Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with marketing Questions tagged with 'marketing' at Ask MetaFilter. Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:39:38 -0800 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:39:38 -0800 en-us 60 How to make next steps in IT marketing/communications I've been working as a freelance copywriter/white paper writer mainly for IT companies but am looking to make the next step in education or job. I've been working for several years as a freelance marketing copywriter/white paper writer on technical subjects, mainly for IT or IT related companies. In the past year or so I have been starting to think about moving forward. I like what I do and make enough money (not a lot, but enough to live comfortably and save), but making more money, learning more, having more stability etc. would be nice. Also, currently 27 years old.<br> <br> Although I have a personal interest in infosec and other IT related topics, I don't have any formal education or training related to this. I am able to write about these topics reasonably well (particularly after interviewing subject matter experts) but would love to feel like I really understood the big picture better as well as the technical details. <br> <br> I am also interested in keeping my career moving forward, maybe even moving into a position with more responsibility . Perhaps a marketing exec in one of these companies, that's the part I'm a little unsure of.<br> <br> Also, I like freelancing quite a bit. I want to explore all my options (including 9-5 in-office perm jobs), but it would be a plus if the career path had potential to some day lead to freelance consulting or perhaps my own business. I'm mainly interested in building my skills and resume at this stage though.<br> <strong><br> So my question is really two parts:</strong> <br> <br> 1. What kind of job would make use of my current skills and experience (writing/marketing) but perhaps incorporate more technical knowledge, more money, and/or more responsibility? (maybe in infosec?)<br> <br> 2. What steps should I take to move towards this hypothetical job (training, intermediary jobs, etc)? <br> <br> Thanks in advance!!! <br> <br> P.S. Also generally interested in getting better at my current work (sounding more knowledgeable, understanding more concepts),2015:site.286438 Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:39:38 -0800 mosschief reviews on Amazon in exchange for free/discounted products Product reviews on Amazon reviews have been very helpful in choosing and researching options for everything from fish oil supplements for dogs to baby swaddles to windshield wiper blades. It's always been fairly easy to tell obviously fake reviews and mentally discount those from the bigger picture, or see the extreme highs and extreme lows offering a certain kind of perspective that may or may not apply to my own decisions. The Vine program was a bit annoying at first, but since the reviewers were generally chosen for writing helpful reports, their reviews were often quite helpful and contained information missing from the product descriptions. But recently it seems like there are SO many reviews by non-Vine folks who include a variation on the line, "I received this product at a discount in exchange for my writing a honest review." It is obvious why the manufacturers or distributors want to get more reviews, but does Amazon condone this kind of review? Why have they suddenly been popping up even more? How are people offered products in exchange for the reviews? Does the customer make a purchase on Amazon, then get contacted for a partial or full refund by the seller? Or does this selection process happen on a site that is NOT Amazon? <br> <br> Other than down-voting them as not helpful (when they're not, which is very frequently the case) is there anything I can do to signal that the review was underwritten by free or discounted products? It is really annoying to find dozens of semi-sponsored reviews in the otherwise useful results. <br> <br> Has this been happening more frequently in the past few months or is that just confirmation bias? If it has ramped up recently, do you know why? What is Amazon's take on this practice? More generally, is this trend annoying to folks other than myself?,2015:site.286063 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 15:04:54 -0800 barnone F******n, why not is it not in every 5 gallon bucket of paint already? I'm a construction professional. I'm not a painter, but I frequently paint my own properties. Here's my question: there is an additive that makes every paint way, way better by eliminating brush or roller marks. I already pay good money for awesome paint because I know how much better it is than anything sold at big box stores. Why isn't paint sold with the miracle additive already in it? All the painters I work with know about it and think it's the best thing ever –– to be fair, only genuinely high-end