Things have been fairly quiet here on the blog recently – but it hasn’t been for lack of writing!

This last month, I’ve been asked to participate in several interviews (including a yet to be published group interview). If you’ve always wanted to know more about the face behind iDesign Studios, you’ve come to the right place!

Below is a bit of a sneak peek into more in-depth interviews at Michaelbox and The Geek Talk that answer a few questions about who I am, what I do, some of my favorite practices in web design and freelancing, as well as a few off-the-wall questions…

Anyone up for a game of Rock / Paper / Scissors? LOL

Michaelbox

By Michael Beckwith – May 12, 2010
read the full interview

• Who are you and what do you do?
• What is one thing that you would love to see avail­able in a default word­press install, that isn’t presently there?
• Where were you on the night of Feb­ru­ary 30th, 2002? Don’t try to lie your way out of this one, we have leads say­ing you were frat­er­niz­ing, with Curlz MT Font!
• You are also a twit­ter­holic, along with Grace Smith, but attended last week’s meet­ing only after a heavy amount of arm twist­ing. Who are some peo­ple that you think every­one should follow?
• You are stranded on a desert island and find a bot­tle and blank piece of parch­ment to be used for a res­cue mes­sage. What font would you use for the message?
• What are a cou­ple things you miss about any 9–5 cubi­cle life that you’ve expe­ri­enced? It would be hard to argue that there are no ben­e­fits to that career path over a free­lanc­ing path.
• When birds stand on power lines and don’t get hurt, it’s most likely because of…
• Do you have any per­sonal quotes that you’d like to share with the internet?
• What CSS3/HTML5 ele­ments have you wig­gling in your chair the most?
• Can you recall any client moments that really made you go *facepalm*?
• If you were an LOL­Cat, what would be your caption?
• Favorite Inter­net Meme?
• If you could visit any art age in the past, which would you choose and for how long?
• It’s the show­down to end all show­downs, the bat­tle of epic pro­por­tions! It’s brought king­doms down to their knees and made once-brave war­riors trem­ble in fear! It’s Pirates vs Nin­jas duel­ing to the death in Rock/Paper/Scissors. Which side are you on and which hand do you throw?
• Any clos­ing com­ments or thoughts?

The Geek Talk

By The Geek Talk – May 19, 2010
read the full interview

• Do you have a personal Brand?
• How do you find design inspiration and colours for a new project?
• What does your typical day look like?
• What do you do in your free time?
• Current favorite apps?
• What OS do you prefer?
• Small picture for your Workplace?
• Favorite: Color, Font, Language, JS Framework?
• Name something that has inspired you recently?
• What do you prefer (and why)? Freelance work or full time employment?
• What are your personnel projects and goals for 2010?

Looking for More?

I’ve been very fortunate to have been asked to write guest posts for several blogs and participate in other interviews over the last few years. If you’re curious, you can view those guest posts and interviews, read my biography, or even find out how to pronounce my name. Yes, I get just about every pronunciation imaginable – except the correct one, of course!

Saying Thanks!

It goes without saying that I’d like to thank Michaelbox and The Geek Talk for taking the time to include me in their interview series! I hope you’ll have a look at the posts to find out more about me, and the other great designers these sites have featured, as well!

Update: This contest has ended – winners announced below!

This is a quick post to announce a new giveaway from the generous folks at UPrinting!

What You Can Win

• Two readers will each win 500 FREE die cut business cards
• Die Cutting Options:
  Rounded Corners, Leaf, Rounded One-Corner, Half-Circle Side, Circle
• Paper Type Options:
  14pt Cardstock Gloss, Matte, or High Gloss; 13pt Cardstock Uncoated
• Color Options:
  4Color Front, Blank Back; 4Color Front, Black Back; 4Color Both Sides

How to Enter

• Leave a comment at the end of this blog post, describing what you would use the free business cards for

Contest Rules

• Comments will be open until April 23, 2010 at 5:00pm (GMT-5)
• You must include your real name and email address with your comment, so that we can contact you if you’re the winner
• Two winners will randomly be selected using Random.org
• Winners in the United States qualify for FREE shipping
• Shipping fees will apply to winners in Canada
• Contest open to residents of the United States and Canada only

About UPrinting.com

UPrinting.com is a leading online printing company that provides high quality printing  at the most affordable prices. For more information on

Big thanks go out to UPrinting for sponsoring the giveaway, and Good Luck to the contestants!

Update – Winners Annouced!

