Pittsburgh

Aug
20

The Baristas: How I’m Using Kickstarter to Fund My Next Creative Project

Justin on August 20th, 2010

I’m fond of finding ways to fund projects that don’t involve traditional investors or advertisers.  One of those avenues is Kickstarter, a crowdfunding resource for creative endeavors.  It lets a project’s audience become its investors. So I thought I’d give it a try. The Backstory In 2003, I created Something to Be Desired, a web [...]

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Aug
11

Tips for Running a Profitable Coffee Shop

Justin on August 11th, 2010

Last year, I blogged my own 2 cents about How to Run a Successful Coffee Shop, based on my experiences as a regular patron thereof.  (As a freelancer, I spend most days working via laptop at one of many local cafes.) That post continues to drive traffic to my blog even today — presumably from [...]

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Mar
9

10 Business Lessons I Learned from My First (Real) Job

Justin on March 9th, 2010

10 years ago this month, I landed my first post-college job that didn’t involve retail. In March of 2000, a Pittsburgh company called Multimedia Training Systems (which is still in business as I type this) was looking to hire someone who had experience with video production and animation.  As the lone graduate from The Art [...]

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Freelance, Sociology View Comments
Feb
24

10 Tips for Making Better Content Without Going Broke or Insane

Justin on February 24th, 2010

Before I made a living in social marketing, I made social media.  (Yes, there’s a difference.) In 2003, I launched Something to Be Desired (or STBD), a creative outlet that eventually became the web’s longest-running sitcom.  The series remained active until 2009 when I moved to Baltimore and the cast remained in Pittsburgh. Despite its [...]

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Feb
8

What Are You So Afraid Of?

Justin on February 8th, 2010

As you may have heard, the Mid-Atlantic US (in which I currently live) got hammered by a massive snowstorm this weekend.  Weather reports had been sensationalizing the potentially apocalyptic effects of the storm for days, warning that we could see a record snowfall and complete paralysis of city functions.  And if you doubt that people [...]

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