Networking | Portfolio Creative

Business Vision 101 – The Top 5 Things We Want You To Know

February 22, 2022

By Catherine Lang-Cline Why am I talking about startups? Because recently the Women’s Small Business Accelerator asked me to talk to a group of small businesses and startups about goal setting. It reminded me of some of the goals that Kristen Harris and I set before we even opened our doors. That made me think, with all of the startups popping up, maybe we can help. If you prefer listening to reading, here is a link to our podcast, Illumination Bureau, that we did on the topic. All of you

Remote Networking: An Introvert’s Dream?

July 8, 2020

By Kristen Harris I’ve written past articles about networking, especially as an introvert. I don’t love big events, lots of hand-shaking, or blanketing a room with my business card. Since we’re doing a lot of working from home and most events have been canceled or postponed for the near future, you’d think this would be an introvert’s dream, right? Yes and no. Funny enough, I miss people! I’ve never loved a huge ballroom full of strangers, but I do like connecting with people one-on-one or in small groups. Right now

Networking in a Time When No One Wants to Hear Your Sales Pitch

June 18, 2020

By Catherine Lang-Cline If you have been in business for at least 15 years like us, or maybe even longer, you know that networking looks very different today. Today, it is completely different because of a world-wide pandemic and during a pandemic, no one wants to be sold to. What worked then doesn’t always work now and that leaves us with trying to reinvent a new way to network. So how does one continue to network when every in-person meeting, event, and convention has been canceled? Let’s start with the

Time Hop: The Evolution of the Staffing Industry

September 19, 2019

By Kristen Harris A relatively new industry, the current concept of “staffing” has only been around for several decades. Even so, it’s evolved over that time. Let’s jump in the way back machine… The first temporary staffing firms started just after World War II, tapping into a growing market for part-time help. These early firms mostly focused on filling part-time or intermittent needs, especially in offices and secretarial pools. A combination of a few national firms and lots of local firms providing these services continued to grow throughout the 1950s

People Like Us

September 17, 2019

Why We Started a Business By Catherine Lang-Cline Two graphic designers start a business, but it’s not a graphic design business. That is, we don’t design anything. The people we work with are the creatives and we just decided to help everyone find each other. People like us, in the creative industry, know the challenges of finding great help. We also know the challenges of finding a place where we are happy to do our craft. Speaking for myself, I started out in a production role. Then did graphic design,

Expanding Our Table

August 26, 2019

By Catherine Lang-Cline When you want to invite more guests to your conversation, you add chairs and expand the table. When you believe you can offer more people your service, you expand your business. Fourteen years ago, we had this idea to specialize in creative staffing. My business partner and I worked in advertising and marketing for many years and really understood the industry. As a result, we created a company that created perfect matches based on that experience. Then we asked, why stop the conversation there? Let’s add people

How to Market Yourself at Networking Events

June 18, 2019

By Catherine Lang-Cline It seems like there are networking events every day of the week. After you have decided which one to attend, you need to figure out how to get the most out of your time, something beyond, “what do you do?” and “can I have your card?” Everyone is there for the same thing, to shake hands and maybe make some sales. With that in mind, you should not be afraid to start a conversation. You should also be doing more then just collecting cards too. Here are

#SheMeansBusiness Presents: Women at Work

September 17, 2018

Recently, Facebook stopped by our office to learn more about our Co-Creators, Kristen and Catherine, for their #shemeansbusiness series. Watch the full video below!

Diversity in Creative: The Power of Conversation

September 6, 2018

By Kristen Harris Our business is to connect clients with the best creative talent, which means we’re working with candidates and companies in the creative space all day long. As we go about our work, we often notice a lack of diversity in race or ethnic background amongst candidates for creative roles. Let’s just say it here–we know that this conversation can be tricky territory. But if a company is focused on change, and it’s coming from the right place for the right reasons, we support that. Our job and

Networking Like a Shark

July 23, 2018

By Catherine Lang-Cline People think that you need to be very aggressive to properly network. What networking really is, is building relationships, but there are some characteristics we could adopt from one of the most aggressive creatures on the planet to produce some very effective networking, I am talking about the great white shark. In honor of “Shark Week,” here is what we can learn from these bold creatures: Sharks work alone. This is almost always true, but sometimes they work in teams. Networking works the same way, you throw yourself

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