A big thank you to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway, and most importantly, thank you to UPrinting for sponsoring the prizes!

And The Winners Are…

• Tracy Bennett
• Cynthia

Congratulations to you both! I will send your email addresses to Uprinting, who will be contacting you shortly with details on the prize.

Winners were randomly selected using Random.org’s True Random Number Generator.

I’m happy to officially announce the re-design of iDesign Studios!

The new site has actually been in the works for a few months now, and is finally ready to make it’s debut. In truth, I unofficially launched the site on March 29th, but it’s taken a few extra days to get the time to put together the announcement post.

So, What’s New?

I had three main goals in mind with the updated site.

• updated content
• better readability
• a clean and minimalist design

As “They” Say, Content Is King

First and foremost, my primary goal for the new site was to update the content. Most of the text on the old site was very outdated – more than a couple years old – and no longer reflected my current service offerings and method of working on projects.

For example, when I first wrote the Typical Milestones and Turnaround Times page in the FAQ section, the majority of the web sites that I built were static HTML sites. Now that my primary focus is on designing and developing custom WordPress themes, the process is considerably different. The new FAQ / Process / Milestones section of the site now provide much more accurate infomation, as does the Services section.

I’ve also updated the Portfolio, to include a better overview of each project, as well as giving options to narrow down the work displayed by category – for example WordPress vs Static or Full Design/Development vs Design Only vs Development Only.

Two for One

I have always been a fan of using a dark background for portfolio sites – I find it helps showcase the individual portfolio pieces quite nicely. However, with this comes the issue that light text on a dark background is difficult for some people to read.

The previous site featured an almost black, patterned background with light grey text, along with brightly colored headlines and links. While most people seemed to like the design, I would occasionally get comments that it was just NOT easy to read.

As a designer, it’s an issue I’m well aware of, but decided to take a calculated risk, since this is my own site. I don’t always have the freedom to design a light on dark site for clients, so I’ll usually take liberties with my own site that I typically can’t for a client.

As you can see, the primary design for this site is also a light on dark design, however this time, with a dark grey vs black, as well as a subtle noise vs larger pattern in the background, I do believe this new version is more readable and easier on the eyes than the previous one.

With that being said, I know there are still a lot of people who just want to see traditional dark text on a light background. I certainly want to accommodate as many readers and potential clients as possible, so I’ve used a theme switcher plugin to give users the option to toggle between two versions of the site.

Feel free to give it a try, and let me know which version you like best! The main theme switcher link is on the upper left corner of the page, or you can just click the links below:

• View the Dark Version of the site
• View the Light Version of the site

Personally, I much prefer the dark version of the site, but that’s just my own preference. With two options, visitors to the site can use whichever version they like best.

Clean and Simple

I have also always been a big believer in the “less is more” theory of design – so I wanted to go for a very minimal look on this version of the site.

Some might say it’s too minimalistic – and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I sometimes feel that way about it myself. But the funny thing is that the more I attempt to add into the site, the more I end up taking it right back out. There’s something not allowing me to add too much – even in the form of color.

I had a GREAT set of eyes take a sneak peek of the site last week. You know who you are if you’re reading, and I have to say again, Thank You!

They gave me very honest feedback about the site – both positive and negative critiques. I’ve since made a few additional tweaks based on the recommendations. But one thing I haven’t been able to do is add more color (the most frequently received suggestion). A suggestion that I actually agree with, but… I can’t explain it – there is some force at work not letting me follow through, LOL.

Of course that deserves a bit of an explanation! My thinking on the site is that I want a very clean, simple and minimal design. Something that will showcase my work the best way possible. Pages like the portfolio and blog section are full of images (either screenshots in the portfolio, or photos here in the blog) – those in and of themselves serve as the pop of color, in particular in the portfolio. I find that if I add more color, on the portfolio in particular, it pulls away from the work which is what should shine through the most. It’s the content pages on the main portion of the web site that are most evident in the lack of color – something that I may or may not eventually change.

Maybe it’s because of the overly bright colors on the last site making me want to completely steer clear on this site. Who knows, maybe I’m just one of those quirky artists, LOL.

Still a Work in Progress

Now, that’s not to say that this is the end! I’m constantly making slight tweaks and updates to the site. Most are minor and things you mightn’t even notice. Other things are more obvious – for example, I’ll be gradually updating the photos on all of the blog posts to match the new wider content area.

I’ve already updated the two most popular posts on the blog with new photos to fit the new design, and will be updating the rest as time permits.

