The concept for Jelly is perfect. A place to take your freelance creativity and still have the opportunity to actively brainstorm with fellow freelancers. Get inspired by sharing ideas and bouncing new concepts off of your new Jelly coworking friends. And you’re in luck, Jelly is hosted in over 20 cities around the world so there’s probably a Jelly close to you.
We’re always looking for new, affordable tools to help our small business run more efficiently. Luckily, Inc. put together their list of 10 Free or Cheap Tools for Start Ups. Take a look, hopefully there are a few on the list that will help to support your new start up.
You’ve heard of Etsy. Remember? It’s the website with a rising awareness that gives artists, designers and like-minded individuals a virtual marketplace to sell their handy work. Etsy.com has allowed crafters, artisans and creative individuals to sell their work to an always connected global audience.
Catching up on Inc.com’s “Cool, Determined and Under 30” story released back in October 2008, I came to find out that the mastermind behind the Etsy genius is Rob Kalin. Since 2005, Etsy has played host to more that 200,000 sellers and registered more than one million users. All that and Kalin has yet to reach the milestone of a 30th birthday.
Interested to see who else made it on to Inc.’s “Cool, Determined and Under 30” list? Click here to read the full story.
About a year ago my husband and I packed up our adorable little San Diego apartment and headed for Orange County. We’re in Downtown Fullerton now, which does remind me of our much loved former University Heights abode, but I still head for home whenever the opportunity presents itself. Well, no more. This weekend I vowed to embrace our new locale and to go exploring in hopes of finding some amazing gems.
Our first find, the up-and-coming Downtown Santa Ana Arts District. It’s small but adorable with the recently revitalized Yost Theatre, artists lofts and a few delicious restaurants including Memphis and the Gypsy Den.
Any Orange County or Los Angeles recommendations? We’d love to hear them.
I know, enough already with my Zappos kick. I’ll stop, promise… But just before I do, it’s definitely worth a glance at Tony Hsieh’s recent Startup2Startup presentation and this quick video. My favorite is the set of Core Values that Tony has set for his company.
Three standouts from the Core Values:
Words to live by, really.
(Oh, and my recent purchase from Zappos are below. Upgraded to overnight shipping by surprise. Amazing!)
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a huge fan of Twitter. I’d also be lying if I said this wasn’t one of the most hilarious videos I’ve seen in a long time. Tweet Tweet.
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Zooey Deschanel. I adore everything from her vintage style and acting to her soulful voice as one half of She & Him. I’m also a huge fan of the delightfully covetable sunglasses from Oliver Peoples. It was just a matter of time before two of my favorite things collided into one of the best collaborations that I’ve seen recently. Oliver Peoples has just released their 2009 line and campaign featuring Zooey Deschanel and retro inspired eyewear offerings that are going to be hard to pass up.
My favorite part- the short film, Catch A Tuesday, from director and photographer Autumn De Wilde starring Zooey Deschanel and Matt Costa that does an amazing job of bringing the campaign to life. Spring is almost here, maybe it’s time for a new pair of sunglasses…
Enjoy a lovely weekend.
On a quick flight home over the weekend I picked up the March issue of Inc. Magazine. If you haven’t already flipped through an issue of Inc., the mag is filled with a ton of great editorial pieces on entrepreneurship and people who are making an impact through small business.
As I thumbed through the pages of Inc., a story caught my eye. It was a 5 page spread on the Wexley School for Girls. I know, it might sound like a story about a boarding school for misdirected youth but don’t be fooled, you won’t find any uniforms or dormitories at Wexley. Instead, what you may find at this Seattle advertising and marketing agency is a hard working group of folks that aren’t scared to deviate from your standard marketing techniques to try something fun. The strategies they offer seem to be thought provoking, attention grabbing and stray a bit off the beaten path (or forgo the path altogether). And to top it all off, their offices have the decor of a campy woodland forest.
Come to think of it, if Wexley was a real school, I might just apply…
If you received my recent tweet you may have already spied the blog post “Your Message Here” found on FredFlare.com. In a world of constantly advancing technology, it is refreshing to see two creative individuals construct their own version of an analog message board that fills the categories of both form and function. Fred Flare currently has the board positioned front and center in their Brooklyn shop window and will have messages from blog commenters posted for all to see. This ingenious message board project is courtesy of Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt of Something’s Hiding In Here. Be sure to take a look at their blog as I am sure you will find something that tickles your fancy.
I am going to apologize ahead of time for my recent infatuation with Zappos. I have become somewhat of a Zappos stalker in the last 2 weeks since coming across the great Fortune Magazine article mentioned below. There’s a very good chance that the infatuation could be partly due to the fact that I am a shoe junky. I find no shame in scouring the web for the perfect pair of heels, sneakers, flats, you name it. But now I have another reason to surf their site. We’ve recently began following their CEO, Tony Hsieh, on Twitter (yep, we’re on Twitter) and have found his posts something to look forward to.
On one of his recent Twitter posts he mentioned a Zappos blog. My first thought was, “Really, a Zappos blog?” but I was pleasantly surprised to find that his blog was really interesting. Take a look for yourself. His blog might even convince you to join the Twitter revolution…
