Simply Zesty » SZ News – Simply Zesty

Expanding The Simply Zesty Blog – New Designs, Products And Content

Niall Harbison — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:53:29 +0000

You May have noticed the blog getting a little bigger over the last couple of months and rather than just drop a load of changes on you over the coming weeks we thought we would share the road map and some of the exciting things that are coming down the line. We don’t want to share everything today but rather than spring a whole host of changes on you in the coming weeks we thought we would give you a few teasers today. The blog started out as a personal passion project for myself and Lauren and we posted every single day often writing until late in to the evening and missing as much sleep as it took to keep the clients happy and keep the posts flowing. 10,000 people visit this blog on an average day now and as the company grows we thought it was time to get a little bit more serious and put some additional resources towards the site.

A New Design

We’ve had the one design for the last 2 years now apart from some tweaks here and there but rather than trying to upgrade it bit by bit we decided for a complete overhaul and that is being built as we speak. It will mean that everybody will be able to focus on nothing but content when they come to the site and as a reader it should make things easier to navigate and find what you are looking for.

Our New Offices And Team

Well we say new offices but it’s actually the back of our current offices where our beloved ping pong table is starting to come under pressure from the serious lack of space in our offices that were meant to be so big that “we would grow in to them” over thenext couple of years. We are calling it the media area but at the moment it is more of a collection of picnic tables, computers and ideas. It’s amazing what you can grow out of a selection of picnic tables if you think big enough though.

Calling All Writers And Guest Bloggers

With the blog getting 10,000 visitors per day we think it is a great place for people to get exposure and offer content in areas where our core team don’t specialize. We will be accepting guest posts and paying some people for content in areas where we don’t specialize. If you are passionate about advertising, SEO, specific areas of marketing, mobile, tech or any other area please feel free to get in touch with us on hello@simplyzesty.com and we can start talking about writing opportunities.

More Pro Features

We started offering online training and eBooks a couple of months ago and already have 100s of people using those services on a daily basis. It is these pro features that have allowed us to start thinking about growing the blog to the next level and a key part of what we will be doing is expanding those features and offerings. There will be more in depth research, case studies and a whole series of new training courses.

More Writers But Also More Focus

Over the coming weeks as we roll out more designs and more features we will also be introducing you to new writers who are working on the new expanded blog (you may have even noticed one of them posting here already so all will be revealed). The problem with most blogs when they get to a certain size is that they start to diversify in to other areas but we want to keep massive focus on what we write about. It will all be social media, marketing, advertising, case studies and the latest tips that help our end reader either get the inspiration they need for their own marketing or to get practical examples.

Our content will all be focused on marketing and social media

Share Your Thoughts

The blog wouldn’t be worth growing or making in to something special if people didn’t come here and read it on a daily basis. What we would love to hear from you guys is what you like about the blog and what you would like to see more of going forward. Is there anything that you don’t like? We never set out with a plan of having a full time blog with full time staff and pro products but that is where it has gone over the last 2 years. Who knows what the future holds but we think we can grow something pretty special and we would love your thoughts on the best way to do that. Don’t be shy

More Growth And Jobs At Simply Zesty Towers

Niall & Lauren — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:50:10 +0000

The last six months have been a busy time for the business and we have grown more than we ever thought would have been possible to a stage where we now have 23 people on the team. We now have clients in the UK, USA, Australia, Serbia, Germany, Holland and the Czech Republic as well as the core of our business here in Ireland. The scope of the projects we are working on is bigger than ever and it’s exciting and rewarding to be able to take on overseas work and create jobs here in Ireland in tough times. We are also expanding the product side of our business since we launched Simply Learning our online training suite for social media and we are already training hundreds of people even though the site has only been live for a couple of months. Products are going to make up a bigger part of the business going forward and that is something that excites us immensely and allows us to scale internationally as well. Another major focus is the blog because with over 10,000 visitors a day here we want to make sure to keep offering more free social media tips and information and make it in to an even bigger resource for you all. It’s exciting times so have a look at some of the positions we have going and see if there is anything that takes your fancy…