• How To Use WordPress as a Truly Customizable CMS
• 6 Phases of the Web Site Design and Development Process

And who knows, I might still add that pop of color to the headings or links… only time will tell!

What I’ve Learned In The Process

So, have I learned anything in this process? YES! I’ve learned – well, not learned, but reinforced the fact – that a web designer is their own worst client. At least, I can positively attest to the fact that I am indeed my own worst nightmare client! You know… the guy who “doesn’t know what I want, but I’ll know when I see it” client? Yeah, that’s me! LOL

I’ve also learned that you need to come to a point when enough is enough, and it’s time to let go. I tinkered with the design for quite some time, finding it difficult to decide when it was actually finished. I have a magnet up on my whiteboard that reads:

Perfection is the enemy of “good enough”

At some point, you have to come to the realization that it is, indeed, “good enough”

A Trip Down Memory Lane

So, at the risk of completely embarrassing myself, I thought it’d be fun to share all the old version of my web site. I had been under the impression that this was version 10 of my site, but I just realized today that I’m actually on version 15! Another surprise is that I was also sure that I got my start designing web sites in 1994, but the earliest site I could find was from 1996. I think that is the first one, but I’m not 100% positive (way too long ago, LOL).

At any rate, I dug through a ton of old CD archives, and with the help of the Wayback Machine, I was able to track down most of my previous web sites. This is a combination of both business and personal sites – some of which I had at the same time (I only recently merged my personal and business web sites within the last few years).

Oh, and please don’t judge me for the early designs… especially the ones in the 90′s. Clearly I have improved my skills considerably! And if I’ve come this far, I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

So, without further ado, I give you most of my old web sites… just promise not to laugh!

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v1 circa 1996 (or 1994?)

There is no explanation for this. Please don’t judge me, LOL. All I can say is that this was probably my first ever web site done in 1996 and hosted in the GeoCities Paris neighborhood.

As for the design style… again, it was the mid 90′s. #thatisall

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v2-4 circa 1996-1998

These 3 versions are MIA. They are most likely on old floppy discs somewhere (in a landfill?) that I wouldn’t be able to open even if I did find them. RIP

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v5 circa 1998

There are no words for this, except that it was still the 90′s.  How it won an award that I proudly displayed, I don’t know, but this was, after all 1998.

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v6 circa 1999

This one left me speechless, too. I actually think it’s worse than the last one! Really, I wish I remember my thinking for the big blank space on the left side. If I remember correctly, there were sounds on rollover too. Fancy!

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v7 circa 2000

Welcome to a new century! This one I actually liked (neat rollover on the illustration). As you can tell, I like the color grey!

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v8a circa 2001

This was the first version of the business site – one that I liked quite a bit! I was indecisive so had both a “cool” and “hot” version.

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v8b circa 2001

Secondary option to
the site above.

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v9 circa 2002

Flash version of my personal portfolio site, another one that I loved at the time.

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v10 circa 2002

This one started as my personal portfolio site, and was later redesigned for the business site. Back to shades of grey on this one – I’m noticing a trend!

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v11 circa 2002

This was a much more in-depth business site. I felt the need to give it a more clean/white corporate look than what I typically did with my personal sites.

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v12 circa 2007

An attempt at improving upon the previous corporate-y looking site. I liked it at the time… not so much now, LOL.

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v13 circa 2007

This was my short-lived anonymous alter-ego, WAH(web)Mommy. My first WordPress theme where I was able to plan taking the freelance plunge.

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v14 circa 2008

The last version of the site, which I first used on my personal site before using on the business site, as well.

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v15 circa 2010

And here we are at the latest version of the site! Two versions again, but this time not because I was indecisive, but because I wanted to give a second option for people who have difficulty reading light text on a dark background.

The dark version, for the record, is my favorite of the two.

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v15 circa 2010

Alternate version of the current site, for the purpose of better readability for some users.

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So, What Do You Think?

Now that I’ve given you a good laugh with my early site designs, I’d love to hear what you think of the new design? And more importantly… do you prefer the Dark theme or the Light one?

I hope you’ll share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you enjoy the new site!

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As my occasional guest posting continues, this week I was asked by Char Polanosky to participate in a regular series over at Essential Keystrokes, featuring web professionals and the Essential Tools that they use on a regular basis to run their business.

This is a long time series – first started in 2006 – and features the likes of Randa Clay, Chris Garrett, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Deb Ng, Wendy Piersall, Liz Strauss and more. I’m definitely honored to be in such great company!

