other people who can take on some of your daily responsibilities. Care.com is a Waltham, MA based company that makes “it easier for families to find reliable, trustworthy care for their loved ones.” Care.com does this by providing a closed community for matching up caregivers with people who are looking to hire them. By keeping the community closed, Care.com is able to ensure quality with features like background checks, reviews, and reference.

Show That You Care

The biggest impediment to finding a caregiver is trust. Whether you’re looking for someone to bring in your mail or babysit your first born, you don’t want to have any doubts about the person that you hire. Usually people use their real world social networks to find people for these jobs, but where do you go if you can’t find anyone you already know? Care.com wants to be that place. By combining an easy to use online experience with a team of experts, Care.com has positioned itself as the place to go to find caregivers or caregiving jobs. From what I can tell, Care.com is growing at a really good rate and they’re extremely well funded by venture capitalists. That must be why Care.com’s Jobs page has so many opportunities posted. The jobs that look like they might be good fits for new or recent grads include Data Analyst, E-mail Producer, Inside Sales Representative, Marketing Associate, Member Care Call Center Representative, Online Marketing Analyst, Operations Analyst, and Software Engineer. These look like really cool opportunities, so don’t pass them up.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you care for anyone?

Octopart

Willy Franzen — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:06:23 +0000

Ever since I was a kid I’ve liked building stuff. That’s why there’s a part of me that wishes that I had majored in Engineering. I’m ok with building non-physical things like a community, a website, and a business, but I still have an urge to actually use my hands to make something. There are a lot of people with that same urge, and luckily many of them are actually building stuff in their jobs or on their own. Octopart is a New York, NY based company that helps these people find the parts that they need to build what they’re building. In other words, Octopart has developed “search technology to help engineers and scientists build the next generation of electronic devices.”

Are You the Part Octopart Needs?

Most of us have become accustomed to finding what we want, whether it’s information or a product, by searching online. Surprisingly, many of the parts that are used in the devices that power our ability to search the Internet are extremely hard to track down. And if you want to compare prices and availability, it’s even harder. That’s why two Physics grad students started Octopart to help “you compare the prices and availability of electronic parts across different distributors.” Whether you need a solid state relay or a red LED, they’ll help you comparison shop as if you were buying something a little more common like a television or a flight. Octopart is still a very small company, but their Jobs page shows that they have three positions open. They’re hiring a Frontend Software Engineer, an Analytics Software Engineer, and their first person in Business Operations (Business Development, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, and more). These look like awesome jobs, and according to the posting, every new hire gets a pony.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you build stuff?

Revolution Prep

Willy Franzen — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:37:24 +0000

I actually kind of liked taking standardized tests during my high school years, but now I’m glad that they’re 10 years in my past. While I imagine that the tests haven’t changed all that much in the past decade (beyond the SAT adding a section), test prep has. There are a ton of companies that have developed technology and systems for improving student performance on standardized tests. One of the big ones is Revolution Prep. They’re based in Santa Monica, CA, and they’ve grown at a 211% rate over the past three-years to $18.8 million in revenue. This growth has been fueled by a “vision to transform education and provide the highest quality instruction to all students regardless of their ability to pay.” It’s pretty clear that Revolution Prep isn’t just about teaching students how to beat the test–they want to turn their students into better learners and thinkers.

Join the Revolution

From what I can tell, Revolution Prep has three core product areas: Academic Tutoring, Test Prep, and Ivy Insiders. Within these product lines there are a wide range of different offerings, so it seems that they are able to serve all kinds of different learning needs. Revolution Prep must be doing a good job too–94% of their grads recommend them. What I like most about Revolution Prep is that they put current students and recent grads to work helping students. They don’t have a unified Careers page, so it’s kind of hard to get your head around what kind of opportunities they offer. The one you’ll probably want to find is the Revolution Prep College Careers Programs page. This is where you can learn about their Entrepreneurial Management Program, Campus Recruitment Leader positions, Summer Management Program, and Instructor/Tutor Positions. If you’re looking for something a little more corporate, then you can take a look at their other job listings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you use Revolution Prep?

Skullcandy

Willy Franzen — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:26:48 +0000

Yesterday we looked at Niner Bikes and how they’ve carved out a really nice niche in the outdoor action sports market by building mountain bikes with bigger wheel bases. Today we’re going to look at a company that has built a much bigger business in the same market by offering products that you may not initially associate with the market. Skullcandy is a Park City, UT based company that “markets high-end headphones, earphones, hands free devices, audio backpacks, MP3 players and other audio enabled lifestyle products.” They target consumers who associate with sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, and mountain biking, so they’ve been able to build a really strong brand identity that has fueled some serious growth. Skullcandy was founded in 2003, and they made the Inc. 5000 this year with 354% three-year growth to $160.6 million in annual revenue. In fact, the growth has been so great that Skullcandy had an IPO earlier this year.

Get It Through Your Skull

Obviously a big part of Skullcandy’s brand is style–a really big part. Just look through their headphone selection. It seems that the focus is more about what your headphones say about you than what they actually sound like. There’s nothing wrong with that–it’s obviously working for Skullcandy. Oddly enough, finding information on Skullcandy the company isn’t all that easy. They don’t seem to have an About page, so their Wikipedia entry is worth looking at. You may also want to check out Skullcandy’s Investor Relations page, as it also has some really useful information. Unfortunately, the trend of not providing much information continues to Skullcandy’s Jobs page. They don’t post specific positions and only ask that you “submit a resume and cover letter to careers@skullcandy.com.” They are a publicly traded company with $160 million in revenue that has been growing at an insane rate. It’s time for them to get a little more serious about hiring people. If you’re into the intersection of action sports, music, and fashion, then Skullcandy would be a perfect fit, so don’t let their lack of job postings hold you back.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Skullcandy products?

Apparel Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:00:58 +0000

A lot of people hate all of the advertising in sports. They get irritated by NASCAR cars, billboards in center field, and logos on jerseys. I kind of think it’s cool that sports teams are maximizing their revenue potential. But if I ever saw ads on the Yankees’ uniforms… well that will never happen… right? Advertising on sports apparel has actually been happening for a long time. Local business have been sponsoring teams and plastering their names on jerseys forever. Apparel Media is a Chicago, IL based company that is working to forever change the custom apparel and sports marketing industries at the same time. By working out deals with national advertisers and local custom apparel print shops, Apparel Media is able to give teams access to significantly discounted (20-80% off) merchandise.

Be a Running/Kicking/Throwing Advertisement

The idea of using advertising to subsidize uniform purchases isn’t anything new. What’s new is the way Apparel Media is doing it. Not only are they linking up local teams with national advertisers, but they’ve built an infrastructure that enables them to create these links through the local custom apparel print shops that teams would typically go to get their jerseys. This is an interesting choice, because I could easily see Apparel Media’s trying to do all of the printing and delivery themselves. What’s also cool about Apparel Media is that they enable advertisers to get the exact kind of targeting that they want. If you want to reach ultimate frisbee players in Des Moines with your brand, IA, Apparel Media can help you do that. Or you can get your brand on thousands of little league jerseys. The opportunities are pretty much endless. Additionally, Apparel Media is building out an analytics platform so that advertisers can measure the success of their campaigns. If you’re excited about what Apparel Media is doing, check out their Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for people in UI Design/Development, Program Management, and Account Management. This looks like an amazing opportunity to get in early on something that could be really big.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Apparel Media?