The Team - Jamie Stephens

Jamie Stephens

Chief of Digital Strategy

Jamie Stephens is Chief of Digital Strategy and co-founder of Lift Division. Jamie has been designing websites and developing simple, usable tools on the web for over 20 years. He formerly led the team that designed and developed Foliotek, a popular portfolio assessment tool for colleges and universities. In 2005, Jamie helped start the Center for eResearch at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he developed digital tools and programs for fostering collaboration on Internet-related research across the four-campus UM System. Jamie has built websites and applications for companies such as Miller's Professional Imaging, adventur.es, The Ad Sheet, Reynolds Journalism Institute, and many more.

Where you can find me when I'm not working:

Running on the MKT trail, coaching my son's baseball team, chasing my daughter, Coffee Zone, ironing

What I bring to the table:

20 years of web development experience (Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, etc..) and digital marketing strategy implementation.

Fun Fact about me:

I can fit a quarter in my belly button.

Blog Posts by Jamie Stephens:

Introducing Apps: Your next step

By Jamie Stephens • 16 Nov, 2015

Since our founding, our team has been innovating inbound marketing to create purposeful strategy and measurable results to enable our clients to reach their online goals. Throughout this time, we have furthered our mission of helping good businesses grow. And as a result, we’ve turned toward content-rich websites, mobile ready pages, and effective optimization to deliver marketing-based solutions that work to increase digital traffic and engagement. This strategy is continued with the introduction of elegant and highly interactive mobile apps fit for any market. It’s the next step.

If You Build It, They Will Come...But What Will They Do When They Get There?

By Jamie Stephens • 11 Sep, 2014

When it comes to websites, it’s not uncommon for businesses to take the Field of Dreams approach — holding the film’s classic quote close to heart: “If you build it, they will come.” …more importantly, will they know what to do when they arrive? It almost goes without saying, but over the last 20 years, the Internet and websites in general have become an ingrained part of our society. From providing more access to information, to making things more convenient, to raising money for mankind’s next giant leap in potato-salad financing , our society is growing increasingly web-based and we’re using websites for more than ever before. However, there is one thing your website definitely shouldn't be a tool for: confusing people. Every website should have at least one clear goal (called a “conversion” in online marketing) and it shouldn’t be difficult for your ideal user to reach it. Truthfully, this goal should form the foundation of your online presence — after all, as a business owner, the last thing you want is for your customers to have trouble understanding how to purchase your goods or services. In a world where value follows ease and convenience, your web presence should follow suit. Having a beautiful website that doesn't help your business grow is really the same as throwing money away. This is especially problematic considering the greatest thing about online marketing is that it’s measurable and fairly inexpensive when compared to other forms of promotion. While there are myriad things that go into a successful web presence, following are a few key pieces that you should take into account when building your next site.