Essential Tools of Web Design Pro Selene Bowlby

Here’s a brief introduction to the post below:
read the full article here

As part of the Essential Tools series, we are featuring the ultra talented web designer, Selene Bowlby of iDesign Studios this week. Selene’s name regularly appears on lists of the top female web designers in a variety of categories and her educational articles, like 15 Key Elements All Top Web Sites Should Have, are always “must reads”.

So, in her own words, these are Selene’s absolute essential tools for online success…

I hope you’ll head on over to Essential Keystrokes to read the post, and find out which 8 sets of tools I consider to be the most essential to running my business!

As great as technology is, when it comes to finding the time to completely immerse yourself in your work, let’s face it – the same technology we depend on can just as quickly turn into a major hindrance. Being a web designer, the very nature of my job requires that I spend the majority of my workday online – which makes it that much more important that I take extra care not to get easily sidetracked.

While the suggestions below are mostly common sense, and quite frankly nothing you probably haven’t already heard, sometimes you need a bit of a reminder – myself included! These are all tried and true tricks that work, as long as you commit yourself to sticking to them.

First Things First: Limit Your (Online) Social Activities

Yes, I admit it – Twitter and Facebook are my guilty pleasures. And while it can be difficult, sometimes you just need to set aside a certain amount of time to commit to NOT logging back in. Whether you decide to stay away for X number hours, or until you complete a certain project or task – sometimes you just have to say “No!” Or at least, “not right now.”

There’s certainly nothing wrong with taking a break with some social networking. Heck, in many cases your  networking efforts can lead to new business! But it’s just as important to know when it’s time to lay low for a while, until after you’ve put in a decent amount of time and effort on your current projects.

That Goes Double For Those Third-Party Social Apps

I personally can’t rave enough about TweetDeck – it’s my Twitter app of choice! But whatever your weapon of choice happens to be, simply minimizing the application doesn’t usually cut it.

At the very least, be sure to disable any notifications the program might have, as this is often the most distracting part. But even without frequent pop-ups when new messages are posted, just seeing the icon as an open application makes it all too easy to click on it for “just one quick minute.”

We all know how Twitter works – “just one quick minute” quickly turns into 5 tweets, 20 responses, 7 direct messages and 10 new posts to read (and retweet) from various blogs…

An hour later, you’re now that much closer to potentially missing a deadline. So when you have work that has to get done, the best thing to do is just shut it down!

Close Your Web Browser… Or At Least Hide the Bookmark Toolbar

If I’m on the design phase of a web site, I can easily close down my web browser and stay focused in Photoshop. But when I move onto the development stage, I need to have Mozilla Firefox (as well as a few other browsers) open for testing purposes.

My biggest downfall with this is that handy-dandy bookmark toolbar with links to Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader and the like. With so many of my favorite sites not more than a single click away, it’s all but impossible to not take another “quick” look for “just one minute.”

The simple act of hiding this particular toolbar makes it more difficult than simply clicking a favicon to access these sites.

And While You’re At It – Hide the Address Bar, Too

If you really want to get down to business, consider hiding the address bar, as well. Because let’s face it – without the single click of the facebook favicon calling your name, how difficult is it to type “facebook.com” into the address bar and hit enter? Exactly! lol

What has helped me tremendously is to first open up windows or tabs with the sites I’m currently working on – for example the WordPress admin area of this very post I’m writing in one tab, and the preview version of the post in another. Once these are open, I hide the address bar. This makes it that much more difficult for me to stray off to another web site (or ten), and makes focusing much easier.

A helpful hint… just hit “Ctr” + “R” to refresh or reload the browser window to view new changes.

Don’t Live In Your Inbox

Many people (myself included) keep their email application open in the background as they work. It often serves as a reference point, for example to view a list of updates a client needs to make to their web site – something I need to have readily available when working on that particular project. I’m not one for paper clutter, so I prefer to keep this open on the screen, rather than printing it out.

One simple trick to keep this from becoming a distraction is to increase the amount of time between automatic email checks. I personally use Mozilla Thunderbird as my primary email client, with a copy of messages going to Gmail for backup.

As for the email client, I used to have it automatically download messages every 15 minutes. Even if I only sit down and respond to emails at set times (once, sometimes twice a day) I like being in the loop and seeing what is in store for me. But let’s be honest – seeing that popup with a new message every few minutes is a BIG distraction, one that’s almost impossible not to click on.

