Author Archives: Jeremy McLean

About Jeremy McLean

Jeremy is a front-end web developer and marketing professional in Saint John, NB. He has 5+ years experience helping small businesses succeed online in the greater Saint John area. At his primary career with Kinek, he is helping build a start-up throughout North America. He also runs his own web & video development company, Memorywalk, in evening and weekend hours.

Black and White Compositions

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It’s no secret that I have found a new love in Photography. My wife bought me a new lens for Christmas (Tamron 2.8/f 75mm) and I am currently taking my 4th photography course online. I have learned quite a bit over the past year and after a recent chapter on composition I took to the streets to practice some shots. I have placed a few below that I put up on my Flickr page for the world to see. It’s more for myself than anything else but it’s really neat to see the improvement in your photographs as you gain more and more experience from quality tutorials.

One of the greatest tips I learned recently is simply what to look for in taking a photograph, “how to create a great composition“. Balancing the photograph and always getting closer to make the subject more of the focus goes a long way. Framing the photo with lines or shapes is not always easy to see but if you look for them, you can find a great photograph that you would have never saw before. Lastly, making sure the subject and the background are easily distinguishable is a must. If you look at the basketball hoop below, it jumps out and is the first thing you look at in the photo. The background with the tree, bench, and fog is meant to serve as a balance to the rest of the photo. More… →

Kinek on TechCrunch

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Kinek on TechCrunch

If you work for a start-up like I do there are a few goals that you aim for in the tech industry. Profitability, sustainability, competitive advantage, and being mentioned on TechCrunch. This past Friday, Sarah Perez wrote an article on Kinek and how our company has entered the mobile space with our new iPhone app. I was off that day, but when a co-worker texted me the simple line “Check out TechCrunch” I almost lost my mind. Needless to say my day off turned into a pretty busy work day for all the right reasons. I knew we were in contact with Sarah and we truly appreciate her writing the article, but just seeing it on the biggest tech blog in the world was a big day for us. More… →

Facebook Timeline

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Facebook timeline

Changes in the tech industry are usually expected and mediocre. Some companies change frequently to show they are growing and adapting to users wants and needs. We see this so often in tech because its a competitive space that needs to change to stay current. When you’re a leader in your space, you need to stay on top, and do whatever it takes to stay there. Facebook has changed the way your profile looks a few times recently and they just came out with their new timeline view which went live yesterday. You can change your Facebook profile to the new timeline view now by visiting http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline. It’s set up so you can try it out and not publish it until Dec 23rd so give it a try. More… →

GoPro Videocamera

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GoPro Hero

If you like action sports and capturing life’s exciting moments on video for the world or your family and friends to see, the GoPro is the camera of choice. This little compact videocamera can capture 1080p HD video footage at 30fps and the Hero 2, which just came out, has an even sharper lens and better focus capabilities than its original counterpart.

I personally purchased the GoPro for capturing video footage of my paintball bachelor party, which was one painful yet amazing experience. I also brought the camera on my honeymoon to Mexico and took some footage of my wife and I zip-lining and snorkelling. I was highly disappointed in the underwater capabilities as the videos online that show very crisp video is just not realistic at all. The original GoPro is not great under water, but it shoots at amazing quality in normal conditions. (see example below). More… →

The Importance of Great Design

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Ian Watt Real Estate example

What is the difference between a user clicking on an ad or not? Great Design
What is the difference in looking professional or not? Great Design
What is the difference in becoming a premium product or service? Great Design
What catches the eye more than anything else on the web? Great Design

Let’s face it, most companies want to keep costs low, and be smart about where they spend their money. The problem is, in Atlantic Canada having a website is not used nearly as effectively as it should. In modern cities like Vancouver and Toronto websites are considered to be one of, if not they, most important marketing tools for their business. The web is where people are spending their time, and that’s the new staple for researching any type of product or service. Your website not only needs to be well designed, it needs to be found in search engines, and it needs to be connected to where people are talking like social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. More… →

Live Empowered

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live empoweredI was recently approached about a great cause that I wanted to share with everyone. November is National Family Domestic Violence Month as well as November 25th being the International Day to End Violence Against Women. The greater Saint John area is having a few events that support this great cause.

To raise awareness Live Empowered was born. It is being held at The Chang Yong Taekwondo College (278 Waterloo Street) on November 19th. The silent auction for Hestia House is from 10:00am-12:00pm and the Women’s Empowerment Session and Self Defence Course from 1:00pm-4:00pm. In addition, there will be numerous door prizes and light refreshments from Piece O’ Cake and Starbucks. There are over 50 silent auction items up for grabs including many great gift cards and items from some of Saint John’s most generous businesses. More… →

Piece O Cake

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Piece O Cake

I love small businesses that take risks and use innovative marketing alongside a great product. Piece O’ Cake is Saint John’s newest hot spot and has people in love with cupcakes all over again.

If you’ve visited Vancouver lately you would notice numerous Cupcake Girls locations throughout the city, and they are so popular that they even have their own TV show. I am not comparing the two businesses but merely pointing out that cupcake bakery’s can be successful by simply providing a great product and some smart marketing. More… →

Understanding the NBA Lockout

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NBA Lockout

I believe everyone has the right to negotiate fair wages and employers also have the right to discuss revenues and changes that need to be made in order to be profitable. When it comes down to it, our businesses foremost need to be profitable before employees can start making sensible arguments towards fair wages. Everyone has their own point of view on the NBA Lockout and labour disputs, unions, etc, but it all comes down to one thing, profits. A business will not succeed being in the red at the end of a fiscal year, and that is why this years NBA lockout is not only ridiculous, but it’s a huge hit to the U.S. economy as well.

First I need to point out that there are 7 teams in the NBA that are the only major league sports team in their city. Oklahoma, San Antonio, Portland, Orlando, Utah, and Sacramento all share this commonality. To gain some perspective on how different they really are from the rest of the 23 teams in the league the Portland Trail Blazers formed a study (complied by Forbes), which showed the 23 other teams created a net loss of value in their market of 11 million dollars from 2009-2010. This is not surprising with the economic downturn the U.S. had over this time. On the other hand the other 7 teams combined for a +64 million value in that same stretch. Obviously being the only major league sports team in your city is going to create an enormous value to your city. The hard part to swallow is the devastating amount of job losses and economic value the NBA lockout has caused and may cause even further if the season is cancelled. More… →