Whether you’ve been doing it for a while or are just starting out, the increase in remote work has affected everyone over the last few years. However, it has created a unique set of challenges as pertains to creative positions. You might now be more isolated working on a project and need a reminder to reach out to colleagues. Collaborations won’t happen as naturally as they do in person, so finding tricks to inspire a team are crucial to the creative process. The rigid nature of online interactions may also restrict creativity and delay the finish line— especially if you’re new to the gig. Nevertheless, a remote job can allow for exciting new career endeavors you might not have been able to experience prior.

Since working from my home state of Virginia, while most of the Ducks are centered in Chicago, I’ve become well versed in the ways of new remote creative jobs. Between meeting coworkers and working on explainer video productions via Slack chats and Zoom calls, I’ve seen a lot of successful digital communication, and learned to adapt processes more typical of an in-person position at a video agency. My time as a Creative Video Intern has been an experience full of learning, and I wanted to share some tips in case you, or someone you know, is starting a new remote role.

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

In my first week at Demo Duck, I still had some natural shyness about myself, trying my best to navigate the new job without feeling like I was overstepping. This behavioral choice, I would come to find, is ill-fitted for the virtual world. This was notably brought to light when I was sitting in on an internal brainstorm call for a client project. Joining the meeting, I had prepared to simply sit and listen, taking in an experience I had yet to be a part of.

However, those plans were quickly thrown out the window. The team immediately pulled me into a warm-up game and asked for my feedback throughout the call. At first, I was very self-conscious of myself, but as the meeting progressed, I tried to make an effort to let go and have fun with the process. The more I talked, the more I learned and understood, thus allowing me to better help when we began assembling the explainer video concept presentation for the client.

We’re already virtual, so rigid nerves can make you seem less engaged. Depending on the video conference software and the size of the call, your little box might even be moved off the host’s screen— talk about fading into the background. That’s why pushing yourself to be as open and engaging as you can early on makes an enormous difference with first impressions for new team members and clients. If you feel your virtual self has turned invisible don’t be afraid to speak up in the chat or use the “raise your hand” feature. In a creative environment, it’s essential to be just that; creative. Expressing yourself can only help the process. Being looser, especially when working creatively, will help not only you but your team as well.

There are also small things you can do as an individual to help keep the flow of a meeting going. If you find yourself staring at your stiff reflection through the webcam, consider disabling your video so you can no longer see yourself. Most of us aren’t movie stars, so watching ourselves on video calls can be exhausting and awkward. With your video box not visible to you, even if only for a few minutes, most people can relax a great deal.

For our second episode of ‘Tools of the Craft’, we take a look at Basecamp with two of our producers, Stephan and Cody. Since the early years of Demo Duck, we’ve been using Basecamp to keep our creative communication for projects in one place and make sure we’re hitting our video production deadlines. It’s been fun to see it evolve over that time and some of our producers were even invited into Basecamp HQ for a live feedback session. Give it a quick watch (or read) and stay tuned for more episodes of ‘Tools of the Craft’ in the coming weeks!

CODY: Welcome … No.

BOTH: Welcome to ‘Tools of the Craft’.

STEPHAN: I’m Stephan.

CODY: And I’m Cody.

STEPHAN: Today we’re gonna talk about a tool-

CODY: While making a craft.

STEPHAN: Today’s tool is Basecamp, something we use to make sure projects are moving along smoothly by helping us communicate with creatives and track to-dos.

STEPHAN: Cody, what’s this box? Would you say it’s a “mystery box”?

STEPHAN: I mean, we’re talking about Basecamp, so do you think it’s something-

CODY: It’s gotta be a campfire.

STEPHAN: Maybe a small mountain diorama?

CODY: Okay.

STEPHAN: Yeah.

CODY: Well, let’s see.

STEPHAN: Let’s check it out.

CODY: What’s in there? Oh. We have popsicle sticks-

STEPHAN: And a glue bottle.

