Parse aims to make sense of issues and information relevant to design practitioners, regardless of the disciplines they work in. Parse makes big ideas useful, actionable and applicable. It distills jargon, reduces complexity, pares words, omits gobbledygook. It’s open-source, approachable and friendly.
Celebrate Your Entrepreneurial Weirdness (3)
1/26/12
Creative entrepreneurs are creatively different. Sometimes it can be a bit lonely and unnerving, but it’s absolutely something to celebrate. You can take control and make something out of nothing—that’s what you’ve done with your business, do you realize that? You’re an entrepreneur—that’s really something.
Recently Parsed
Use Simple Tools, Keep On Track (3)
1/23/12
With design teams taking on increasingly complex problems it’s surprising so many overlook simple tools and habits that would help them work more effectively. Rather than depending on memory, or an implicit understanding between colleagues, designers can use the most basic techniques to make working together easier—and more successful.
Stop Cold Calling (2)
1/19/12
Cold calling has always been something people dread doing but seem to believe that it’s a necessary action they need to take. The problem with cold calling is that it’s simply not an enjoyable process and when we don’t enjoy something it becomes difficult, we procrastinate and never really get any satisfying results.
Plant the Seed: Alternative Funding Ideas for Design-Driven Start-ups (4)
1/16/12
One of the primary barriers preventing a great business idea from becoming a great business is access to funding at the beginning of the development process. This “early stage” or “seed” funding can be vitally important for a start-up, and especially challenging for design-driven ventures, since most designers lack experience in finding funding and managing the financial side of start-ups.
Promote Your Self, Not Your Sell (3)
1/12/12
PARSE SELF PROMOTION WEEK: It may go against a common notion, but perhaps selling your services is best done by not selling at all. Getting a client to buy your services may not be as key as first getting them to pay attention.
Push and Pull the Pieces Together (0)
1/09/12
Through some combination of conceptual thinking, wit and the element of visual surprise, the designer can push and pull all the pieces together in a way that will advance the viewer’s understanding of the essence of the material.
Get Referrals (4)
1/05/12
Keeping your focus on cultivating client referrals is the best way to get them, and just a few small tweeks ought to get you there.
Identify Hiring Needs (Avoid Headaches) (0)
1/02/12
The hiring process starts when a need is identified. This is one of the most critical parts of the process—where your future coworker’s role is defined. If the need is not clearly defined, there will be difficulties when candidate review and selection is taking place, adding time, effort and expense to the whole process. Not to mention headaches. Ouch.
Career Makeover: Business Style (6)
12/19/11
Topics such as finance, business strategy, operations, leadership, and even ethics don’t get much airtime in the typical design curriculum. A full-time MBA program usually takes two years or more to complete, and although many schools are packaging their programs to fit the schedules of working professionals by offering part-time, accelerated, and even “distance learning” options, this still poses a huge challenge to mid-career designers interested in updating their professional proficiency. Here are areas to consider if you are looking to redirect your design career in an entrepreneurial direction.