clientele would notice, but that's my target group. (I won't disclose the name of the product because this is not an advertisement, I genuinely don't understand paint marketing vs. paint chemistry vs. paint marketing.),2015:site.285992 Sun, 20 Sep 2015 01:35:09 -0800 halogen Marketing and advertising PRO's - how would you market my company? Help! How would you market a company to corporate groups, bachelor, bachelorette and birthday parties? Basically, I am trying to market my company, which is a fun and unusual sports type game, to people for a private event instead of focusing on selling individual tickets. <br> <br> Primarily, we would love to focus on corporations that do team building events, but I am wondering if I need to just identify a bunch of companies and pitch them (if so, who would I pitch to - like what job title / department would handle such things? And should I go in person with brochures, on the phone or via email?)<br> <br> I also want to focus on universities, bachelor / bachelorette / birthday / reunions... where do people looking for something to do for such events turn to? Do i need to buy ad space on google? try to use social media websites? are there lists that promote these types of things.<br> <br> Please lend me your marketing ideas. Thanks!,2015:site.285054 Sun, 30 Aug 2015 09:13:35 -0800 soooo How to become a brand management (semi-)expert in 48 hours? Hi MeFi, I need to quickly get up to speed with both the basics and the latest trends in marketing brand management. Can you recommend some resources I can dig into over the weekend? My goal is to know and be able to intelligently reference terms, concepts and especially relevant thought leaders in this area. Thank you so much in advance for your suggestions!,2015:site.284973 Fri, 28 Aug 2015 05:12:13 -0800 ladybird Is getting people to sign up for an email list worth the hassle? I run a small monthly arts event. We do publicity with posters and online through social media (no budget for buying ads) and also have an sponsorship with a local radio station to promote us online and on-air. When I say "we" I mean "me" because I'm the only one who handles all that. We have a website, Twitter, Facebook that I keep updated. But a few people have told me I should collect attendees' email addresses and keep a list and send out notifications that way. I honestly don't want to. I don't like spamming people, and I end up deleting most of the notifications <em>I</em> get. But maybe I'm not like other people; maybe everyone else is craving email notifications and would come to events more often if they got them. What says the Ask hivemind? Do you like using them?,2015:site.283205 Mon, 20 Jul 2015 19:19:23 -0800 emjaybee Resources for a mock-up marketing production schedule Made it to 1st stage of interviews at a mid-size contemporary art gallery. Need resources for my screening test. Please help me land this exciting job opportunity! I landed an interview with a mid-size gallery for a marketing and communications position. As part of the screening process they are asking me to compile a marketing production schedule for an imaginary exhibition. This production schedule has to include: a seasonal program guide, invitation, and seasonal advertising campaign. I have a basic understanding of what needs to be done, but could use some help. <br> <br> (I have communications &amp; marketing experience, but in a separate sector, and for a much smaller organization)<br> <br> I am very excited for this opportunity and will work my butt off to create a compelling schedule demo, so any tips, tricks, books, articles, or links is greatly appreciated.<br> <br> Thanks, Mefites!,2015:site.283126 Sun, 19 Jul 2015 11:29:22 -0800 hollypolly How to pick a topic for a blog? I'm hoping to someday change careers into a more writing-focused field. The advice for this is always "start a blog and join Twitter." I would like to do both of these things, but I have so many interests, and such difficulty thinking about how any of them would translate into a blog, that I'm stuck at the screening phase. How to pick one? I'll just list off the topics I have at least a passing interest in: crafting, comics, animals, the environment, healthy eating, gardening, frugal living, and bizarre topics such as the paranormal and unsolved mysteries (I'm a huge fan of <a href="">Mysterious Universe</a>). <br> <br> The problem is, although I have an interest in all of these topics, I'm far from being an expert in any of them. For instance, although I like healthy eating, I'm a disaster in the kitchen and a blog on that subject would be a joke. I'm a frugality nut whose actions seldom match her aspirations. I like gardening but have not had the time or energy this year to plant one. I love art, comics and crafts but am definitely not part of the arts scene in my city or even online. <br> <br> I'm sure that with a little research I could write convincingly about animal or environmental issues, but how on earth would I focus such a blog? These subject areas are so vast, and no one area of them stands out as being my one true passion that I could focus on over the long haul. Plus, I have absolutely no credentials or authority in either of these fields, other than just being someone who cares about them.