Lunch date.
Violin.
Cocky wanted chicken fingers.
Engineering.
Team Wertz visiting with Gracie.
Fish
Red doors.
Happy Easter from Team Wertz.
i dont care about my business @gmail.com
This post was originally posted on March 23, 2016 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
All professionals need a personalized email address and a home on the web. And Gmail accounts and Facebook pages don’t count.
I saw a branding consultant recently without a branded email address. Who hires a brand consultant who doesn’t invest in their own brand? I saw a company trying to recruit managers… just email an AOL account. (In case you are wondering, the company wasn’t recruiting for AOL.) I was trying to find out information on a store in town and all they had was a Facebook page that hadn’t been updated in a couple of months. I don’t really care what your business is — from a home-based business to a large corporation — if you don’t have a real email address with your own domain name, I’m less likely to take you seriously. And if your only web presence is a Facebook page, you don’t have a real business.
Look. I get it. It’s easy to get by with the free accounts. A penny saved is a penny earned. Absolutely. But investing in a domain name and a Google apps account? It’s not that expensive. Without your own domain, you send a message to all your clients and potential clients that you can’t or won’t invest in your own company.
It used to take some effort to get on the Web a decade ago, but now, services like Squarespace provide great solutions for small businesses and take care of hosting, e-commerce and more. Like Gmail? That’s fine. You can customize your address with Google Apps. Other services like Hover can help you get your domain and email set up. There are seriously hundreds of services to help you look professional. It’s not that hard and not that expensive.
Having a professional online appearance is every bit as important as dressing appropriately or speaking intelligently. It’s a necessary investment that lets people know that you are serious about your business.
Unless you aren’t serious about your business. And then, I guess, any email address or website will do.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.
New j-school patio
Do not block door.
Three years ago today, I came home to my alma mater to serve as creative director. I feel lucky to work with a great team and for a university I love. #uofsc
Team Wertz is exhausted after a tough Gamecock loss.
Stack of Silver Addys. Proud of my awesome team.
Is someone missing a pet… emu? He’s hanging out beside Koon Road.
A great little pen shop in Asheville.
Biltmore.
Stealing time
This post was originally posted on January 12, 2016 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.
2015 was a long year for me. Literally. My 2015 was three hours longer than 2014 because I rang in the new year on the West Coast. For me, 2015 was 365 days and 3 hours long.
But here’s the thing with stealing time. You don’t get extra time, you have to steal it from somewhere. My 2016 will be three hours shorter1 — unless I celebrate the new year in a different time zone again.
I have lots of projects on my plate at any given time. Add to that my family, my job, organizations, teaching and more. (And oh yeah, I start grad school this week.) I’m always stealing time from somewhere.
I’ve been bad about stealing time from sleep. I tend to stay up late and get a lot done after the kids go to bed. But I need to dial that back and get to bed a little earlier each night. I’m aiming for an extra hour of sleep a night, which doesn’t sound like much until you realize that’s 7 hours a week… roughly 15 days over the course of a year. So I’ve got to make some adjustments.
Right now, my plan is to be more efficient and make the most of the time I have. Maybe I’ll be more effective working with more sleep. But efficiency will only get me part of the way.
After that, it’s about prioritizing my projects and commitments. We’ll see what projects make the cut and which ones go on the back burner.
Bob Wertz is a creative director, type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. His blogging journey started in 2008 with a Squarespace hosted blog.
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Actually, 2016 will be longer than 2015 because it’s a leap year. ↩︎
Time to put away the Christmas decorations. Ruby NOT happy.
Weary travelers. #home