Instead, I’ve recently changed my settings to only download mail once every 2 hours. I might get brave and up this to once every 3-4 hours. Maybe… lol. This change alone can be a tough pill to swallow! But after a week or two it will feel like second nature, and you’ll be amazed at how much more productive it can make you.

Turn Off the Ringer and Schedule All Calls

The phone can be another BIG distraction. Calls can easily last close to an hour (even “quick” calls are usually a minimum of 20-30 minutes long). That’s precious time when you are trying to reach a deadline by the end of the day, and didn’t account for phone calls eating into your already tight schedule.

I’m a bit of a stickler for this one (some might use the term obsessive / compulsive) but I schedule 99% of my phone calls, whether they be from prospects or active clients. If you are like me, and lucky enough to have the majority of your work come from non-local clients, it’s not unheard of to consider phone calls to be the equivalent of in-person meetings. For most professional service providers, you have to make an appointment to meet with them. Since none of my clients are local, I follow this general rule for phone calls, as well.

Scheduling your phone calls makes a tremendous difference in being able to keep on track when working on a deadline. Think about it… if in a given day, 3 clients call about revisions to their sites, and a potential new client wants to pick your brain about their best options, you could easily spend a quarter of that day on the phone. Spur of the moment calls usually mean that my mind is half watching the clock, because I know I need to hurry up and get back to work, so as not to get behind on my schedule.

But consider the alternative… if it is a scheduled phone call instead, I’ll have an hour blocked out for the call; I’ll be well prepared for it; and will know that I’m devoting 100% of my attention to that client (or potential client) while we are on the phone. And I won’t risk missing any deadlines (aka pissing off another client). That’s a win-win, in my book.

The simplest way to go about this, is to simply turn off your ringer, and let all calls go to voicemail. You will still get the message, and if it’s urgent, you can call back ASAP. Otherwise, try to schedule a time convenient to both parties, where you know the other person will get your full and undivided attention.

Smartphones: The Ultimate Godsend… er Distraction

I think it’s safe to say that if you are reading this, you have a cell phone – and odds are it’s probably a smartphone. I’m partial to the BlackBerry, myself. But while smartphones are a Godsend that keep us constantly connected to email, instant messaging, social media, etc – it is also just another vehicle for distraction.

So when working, set your phone to “Phone Only” mode so you don’t get sidetracked with every email that comes in. And if you are truly serious about staying focused, set it to “Quiet” mode so you can adhere to the same phone rules above (especially when working on a deadline).

There’s no point to increasing the amount of time between automatic checks of the email client on your computer, if your phone is going to alert you every single time a new message comes in. Yes, push notification is a wonderful thing, but it can really hinder productivity, as well. By keeping your phone on silent, you’ll help curb any additional distractions.

(Not So) Instant Messaging

Whether you use Gtalk, Skype, Yahoo or a multi-IM client like Pidgin – instant messaging is yet another distraction that can hinder productivity.

When hard at work on a particular project, you should at a minimum, set your status to “Busy.” Some IM clients, like Skype, will hold back on alerting you to new messages if your status is set to busy – it will just update the icon in the status bar, rather than actually opening up the chat window on your behalf. A nice touch, if you ask me! This way you know the message is there, but you don’t feel obligated to answer right this second.

While most people respect the “Busy” icon – especially if you update your status message with something referencing “deadlines” – not everyone will hold your same sense of urgency. For this reason alone, the ideal situation is to close out of the program entirely.

Like social networking, choose your times wisely – log back in when it’s time for a break and some chit-chat. But when deadlines are looming, you’re better off laying low…

How Do YOU Disconnect?

In my never-ending quest to make the most of my time, I’ve been implementing more and more of these suggestions on a regular basis, and definitely see a peak in my performance when I do so. Of course, I am always looking for even better ways to maximize productivity, so I would love to hear your best tips and tricks to disconnect!

What do you do to ensure that you stay focused on the task at hand? Please share in the comments below!

And yes, I followed EVERY single item on this page in order to finish writing this post. My sincere apologies for the five month break between posts… utilizing the suggestions above, as well as the ones from my next post (already in draft) will ensure that I don’t take another five month posting hiatus from the blog!

Update: The contest has ended – winners announced below!

I’m happy to announce a new giveaway on the blog today!

BizCard, an Eco-Friendly online printer, has recently offered me 1,500 business cards to giveaway to three of my readers. That’s right, three of you are less than a week away from winning 500 business cards!