<br> <br> The paranormal/spooky stuff: I really dig this because I think it's fun. However, I don't know that it's the most professional thing to be blogging about if my goal is to impress potential employers. <br> <br> Which leads to my next question: I should be avoiding controversy with any of these, right? My dream job would be to work or write for an environmental or animal org, but there are precious few of those in my city and they're mostly staffed by volunteers. So if I were to blog stridently about either of these issues, might that turn off potential employers in other fields? (Of course, there's the argument that I wouldn't want to work for someone whose views differed so much from mine.)<br> <br> I see that many writers blog about either writing itself, or marketing and branding oneself or one's business. Is that the route to go? I fear that I would be mainly recycling the stuff that I read about on others' blogs. <br> <br> I'm feeling pretty naive at this point. Am I missing something? Would I be better served by just trying to publish one-off articles on these subjects in existing publications?,2015:site.283089 Sat, 18 Jul 2015 09:09:12 -0800 whistle pig help me with a clever slogan for these pregnancy tests! I am a licensed midwife who will have an opportunity to market my practice at a table at a community event. I ordered whole bunch of individually packaged hcg pregnancy tests. I am going to put a sticker on each one with my website/phone number &amp; maybe something else clever? Any ideas? Also, any other clever marketing ideas for a midwifery practice welcome.,2015:site.282837 Sun, 12 Jul 2015 22:09:46 -0800 Anonymous Name that super-specialized job title for the engineer-turned-marketer Severalish months ago I read an article that described a new kind of professional: the engineer-turned-marketer. This new breed excels as a marketer or growth hacker because s/he is also part data scientist / software engineer / systems architect / etc. and can use this background to thrive in environments that call for technical expertise. <strong>The author used a trendy word or portmanteau to describe the job title.</strong> My recall is really shoddy here overall, but I believe I saw it on a well-known online publication with tech leanings (Inc? Fortune? Recode? TechCrunch? Ars Technica?). <br> <br> In practice, I don't think the job title has caught on and it might even be so silly that it never will catch on outside of startup land, but I'm trying to make a point and can't seem to find the article again. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?,2015:site.282659 Wed, 08 Jul 2015 18:42:37 -0800 doctordrey How do I get tour buses to stop at my restaurant? We opened a restaurant about a year ago and we have a huge parking area located along a busy tourist highway. I'd like to get tour buses to take advantage of the parking (and, of course, get their business) but don't know where to start. Anyone have experience in this area?,2015:site.282046 Thu, 25 Jun 2015 09:09:24 -0800 klinefelter Market Research Question on Meditation &amp; Mindfulness Mindfulness is trending, and I am opening a meditation studio. I am looking to find out my target audience in order to lock a location. I am seeking a profile on people who meditate. Are they typically baby boomers? Women around 30 years old? Etc. This will also allow me to plan programs, curriculum, and advertising. If anyone knows where I can find information like this (or something close) please let me know. Thank you!,2015:site.279700 Tue, 05 May 2015 09:32:39 -0800 LLF246 Pardot? More like ParNot. I am in marketing, and we've had Pardot and Salesforce for about a year. We're starting to do some lead nurture email campaigns using Pardot. We have many prospects in Pardot who aren't yet MQLs, so they are not yet in Salesforce. If one of these prospects contacts Sales by email or phone, Sales has no information on them. How do we bridge the gap? Our new Director of Marketing is really ramping up our lead nurturing efforts. We've had Pardot for a year, but we weren't really using it to its full extent. This is my first experience with marketing automation, period; she's very experience but has never used Pardot. <br> <br> Marketo apparently has something called Insights, which allows a window into Marketo via Salesforce. Is there something similar for Pardot? Our Pardot Advocate had no advice for us. We can't be the only company with this problem. Any ideas?,2015:site.279663 Mon, 04 May 2015 15:16:38 -0800 radioamy Whose physical address do we use for Can-Spam compliance? We send emails on behalf of other clients. Who physical address do we need to use for CAN-SPAM compliance? Us (the agency) or the organization we are doing work for? Or both? May matter:<br> <br> 1) Some clients also use our email software to send some of their own "newsletter" type emails vs. our more marketing emails that we send.