Portfolio
Below are some of the web sites, business initiatives, and other programs and projects I have created and managed.
Education Directory
2007
After sitting on this idea for ten years (waiting for massage therapists to get computers and start using the internet), I developed and built a large database-driven directory that promotes massage schools and continuing education classes for massage therapists and bodyworkers. I designed the web site and its underlying database, hired technical and editorial contractors to build it and populate the database, and launched a beta version of the site in October 2007.
Gansango Music & Dance
Web Site Design and Web Marketing
2003
Collaborated with company production manager to create web site for Etienne Cakpo, a Seattle-based dancer and choreographer, originally from the West African country of Benin.
Web Site Design and Web Marketing
2003
Created web site and internet marketing do-it-yourself kit for Portland’s leading fleet washing and power wash service.
Expedition Trips
Search Engine Marketing Program Development
2002
This online adventure-travel-booking company was concerned about rising prices for pay-per-click campaigns at Overture and Google AdWords and wanted to explore other ways to get search engine referrals to their site. I helped them develop search engine optimization, link development, and paid-inclusion submission policies and procedures, which they implemented themselves. Almost immediately traffic to the site increased by over 70%.
Johnny Jetpack Propulsion Laboratories
Web Site
2002
When I noticed that my friend Nathan Arnold had accidentally let his domain name registration for JohnnyJetpack.com expire, I leapt into action, registering the domain name and putting up a simple web site for him. When the Seattle P-I ran an article on Nathan, it seemed like a good time to grab art and copy from his old site from the Internet Archive and build a new version of his site.
Search Engine Marketing Management System
2001
As Director of Marketing at Digital Candle, I designed and implemented a systematic and highly automated program to deliver search engine marketing services to our software-developer clients. I developed the functional specification and worked closely with the technical team to implement the automated portion of the system, and I developed and staffed a new marketing production department to handle the manual aspects of the system.
Web Site Redesign
2001
As Director of Marketing at Digital Candle, I designed, specified, and developed a site designed to sell marketing services to independent software (AKA “shareware”) developers. I also designed and specified a new database-driven product catalog.
Web Publication Redesign &
Content Management System Implementation
2000
As Executive Producer at workz.com, I oversaw both the redesign of the company’s flagship web site and the implementation of a new custom-built content management system. In addition to managing both projects, I handled the process of “scrubbing” the existing site content and importing it into the new system, and I wrote and edited the documentation and administered training for the new system.
The workz.com Marketplace
Strategic Web Initiative
2000
As Director of Special Projects at workz.com, I developed a comprehensive product launch plan – including a complete business plan, detailed policies and procedures, functional mock-ups, sales support materials, and legal contracts – for The workz.com Marketplace. This “contextual B2B e-commerce initiative” (much like the contextual text ads that Google and Overture rolled out in 2003) would give our readers access to the best vendors of the products and services related to the content they were reading and would give our business partners access to our readers just at the point when they were ready to shop. A key component of this initiative was a complete overhaul of the company’s web site information design, specifically the taxonomy used to organize and access the extensive content database. I took the project from a vague idea to a fully developed plan in about four months, while also handling other special projects.
Corporate Web Site &
Internet Marketing Strategy and Planning
2000
My massage school alma mater was getting fewer and fewer admissions prospects from its traditional sources and suspected that prospective students were researching schools via the web. I helped the school’s marketing staff develop an internet marketing strategy and plan, and I redesigned the school web site to make it more search-engine friendly and easier to navigate. Within a few months of my redesign, internet leads had become the school’s top source of prospective students.
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Graphic Design Shop Launch and Management
1999
In December of 1998, David Johnson, the president of workz.com, went shopping for web advertising banners. He couldn’t find anyone who would make him a high-quality banner for less than $600. We talked about the problem and decided to solve it ourselves. I researched the market, hired a designer, and launched BannerWorkz a month later. The tag line “affordable, effective banners – fast” summed up our mission. We quickly carved out a place in the online graphics industry as the place to go for reasonably priced, high-quality, custom banner ads and affiliate program collateral. Our client list soon included established brick-and-mortar companies like Countrywide Home Loans and Investors Business Daily as well as high-profile internet companies like 24/7 Media, Half.com, Infonautics, and the Nexchange affiliate program. We also developed co-branded versions of our site to serve the customers of our business partners like Commission Junction and Shop Now. The revenue we generated at BannerWorkz paid the rent during a crucial growth phase at workz.com. For strategic reasons, workz.com decided to spin off BannerWorkz in early 2000.