Eco-Friendly Printing Solutions

What’s unique about BizCard is that they specialize in Eco-Friendly printing. With today’s focus on going green, it is nice to come across a printing company who helps you promote your business by printing your marketing materials – all while being responsible to the environment.

So, what’s in it for you and how can you win?

What You Can Win

• Three readers will each win 500 FREE business cards
• Winners can upload their own design or select one of the many designs that BizCard has in their catalog

How to Enter

• Leave a comment at the end of this post, describing what you would use the free business cards for.

Contest Rules

• Comments will be open until August 21, 2009 at 10:00am (GMT-4)
• You must include your real name and email address with your comment, so that we can contact you if you’re the winner
• Only one entry / comment per person
• Three winners will randomly be selected using Random.org
• Winners in the United States and Canada qualify for FREE shipping. Shipping fees will apply to winners outside these areas

About BizCard

BizCard is an online printing company. It offers small businesses and individuals products such as business cards, calling cards, postcards, letterheads and related print products. Users can browse a catalog of hundreds of design templates to find one matching their professional image. They can also upload their own artwork.

From its inception, BizCard has opted for environmentally friendly printing procedures (using recycled paper, eliminating the usage of harming phot processing chemicals, etc..).

The company plants a tree for every order it receives.

• Learn more about BizCard’s Eco-Friendly Printing Solutions
  

Update – Winners Announced!

Sending out a big “Thank You” to BizCard for their gracious offer of 1,500 business cards to three of my readers, and of course, thank you to everyone who entered and who helped spread the word about the contest.

And the Winners Are…

• Michael
• Mary Yeager
• Brian Okken

Congratulations to you all! I will send your email addresses to BizCard, who will be contacting you shortly with details on your prize!

Winners were randomly selected using Random.org’s True Random Number Generator.

Just a very quick note to ask you to please pardon the dust on the web site and blog – especially if you are subscribed to the feed!

The last few weeks have found me hard at work moving the site to a new web hosting company, Blue Host (which happens to be the #1 recommended web host by WordPress).

Making The Most of My Time

Having the freedom of a private server address that worked separately from the live site, this served as the perfect opportunity to make several upgrades to the site itself – both in terms of the WordPress theme, as well as some of the content.

Nameserver Changes Can Be Quick… Who Knew?

I know that my traffic tends to be the lowest over the weekend, so I took the opportunity to initiate the DNS / Nameserver change late Friday afternoon, thinking it would take the typical 24-72 hours for propagation. Who knew that the nameservers would transfer in less than three hours, though, and cause havoc with Feedburner!

Fine-Tuning In Progress

If you’re subscribed, either via Email or RSS, you’ll no doubt be seeing what appears to be a ton of new posts (either old blog posts, or new portfolio pieces and client testimonials). I’m still working out the logistics of excluding a few categories from the feed, and didn’t expect that previously published posts would resurface as new again.

Needless to say, I’ll be spending some quality time with my site over the weekend. I hope to have everything straightened out by Monday!

Thanks for bearing with me.

Sincerely,
The Management

If you are one of the over 200 million people with a Facebook account, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard all of the hype over Facebook usernames and vanity URL’s.

These initially became available for both personal profiles and fan pages at 12:01am EST on June 13, 2009. I for one was among those who stayed up late on a Saturday night to get a vanity URL for my own personal profile.

Like many others, however, my fan page was fairly new, and did not meet the initial requirement of having 1,000 fans in order to get a fan page username. That would come later…

The Second Wave = Mass Confusion?

This past weekend, on June 29th, Facebook opened up the second wave of fan page username registration. However, it didn’t come without a bit of controversy and confusion…

First, there was no time listed, just a date. I’m sure I’m not the only one who assumed the second wave would start at 12:01am, just like the initial landrush. Well, you know what happens when you assume something, right? It turns out, the second wave wouldn’t start until 11:59pm that night.

Reports also started floating around in regards to the fan page requirements. Initially, fan pages needed a minimum of 25 fans in order to be eligible for a username. No biggie – I had about 120 at this point, so I was not concerned.

Late Sunday afternoon, however, Facebook changed their tune… the minimum requirement was raised to 100 fans. I’m sure this made for a LOT of unhappy campers – although I realize it is all in the name of preventing cyber squatting.

In addition to this, the Facebook help pages made mention of possibly verifying your account with a mobile phone.

Users will be required to have a verified Facebook account, which may require mobile phone authentication. This decision was made to prevent people from creating new accounts just to take advantage of reserving a username.