<br> <br> 2) Other clients have no access to the email system and anything that is sent for them we send.<br> <br> If you have an answer pointing to an "official" source would be very helpful. <br> <br> My guess is only the clients info need be present, but no one seems to believe me (and I may be wrong).,2015:site.279457 Thu, 30 Apr 2015 07:06:51 -0800 IzzeYum Name-my-bakery-filter Roadblocked on names for my bakery endeavor. Do you like cookies, and naming things that aren't pets? Come on in. I want a name that suggests modern, clean execution and quality. Nothing too flowery. Nothing that suggests elaborate wedding cakes or intense decorating. I make things like cupcakes, cookies, and bars. I feel like I strike a nice divide between Smitten Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated/Test Kitchen vibe. Pretty things, delicious things, well-executed things.<br> <br> I would like to incorporate the idea that I make uncompromisingly rich items - lots of butter, luxurious indulgence. Nothing healthy here. Could also play with the idea that I am very exacting in my methods - every batch should be identical in deliciousness and appearance.<br> <br> I can get on board with some wordplay, but don't want to veer into silly territory.<br> <br> Some names I do like that are already taken: Butter Lane, Confectionate, The Vanilla Bean. I like the sound/feel of 'The Spanked Mint' but that would imply I use a lot of mint, or make cocktail-inspired baked goods, which I do not. I am considering 'Butter Perfection' (perfectionism/exactness, butter-heavy) but I don't know if the wordplay on 'utter perfection' gets lost or if it's any good on its own. I definitely also like the format 'The (adjective)(noun).<br> <br> Help? There may be a box of goodies sent to any name I glom on to!,2015:site.279067 Wed, 22 Apr 2015 08:47:49 -0800 rachaelfaith Short story ID: marketer helps niche group hide from marketers Trying to identify a short story in which someone whose job is to identify emerging groups of people with specialized interests and target them as niche markets turns those skills to helping some group hide their purchases and whatnot to evade that kind of targeting. Maybe the group being helped contained some relatives of the marketer? I'm pretty sure I read it within the past 15 years, and it's possible it was in one of those annual collections of SF short stories (like Dozois's series).,2015:site.278561 Sat, 11 Apr 2015 10:54:46 -0800 stebulus How do VC firms support marketing for the startups they invest in? How do venture capitalist firms support marketing and communications for the startups they invest in? Is there an established model, or does it vary by firm? Is it direct support, or coaching? Looking for examples, first-hand experience, insider knowledge. I'm interested in what VC firms do to support marketing and communications at the startups they're invested in, if anything. Do they offer strategic counsel, parachute staff in, do training/ capacity building/ coaching?<br> <br> If VCs are providing this support, how is the position staffed? Is it a separate role within the VC firm, or is it handled by a marketing/ communications team that also does investor-to-investor and other types of communications work for the VC firm? <br> <br> I'm looking for online articles, blogs, Twitter handles that might offer some insight to this type of support or first-hand accounts on either the VC or startup end of what marketing and communications support looked like in your experience.<br> <br> Bonus points if you can give me a general sense of the compensation of the VC staff providing marketing and communications support.,2015:site.278313 Mon, 06 Apr 2015 05:56:57 -0800 Anonymous Should I move from private sector to public sector for work/life balance Hi MetaFilter, Putting it out for the group to help me weigh the pro's and con's of a career move. I am 44 years old, marketing professional with 10 years experience in health care marketing communication. I recently got my MBA last year and got recruited to go to another large Chicago health care system. The new job pays more and is OK but we are going through a reorg and merger and my position will change going forward. My current boss is leaving the organization and said that he is putting me forward for a better position with more responsibility going into the reorg but it is hard to trust that this will happen since that is all going to be in flux. About a month ago I applied for a federal marketing communication project manager position with the General Services Administration at the Federal Acquisition Service and this past Friday I was offered the job as a GS-13 Step One and they