Web Publication Information Design
1998
Toward the end of 1998, Pinnacle WebWorkz got its first round of funding from internet.com. One of the many initiatives this allowed us to undertake was a redesign and database-ization of the company’s web site, then known as The WebWorkz. I developed the original database specification, site information design, and a mock-up of the new site.
The WebWorkz home page mock-up
E-Commerce Start-Up Business Planning
1997-98
During the heady early days of online entrepreneurship, two friends asked me to help them with their internet start-up business plans. I’m still under non-disclosure for both projects, so I can’t give details. For both projects I conducted market research, evaluated technical and market feasibility, and drafted business plans. One was for an online specialty retailer which would serve primarily affluent immigrants to the U.S. – this was a really cool idea (think hothothot.com meets tenthousandvillages.com) for a well-targeted niche market, but the principal became too successful in his day job and let the project languish. The other was for an online gallery of regional artists – this project eventually became The Samish Bay Trading Company and thrived for several year but was closed when the owners moved to the East Coast.
Corporate Web Site
1998
Working closely with the company founder, I helped him develop an editorial plan and create a web publication that demonstrated his industry expertise and promoted his consulting business. The founder has since closed this business, so this site is no longer up.
Sidecar International home page mock-up
Looking Out for Yourself
Community-Based Web Publication
1996-7
As Senior Producer at Big Tent Media Labs, I spent a year developing a large commercial web site called “Looking Out for Yourself.” I developed a comprehensive business, editorial, and technical plan and began the implementation of the project. Our goal was to create a highly interactive, information-rich virtual community in which the members could bring their collective wisdom to bear on information overload, media hype, and consumer issues. We developed a plan to integrate original content, relevant news digests, discussion forums, a resource library, and a number of tools in a friendly, easy-to-navigate, database-driven, web-based virtual community. We created the editorial and technical infrastructure and developed a detailed marketing plan. The database was designed to maximize other publishing opportunities (newsletters, books, etc.) and let us develop multiple revenue streams (print ancillaries, syndication, licensing, etc.). Alas, our angel funding ran out before we could launch the site.
mock-up site for Looking Out for Yourself (opens in a new browser window – there are lots of broken links, but it should give you an idea of the site info architecture – you can get the main idea by clicking on the selections in the left column)
Strategies for Success
Corporate Web Site
1996
As Marketing Manager for Benjamin/Cummings Publishing, I spearheaded a project to create a web presence for the industry’s leading college biology publisher. We built the site around the imprint’s well-established “Strategies for Success” brand. I worked closely with the editorial, marketing, and technical units, as well as with top management, to create a one-stop-shopping virtual presence for the brand.
BIOLOGY, Campbell et al., Second Edition
Textbook/Ancillary Package
1995-6
As Marketing Manager for Benjamin/Cummings Publishing, I worked closely with the editorial and technical units to integrate – both graphically and pedagogically – the text, online, and disk-based materials that comprised this teaching package.
The Dushkin Publishing Group
College Textbook Market Research
1991-93
As a field editor for The Dushkin Publishing Group, I conducted market research, developed editorial strategy, and scouted for manuscripts in sociology, political science, criminal justice, and philosophy. I worked closely with the executive editor to develop our editorial growth plan and traveled extensively throughout the country interviewing college professors and conducting other research.
Beyond the Cascade: Step-by-Step Guides to 88 Classic 3-Ball Juggling Tricks, George Gillson
Niche Trade Book
1989
As the Publisher of Cascade Books, I edited and published this juggling how-to book, which is still regarded as the best resource for serious 3-ball jugglers. A review of Beyond the Cascade called it “one of the best instruction manuals on the market, an exciting book that will give three ball jugglers many hours of challenge and a lot of new material.”
Amazon page for Beyond the Cascade (five 5-star reviews)
Political Science List, St. Martin’s Press
Textbook Product Line Management
1985-88
As a hot-shot young publisher, I was promoted to an editorial position in the home office after only a little over a year in a field sales position. Over the next three years, I revived a moribund list that had seen rapid turnover in editorial staff and stagnant contract signings. I brought in several high-quality books that are still in print, including Frieden & Lake’s “International Political Economy,” now in its fourth edition, and Leeson & Foster’s “Constitutional Law.” I also motivated long-time authors to undertake significant revisions of books whose sales were declining, bringing them more in line with market needs, notably Kegley & Wittkopf’s “World Politics: Trend and Transformation.” I also encouraged long-time authors on my list to write new books, including Michael Parenti’s “The Sword and the Dollar: Imperialism, Revolution, and the Arms Race.”
For more work samples, see my writing samples page.
This page created 6/15/98; last updated 10/14/07.
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