2 Account Executives (Contact ken@simplyzesty.com)

It's mostly hard work but we do have room for your bike, astroturf and a ping pong table for some fun

You will also have excellent literary/copywriting skills. As well as knowing social media, you will also have an awareness and understanding of other digital media marketing channels, for example search engine marketing or online advertising. You will provide day to day support for the account manager on your team, through assisting with reporting, researching the social media space for our clients and competitors, planning campaigns with clients and completing daily tasks for campaigns. You will make sure client work is completed on time and you will be good at building and maintaining relationships with clients. You will represent the client in-house and the agency externally. You will be comfortable working across different platforms and using different media, including photo, video, blogs, podcasts and applications both for social networks and mobile platforms. Finally, you will be comfortable in a fast-paced dynamic company and be someone who is willing to go that extra mile. Contact ken@simplyzesty.com

Freelance Video Editors And Camera Operators (Contact ken@simplyzesty.com)

With our own studio and 6 full time members of our video production team we have the capacity to take on bigger projects and we are producing bespoke web video for companies all over the world. While we don’t currently have the space to take on more full time members of the video team we do constantly need additional capacity so need camera operators and editors who are flexible and who can work on projects at short notice. These sorts of jobs would be paid on a per project basis.

Simon filming with our shiny new steady cam

Interns (Contact ken@simplyzesty.com)

5 of the people who work for us full time now started within the company as interns. It’s one of the ways that we like to find the best talent and even though there is no guarantee of a job at the end of your internship the rate that we are growing means we always need the best people. These are unpaid internships that last 3 months and you’ll have very hands on experience working on real live projects rather than making the coffee or photocopying.An internship at Simply Zesty is about moving on your career considerably and not just going through the motions.

Journalism Intern

In the last 2 months we have been placing an emphasis on our online training and products side of the business here through the blog. We want to expand that side of the business in to a full suite of online training services for social media. We need somebody for this position who is passionate about writing, a good organizer and loves the online world. You’ll be working directly with Niall and Lauren on developing the products around the blog and you’ll have a very hands on approach.

Business Development Intern

You’ll be working with the sales and marketing team on growing the business and developing our new range of products. You’ll be working on bringing new products to market and have a very hands on approach. You’ll need to have lots of initiative, creative ideas as well as a good understanding of online marketing and social media in general. This is a challenging role but one that will be crucial to the company going forward so the right candidate will have a strong will to succeed and a start up hard working mentality.

You'll be working in the crazy end of the office with the sales and video teams

Win 4 Great Social Media Books

Niall & Lauren — Tue, 31 May 2011 07:00:03 +0000

Seeing as we have gone pretty much digital in terms of reading books here at Simply Zesty we thought it would be a good idea to clear out the shelves and give away some of our favorite social media books from the last couple of years. It’s all about raising awareness for our video sharing site Simply Viral which is 3 months old this week and getting lots of traction, if you haven’t been to check it out yet head on over and watch some of the brilliant daily videos we share there. These are quality reads and they have helped shape our own opinions in to social media and the trends emerging at the moment. You can see the picture of the books down below and if you want to check them out online they are here, here, here and here.

How To Win The Books

It couldn’t be easier really…All you have to do to win the books is leave a comment down below. The comment should be a link to a funny video that you have seen online recently. That’s it. We will be picking one random winner on Thursday and the videos might appear over on Simply Viral as one of the daily vidoes. So pop over to Youtube, find a funny video and share it down below with your name and the books could be winging their way over to you by the end of the week.

Here Are Your Books

Here are the very books that will be mailed out to you old school by post anywhere in the world. We will just be happy to give them a new home and hopefully you’ll benefit and learn as much from them as we did…

Simply Zesty – The Story 2 Years On

Niall & Lauren — Fri, 20 May 2011 09:34:43 +0000

Time flies when you are having fun and today we hit our big 2nd birthday! We are having a big party with lots of beer tonight but as time flies and it’s sometimes hard to remember what has been happening we thought we would have a quick recap of the last 2 years and look at some of the highlights of the company. We tend to spend most of our time running at about a hundred miles an hour and never pause to look back on what has been achieved so indulge us in our little look back. We try to share everything that we do both here and on our Facebook page.