want my answer on Monday. I will be giving up my bonus $5K and the pay is similar to what I make now, plus all the federal benefits. In addition the GSA values work life balance and they would let me work from home up to 3 days a week. My Mom has alz and lives in the southeast in a nursing facility so I am interested in having enough time to move her to Chicago and have the work/life balance that the private sector cannot offer. <br><br> I am afraid that I will be bored by the position. It is B2B marketing and I have always done B2C marketing. Also I know there is red tape and incompetent folks everywhere but things I read about the federal gov really scare me. The top leadership folks I interviewed with impressed me, they were young and bright and not really the 'federal worker' I was expecting. I did not really get to meet any of the peers but since they have a lot of work from home, not sure that was possible. The reason I have been successful up to this point is that my ADHD mind is always moving, I am innovative and a fast thinker and I can think well on my feet and health care is always changing fast. I asked them what a typical day would look like and the Director told me that "every day is different" which gave me hope. I am not sure someone like me can do well in a federal bureaucracy but hell, I would like to have a life and I would like to have more time to devote to the things that matter. Maybe I could get an ADHD coach to keep me focused and try and make it work. <br> <br> Any advice from others who have made a similar switch? Thanks in advance!,2015:site.278262 Sat, 04 Apr 2015 09:49:49 -0800 washateria Current best practices for updating social media sites simultaneously? Back when I used to have a blog, my Twitter account would automatically tweet links to my new posts. Meanwhile, my tweets were automatically posted as Facebook statuses. But that was 5+ years ago and I have no idea what the done thing is these days. <strong>BACKGROUND:</strong><br> <br> I'm in the process of setting up internet presences for a tire shop, a restaurant, and a local band. I'm fine with setting up the domain, hosting, and basic Wordpress sites, but I need some ideas, advice, and inspiration for how to best use the current plethora of social media networks.<br> <br> Each main website will run on Wordpress. The content will be a mix of infrequently updated static pages (e.g., About, Contact, services, menus, discography, etc.) and bloggy date-stamped updates about specials, upcoming shows, etc. I plan to update the blog roughly once a week.<br> <br> I'd also like to post timely photos to social media at least a couple times per month. For example, pics of last night's show (for the band), pics of the food or recent parties (for the restaurant), and pics of our employees volunteering at fundraisers we support or chronicles of the adventures of the various garage cats (for the tire shop). The intent of these photo posts would be to show off each organization's "personality" and be a fun complement to the more business-focused content of the main sites.<br> <br> I'm leaning towards publishing identical content on each of our social media accounts, e.g. simultaneously posting the same picture and caption to Facebook, Twitter, etc. That way people who want to follow us on social media just have to follow us on their preferred network.<br> <br> I also want to automatically broadcast links to new Wordpress posts as tweets, statuses, etc. across all of our social media accounts.<br> <br> I'm still undecided on whether I want any of the content from our social media accounts to show up on our main site. If I do decide to incorporate some of our social media content on our main site, I don't want to inadvertently set up an endless loop of automatic posts. <br> <br> <br> <strong>QUESTIONS:</strong><br> <br> 1. What do you think of my plan to post the business-focused content on the main websites and the fun photo posts on the social media sites? My thinking is that our main website should primarily be a useful reference whereas our social media accounts should primarily be about branding and building friendly relationships. If you were a potential customer or fan, would you find that division helpful? <br> <br> 2. Which social media networks do you think would be best to be on for a) the tire shop, b) the restaurant, and c) the band? Why? <br> - Facebook<br> - Twitter<br> - Instagram<br> - Tumblr<br> - Google+<br> - Pinterest<br> - Ello<br> - is there a new hotness?<br> <br> 3. Is it worth the extra time investment to post different, customized content to each social media network (so if you followed us on multiple networks, you wouldn't see repeats) or is posting duplicate content to each network (so you only have to follow us on your preferred network) a generally accepted practice these days? If you think we should customize our content to each network, what types of posts do you think work best for each network?