CODY: We’re making a popsicle house.

STEPHAN: I think what it is is there are all these zany looking things, and the glue is the producers that really hold the project together.

CODY: I like that. That’s sweet.

STEPHAN: So, I see one square.

CODY: Yeah. And then, we’re gonna make, like three more of these.

STEPHAN: Where?

What problem does Basecamp solve for you?

CODY: We use Basecamp to speak to our video creatives. Anytime that we receive feedback from our clients, we’ll then share that on Basecamp.

STEPHAN: We have some great templates that we put together to just kind of get those core pieces of the project together in Basecamp, and that lets us focus on the project-specific tasks. So, what makes that project special. Things like that.

What’s your favorite feature of Basecamp?

CODY: I love the fact that Basecamp allows you to separate the project into each of the stages of the video production process so that all the notes for our storyboards are all gonna be in one area. All of our notes for our style frames will also be in a separate area.

CODY: You get it. No, glue that one.

STEPHAN: Well you got to make …

CODY: I think you’ve got to make a separate square, right?

STEPHAN: Can you show it to me? Maybe like a rough mock up?

CODY: Yes. So …

STEPHAN: See, that’s the other great thing about Basecamp – it’s not just text. You can actually upload pictures and other files that help you get ideas across.

When is Basecamp most useful?

STEPHAN: It’s great to be able to do that and assign specific things to specific people. I can assign them to the project and assign a due date just like I would with a creative during storyboards or style frames or animation.

STEPHAN: Would you say we’re kind of specializing our tasks?

CODY: Oh, completely. I’m not actually allowed to construct at all.

STEPHAN: That’s a union issue, but you’re the glue dude.

What is your Basecamp secret weapon?

CODY: The pinning of the project when sorting through which project is yours can take all little bit of time. So, if you pin all your projects to the top, then you can look at the list first.

CODY: So, now, we have to put these walls together.

STEPHAN: Yeah, lets read crafting. Crafting the roof.

CODY: Oh, so we’re doing the roof and not the walls yet.

STEPHAN: These are the walls.

CODY: Right. But we’re not like putting the walls together yet. Please standby.

STEPHAN: I think the glue, basically, needs just like to fill that-

CODY: Pretend it’s-

STEPHAN: It’s yesterday, and this is a taco.

CODY: Okay.

STEPHAN: A glue taco.

STEPHAN: That wall is not glued on.

CODY: That wall?

STEPHAN: Yep, that wall. I need some help here.

CODY: You need some glue.

STEPHAN: Oh no.

CODY: Alright. I gotta … I’m at a weird angle. No.

Final review of the tool

STEPHAN: So, if we were to rate Basecamp on a number of popsicle houses.

CODY: So, I would say, I would give it an eight because I think it’s near-perfect, but there are still a few things that we’d like to see changed.

CODY: And now, we’re good.

STEPHAN: It looks great.

CODY: This looks great.

CODY: Basecamp was the tool.

STEPHAN: Popsicle disaster was the craft.

CODY: And this was ‘Tools of the Craft’.

STEPHAN: Thanks. We’ll see you next time. I think if we would have used Basecamp, we probably could have made a better house.

As we discussed a few posts back, video can be used in a variety of ways when it comes to your customer’s buying journey. So, instead of just listing out our 10 favorite corporate videos (because best video production has been done) we decided to create some categories for the best videos of the year. Look out Oscars!

[The following guest post is a contribution from Eric Hinson and our friends over at Arkansas-based Explainify]

There’s no doubt about it – New York City moves fast. Step out onto the street, and you’re immediately caught up in a rushing river of busy pedestrians.

It’s fast –  but the energy is infectious.

I thought a little energy and inspiration would work wonders for our team. So in August, we took a five-day trip to NYC to attend a creativity workshop.