The Spare Bedroom Start Up

It all started 2 years ago in Niall’s spare bedroom which was converted in to an office. Niall and Lauren started talking about setting up a business on Twitter and before long Lauren moved over to Ireland and Simply Zesty was born. The early days were tough but exciting and we really were living by the seat of our pants. It was full on start up mode with 18 hour days and a lot of marketing ourselves and getting the name out there. Niall and Lauren went to take some photos for the new website with Phil O’Kane and standing beside some grafetti down in Windmill Lane the style of the company was born. The picture below shows just how lean things really were. It was basically our own laptops, a borrowed desk and our own heads.

This Blog

Lauren and Niall hated networking in the real world. After going to about 3 or 4 events begging people for business they decided they didn’t want to do that any more and came up with the plan for this blog. It started off as the drawing on the sheet of paper below and the plan was basically to “give all of our knowledge away for free and share as much interesting information as possible”.

We spent about 1000 Euros setting up the blog and spent hours every evening writing blog posts about social media and still put in the same amount of effort to this day. People starting using the blog as a resource to help their own business but larger brands and businesses saw the knowledge and started using Simply Zesty’s services. The blog has continued to grow and now is a core part of the business bringing in nearly 80% of new business and being visited by nearly 250,000 visitors each month.

UK Investment

When you were growing as fast as we were it was important to get a little bit of investment to help manage that growth and allow us to expand as fast as we wanted to. We raised €500,000 from the UK and that allowed us to really push on and step things up while forging deeper ties with the UK.

Messing Up On Offices

Niall decided it would be a smart move to get an office that was big enough for 12 people. It was a huge move on from the original spare bed room and it was taking a bog financial risk signing a long term lease. 4 Months later the offices were too small and we were all sitting on top of each other with people having to work on the ping pong table which meant it was time to look for something bigger and better.

New Offices

We quickly realized that we all wanted nice lunch options and a city center address. There were lots of offices that we could move in to immediately but we did it the hard way and found the perfect space but it did need a lot of work and the entire place basically had to be gutted with a new studio added.

It’s been tough but as you can see from the video below in the 6 months since we have moved in here the offices are starting to take shape and now starting to look a bit better. It’s still a bit of a mad house but the ping pong table is still there, we now have a real world Facebook wall and our studio.

New Boss

With the company growing and Niall and Lauren especially bad at things like counting money and putting systems in place it was time to hire a proper boss, our new CEO Ken Fitzpatrick. Ken has lots of experience of managing people, building big businesses internationally and generally making sure Niall and Lauren don’t come up with too many crazy ideas. Bringing Ken in also meant that everybody else could actually focus on the social media side of things and not have to worry about the day to day running of the company. This is the moment the company was really able to go to the next level and had finally grown up.

New Faces

We’ve got a lot bigger in recent months with many new faces joining us on a full time basis. We now have full sales teams, a large video department and a team of designer along with lots of people to look after the clients. As you will see from the website and the company in general we have really moved away from a small agency that is run by Niall and Lauren to a large agency with multiple departments and a strong backbone. This is a people businesses though and without the best people we would be nothing. Luckily we have the best we could possibly wish for.

New Clients

We are lucky now that after only a couple of years in business we have an awesome client list and we get to work with some great companies in Ireland, England and recently across Europe. We wouldn’t have a business if it wasn’t for those clients and as social media starts to become a bigger part of the marketing mix we will look to look after existing clients and extend further afield.

New Products

We’ve always wanted to challenge the notion of an agency and push it in different directions and that is what we are doing with our new online training suite. We used to carry out training in the real world but there was only so far that could go and we wanted to make something that could scale all over the world. We already train more people online than we did in the first quarter of this year and the site is growing with sign ups every day. Who knows where our new products will take us but this is not the end and there are plenty more on the way.

The Future?

If you thought the first 2 years were exciting then wait until you see year 3. We now have the structures, resources and talent in place to make a serious push forward as a company. There are huge plans in place around the agency itself, the products that we are launching and keeping the blog going. We only get to write these posts once a year and although it looks like the growth has been impressive for the first 2 years it’s year 3 that we have all been building towards.