<br> <br> 4. Should we incorporate any of our "fun" social media content into our main websites, or keep the main websites strictly business-focused and just provide "Follow us on [icons]" link to our Facebook, Twitter, etc.? If you think we should incorporate our social media content into our main site, should we do so as blog posts that show up in the same feed as our other posts or should we have it off on the sidebar in a widget or...?<br> <br> 5. Given your answers to the above, how should I implement the technical end of things? Are there any good third-party apps or services that automatically duplicate content across all social media networks? How do I avoid inadvertently creating an endless loop (e.g. automatically tweeting the URLs of new blog posts while automatically reposting tweets as blog posts)? Any other technical advice on optimal setups?<br> <br> 6. Do you see any blind spots in my approach? What questions(s) should I have asked that I didn't, and what are your answers to those questions?<br> <br> <br> Please advise, thanks!,2015:site.277496 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 05:44:24 -0800 Jacqueline Thems are fighting words! (Takes him a while to boot up) In the early 1990s I saw a bizarre marketing video for OS/2. It was a cartoon of about 20 min. It featured anthropomorphic computers with screens for faces walking around a Wild West town. The DOS Brothers (which include DOS and WIN) overrun the town's sheriff, OS/2 V1.0. Then the new marshal, OS/2 V2.0 comes into town and cleans things up. Is there somewhere I could see a copy of this video or are there even any records that it existed? One of the few other details I remember is the song played when the marshal was taking care of business. Its lyrics included:<br> <br> <blockquote>OS/2 V2.0!<br> Runs all DOS apps and Windows!<br> 32-bit development!<br> ___ ___ 100 percent!<br> </blockquote><br> <br> I don't remember what was in the blanks. And after almost 25 years I may have slightly misremembered some of the other details too.,2015:site.277301 Sun, 15 Mar 2015 11:44:38 -0800 grouse How do I create a B2B marketing strategy? I want to CRUSH IT as a one man marketing team... but I'm inexperienced and don't know where to begin. This is the B2B version of <a href="">this question</a>.<br> <br> I studied media production in college and in some roundabout way, now find myself as the sole marketer at a startup. My lack of a "traditional" marketing experience/education is giving me extreme bouts of self-doubt.<br> <br> I've been tasked with creating a marketing strategy that is heavy on inbound/content marketing. We're a B2B service. My goal is to generate new (hopefully qualified) leads for the sales team. The target is HR professionals at medium and large companies. We signed up with HubSpot but want to use our own tools with it (Wordpress, Mailchimp, and Salesforce) for more custom control of design and UX.<br> <br> Luckily, my CEO believes in me and is confident that I'm smart enough to "figure it out and learn as you go" but my fear of failure is paralyzing. I don't want to disappoint my CEO, the rest of the team, or our investors. I feel like I'm in WAY over my head. Where do I start?<br> <br> Finding <a href="">this</a> was a helpful example - I'd love to see more examples of strategy/process. How do people project manage their content marketing? My coworkers use Trello for their projects and I'd like to do the same.<br> <br> More specifically on learning content marketing: HubSpot's materials are great but the consensus on my team is that "download our ebook!!!!" is tacky, and writing content for SEO keywords seems shady. I'm not completely against the idea, but I'm having a hard time coming up with good keywords since Google now hides organic search terms.<br> <br> Lastly: I've been given a <em>tiny</em> budget ($25/day) to experiment with AdWords. Google's training materials look solid but is there anything you wish you had known for your first AdWords campaign? Thanks in advance for reading through my special snowflake fears and hopes.,2015:site.277234 Fri, 13 Mar 2015 18:21:01 -0800 Anonymous Business marketing on a shoestring budget. Our company once had a full fledged marketing department but after years of downsizing we're on our own. Some of my coworkers want to build brand awareness ahead of projects that will be rolling out in the new year. They have the green light from higher ups but no one knows what to do and where to start. How can self motivated individuals learn a crash course in business marketing? We had a marketing department which was outsourced to outside contractors. When that was too expensive a guy in one of our satellite offices took over. He focused on print ads and the company website. As far as I know we're not on social media or have a blog. A supervisor wants to write a PR piece for something his division is releasing soon. This had the ball rolling for others that want to do the