My Five Business Resolutions for a New Year
I like January. It's been frigid this year (-27 Celsius a few days ago), but when a new year comes around, it helps me focus on the future and brings fresh energy and hope into the workplace. Granted, feelings pass quickly and without careful resolutions and follow-through, it's easy to squander the new year's energy. So after a good deal of thought, I've decided to make a few 2009 resolutions. Note that these are my resolutions and I don't expect everyone to agree with them. But perhaps you'll find a useful point or two amongst them and then share some of your own 2009 goals.
23 Comments
10 Useful Tasks for Slow Times
As both a freelancer and former firm designer/developer, the slowest month for business has always been December. Couple that fact with the economic slowdown this year and you can easily find yourself having more free time than you're used to. So what is there to do after you've already scoured the ususal job boards and are waiting for responses from proposals? Consider these ten profitable ways to spend your extra down time.
24 Comments
Three Free Copies of 3D Spiral from FlashLoaded
It's been a while since we gave away free stuff, so in partnership with Flashloaded (those fine purveyors of Flash components), we are giving away 3 copies of their new 3D Spiral Component (normally $49.95). I have personally purchased and used several Flashloaded compenents such as 3DWall and 3DEnvironment, so I can vouch for their usefulness and value.
90 Comments
Get Smart: 12 Free Educational Resources for Web Workers
Knowledge is a web worker's number one advantage in an industry where ideas and technologies move fast. Although the internet is full of sites promising such knowledge, there are few quality tutorials or lessons out there. And if you want such lessons for free, then your options are even fewer. Here are 12 multimedia resources for expanding your skillset and staying in front of your competition.
26 Comments
Falling Behind is Not an Option
Seeing that this blog has been dormant for several months, what better way to get back into it than a post about falling behind? The truth is, if you work in the design or technology industry, it doesn't take long for your skillset to become outdated or your design aesthetic to become stale. Every potential client job I've ever had inevitably asks either, "How well do you know ___________?" or, "Can I see a recent design example of ____________?" If you don't have solid answers to those questions, chances are you're not landing the job. In the same vein, basing your reputation on a blog that hasn't been updated in months is just as bad. Simply put, falling behind is devastating in the freelancing industry and here's why:
20 Comments
6 Places that Flash Does Not Belong
It's recently occurred to me that I've been doing Flash sites now for 10 years and have seen it come a long way since Flash 4, where I first cut my teeth on Actionscript, tweening, and pixel fonts. Over the years, I've seen and done many projects, some of which utilized Flash in very useful ways, while others had no business using it. Sometimes, a Flash implementation hurt the company, detracted from the site's purpose, and had poor results (all the while costing them more to build the site in the frst place). So in a world where too many companies want Flash websites and too few designers use Flash very well, here is a brief list of places that Flash currently does not belong (with very few exceptions):
88 Comments
Deciding When to Use Project Pricing
Billing by the hour is the most common way to make money in the freelance world, and it can be both safe and profitable. But it does have a few drawbacks. First, potential clients tend to balk at higher hourly rates, mainly because they're comparing you to other freelancers based solely on your rate (and not the talent or work that comes with that rate). Secondly, hourly rates offer little reward for the freelancer to be either fast or efficient. And as for the client, besides worrying about a freelancer who's freeloading, he will have a hard time pegging an actual cost and budget to the project. So for those reasons (and perhaps others), there are times when project pricing becomes a great way to make both parties happy: the client gets a fixed cost and the freelancer can earn more than he could hourly (without being compared to low-cost outsourcers).
26 Comments
GroupThink: Attending Web Conferences
Every year, there seems to be more conferences catering to internet designers, developers, marketers, and bloggers. Already this year, there have been some great events like SXSW in Austin and FOWA in Miami. And next week, Future of Web Design comes to London. So the topic for discussion today is:
What do you think of these conferences? Are they worth the time and cost (especially if you're paying for it yourself)? Have you ever attended one and what did you find valuable?
