Lovable Chihuahua + Pug mixes AKA CHUGS
Written on 27 April 2008 by adminHi Guys,
We’re moving and wanting to find a good home with our doggies. Their names are Punk and Homey. We adopted them over a year ago from a local sheltor, after they were featured on the news.
Reasons we love our dogs:
- They talk to each other… the grunt, growl, and bark at each other just like any good pair of brother
- Punk thinks he’s alpha but Homey (under the chair) is truely alpha and has always stood up for punk no matter what was going on (think investigation, breaking into the bathroom, etc, when we do baths, or whatever)
- Punk is just funny. He’s short, stalky and got a curly chug tail
- They love Kibbles & Bits, and love to eat 2x’s a day. Every morning they remind us to feed them by grunting
- They snore. It’s hilarous! It’s like a grown man is snoring loudly, but when the two of them are snoring, they sound like trains…. to get sleep in our house, we just close our bedroom door.
- Homey is always a lover. He’s gentle and friendly with our young daughter.
- Both dogs would love to be lap dogs for anyone who can handle two fat boys. We work alot and our daughter prefers to be in our laps, so often they have to hang out on the floor.
- They love to sleep on towels, blankets, or other nesting materials.
- Come and go outside through the doggy door as needed.
- Can walk on leashes
Mahalo Daily: IDOL contest!
Written on 15 April 2008 by adminOk. So we do alot of things at xTrain, and one of them is to help spread the word of events going on with our instructors.
Today, please take a moment to Vote for Shellie Hall’s Mahalo Daily Video Entrance! She’s one of our very on instructors, a very TECHY girl and an all around fun chick to hang out with.
To vote, all you have to do is:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS0m0dn7WBg]
or go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS0m0dn7WBg&watch_response
(All you really have to do is play & rate the video!)
Then go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWMROWLqU2c
And leave a comment shout out for Shellie Hall!
Also, if you feel the urge, and have a digg account… Please digg her video!
http://digg.com/tech_news/Get_Creative_for_Mahalo_Daily
Then – if you want, drop Shellie a Good Luck Note!
Look! We can DO IT!
Written on 15 April 2008 by adminI’ve a new wordpress blog. Be back soon!
Get Creative for Mahalo Daily
Written on 14 April 2008 by adminAudition clip to be the next host of Mahalo Daily. Be sure to rate the video and share your comments. Shellie is an AWESOME TECH Host!
My Vote is Shellie for Mahalo!!!! GO Shellie GO!!!
Training, Learning, Teaching, Doing: If you don’t use it, you will lose it.
Written on 14 April 2008 by adminshh. Here’s a secret of the day. Ok not really but, today I felt the urge to write about - if you don’t use the knowledge you have - you will loose it.
Case #1:
- 4 yrs studying History yields a degree in History
- Job out of College: Sales, profitable, however after 8 years it took a while to build wealth, if any.
- After 12 years - how much do you think he will remember of his history studies?
Is this a profitable venture? Or would you spend $20 a month to continue your studies in history - even if you were working in sales?
Case #2:
- Art student, photography major, graphic design minor. 5 yrs in school.
- After 6 years of multiple jobs, an increase in pay from $20K to $55K
- Does working in the field constitute as the only place to advance ones skills? No?
What do you bet that this person used additional ways of continuing her education to increase her knowledge, experience and continue working in the field?
What are ways that she probably used?
- Employer paid conferences
- Local enthusiasts groups
- Internet Surfing, including blogs, forums, and other online free materials
- $100 yr in Magazine subscriptions
I think this person would have been better off with a $20 month subscription to xTrain. It covers the same topics, instructor led, 24 hour availability but can be done on the job, at home, or whenever.
Shameless plug aside, let’s think about it.
