Influencer Profile: Joe Luft
October 12th, 2011 by
Hailing from the frosty northlands of Chicago, IL, SI Internet Marketing Associate Joe Luft graduated from Tulane University in 2010 with a degree in Political Economy and no desire to be a politician or a lawyer. As an IMA Joe is responsible for a wide variety of tasks around the office, but finds hands-coding to be a productive and rewarding area. Some of his favorite things in the world include his family, dog, painstakingly broken-in denim jeans and, of course, his beloved Chicago Bears. (It’s okay, Joe. We don’t judge you… too much.)
Joe showing off that rad 'tude and kicking style we love him for.
First, and arguably most vital, question: if you were an antiquated dance craze, what antiquated dance craze would you be?
Honest answer, the Cha Cha Slide. It takes me back to my days in middle and high school. Second choice would be “The Dougie” mainly cause my thirteen year old sister listens to it and does the dance at least twice a day. Guess those really aren’t antiquated, already failing at this interview.
So what do you find yourself doing around here?
On a daily basis I’m making edits to the code on our clients’ sites and publishing content for our clients. Whenever people ask me this, I always kind of pause and think for a second, then ramble on about computers and codes and the Google and by the time I look up that person is no longer standing there and I’m talking to myself about the computers. I’d say all my fellow Search Influencers are in that same boat, so many different things happening around here on a daily basis.
Have you done any Internet or marketing work before working at SI? How’s the transition been so far?
Just kidding! Here's the man himself.
Yes, I have. I started dabbling with internet marketing in college when I worked for a sneaker store in the French Quarter. After a couple months working there they set me up with an admin account for their blog and I really got into it. From working at that sneaker store I was able to meet a lot of other local business owners and got a side gig running a blog for a men and women’s clothing store Uptown, and eventually created an e-commerce site for them. So my main focus, prior to SI, has been Internet marketing for fashion. I can’t even count how many pictures of shoes I have on my computer right now. I’d say a thousand.
The transition at Search Influence has been fun and challenging. Instead of managing every aspect of a couple of websites, I’m in and out of numerous sites making edits on a daily basis. Along with working on more sites, I am doing more in-depth edits to site templates.
How did you acquire an interest in coding? Any tips or favorite tools of the trade?
I got interested in coding pretty soon after I started blogging. While WordPress and Tumblr can make some pretty cool templates, I always wanted to make the blogs I worked on a little more unique. During winter break of my senior year of college I bought a massive book about HTML and CSS coding and started poking around the world of Hyper Text Markup Language and Cascading Style Sheets.
Biggest tip I would offer is to do it every day.
What’s your favorite thing to do around the office? In an ideal world, what would you be sitting around doing all day?
The most favorite thing I do around the office happens at 5 o’clock on the dot every Friday, I play “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan out loud on my computer. Lets the people know it’s the weekend.
In an ideal world I’m a “Whispers in the Dark” DJ on an old school Hip-Hop and RnB radio station spinning slow jams for the lovers all around the world. By law “Whispers in the Dark” programs can only occur during the hours of 11 at night until 2 or 3 in the morning (it’s whispers in the dark, not the light), so for the other portion of my day I’d like to design, clothing, sneakers, furniture. I’ve always found My Personalised T-Shirts to be the most interesting and often overlooked forms of art.