Not As Easy As It Sounds

I thought I took care of that earlier in the day by activating Facebook mobile through the Account | Mobile link. It was as simple as sending a text message with the letter “f” to FBOOK, receiving a confirmation code, and entering it into the account settings. I tested this and all was well. Ready to get my username!

Think again! 11:59pm rolled around – I went to the username page, entered my cell phone number to be faced with this:

Sorry, that phone was recently used to verify another Facebook user and is not currently eligible for mobile verification.

WHAT?!?!?! You can imagine my distress! What do they mean my cell phone was used to verify another Facebook user? Yes the number was used – but it was used to verify MY account – an account that I’ve had for well over a year, so why is there question of my identity now?

I tried repeatedly to enter my cell phone number… I even tried in vain to use my Skype and Gizmo numbers in order to get a new confirmation code sent. Heck, I even tried my main phone number forwarded to my cell phone, LOL. Apparently Skype and Gizmo can only send SMS messages – not receive them.

Facebook Bugs and Known Problems

This is apparently either a “Bug” or “Known Problem” – see the screenshot below…

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #1

At this point I was desperate to secure my username and was willing to try just about anything to get it. So crazy idea #1 hit – if they won’t verify my real cell phone number, I’ll run to the store in the morning, get a cheapie $19 prepaid phone, activate it, then verify my facebook account with the new number.

Cake, right? NOPE!

Apparently Facebook has a limit – you can only request 5 confirmation codes before it cuts you off. It would have been nice if they notified you of this somewhere on the page, so I wouldn’t have wasted codes on numbers that likely weren’t going to work!

So $19 later, I’m faced with this:

Sorry, we have already tried texting 5 codes and they all seem to have failed. Please click here to get help.

Absolutely nothing that I tried at this point worked, and the help files didn’t do much other than tell you to “click here” again to fill out various support forms and bug reports. And trust me, I filled out as many forms as I could!

To make things worse, in searching for help on the issue, I came across many posts on the Facebook forums with complaints of people waiting months without any response from Facebook support.

NOT the reassurance I was hoping for!

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #1 = Success! (sort-of)

While this tactic didn’t work for me, because I had already hit the 5 code limit, I am happy to report that it does work for other people!

A good friend of mine experienced the exact same problem that I did – but lucky for her, she hadn’t reached the 5 code limit on the account she was trying to verify.

She unfortunately had to spend $35 on her cheapie pre-paid phone and plan, but it worked! She was successfully able to secure her Facebook fan page username!

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #2

My friend was now set, but it seemed that I was completely out of luck. Then it hit me… I remembered that you could add other people as administrators for your fan page.

I had recently setup a Facebook account for my husband – of course, he’s not a techie like me and could care less about the whole vanity URL thing. And as the universe works, since the usernames were not a big deal for him, he was able to verify his account and secure his username without ANY issues whatsoever!

Well, it’s my husband… his account is verified… I trust him completely… so…

What if I named my husband as an admin, and let him pick the fan page username?

Not the perfect situation, but it would certainly secure the name that I so desperately wanted to have.

So, I logged into my account, assigned him as an admin… logged in as him (with his permission, of course)… proceeded to the username page… held my breath and…

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #2 = Success!

Yes, this is a crazy work-around – something only a crazy obsessive compulsive personality could come up with, LOL. And of course you would only want to do this with someone that you completely trust your fan page account with.

But it worked! I was able to register my fan page username while logged into his verified account.

I was also a bit worried what would happen if I removed him as an admin, but I’ve since done so, and the username remains in tact.

Phew!

Few And Far Between?

While it seemed that everyone and their mother were posting their shiny new fan page vanity URL’s, it felt as though I was the only one having problems.

I did see a few tweets of people not being able to verify their account, but I don’t think they went to the lengths that my friend and I did to secure our pages. But, if it happened to at least the two of us – and the mobile number error I received was a “known problem” then I’m sure we were not the only ones.

So, yes, it’s a crazy work-around, but if you run into issues verifying your account and are willing to do whatever it takes to get a username for your fan page – one of these solutions might be right for you!

Smooth Sailing or a Nightmare?

So… did you secure your fan page username? Was it smooth sailing for you, or was it a similar nightmare? I’d love to hear your story, especially if it was a not so fun one like mine!

Fan Me, Please!