same. Are there resources online for beginners? They would need a step by step actionable plan. Where should they start? What else needs to be done down the line?,2014:site.273226 Fri, 19 Dec 2014 05:20:26 -0800 adapt My company used my design without my consent. What do I do? My parent company is implementing a rebrand based on a design I made for a project I worked on years ago, all without my knowledge. They have acknowledged this, and it seems like they are oblivious that this is a problem for me. I have made my feelings known to my boss, and am waiting for further developments. I don't know what to do next. Do I have any rights? What are my options? Backstory follows. I work for a subsidiary company. A few years ago, I created a design for a rebranding project that was ultimately abandoned. A few months ago, I was introduced to the head of marketing for the parent company, and to give him an idea of what I do, I showed him the design, among other work. <br> <br> Yesterday, I was in a meeting where the parent company introduced the implementation of a new branding strategy. The head of marketing used my design to go to another designer and made that the base of the rebrand, all without my knowledge (I don’t know if the other designer was aware that I created the original design). In the meeting, he literally told me he used the concept of my design for this rebrand, and thanked me. I was very uncomfortable about this, but didn’t speak up. I really felt like I couldn’t right there and then, with several other members present.<br> <br> To compound matters, I showed my original design to people who hadn’t seen it (marketing people in my subsidiary, and one marketing person from the parent company), and they said they preferred my design. They talked of implementing the superior elements of my design in the rebrand. They asked me for the Powerpoint presentation I showed them (not the original Illustrator files) and I sent it.<br> <br> After the meeting, I confronted the marketing manager for my company, and told him that I felt very uncomfortable. I said that this rebranding was my design. He said he understood, and we left it at that for the now. <br> <br> I feel the head of marketing was truly thoughtless as to how I’d feel about this, rather than being malicious. I don’t want to be very negative and place myself in opposition to the company and the people here. I plan to talk to the head of marketing with my marketing manager in the room to get a more detailed explanation. <br> <br> I am unsure of what to do now. At the least, I want the credit for the rebrand design. <br> Am I entitled to monetary compensation? Does the company have to stop using that design if I assert my rights? Do I even have any rights? What are my options?<br> <br> FWIW, I work in Japan for a Japanese company. I am technically a contract worker, not seishain, which can literally be translated as “real employee.”,2014:site.272718 Mon, 08 Dec 2014 15:48:58 -0800 brappi There's marketing consultant in my career coach! Finally able to describe what I do in a way; now I need to sell it. What person do I hire in order to create a message that makes sense to people who hire people with weird yet valuable talent? I have a talent; it is weird and it works. It is in bringing engineering projects together. There isn't a name I know for this but what it involves is managing interfaces, not designs. It is as though I get the <a href="">negative space</a> in a project and deal with that, not the work breakdown structure. It is more design-oriented than a systems engineer, yet there are elements of both in it. This description doesn't work with people with the ability to hire talent, so I am limited now to working with organizations in which I have been an employee and which know my work. <br> <br> Therefore I need some kind of marketing approach to articulate what I do. The person to define this approach is not exactly a career coach yet as far as I can see, it isn't a marketing consultant either. The person I want to hire can take this approach to engineering, create my elevator pitch and my description of services, and make it somehow compelling. <br> <br> Can you name the unicorn?,2014:site.271914 Fri, 21 Nov 2014 19:38:58 -0800 jet_silver How do I explain sample size in layman's terms? How do I explain the principles of minimum detectable effect, statistical power, and statistical significance to a client? My client's business has 100k monthly visitors and a 1% conversion rate on their home page. After using Optimizely to test a new home page, they're ready to call it quits after 2k visitors, saying they usually "spot problems in the funnel in less than 1k visits."<br> <br> How do I explain the principles of minimum detectable effect, statistical power, sample size, and statistical significance (like Optimizely's<a href=""> A/B Test Sample Size Calculator</a>) in layman's terms?,2014:site.271414 Wed, 12 Nov 2014 08:54:14 -0800 Avenger50