Thanks to you all for visiting the blog and coming along for the journey with us so far. It hasn’t all been easy and there have been seriously tough moments along the way but we are pretty happy in general with where we are and where we are headed.

Launching Simply Learning – Online Facebook Training

Niall & Lauren — Mon, 09 May 2011 11:07:03 +0000

Regular readers to the blog will have noticed in the last couple of weeks that we have launched Simply Learning which is our online training course for all things Facebook. We came up with the idea based on our offline training courses and thought it would be a super tool for people to learn all about the world’s biggest social network from the comfort of their office or home. The site features over 100 instructional videos and text tutorials and aims to answer all those common questions that people have about Facebook. There is a super introductory offer which all blog readers can avail of this week by signing up here.

Constantly Updating

We found when we were giving our courses that the platform was constantly evolving and the one biggest problem people had was keeping up with all the new features. Rather than attending a course where the information could be obsolete within a couple of months we wanted to provide something that we could keep up to date and release new tutorials as soon as new features were released.

Constant Support

Even though we’ve made every effort to cover everything you need to know about Facebook we realize that there are times when you get stuck and want to ask somebody. Members are able to ask us questions that will always be answered by one of the team here within 12 hours. This level of support is invaluable to businesses and individuals seeking to use the Facebook platform and taking their first steps.

HD Video Tutorials

All of our videos are shot in full HD and help walk you through the various features on Facebook. We use screen cast technology so as you can follow along step by step as you learn.

Amazing Introductory Offer

We wanted to make the site affordable and a fraction of the cost of normal training courses. There are hours of HD footage, people there constantly to answer your questions and all the latest features explained for just €99 a year. This offer will only be available for a limited time.

Facebook Training Days – 14th April + May 19th Dublin

Niall Harbison — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:42:20 +0000

If there is one area where we are always getting asked questions about it’s Facebook marketing and with that in mind we have decided to launch a training day that focuses on more advanced marketing on the world’s biggest social network. This course is really made for people who already manage Facebook pages and who have some basic knowledge of the site and want to expand their knowledge. We’ll be covering popular topics where we always see people having questions including….terms and conditions, competition guidelines, increasing likes, building campaigns, Facebook advertising, measuring engagement and Facebook design and app tips. Book Tickets

The class will be taught by Niall Harbison, Lauren Fisher and Sarah Kavanagh and will be run on Thu, 14th April, 2011 from 9.00 to 16.00 and will include a full lunch. The event will be limited to 12 places and there are 3 places remaining so make sure to book soon. The first 2 people booking here through the blog and using the promotional code.”blog” can avail of a 15% discount if they book before close of business tomorrow. Book tickets here

Meet The Real Life Facebook Wall

Niall Harbison — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 14:32:44 +0000

In a bid to turn our office in to a real world social network and with a limited decoration budget we thought it would be a good idea to create a real world Facebook wall which you can see down below. Simon and Ciaran can be seen putting the first picture up on the wall and the idea is that anybody who ever comes to the offices has to take a quick picture and can write a message. Unlike a Facebook wall you won’t be able to upload videos or links but there is a camera and a printer beside the wall at all times to get snap happy. The photo doesn’t really do justice to the actual size of the wall but it should look amazing when it’s packed full of photos and it should provide us all with great memories. So if you are in the office seeing us or just passing by make sure to pop in and take a picture and sign our real world Facebook wall.

Getting Creative To Make Your About Us Page Stand Out

Niall & Lauren — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:29:13 +0000

If there is one thing that we feel strongly about here at Simply Zesty it is innovation. We don’t just want to be another agency so we always try new things. Some of them work great and some don’t work at all. As soon as any of us get quiet with client work or one of us wants to work late we’ll have a little side project. Something like Google’s 20% time but we don’t have any fancy names for it. A couple of weeks ago we decided that when Simon from the video team had some spare time it should be his project to make sure our about us page was the best around and looked different to everything else on the web. He had our equipment (and the considerable brain power of Ciaran, Neil and Sarah to lean on) but zero budget and had to come up with his own idea to make our About Us page stand out. A tough challenge.