Few things are more powerful in the sales process than an effective testimonial. Hearing about a product or service from someone who has used it before helps ease those buying nerves and provides a measure of legitimacy to the seller. And what better way to deliver a testimonial than through video? Video puts viewers face-to-face with your customer and gives them a glimpse into their experience that text and photos simply cannot do.

When done well, a video testimonial can be one of your best sales and marketing investments. So here are three essential preparation steps you should be taking to ensure you create a genuine, engaging testimonial video.

1. Identify the right customer to interview

One of the biggest challenges you’ll encounter when producing a video customer testimonial video is finding the right customer to be on camera. For starters, it helps to have a solid existing relationship with the customer you’re going to work with. They need to be your champion and invested in your success. If they’re “doing you a favor” or begrudgingly agree to be in “your little video” it’s probably not a good fit. Your customer should be genuinely excited about being part of what you’re building.

Once you’ve found your champion, you need to make sure they can tell their story on camera. If you’ve met them in person before, or seen other videos they’ve been in, this can be relatively easy to assess. However, if you’ve never seen them before, you need to do a little sleuthing to figure out if it’s worth the time and expense to put them in your video. An in-person meeting is ideal, but a video chat, or even a phone call, can get you a decent feel for how they’ll perform under the big lights. In general, you’re looking to see how well spoken they are, if they can improvise on the fly, how confident they seem, and how much energy they have.

Here’s a video testimonial we made for a online payroll service called SurePayroll. SurePayroll chose Kelly because of her experience with the product, her confidence (and willingness to be) on camera, and the fact that she’s local.

Maybe this is what Fatherhood does to you. Or maybe it was the most recent episode of StartUp I heard on the radio. But whatever it was, I recently decided it was time to document my journey as an entrepreneur, the ups and downs, and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Perhaps someday my son will find it interesting. Or maybe not. But in the meantime, I figure I can share it with you. So here it goes.

After college, I started working in marketing at a small company outside of Chicago called Air Cycle. For a while, I hated it. In fact, I even cried to my boss. Embarrassing, yes, but I knew I wanted to be doing work that mattered, something other than stuffing envelopes. Fortunately, things improved dramatically with time and eventually I was being exposed to all different areas of the business, learning about accounting, sales, operations, and management. I think that’s around the time the bug bit. The entrepreneurial bug that is.

I began reading books on starting businesses and engrossed myself in every Inc. magazine issue I could get my hands on. I found the concept of launching my own business fascinating and as I spent more and more time reading about entrepreneurs and the joys and challenges they face, it became official: I had to start my own business.

The following is a guest post from Tami Churns. As a founding partner and creative director at Twin Collective, Tami has designed, illustrated, and written for clients including Nike, Panasonic, Gogo Air, WebMD and Warner Music Group.

A new hire can make or break the culture and have a lasting impact on the trajectory of the business. Just last week I made the fifth hiring decision of my young entrepreneurial life. I know, five hires may not seem like a lot, but I’ve learned plenty of valuable lessons along the way. And while I may not be an expert, I do have some insights that may be able to save you some time, money, and heartache the next time you face an important hiring decision. Without further ado, here are 14 ways you can get a little closer to mastering the art of startup hiring:

1. Clearly Define the Role

A well defined job description doesn’t just benefit applicants. It will help you attract more qualified candidates, and force you to think about what it is you’re really looking for in a new hire. When your company is small, growing, and getting busy, it’s easy to assume that hiring more people is the answer. Sometimes it is, but oftentimes there are tasks that can be automated, outsourced, or skipped over completely.

Once you’ve determined that hiring is indeed the path to take, spend some time crafting a well thought out job description with clear responsibilities. You should be able to articulate exactly what that person will be doing on a daily basis and where they fit in within the company.

2. Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Don’t be afraid to sell the perks of the position. There are plenty of larger companies out there offering more money and better benefits, but fortunately that’s not the end game for most people (the right people at least). Hopefully you think your company is a great place to work, and assuming you’re paying a liveable wage, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to compete for the best talent out there.

