Giving the gift of… a LinkedIn Recommendation.

It’s the end of the year. A time for caring, a time for sharing, a time for… sniffles and cough drops.

On a more serious note, there is no better time than the present to give thanks to those who helped your expansion stage business grow in 2010.

In 2010, OpenView Venture Partners has made content creation for the expansion stage community a major priority. To name a few of our marketing highlights: OpenView Labs is a content resources site for the expansion stage technology community that pushes out fresh content daily. The Labs site has released 10 case studies and 1 research report, a weekly newsletter, a stream of internally created videos, and 13 blog posts a week on average as a firm.

There is no way that we (the Marketing Team aka Amanda, Corey and myself) could create such high value and quality content without the help of some very talented freelancers.

Who has helped your business this year and deserves a pat on the back? Rather than send them a Holiday fruit basket, consider writing those who deserve it a LinkedIn recommendation…

For their exceptional work in 2010, I would like to give thanks to my top 3 freelancers (and yes, I gave each of them a well-deserved shout out on LinkedIn):

Josh Zywien
Content Creator and Freelance Writer @ Wordplay

In 2010, Josh created the content for 7 case studies, and OpenView’s first Research Report on Thought Leadership released in December. Additionally, Josh creates articles for OpenView’s Labs site on a weekly basis. Josh is an outstanding writer and really excels at interviewing the individuals (both internally and externally) who are featured in the case studies. Thanks, Josh!

Jenna Scaglione Owner — Writer, Editor and Internet Strategist @ RJS Consulting

Jenna has edited OpenView’s blog since September and is responsible for making sure that all submissions (typically 13/week) meet our blogging criteria and are flawless. Additionally, Jenna has coached the team on SEO best practices and has helped optimize the blog site. This quarter, the blog site has seen a 50 percent increase in Search Engine Traffic. Thanks, Jenna!

Patrick Ciano
Principal/Creative Director @ Ciano Design

Patrick is responsible for the design and feel of OpenView’s monthly case study template. He created 5 of the case study designs in the first half of 2010, and most recently in December he helped OpenView create the design and layout of its very first Research on “Thought Leadership”. Patrick is highly professional and a true creative. Thanks, Patrick!

Happy New Years, and thank you for following BizDev in 2010!