You are currently reading articles posted in the SXSW category.

Who’s On Blellow? Mark Sherrick

Blellow is growing! New members are joining everyday, but after almost 3 months, there are a few members who have become friends. These folks have been Blellow evangelists since day one and we couldn’t have gotten to where we are with out them. We’d like to introduce you to one of those friends today; regular guest blogger and all around good guy, Mark Sherrick.

Mark SherrickName: Mark Sherrick

Location: Bristol, CT

SkillsMarketing: Sales, Creative Consulting

Current Status: Contrary to the image my blog posts and some other things I do present, I am unemployed at the moment. I am in the beginning stages of the setup of my freelance consulting stuff.

What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working towards officially being a freelancer.

Favorite part of freelancing/entrepreneurship?
Its hard to say, really. I enjoy being my own boss and making my own choices.

Biggest challenge you face as a freelancer/entrepreneur?
That first step off the cliff is a big challenge. In the past, I had huge issues with second guessing myself, but I am beyond that now.

What are some of your favorite tools that you are using to run your business as a freelancer?
My brain, for the most part. But for actual tools, Twitter has done great things for expanding my network and introducing me to some great folks. As for software, since most of what I do is conceptual, I don’t have to use too much beyond using the general Microsoft office stuff and GIMP for occasional graphical work.

As a freelancer have you found it hard to balance work and play time? What do you do to try to keep things balanced?
As a person in general, I have a hard time balancing work and play. It’s why up until launching my freelancing, most of my work has been in places where I’m not stuck behind a desk or anything like that. Working at home does make balancing things a bit easier for me, because everything is within reach.

Has Blellow been helpful to you? If so, please share how it has helped.
Blellow has been amazingly helpful. I have met some amazing people and gotten some great advice on what to do and what not to do. I really appreciate the social aspect of Blellow as well, because working at home, all I have is my dog and cat to keep me company, and they don’t talk much.

Where can you find Mark?

http://www.twitter.com/heythatguymark
http://themarketingmark.blogspot.com
http://blellow.com/marksherrick

Want to get in contact with Mark? Here’s how:
sherrickmark@gmail.com is really the best way to get ahold of me, I check my email much more than I use my phone or anything else.

Blellow Needs Your Help!

419 views  |  Comments
Blellow Needs Your Help!

Blellow is a community about helping each other with problems that might be difficult to solve on our own, and communicating with your colleagues and peers.

A week into our beta, we’ve read many good reviews of our site and the buzz is slowly growing, but in line with our “help others” philosophy we are now asking for your help!

Blellow started as a bootstrapped company, with president Mandi Leman privately funding the entire site by herself. This is practically unheard of in today’s venture capitolist dominated internet.

We’ve poured every cent into the site to make sure your experience is fun, productive, and useful. Unfortunately this hasn’t left much room in our budget for advertising, so we’re pleading to our users to help us spread the word about Blellow.com!

With South by Southwest Interactive coming up this week we’re bound to get some traffic to the site and attention pointed towards us, but we want to double — if not triple — the user base!

Increasing our users also increases our community, and increases the chances of getting better solutions to the problems and questions that you ask of other Blellow members.

This is where you come in: talk about Blellow, Tweet about Blellow, write blog posts about Blellow, record a YouTube or Seesmic video, talk about us on FriendFeed, Facebook, or MySpace. Whatever your social network of choice is,

If you’re a graphic designer, invite other graphic designer friends. If you’re a programmer, invite other coders. If you work for a design firm, invite your coworkers, create a private group just for your company to brainstorm and talk about ideas.

Of course we’re not asking you to spam you friends, but imagine if all of the other people in your field were available on the site, how much more worthwhile would the site be?

Win Ticket to SxSWi for Beta Testing Blellow

SxSWi

 

Blellow will be launching to the public at SxSW and we figured it would only be fair to offer at least one lucky beta tester a chance to come and enjoy the fun with us. So here’s the deal:

 

1. Follow us on twitter @blellow

 

2. Sign up (or be signed up) for the private beta that is launching 3/3. If you are not already signed up please do so by visiting www.blellow.com and clicking on the big ol’ Sign Up for Beta button on our home page.  Need more info on what Blellow is? Watch this video.

 

3. Log in to our community (once we launch the beta), and use it for a bit to get a feel for what Blellow is all about and then post an honest review on your blog, website, or social network.

 

4. Then twitter this message no later than 3/6 at 5 PM CST:
@blellow I tried out the blellow.com #blellowbeta, it’s (add your own adjective). Here’s my review [link here] please RT!

 

We will be celebrating at our Home Town Launch party at our downtown San Antonio Studio that night and will be streaming live via Ustream. A winner will be chosen at random live on 3/6 at 8 PM CST to receive a free interactive pass to SxSWi AND a VIP pass to Mash*Bash on March 16th. We will notify the winner via email and post on Twitter.

 

So, what are you waiting for…go sign up for the beta (if you haven’t already) and get ready to party with Blellow! We look forward to meeting you!

Blellow at the Mashable and Blurb Bash!

Blellow at the Mashable and Blurb Bash at SXSW


Blellow is a sponsor in this year’s Mashable and Blurb Bash at South by Southwest, held on Monday, March 16th from 9:30pm - 12:30am at the Six Lounge on 4th Street in Austin, Texas.

We’ll be set up on the first floor, so look for us celebrating with other pioneering social media personalities.

The event is free for all SXSW badge holders and registration is now available at their Eventbright page. Sign up and join in the fun!

Read more about the Mashable and Blurb Bash here!

What Is Blellow?

 

 
Communications Manager Veronica Jorden gives an overview of what Blellow.com is all about, and how the site will function. This is a great introduction to what we are seeking to accomplish with our new upcoming social network, and how it can benefit freelancers, creative professionals, and employers.
 
Topics covered in the video:

  • Who does Blellow benefit?
  • How does Blellow help freelancers overcome challenges?
  • Productivity tools that Blellow will offer versus other social networks
  • How do “Kudos” work, and how does that affect credibility and popularity on the site?
  • When does Blellow launch, and where you can find Blellow at South By Southwest in Austin this year

Note: The Blellow beta is beginning March 3rd (not late March)