Marketing & Creative Jobs in Canada Blog - Part 29

3 Reasons Why You Need to Stop Eating Lunch at Your Desk

Stop Eating Lunch at Your Desk

Yes, you. Stop eating lunch at your desk. You’re in front of the computer all day and your mind needs a break.

The best way to learn about the people you work with—on both a personal and professional level—is to eat lunch with them, or even just chat over a cup of coffee. From a purely productive standpoint, eating lunch away from your desk helps you do more by doing less. Working or browsing the internet while eating may seem productive, but you’re doing more damage to your work (and yourself) than good.

Here’s why it’s better that you eat and snack away from your desk during the day:

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The 9 to 5: Carolyn McNeillie, Digital Marketing Manager at House of Anansi

Carolyn McNeillie, Digital Marketing Manager at House of Anansi

Welcome to The 9 To 5, our ongoing series where we highlight and interview creative professionals doing great things. Today’s profile is on Carolyn McNeillie, Digital Marketing Manager at House of Anansi.

1. What’s it like to work in an office surrounded by books and book-lovers?

I’ll never forget the morning of my first day of work. It was May, so it was just starting to become warm, and I came in early (probably the first and last time I’ve been early for anything.) The office was still nearly empty and the light was streaming in, and the path I walked through to get to my desk was lined on both sides with books—ones that I’d read and loved, ones that I had wanted to read, ones that I hadn’t seen before. I don’t know how to describe the way I felt about it except that I knew I had found a place I wanted to be a part of. 

You can’t truly have a bad day, working in a place like this. All you have to do is to look at the books on the shelves and the kindred spirits in the other desks and you remember why it’s all worth it.

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How to Determine your Freelance Rate

How to Determine Your Freelance Rate

Are you a freelancer or considering becoming one?

More people are taking on freelance roles, completing projects for companies on a short term or contract basis, as opposed to working for one company in traditional full-time roles. A 2010 study done by Intuit predicts that 40% of the U.S. workforce will be comprised of freelancers by 2020—and Canada shouldn’t be too far behind.

A challenge you’ll experiences as a freelancer is determining what you should charge your clients. While it may sound easy coming up with a rate to charge, in reality it’s far more complicated than just picking a number.

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Yes, Creativity Can Be Taught

FreshGigs Can Creativity Be Taught

Creativity is a curious thing. It’s a quality that some people just seem to have, while others sigh in discontent and express out loud, “I wish I was more creative.” But those who do appear creative, and who work in creative fields, don’t wish—they do. Every artist, every photographer, every chef, every writer had (and has) to put in thousands of hours of hard work to make a living out of their creative passions. Working in a creative field doesn’t happen out of nowhere—like any other job or hobby, it requires training, education, application, and, of course, deep-rooted interest.

If you’ve ever wished to become more creative, here’s what you need to know: creativity isn’t in a safe that only a select few people know the combination to. Yes, creativity can be taught.

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The 9 to 5: Curtis Wolowich, Creative Director at Agency59

The 9 to 5 - Curtis Wolowich Agency59

Welcome to The 9 To 5, our ongoing series where we highlight and interview creative professionals doing great things. Today’s profile is on Curtis Wolowich, Creative Director at Agency59.

FreshGigs - Curtis Wolowich Agency591. When did you know you wanted to become a creative director?

I didn’t really—at a certain point in my career I realized there was nowhere else to go but up. I did know, though, at a young age that I wanted to be an art director. I loved drawing and just knew that I wanted to keep doing that.

2. What’s on your typical “to-do” list for a day at the office?

It really varies. Mondays start with an all team status with both creative and accounts running through all of priorities of the week. This meeting gives everyone insight into all the work that is with the creative team so we can identify any capacity issues and try and sort them out before they have any impact on the work.

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How To Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking

FreshGigs - How To Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking

A fear of public speaking, known as Glossophobia, is the #1 phobia in the world—10% of people suffer from a genuine fear of pubic speaking, while 80% experience some form of anxiety before speaking. And why wouldn’t Glossophobia be #1? Standing up in front of a room full of strangers or executives and giving a speech doesn’t happen everyday. But when it does, all eyes are on you and you need to deliver.