What is it that makes your company unique? Is it your culture, your office space, your flexible hours, work from home policy, Friday lunches, Sega Genesis, or the people who work there? Maybe it’s all of the above. Either way, don’t sell yourself short. Be proud of what you’ve created and don’t settle for second best.

3. Post Strategically

Most people know that blasting out resumes to as many companies as possible is not the way to land a job. The same is true when posting an open position. By posting your opening on every Craigslist and Monster.com out there, you’re opening yourself up to a potential deluge of applicants, and bad ones at that. Not only is it time consuming to sift through hundreds of resumes, it’s stressful (what if I miss the needle in the haystack?).

Instead, be strategic about where you post the position. Start with local, targeted websites. I use startup-friendly job boards like Built in Chicago, Startupers, and StartUpHire. Make sure to tap into your existing team and network for referrals.

4. Require More than a Resume

Try to make it as difficult to apply as possible, without turning off truly qualified candidates. If all you require is a resume and cover letter, you’re going to be slammed with resume-spam from anyone who remotely matches the qualifications you’re looking for. And while it may be a win to get plenty of applicants, sorting through hundreds of unqualified resumes and generic cover letters is far from a win, in fact it’s probably a loss of hours or even days of your time.

Lately, I’ve been requiring applicants to answer 5-10 custom questions about them and why they think they’re a good fit. Occasionally, I’ll even require a video interview before I’m willing to pick up the phone or schedule an in person meeting. The idea here is to ensure that you’re getting applicants who care enough to work a little for it. If someone isn’t willing to take an hour or two to complete a few extra steps during the application process, they’re probably not interested enough in the job.

According to Jason Fried at Basecamp, effort during the hiring process is rare and “it’s the one thing a candidate can offer to really stand out”.

5. Stay Organized

When I made my first couple of hires, I was receiving applications and trying to track everything through email. Bad decision. It seems manageable when you only have a few applicants, but as the resumes start to pile up and the back-and-forth communication starts, things can quickly get out of hand.

Fortunately, I eventually stumbled across a couple of tools that help organize the hiring process, RIVS (a Demo Duck customer) and Workable. Both of these services keep your inbox clean and provide nifty features that allow you to track and rate candidates, schedule meetings, administer video interviews and questionnaires, and more.

6. Have a Schedule

Hiring is a big decision, and if you’re anything like me, what should be a 1-2 month process can quickly turn into 4, 5, or 6 months. Trust me, I know from experience. Not only is this a distraction to you and your team, you may lose interested and well qualified candidates along the way.

My best advice here is to have a schedule and stick to it. Set specific dates for accepting applications, phone interviews, in person interviews, second interviews, and an offer. Sure, things may go a little faster or slower, and getting the right person on board is more important than following a self imposed schedule, but ultimately this will keep you on track and set some expectations up-front.

7. Assign a Mini Project

This is probably my favorite one out of the group, and I’m surprised more companies don’t do it. It depends on what type of role you’re hiring for, but in most cases you can assign some type of mini project to see how people actually perform. A resume and sample work can only tell you so much. Having candidates complete a mini project just for you shows you what they can really do (not just cherry pick) and give you further indication that they’re willing to put in some extra effort.

For example, when hiring for a marketing position, I had top candidates write a sample blog post and develop a video concept and script for a company of their choice. For a project management role, I had applicants role play and answer angry emails from clients to see how they would handle themselves. It’s very insightful and I put a lot of weight on the results when making a final decision.

8. Personality Testing

A personality test, while sounding like something your high school guidance counselor might administer, should be a no brainer for any potential new hire. Fortunately, companies like Criteria Corp make pre-employment testing easy. They usually take only 30 minutes to complete and they can provide some very accurate insights about your top candidates. Anyone can say they’re hardworking and motivated, but this is just one more tool to help you verify it.

9. Check References

It sounds pretty basic, but plenty of people skip over reference checks because they take time or they don’t feel they’ll receive an honest summary of the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ve found that most references are more than happy to talk, and whether they’re sugar-coating things or not, you can still glean some valuable insights.