After you’ve spent 4-8-12 years in college, many careers require continuing education credits. However the design field doesn’t. You are either good at a certain type of art, or aren’t. A Jack of all trades artist, one who can work with, create in, and or market multiple art forms is more adventurous and able to find extra freelancing than just a one art form person. Now, don’t take this wrong, if you’ve got a gift, that particular gift should yield profits and a long standing career. But just like with the financial markets, the life of an artist will have profitable years and down years. It’s what you do with those down years to make the best out of the up years for years to come. So, in this time of heavy job loss, lack of funding, and less business ventures, be sure to spend your time wisely. Take that extra time you have to educate yourself one way or another and continue to grow your artist spirit. After all, most art forms boil down to a central business element and intertwine with one another. This should give you inspiration and more work in the mean time!
the story of A graphic designer’s life, pro-bono work as a designer
Written on 11 April 2008 by adminI stumbled upon this link using stumbleupon… It stopped, i laughed so HARD I cried… and I couldn’t believe how true this situation is….. I couldn’t figure out the website, so here’s the credit line: http://www.fukung.net/images/2674/designer.gif
I can’t tell you how many times people say - oh you’re an artist do something free for me. And I’m sitting there nieve enough to go sure why not…. And then, i spent my 10 years in the industry wondering where my time went… ok so it was more like the first 3 years i didn’t get it, 4 more years went by of picking and choosing free projects… and the last few… hell no, pay me, pay me up front, or forget it. I’m not going to waste my time trying to please you, trying to collect money from you - after my services are rendered… oh and btw - our company has a 90 day pay period.
Then I watched Bryan Peterson’s course on xTrain on - why free designs do not enhance our life. As a matter of fact he pointed out that it’s against the AIGA’s guidelines to do pro-bono. Then he went into detail on how to negotiate - a concept for pay - and walk away if you don’t like idea. Very excellent. I haven’t used it lately because I’m too busy training, marketing and working with xTrain… but it’s one of those things… that comes back to the graphic above… if a used car sales man can’t barter - DON’T bother to do it free for him!
Shout out to ya have a great weekend!
xTrain Features Over 100 Free Shows on Adobe Systems’ New Ad
Written on 11 April 2008 by adminxTrain Features Over 100 Free Shows on Adobe Systems’ New Adobe(R) TV & Media Player -
Splash Media & xTrain are honored to be featured on AMP and tv.adobe.com
That’s Right - That’s the DIGG article that SAYS xTrain’s on Adobe TV!!!
Adobe TV and Adobe Media Player launch with xTrain content
Written on 11 April 2008 by adminAdobe just announced Adobe TV and Adobe Media player today. Adobe TV is your on-line source for expert insight and inspiration. Feed your passion for Adobe products with insider tips, innovative techniques, and behind-the-scenes tours. Get to know Adobe personalities by tuning in to Russell Brown Photoshop Laboratory. What you didn’t read on Digg - was that xTRAIN’s CONTENT is featured on Adobe TV! Silly! Go to tv.adobe.com to watch many of our shows!
xTrain + YouTube + Adobe TV Launch
Written on 10 April 2008 by adminYou can only have so much fun while doing multiple press releases… so Jennifer & Tabitha… They made sure they had fun… check em out!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnpcaMMnmcs]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgckKlRDwBg]
Adobe TV launches today!
Written on 9 April 2008 by adminI’m So excited ADOBE has put MANY xTrain videos on their tv.adobe.com!!!!!
Excerpt from our press release: xTrain is proud to announce its new featured partnership on Adobe Systems’ new Adobe TV site. The new site features over 100 training segments from xTrain that include topics such as photography, graphic design, video, web developing and design, business and more. We are honored to be teaming up with such a significant leader in the software and technology industry, as we believe it will enable both our companies to deliver high-end education to a broad spectrum of Adobe software users.
Just go to their website, type in xTrain and you’ll find dozens of AWESOME videos that our instructors have worked so hard to put together for us, and now ADOBE loves them so much they’ve included them on their Training website!!!
Make Money from Forwarding Emails? A special internet marketing peice from Siotha
Written on 1 April 2008 by adminI’ve only been on the internet 15 years. And it finally occurred to me, Forwards are TRULY advertisements… Ever noticed how Yahoo has an advert at the bottom of every email you receive? Just think about how many more people see that one advert for each forward that you do. Ok. So let’s do SOME real basic math.