The Results

To see the finished page you can click here to see it in all it’s glory.The thing that people forget is that the about us page is often the first that people click on when they arrive on a website and certainly for a company like us it’s important that we stand out. If we can’t sell ourselves in a creative way what chance do we have of convincing clients that we can sell them in an innovative way.

Innovation Is Good For The Brain

It’s easy to copy others and do things the same way they have always been done but it’s much harder to try something different. You’ll often get it wrong. Your ideas will really fall flat at times and people might even laugh at you but unless you try you’ll never know. Innovation is good for the brain as well and having projects that make you smarter as an individual and push you to think in new ways. As a result of Simon and the teams hard work on a side project we now have what we consider the best About us page in the business. Let us know what you think.

Meet The SZ Team And Our Offices

Niall Harbison — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:45:12 +0000

We made an about us video a few months ago but some of the team have changed and we moved offices and painted the place so thought it was about time we shot a new one. The guys in the video team just got a new camera that does all sorts of crazy stuff (looks like a camera to the rest of us) so they put this little montage together. If you are wondering why we have a big Facebook sticker in the video that is because that is our new Facebook wall where anybody can write or post photos in the real world. It’s not 100% finished so more of that in a future blog post. It’s only ever me and Lauren writing here on the blog but as you can see form the video there is a huge team of us behind the scenes. They are all blushing already but say hello to Alex, Simon, Aaron, Ciaran, Neil, Louise, Fergal, Ken, Kate, Jason, Philip, Ciaran, Lisa, Sarah, Rebecca, Sarah, Sarah R, Michael, Maria, Lauren (I’m sure I’ve missed somebody and they’ll kill me!!) and myself and the offices here in Simply Zesty…

Introducing The Simply Zesty Viral Video Daily

Niall & Lauren — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:11:43 +0000

As a group here in the office we spend our day online looking after clients and we often come across some brilliant videos on our travels. Too many to share here on the blog on a daily basis so we thought it would be a much better idea to give them their own home so we introduce Simply Zesty Viral Videos. The concept is very simple in that we will select one amazing video that relates to brands, advertising, social media, case studies, social networking or advertising and share it with you on a daily basis. There will never be more than 1 video a day and you can have the videos served up to you via their own feeds on either RSS, Twitter, Facebook or email. A video will go live at 1 o’clock every single day and the idea is that rather than worrying about the 2 billion videos viewed on Youtube every day we will bring you that special one that demands your attention and will inspire you.

The site is in soft launch for the next week so as we can iron any tweaks out and we are always open to your feedback and suggestions. Hopefully you’ll find it a useful resource over time. Make sure to sign up and subscribe so as you don’t miss any of the videos. Click the video below to head over to the new site…

Hiring At Simply Zesty – Come Join The Team

Kenfitz — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:31:31 +0000

We are glad to announce 4 new positions at Simply Zesty and will be hiring for the roles listed below. If you want to apply for any of the roles you should contact me directly by email ken@simplyzesty.com We are looking to fill these roles immediately and you should submit a full CV and feel free to get creative with your application…

Senior Account Manager

We are looking for someone who is experienced in a digital/interactive agency environment. We need someone to head up some key client accounts for us who, because of experience, understands deeply and can deliver, top quality results for clients using social media marketing. You need a passion for social media marketing and how it make a difference and an understanding of other digital media marketing channels, for example search engine marketing or online advertising. You need to have excellent communications and relationship building skills. You need to be able to strategically plan out a range of activities with clients but also be prepared to work hard on the implementation and delivery of these campaigns. You need to have a track record of delivery campaigns and activities, on time and on budget for clients. You will need to have experience in managing people and in developing business with existing clients. You will represent the client in-house and the agency externally. Finally, you will be comfortable in a fast-paced dynamic company and be someone who is willing to go that extra mile. Contact ken@simplyzesty.com

