A good friend of ours just hit the freelance scene after a tour with a popular online marketing agency and has started his own freelance business, calling it: Solv. I first met Aaron Irizarry at the Local Search Summit at SES San Jose in mid-2009, speaking on the topic of digital media, Facebook and Twitter. Check out the session for yourself below:
Aaron and I had a chance to chat after the session and it was then that I realized that this guy was in deep with online marketing. Like a Lord of the Rings Super Fan who memorizes a map of Gondor, Aaron speaks a language about digital media as though he had spent his entire life studying it, yet translates his expertise in simple English, such as in the video above where he says “Analytics, bar graphs, math, that’s awesome. Something that’s easy to sign up for because I like it, that’s even better“. Even more interesting, Aaron’s website and personal brand at the time included characterization, which says a lot of Aaron’s passion for online marketing, as just cool to see being done in the first place. I can image my characterization looking a lot like Balki from the 80′s TV show Perfect Strangers.
A few days ago, Aaron Izirarry started a video series about leaving the corporate world and going freelance. I had the privilege to speak to him about the recent change and share my empathy for the road ahead (remembering my days as a freelancer). I asked Aaron how he would scale as a one-man shop and his response was “I only work with companies who are serious about building their online presence, which doesn’t leave much room for short-term clients. I’m looking to take on a few serious clients, grow long-term relationships, continue to build my own brand and see where it goes from there.”
I asked Aaron for a few sentences describing who he is, what he does, and what makes him an expert in his field. Here was his response:
My name is Aaron Michael Irizarry (Aaron I. for short), I run my own design biz called Solv, I am passionate about finding the right solutions to help businesses and individuals build/extend their brand online. I do this by providing innovative solutions for clients by marrying creativity with functionality to provide compelling user experiences. Some of the service I provide… Front End Web Development / User Interface Design , XHTML & CSS Coding, Custom WordPress Theming & Set Up, and User Experience / Web Design Consulting.
Aaron has already picked up a number of new accounts by sheer reputation. If you’re as impressed as we are with Aaron, I’d recommend calling him right away. I sincerely doubt that his availability will last long, at least from what we’ve seen of him. Find Aaron at Solv.com or sign up for his RSS feed at ThisIsAaronsLife.com (I have and definitely recommend you so as well).
Branding is something so few of us Internet Marketers spend enough time on. For hardcore SEO folks, life is all about page and site structure, taxonomies, keywords, links, links and more links. For hardcore designers, it’s about intense graphics, groovy sounds and interactions. However, when it comes to conversion, eCommerce, integrated SEO & design principles, and building brand equity though high quality digital media, nobody (I mean nobody) does a better job than a Brand Expert.
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