Make sure to prepare some specific questions to discuss with the reference, and if you have a concern or two about the candidate, don’t be afraid to bring them up. Most people are going to be honest with you and don’t want to tarnish their reputation by recommending someone who may not be the right fit.

10. Avoid Criminals

Hopefully it goes without saying, but typically you want to avoid hiring criminals. In most cases, by now you know the candidate well enough and running a background check is more of a formality. But, if you watch enough TV, you know that it’s always the people you least expect. GoodHire makes it fast and affordably ($29.99 for a basic report) to run a background check. Better safe than sorry, right?

11. Don’t Forget the Fine Print

When it comes time to make a formal offer, you want to have the right legal documents in place. It may not seem important when you’re a small startup, but having the proper agreements in place can become critical in the years to come. In most cases there is the offer letter, which outlines the terms of the offer (position, salary, requirements, etc.) and the employee agreement, which covers topics like confidentiality, non-compete, vacation, sick leave, holidays, termination, and so on.

If you can afford a lawyer, great, otherwise DIY legal tools like RocketLawyer and LegalZoom offer “template” offer letters and employee agreements that should be sufficient. Make sure to thoroughly review any offer you send out with a fine tooth comb.

12. Take the Plunge

Eventually there comes a time when you just have to make a decision. Many times towards the end of the hiring process you’ll end up with 2 or 3 candidates that could all be a great fit at your company. Over time I’ve come to believe that there is no single perfect person, and that so long as you do your homework up-front, at some point you need to trust your gut and take the plunge. So try not to drag things out for too long (see #6) and once you make a decision, move full steam ahead with your new hire, no looking back, no regrets.

13. Have a Training Plan

Once the offer letter and agreement are signed, hopefully you and the candidate are excited to get started and hit the ground running. In order to kick things off and maximize your first few weeks together, have a training plan ready on their first day. Nothing fancy, just a quick document that outlines the topics you’ll be covering, when, and by with whom.

Below is a simplified 4-week training plan for recent Marketing Manager hire we made:

Week 1: Take It All In

• Meet the team, understand their roles, and ask plenty of questions

• Get setup and familiar with all of the relevant tools and logins (e.g. Gmail, Sprout, etc)

• Read over our mission and values

• Get very familiar with our website

• Review tasks and marketing dashboard

• Peruse the existing content on our blogs and social media accounts for tone and content

• Review content inspiration at Wistia, MOZ, Help Scout, Grasshopper and KISSmetrics

Week 2-3: Develop a Plan

• Create a weekly task list and schedule based on the Marketing Dashboard

• Discuss and prioritize future initiatives with Andrew

• Work with Andrew to formulate a marketing plan and high level goals for the remainder of 2014

Week 4+: Execute!

14. Schedule a 90-day Checkup

Whether you have a probationary period in place or not, schedule a 90-day checkup. It’s a chance for you and your new hire to have an open and honest conversation about the last 3 months. By setting that expectation from the very beginning, it’s easier to be up-front about what you think is going well, and where there needs to be improvement. And while no one wants to have to let a new hire go, the popular wisdom is hire slow, fire fast.

I think it’s safe to say that hiring and retaining great talent is one of the biggest challenges that leaders face at companies small and large. It’s also one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make and a process that needs to be treated with the respect and diligence it deserves. Over the years I’ve had success following these 14 steps for hiring at my startup, and hopefully you will too. If you have any suggestions from your own hiring experiences, please share them with us!

2013 was a breakout year for explainer videos. With over 6 million new companies started each year and nearly 90% of marketers taking advantage of online video, the number of new explainer videos out there is staggering.

And while there is no way to see them all, we selected 10 videos from the thousands we watched in 2013 that stood out above the rest.

Without further ado, I give you the 10 best explainer videos of 2013 (and don’t miss the 4 lessons for 2014 at the end!).