Account Executives

We’re looking for 2 account executives. We’re looking for people who are already enthusiastic about digital marketing and social media and are keen to develop this into a career with a dedicated social media agency. A degree isn’t necessary for this role, but we do need to see that you can demonstrate experience and awareness of digital marketing. Ideally you will be active across a range of social media channels yourself and have a passion for how businesses can use social media to reach and engage with their consumers. Ideally, you will also have experience of working in an agency environment such as an ad agency, pr agency or digital marketing agency

You will also have excellent literary/copywriting skills. As well as knowing social media, you will also have an awareness and understanding of other digital media marketing channels, for example search engine marketing or online advertising. You will provide day to day support for the account manager on your team, through assisting with reporting, researching the social media space for our clients and competitors, planning campaigns with clients and completing daily tasks for campaigns. You will make sure client work is completed on time and you will be good at building and maintaining relationships with clients. You will represent the client in-house and the agency externally. You will be comfortable working across different platforms and using different media, including photo, video, blogs, podcasts and applications both for social networks and mobile platforms. Finally, you will be comfortable in a fast-paced dynamic company and be someone who is willing to go that extra mile. Contact ken@simplyzesty.com

Business Development Executive

Simply Zesty are looking for a Business Development Executive to help grow our business. You will be responsible for generating revenue from new customers for Simply Zesty

You will be :

Very target driven
An excellent communicator and knowledge in presentational tools
Someone who understands social media marketing
A self-starter
An experienced sales professional and ideally one who has sold to marketing professionals
An effective networker

If you think you fit the bill and you want to work in a fast growing exciting environment, please apply. A benefits package which combines basic salary and bonus is available. Contact ken@simplyzesty.com

Chevrolet Ireland – Social Media Case Study

Lauren Fisher — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:55:32 +0000

Chevrolet Ireland wanted to use social media to launch their latest car and the following video explains some of the steps we took to develop a local campaign tailored to a local market leveraging their international television advert. The campaign was rooted in Facebook but tied in to activities in the real world with video playing a key role via Youtube.

Cranking It Up A Level At Simply Zesty

Niall Harbison — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:36:03 +0000

Things are starting to ramp up here at Simply Zesty in our new offices as this week we’ve finished building our new studio that means we can take our video production to a whole new level. We didn’t start the company with a specific plan for video but it’s become an increasingly important part of what we offer as brands and companies around the world add it to their marketing mix. We do everything from branded content to product and website demos that help companies engage with their customers in a whole new way. Here is the new video page we just launched which will help you understand some of the ways in which video can help you or your business…

New Studio

We now have a slick city center studio which opens up far more possibilities to us. The boys have a whole bag of tricks and funky equipment in there including green screen and some of the best cameras around. We rent the studio out if you need a city center location for you next video or photo shoot. Here is one of the first shoots we have taking place today which is for Legs Love who are filming a series of funky fashion videos for tights.

Meet The Video Team

Here are the team that make the magic happen and run the video side of things. Headed up by Aaron we have Simon, Alex and Neil working the magic for our clients. Between them they have all the skills covered off including editing, motion graphics, photography, animation and everything else we need to make your video rock.

Video Half The Story

There really is no point having video content if you just stick it up online and hope for people to somehow come along and find it because the chances are that won’t happen. We always say that video is only half the story because with so many people spending time on social media these days the second part of our job is to make sure as many people as possible find that content and it is distributed in the right way. Our video team works closely with our client teams to deliver great results.

The Future

Video is so much cheaper to produce than it used to be and is a great way for brands and businesses to engage with their customers. With consumers starting to ignore TV advertising and traditional media we see huge potential for a whole new way of engaging with consumers and reaching the eyeballs that are largely online these days. We’ve a great base for extending our offering to brands and business all over Europe from our studio now and would love to hear from you if you think video can help your business.

New Offices And The Search For Some Talented New SZers

Niall & Lauren — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:04:29 +0000

As you probably know we are growing pretty fast here at Simply Zesty and that means an ever expanding work force is needed to fill our shiny new offices. With times being tough at the moment in the Irish economy we thought it would be a good opportunity to officially start out intern programme and give people some extra experience within the industry with the possibility of full time work at the end of your internship. It will be an unpaid internship although we will cover some of your basic travel and food expenses. There is no certainty of work at the end of the internship but we need smart people and if we keep growing like we do there is a good chance that youâ€™ll become a key member of our team. We certainly wonâ€™t have you making the coffee or photocopying and are looking for smart people willing to muck in and support the talented teams we already have here. We can promise that youâ€™ll leave here with lots more knowledge than when you arrived and even though itâ€™s not a cast iron job offer we always need smart people!