Public speaking comes naturally to the fortunate few. For most other people, however, public speaking is a nerve-wracking experience, in which the day of the presentation (or interview) is preceded by sleepless nights and stress-eating.

It’s tempting to try to write down your whole speech in a Word document and then try to memorize each sentence, but this leads to dull presentations, and is a root cause of glossophobia.

No matter how much you’re afraid of public speaking, it’s a necessary skill that you need to master. Rising up the ranks in your company is often accompanied with an expectation that you’ll need to manage a team of people, meet with clients and potential clients, or even be able to speak to the media—all of which require a level of comfort with public speaking.

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Here’s Why Your Best Thinking Occurs in the Shower

Here’s Why Your Best Thinking Occurs in the Shower - FreshGigs

You’ve tried coming up with a solution to that problem in the boardroom, at your desk, in a coffee shop, at the library, and even in your kitchen, but keep coming up empty handed. And then… eureka! You’ve got it! The solution came to you in… the shower.

The shower seems to be a magical zone where you can get clean and generate a seemingly endless number of ideas. And then you grab a towel and… your ideas vanish. (This is why I do all my work in the shower).

When your mind is given the opportunity to roam freely, and is given ample time to do so, the more connections it can make, leading to more ideas and more solutions.

Why is this the case? Why do ideas disappear when you step out of the shower (or don’t seem as feasible), and why do ideas come in an endless stream while you’re in the shower to begin with? As Nick Stockton explains in the article What’s Up With That: Your Best Thinking Seems to Happen in the Shower, aimless engagement during an activity, such as having a shower, or taking a walk or long drive, is a catalyst for free association.

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Why You Need to Keep Your Intentions Private

Here's Why You Need to Keep Your Intentions Private - FreshGigs

It makes sense to want to broadcast your goals and plans to your close friends and family. Plan on going to the gym every morning? Want to finish that 500-page book? Telling your friends and family should seemingly act as motivation to help you get things done—people know about your plans, and now it’s up to you to follow up and fulfill your plans.

But not so fast.

The simple act of telling people your plans makes you feel like you’ve already accomplished your goals—even if you haven’t started.

“Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen,” says Derek Sivers, author of Shut up! Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them.

“Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed.”

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Free Ticket Give Away To Art of Marketing Conference in Vancouver April 15th

Free-Ticket

Well folks we’ve been able to secure another ticket to one of the conferences we’re helping sponsor and promote and as we often do we’d like to give one free ticket away to a member of the FreshGigs.ca creative community.

This is a one day event happening on Wednesday April the 15th at Canada place.

This event will be a great one and the marketing professionals stepping on stage and speaking are pretty much unreal (See full list here)

FREE Ticket Give Away (Value $450)

In order to enter this free ticket giveaway you only need to do two simple things:

Good luck folks!

The 9 to 5: Katie Hudson, Marketing Manager at Demac Media

Katie Hudson for FreshGigs

Welcome to The 9 To 5, our ongoing series where we highlight and interview creative professionals doing great things. Today’s profile is on Katie Hudson, Marketing Manager at Demac Media and founder of whyirun.co.

Katie Hudson for FreshGigs - Profile11. When did you first know you wanted a career in marketing?

It’s funny because originally, I was in the accounting stream at Laurier. During my time there I was a Laurier Ambassador (part of a team that gives tours to prospective students), and one day a Dad of a potential student on the tour came up to me at the end of it and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you’re heading down the wrong career path. You have way too much personality and energy to be an accountant”.

Now it wasn’t because of this comment that I made the switch later on, but looking back it’s funny that even he knew accounting wasn’t the right fit for me! I ended up switching out of the accounting stream in my third year, and instead took a variety of courses (finance, marketing, etc) in my fourth year to finish with a general specialization with an international focus.

After graduating I worked abroad for one year in Medellín, Colombia for a consulting firm as a Market Intelligence Analyst. This was sort of a cross between a marketing role and accounting – meaning, it was marketing but with numbers. I jumped right in. I really liked how everything I was doing was trackable and quantifiable. This was my first taste into digital marketing, and I think it was during my time as an analyst, I realized that this was the kind of industry I wanted to be in.

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