1 Email. 30 friends. 1 ad at the bottom.
30 friends send to 30 more friends. = 900 emails/ads
900 send to 5 friends = 4500 free ads
Why hasn’t anyone pointed this out to me before?
If the Forward is TRULY compelling enough to send on, and mind you I might send 5 a year… Think about the millions of people who have nothing better to do than forward to their friends… I’m thinking about how many a day I receive from friends and family. If they’d only put my little website on that forward! I’d be Rich by now!
Shellie Hall’s in the Studio!
Written on 28 March 2008 by adminJust wanted to drop everyone a note that while we’ve been concentrating on marketing and getting myself healthy again… we’re still doing really cool shows such as 2 new courses with Shellie Hall - focusing on InDesign.
As always she rocks!
Check out www.xtrain.com/shellie for details of current live courses and when today’s studio shoot gets done, then you’ll be able to see these great Q2ID and ID Portfolio courses!!
Additionally - if you haven’t heard about a new documentary of High Tech Women - then you really need to check out TechGirlz.com
Want more from Shellie? Hey you need to see CreativePro.com where you can find weekly videos of creative industry news. Hey.. and if you want to find the creative side of Shellie, she runs ducktypedigital.com and getcreative.com
iphone pic competition…
Written on 20 March 2008 by adminso - my husband has become a contestent for his iphone photography… appearently all these digital photography shows we produce are paying off for him!
http://www.ippawards.com/gallery/index.html
I love you Jeremy!!!
http://www.buttonator.com/ - online button making?
Written on 20 March 2008 by adminWow, there’s a site for everything web design. I found this one, the graphics aren’t real cool to me, but if you need a button… here ya go! http://www.buttonator.com/
SumbleUpon…ed something different today.
Written on 19 March 2008 by adminToday, I was using stumble upon. I’d never really gotten into the “social bookmarking” or “social networking” of the web… But something in me just wanted to kill time, so kept clicking through finding some awesome tools, tutorials, photography… and then next thing I found, the video stopped me in my tracks. I never really pass along anything not related to training… and I’m very much un in favor of forwards. But Today. I was awed, stopped in my tracks for an entrance to a who knows what website (not recmmending their services, but their video… wow…)
Http://www.eightprinciples.com/
And
http://www.fivebigquestions.com/
Cool Pinstriping Video on Youtube….
Written on 18 March 2008 by adminMM… Nice Pinstriping video…
Anyone want to do a show like this with us?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOaEhMHe3jo]
Going back to work after a job loss, change, or just getting out of school
Written on 15 March 2008 by adminNow what?
At xTrain, we know what it’s like to find a job in today’s market. We we green around the collars when the .com bust happened. Being aspiring artist, my husband and I were hit hard.
So here are some tips that I have for you….
There’s plenty of resources out there for job hunting… For example, monster.com, careerbuilder, hotjobs.com etc. But then there are specialty groups online that are either consulting firms or geared to local art jobs, for us we use the Dallas Society of Visual Communications… http://www.dsvc.org this has local job listings that are usually paid listings that the person who’s hiring recognizes these guys have the best network for local talent.
But did you know you could find jobs on Myspace & Linked in?
Be warey of any job that requires money up front. A head hunter may, but usually if your go with aplacement agency that’s legit they will have a client that will pay it on top of your salary.
What about your portfolio? Is it really the best of the best or is it real peices you’ve managed, and produced. This is where I’m torn. I can design good, bad and crap all day long. But what I recommend is a half & half portfolio. One that showcases work you’ve done for clients, friends, family, anything that went public - even pro bono. Then the other half showcases what you can do! What styles of art you are into and great at. But just like your resume your portfolio should be insync with the work you are applying for. If you’re applying for a direct mail coupon company you should emphasize some practical coupons. (You can find just about any agency’s customer list online or by calling and being nosey).