Video Intern

Our video team has grown to 3 people within the last 6 months and we produce all sorts of videos for the biggest brands in England and Ireland. The right person will get experience in video production, editing, motion graphics, animation as well as getting to work in our brand new studio here in our new offices which has state of the art equipment. The right candidate will be thrown in at the deep end and expected to learn on their feet and would ideally have college experience in the video area. Here are a couple of the latest shots of our new studio which is being built as we speak and will be ready at the end of the week…

Design Intern

Youâ€™ll be working with our Lead designer the lovely Sarah Kavanagh and supporting her and the team on design projects for clients across a variety of social platforms. The right candidate should have a strong interest in social media and design and some knowledge of working within Facebook would be a bonus but not essential. Ideal skills would include… photoshop, illustrator, HTML and CSS.

Client Management Intern

The right candidate will be working with one of our client teams supporting the work of 3 others within the team. You certainly wonâ€™t be stuck making the coffee and will be getting hands on experience working on various campaigns for clients hand in hand with our talented client teams. The ideal candidate would have an interest in PR, social media, event management and be a people person. You’ll even get to work in our converted squash court which is clearly the best part of our new offices.

City Center Location And Travel Allowance

Although the positions are for unpaid interns we can offer you a city center location and we will provide 250 Euros per month to cover your travel expenses and a couple of lunches so as it doesn’t cost you anything to work here. If you think this is something that might be of interest all you have to do is drop us an email at hello@simplyzesty.com.

New Simply Zesty CEO – Yay We Got A New Boss!

Niall & Lauren — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:34:37 +0000

Today was a big day for our little company as we hired a new CEO to help steer the ship as we continue to expand. Ken Fitzpatrick had his first day in the office today as CEO and will be taking the company forward from now on. We (Niall and Lauren) will be stepping aside from managing the business and handing control to Ken as we get to go back to focusing on our core business of social media, writing here on the blog and expanding our offerings. We see capturing somebody with Ken’s experience as a huge coup and by far his biggest strength is his valuable experience in growing companies internationally.

Huge Experience

The company is now at a stage where we employ 15 people in 2 countries, have a large range of high profile clients and as we continue to grow and create jobs it will take somebody with Ken’s experience to help us continue that growth smoothly. We feel we have taken the company as far as we possibly could and in order to free up our own time to do the work we love doing it’s important to bring a CEO in to the company and we couldn’t have wished for a better one than Ken. Ken has worked with us as a non executive director for some time now and we are delighted that somebody of his calibre has decided to join a company like ours and his experience will be especially useful with regards to growing the company in to the UK and beyond. We are in an incredibly lucky position that Ken already knows the company and our culture inside out and can now add value full time.

The Day We Grew Up

The business has been on a serious growth curve for the last 18 months since we launched and has always felt like a start-up but for us that changes today. We don’t want to lose our culture or change the way we work but today feels like graduation day for our company. We pinched ourselves when we saw Ken walk in today and then we really knew what an exciting new phase we are about to enter. We are both delighted to go to sleep tonight knowing we have a new boss!

New Roles And The Future

So what does this mean for us? Well Lauren will be head of client services which essentially means she will be looking after all the exciting campaigns we run for our clients in England and Ireland and constantly developing the services we can offer. Niall will be head of sales and marketing helping to establish the brand in new markets as well as bringing in more quality clients to add to our existing client base. Having Ken come on board will allow us to give these areas our full attention as well as continuing to develop a series of new products behind the scenes to compliment our services business. As we’ve gotten bigger over the past few months we feel it’s important that Ken sees us through this growth period, allowing us to focus on the areas that will fuel this growth. All in all it’s a really big day for us all here at Simply Zesty and hopefully a great big stepping stone to a bright new future