Cousins Michael and Sam Zipursky have spent the last decade as business consultants to some of the world’s premier brands including the Financial Times, Dow Jones, and Panasonic. After spending several years in Japan with their marketing and branding firm Kankei Culture, the Zipursky cousins have returned to Vancouver to pursue their latest project: Advicetap.
If you had to describe Advicetap in one sentence, what would you say?
In 14 words, Advicetap is a community that helps Canadian marketing and creative professionals find quality gigs.
When I first visited Advicetap, the first thing I thought was, “It feels a bit like LinkedIn.” What sets Advicetap apart from LinkedIn and sites like it? ?
Two main things set Advicetap apart from other sites or social networks out there:
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All members are pre-screened which means we look into each person that applies to make sure they do what they say they do and to maintain a level of quality. Many websites allow anyone to create an account without any kind of quality control.
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Advicetap is for Canadian Marketing and Creative professionals. Other job and community sites don’t have a country or industry specific focus. We believe this focus provides more value to our professional members and to businesses that post their projects on our site.
It’s clear you’ve put a lot of thought into the community. How did everything begin? What inspired Advicetap?
Both of us have been in the consulting game for over a decade. We’ve built businesses and worked on them from home and abroad. In short, we felt that we’d encountered all kinds of experiences, the lows and the highs, learned many lessons and so one day we decided to start a blog where we should share our stories with others.
As that blog, Business Consulting Buzz, started to grow in traffic and readership we spoke with our readers and they told us they wanted a place where they could interact more and collaborate with other professionals like themselves. That got us thinking and lead us to develop Advicetap.
The number of consultants and freelancers is increasing and many of them are looking for quality gigs. On the flip side there’s a ton of businesses out there that need help with their marketing, getting publicity, improving their brand and understanding how to use social media – and they don’t know where to find someone qualified to help them. Advicetap really puts the two together.
You’ve mentioned consultants, freelancers, and gigs, but what about jobseekers? Is there any room for bigger companies in Advicetap?
In terms of community members the primary focus is on consultants, freelancers, and small business owners that are into the marketing and creative fields. This group of people face similar business and lifestyle issues so we’re trying to keep it focused on this group for now. If we opened it up to all “jobseekers” then it would become just another job board – we want to build something special and unique.
Going back to the screening process, what makes the perfect candidate for Advicetap?
Advicetap’s focus is on Canadian marketing and creative professionals that have a strong online presence and can prove their professional experience. If someone fits that description then they are a “perfect candidate” for the community. The screening process at Advicetap sets the community apart from most social networks and we feel this not only benefits other members but the companies that receive applications from our members.
So, let’s say I’m ready to start using Advicetap. How would I get started? What do I have to do to get the most out of my experience, from both service-provider and business sides?
Once you’ve been approved for membership to the community the best thing to do is fill in your personal profile and then jump right into to conversations, search for gigs, and build up your network with other like-minded professionals that you can connect and collaborate with.
From the business side of things, instead of spending lots of time and money trying to find ideal candidates for your next marketing or creative gig simply go to the home page of www.Advicetap.com and “Post your Project”. After we approve the project your post it will go into the community and members will have the chance to apply for the project you’ve posted.
In parting, as consultants yourselves, what tips can you offer new freelancers? Besides using Advicetap, what advice would you give someone looking to expand their professional network?
There is no substitute for getting out there and hitting the streets. Meeting new people and networking can really open up a land of new possibilities. Make sure you need to look at this as long-term. There are far to many professionals that attend networking events looking to get instant business and sell their stuff – that’s the wrong approach to take. Also, look at referrals – they are immensely powerful to build your network and business. And last but not least, there’s never a perfect time for anything, so take action now. Start your marketing campaign, contact those potential clients, and hit those events … you’ll always find ways to make improvements as you move along.
Thanks for the interview, gents!
Thank you, Jeremy. Great talking with you!
Are you a Canadian marketing or creative professional looking for gigs? Head over to AdviceTap FreshGigs!
