Business

This world we live in is a great place. Filled with people who make good choices and bad choices, people who are intelligent enough to know what is real and what can be imagined. The human species can reflect on the past, learn from it and grow. From an early age, many of us are taught the importance of being good neighbors. I see businesses the same way. Almost human, run by humans, complete with flaws, growing pains, lessons to be learned and opportunity. Building Your Business – and Building…

Trying to please everyone can be dangerous. I started Overit 20 years ago and while I think we’ve done a pretty good job providing clients with impeccable service and offering employees a satisfying working environment, there’s always been one problem. I am a nice guy. No, this isn’t a humblebrag and I don’t say it with confidence or excitement. Being a nice guy isn’t something I’m proud of. It’s simply something I am. You’d think being a nice guy was a positive thing. That it’s good for the CEO to…

We’re all looking for proof. Proof that an idea works, that a candidate is the best fit or that a company’s service will benefit our business. That’s what you need to know before you can trust a vendor enough to partner with them. And in the sales world, you often have a precious amount of very limited time to prove your mettle and show your value to a prospective customer. You’re up against the competition’s flashy idea or cut rate pricing. And oftentimes you don’t even know who your competition…

“The Intern” has become sort of a surname by now with which I identify myself both over email and in person. My time at Overit isn’t my first design internship. I was first “the Intern” back in 2009 at a place that has since disappeared. With both experiences under my belt, I thought it would be interesting to offer a compare and contrast of not only these two opportunities, but also between the professional world and the educational one. Do you know what your office looks like through the eyes…

It’s the Tuesday after a long weekend. Did you show up to work energized to tackle your To Do list? Or did you show up already feeling defeated because you know there’s simply no way you’ll be able to get it all done? Or because you’re watching your competitors climb further and further ahead of you with each passing week and you’ve had enough?

Unless you walked through the door with fists in the air at 7:00am (or was that just me?) it may be time for some hard conversations. Namely, is it time to bring in the big guns to help you manage your digital marketing or is it something you can effectively manage inhouse?

How do you know the difference?

One of the greatest parts about working at Overit is the open workspace. For most of our staff, no walls separate our employees from spinning around in their chairs to ask a colleague for insight, to ask a question about a client, or chime in with their own ideas for a project we’re all working on. And for those of us not on the main production floor, our office doors are (almost) always open. If we’re not at our desks, we’re likely sitting with coworkers in the aptly-named collab room…

Like other creative agencies, the product we sell can’t be found on any shelf (well, some of them can…). Our work involves considerable thought, strategy, know-how and the ability to create compelling, unique and effective messaging to serve our clients’ needs. As vice president of marketing and business development, my job is to make sure we convey to clients everything it is we’re able to provide for them. Since the recession, I’ve noticed a stark difference in the way potential client companies and organizations make purchasing decisions. Where a person or department…

My 2011 Honda Element was parked outside Overit when an uninsured driver took a turn too wide, sideswiped the left side and left me to clean up the mess. After my awesome coworker let me know what had happened, I walked outside to see plastic, headlight, and parts of my beloved car scattered all over the road. So how’s your Monday? #hitandrun twitter.com/LisaBarone/sta… — Lisa Barone (@LisaBarone) February 25, 2013 That sucked. It sucked not only because my car was damaged, but because I knew the next sequence of events…

We’ve all been there. We’ve all had a job where we had to work for THAT manager. In my experience working in various industries, I‘ve found myself on both sides of the What Kind Of Manager Are You table. I’ve had jobs where I’ve secretly wondered why I didn’t have my manager’s position and I’ve had jobs where I have truly learned something from the person above me.

Unfortunately, more often than not, the earlier is true.

Let’s reminisce (or have an unfortunate reality check) about some of the many manager types out there, shall we?

My 82-year-old father recently went shopping for a new car and was kind enough to explain the experience to me in classic old guy detail. I haven’t been able to forget it. If my father was on social media, I can only imagine what he’d be tweeting. But he’s not. So I’ll share the story for him. In my lifetime, my father has owned four cars. In my driving career, I am on my eighth car. My father takes his cars very seriously. If only the dealers took him as…