22 Comments
View All Past Articles >
I like January. It's been frigid this year (-27 Celsius a few days ago), but when a new year comes around, it helps me focus on the future and brings fresh energy and hope into the workplace. Granted, feelings pass quickly and without careful resolutions and follow-through, it's easy to squander the new year's energy. So after a good deal of thought, I've decided to make a few 2009 resolutions. Note that these are my resolutions and I don't expect everyone to agree with them. But perhaps you'll find a useful point or two amongst them and then share some of your own 2009 goals.
The new year often brings renewed ambition and resolution (Photo by Per Ola Wiberg)
Read More...
23 Comments
10 Useful Tasks for Slow Times
As both a freelancer and former firm designer/developer, the slowest month for business has always been December. Couple that fact with the economic slowdown this year and you can easily find yourself having more free time than you're used to. So what is there to do after you've already scoured the ususal job boards and are waiting for responses from proposals? Consider these ten profitable ways to spend your extra down time.
What do you do when you have extra time and no work? (Photo by laffy4k)
24 Comments
Three Free Copies of 3D Spiral from FlashLoaded
It's been a while since we gave away free stuff, so in partnership with Flashloaded (those fine purveyors of Flash components), we are giving away 3 copies of their new 3D Spiral Component (normally $49.95). I have personally purchased and used several Flashloaded compenents such as 3DWall and 3DEnvironment, so I can vouch for their usefulness and value.
90 Comments
Get Smart: 12 Free Educational Resources for Web Workers
Knowledge is a web worker's number one advantage in an industry where ideas and technologies move fast. Although the internet is full of sites promising such knowledge, there are few quality tutorials or lessons out there. And if you want such lessons for free, then your options are even fewer. Here are 12 multimedia resources for expanding your skillset and staying in front of your competition.
Always be learning -- especially with such great resources out there. (Photo by alextakesphotos)
26 Comments
Falling Behind is Not an Option
Seeing that this blog has been dormant for several months, what better way to get back into it than a post about falling behind? The truth is, if you work in the design or technology industry, it doesn't take long for your skillset to become outdated or your design aesthetic to become stale. Every potential client job I've ever had inevitably asks either, "How well do you know ___________?" or, "Can I see a recent design example of ____________?" If you don't have solid answers to those questions, chances are you're not landing the job. In the same vein, basing your reputation on a blog that hasn't been updated in months is just as bad. Simply put, falling behind is devastating in the freelancing industry and here's why:
In the freelance web industry, falling behind can be a real problem. (Photo by Frankie Roberto)
20 Comments
6 Places that Flash Does Not Belong
It's recently occurred to me that I've been doing Flash sites now for 10 years and have seen it come a long way since Flash 4, where I first cut my teeth on Actionscript, tweening, and pixel fonts. Over the years, I've seen and done many projects, some of which utilized Flash in very useful ways, while others had no business using it. Sometimes, a Flash implementation hurt the company, detracted from the site's purpose, and had poor results (all the while costing them more to build the site in the frst place). So in a world where too many companies want Flash websites and too few designers use Flash very well, here is a brief list of places that Flash currently does not belong (with very few exceptions):
88 Comments
Deciding When to Use Project Pricing
Billing by the hour is the most common way to make money in the freelance world, and it can be both safe and profitable. But it does have a few drawbacks. First, potential clients tend to balk at higher hourly rates, mainly because they're comparing you to other freelancers based solely on your rate (and not the talent or work that comes with that rate). Secondly, hourly rates offer little reward for the freelancer to be either fast or efficient. And as for the client, besides worrying about a freelancer who's freeloading, he will have a hard time pegging an actual cost and budget to the project. So for those reasons (and perhaps others), there are times when project pricing becomes a great way to make both parties happy: the client gets a fixed cost and the freelancer can earn more than he could hourly (without being compared to low-cost outsourcers).
26 Comments
GroupThink: Attending Web Conferences
Every year, there seems to be more conferences catering to internet designers, developers, marketers, and bloggers. Already this year, there have been some great events like SXSW in Austin and FOWA in Miami. And next week, Future of Web Design comes to London. So the topic for discussion today is:
What do you think of these conferences? Are they worth the time and cost (especially if you're paying for it yourself)? Have you ever attended one and what did you find valuable?
22 Comments
View All Past Articles >
