Author Archives: Josh Kinal

About Josh Kinal

Josh Kinal specialises in content strategy with Soupgiant. A writer and broadcaster since 1993, he turned his hand to the web in 2005 and has not looked back since.

He hosts and produces the weekly Boxcutters podcast, bringing people information about the whole world of television since 2005.

Josh is @sealfur on Twitter.

Behind the Websites: HTML5 for Web Designers

The first release from publisher A Book Apart does exactly what I would hope for from the people who brought us the excellent A List Apart online magazine. It simplifies a topic and gets me excited about using new web technologies.

Business: An Answer to the Twitter Question

One of the questions we’re often asked by clients when doing an initial consultation is “what about twitter?” After a couple of years of thinking about an answer, Josh might finally have one.

Design: Use Experience to build Experience

Real world experience counts for a lot when developing for an online world. Sure, it sounds trite but it’s frighteningly true. Working on redesigning the user interface for an online store, I found myself digging deep into my own experiences to be able to anticipate the needs of the customer.

Design: Designing a User Interface with Caveat Emptor

There are lots of elements that go into making a good online store. One of the most important is that customers have access to all the information they need to make an informed decision.

Business: Reply to Emails to Manage Expectations

The cost to benefit ratio of replying to email is tiny. In contrast, not replying to email can be detrimental to your reputation and your relationships. It’s your choice.

Business: Business is not like Sport

It’s easy to make sports analogies when discussing business. Watching World Cup soccer and playing baseball, as I do, the similarities between doing well in sports and business seem obvious. In fact, since Robert DeNiro, playing Al Capone in The Untouchables bashed in an associate’s head while making a baseball analogy, drawing lines of comparison between the two has become cliché.

Business: Beware the Amazing Bargain

We’ve all heard about how, when something sounds like too much of a bargain to be true, it probably is. This was definitely the case with “quick and simple websites from $495″. When it comes to building a website, it’s important to know what the client actually needs.

Content Strategy: Understand What You’re Saying

Sometimes even the smallest amounts of content can completely undo the good work you are trying to do. The right processes help avoid mistakes and lead you towards the audience you’ve always wanted.

Content Strategy: The Right Content for the Right Audience

What we’ve done in Soupgiant is take the blog portion of our website and move it over here to Big Red Tin. The two sites still link to each other. There’s no doubt that the people in charge over here are also in charge over there. It’s one and the same.

Business: Thinking: More Important Than Ideas

Ideas come out of nowhere. We can’t hold onto them. We shouldn’t even try. Ideas are best blurted out and, subsequently, best thought over.