What about your Resume?
Many people don’t understand the elements of a resume. Well let me tell you, If it aint’ perfect, don’t call me. Is my hiring mentality. The slightest mistake, grammatical, mispelling or sloppy design style…. You won’t even get a call back from me. If you can’t market your self how can you work with my Expensive clients? Get your friends, family, and best english person to review your resume before hitting send. There are many key elements that won’t change when you are writing elements.
But besure you don’t just blast your resume out there. You must desire the job - in other words, your resume must look like your the top candidate for the job whether you have experience or not Research what a good candidate (key word resumes with similar postiions, you’ll find em). Then Make some. Explain your strengths, and overlook any weaknesses (don’t tell them you’re not perfect, they can smell it on your resume, and spit on your portfolio if you even bring up weakness until they corner you about it. ) Some times leaving off the fact that you know MS OFFICE en lew of explaining that you managed spreadsheets in one of your job history descriptions is more communicative than not.
Digital Submission of Resumes - to LARGE companies.
Let’s face the reality. They take your resume, dump it into a database, then when they have an opening, they “search” by keywords just like you do on the internet. If you believe you have pertinate skills that a company might like be sure to add on the VERY last section of your resume, pertinate keywords. This way you have a chance when you are applying with a big company that want’s quark experience, even though you’ve only worked with it once in school and use only indesign at work. Get what I’m saying?
Now GO! Find a JOB! And if you don’t find one, make one… And remember you basic curtousy. Follow up with a hand written thank you note!
Add Me to Your Linked In!
Written on 11 March 2008 by adminhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/siotha
Art of An Email Blast….
Written on 7 March 2008 by adminHave you ever wanted to know what email blast types work, and what don’t? Yeah me too…
I get the basic HTML aspect because, well I’ve been an internet designer since 1999. (Can you beleive I’m almost 10 yrs at web design?)
Anyway… So here’s the four basic rules I follow to comply with can spam, browser compatibity, and general headaches from making the campaigns….
- Know your msg before you design. Consider, Audience, Email list type (do you know who you are emailing?!), whether or not these people are good computer users or basic users affect how you campaign.
- Design the concept. Use a combination of Text & Supporting Art. You want people who don’t view pictures (or aren’t allowed) to see your message anyway. The art should be small enough that it won’t take forever to download. I like the small art files from iStockPhoto.
- Besure to follow Can Spam Rules, setup a “view here” landing page if they cannot see the email properly. Include your company name, address & phone, so that the person’s receiving the email know your a legit company or service. And you must include an opt-out. The opt out, is the most important thing. Just like you, I don’t like advertising emails, ads, tv commercials, or anything intruding my day… but alas i’m used to it. But if I can opt out, then I will!
- Send Wisely. There is no magic way to send 1 Billion emails for $200. I assure you I’ve tried! but that was years ago. I get better results from opt-in users. And today we’ve about 200K opt ins for xTrain Alone! You can’t beat those numbers for a small website like ours.
Sit back, click send. Hold your breath and check your sales in the morning. No, I mean if you’ve sent a legitimate email campaign you will be able to monitor open rates, click throughs etc. Don’t be disappointed by the numbers. In general advertising only returns 1% of the number of people sent…. whether it’s an email, magazine ad, radio ad etc… but the good thing is that… if you keep at it… that number over time - say 10 campaigns, now means that you’ve gotten a 10% of your total campaigns… so for example a if you send an email to 3,000 people, you’ll get 300 newbies, theoretically.. Right? do it ten times, and you’ve got 3,000 newbies…. just a thought!
Need More Gurus! Holy Smokes We Got Em!
Written on 5 March 2008 by adminWe’ve got some of the coolest instructors coming in over the next few months - who are doing shows - none of our competors do!!! I’m So looking forward to the light painting at night, t-shirt designs, magazine covers, the tattoo drawing, body airbrushing & more arts show than ever! But you know what I have a long list of shows we’d love to do, if you have a recommendation, please check out my guru page and let me know how cool you are!