Of course, I can’t end this post without linking out to my page!

http://www.facebook.com/idesignstudios

I am not 100% sure what I’ll be using it for, but at the very least, I’ll be streaming blog posts, as well as providing helpful links that I find for designers, developers, freelancers and business owners – with tips on productivity, time management, work-life balance – you name it!

Basically a place to share the type of things I can’t really make a full blog post out of, but are more than worthy of sharing!

So, please join the community – I hope to see you there!

Today’s post started out as a short one, to thank the Geek Girls Network for asking me to participate in their interview series. But I soon realized that I’ve been interviewed several times in the last year, and wanted to share those with you, as well.

Most of the interviews focus on my experiences as a web designer, business owner, and as someone who has recently taken the freelance plunge.

I’m honored to have been asked to interview by so many great bloggers – they all ask some very interesting questions, which give you a bit of an insight as to what makes this “geek girl” tick…

Geek Girls Network

By Kristin Riley – June 26, 2009
read the full interview

• When did you first become interested in Web Site Design?
• What has been your favorite/most memorable project that you have worked on?
• When did you decide and what factors were involved in making your decision to start your own business?
• Do you feel there are any pressures in this industry because you are a woman?
• What tools/skills have you acquired that you feel are vital to your success in this field?
• What has been your worst web design experience?
• What message would you give to geek girls just starting out in the web design industry?

Phire Design

By AJ Troxell – March 19, 2009
read the full interview

• How did you first get involved in graphic design, or what was your first experience w/ it?
• When did you know that this is what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?
• Did you always plan on doing design as well as development, or did it just factor in over time once you realized there was a need for people or companies to get those two things in one place?
• Why did you make the decision to go freelance? What was in it for you that you wanted to have?
• What thing in what you do, brings you the most satisfaction?
• What would you say makes you and your company different, or sets you apart from the rest?
• Who or what would you give credit to for helping you become the designer that you are, if you had to say?
• What’s your favorite part of design itself? Logos, type, color theory, etc.?
• Is there anything else you’d like to share with us about design or web development or your company, or any advice you’d like to give to anyone looking to go freelance?

BPease Design

By Bob Pease – January 16, 2009
Read the full interview

• What brought you to the wonderful world of web design?
• What was the first site you designed?
• How do you break designer’s block?
• How does the ‘real world’ inspire your web creations?
• You are very active in the design community, which social media site has been the best tool for you?
• Who do you admire most in the design community?
• What apps do you use when designing a site?
• What is your favorite platform/language to develop with?
• A question I see floating around all the time – Music while you work, is it good or bad?
• If you had to give up design, what you choose for a career?

SparkPlugging

By Wendy Piersall – July 3, 2008
Read the full interview

• Selene, you have been hanging around my site now for around 9 months or so, and I’ve watched you grow from anonymous blogger – WAH(Web)Mommy – to ‘freelance moonlighter’ blogger, and now to full time work at home freelancer. I know you sometimes struggled with some decisions along the way, too. How long have you wanted to run your own business from home, and what were the reasons why you wanted to do so?
• When you finally made the decision to work for yourself, what was your plan of action to transition from employee to self-employed? Did you create milestones for yourself, and if you did what were they?
• What were some of the ’surprises’ along the way? Did anything pop up in this process that you weren’t anticipating?
• Did you have your husband’s support during the transition? How did that influence the process?
• What role did blogging and social media play in reaching your goal?
• What resources did you use to research, gather information, and prepare yourself for running your own business?
• Now that you are truly “free”, what advice would you give to other people looking to make the jump into full time freelancing?

Where It All Began

While the interviews above pose some great questions, you might still be wondering more about my background and upbringing. If so, feel free to check out my short biography, or if you’re brave enough, the incredibly long-winded version… your choice, LOL.

Back To Our (IR)Regularly Scheduled Programming

I realize that much of my recent writing activity has been focused on other blogs more than my own, but don’t worry – we’ll be back to our irregularly scheduled design, development, business, marketing and work-life balance posts next week!

Within the last few months, I have written several guest posts on Freelance Folder that focus on topics relating to web site design and development. As I spread my wings in the blogging world, I’ve recently been approached by Mashable about contributing a WordPress related post to their blog.

Mashable is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news. With more than 6 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the most prolific blog reviewing new Web sites and services, publishing breaking news on what’s new on the web and offering social media resources and guides.

Given Mashable’s popularity, you can imagine my surprise at the invitation – one that I could not turn down!

Top 10 WordPress Plugins to Promote Your Social Media Profiles

Here’s a brief introduction to the post below:
read the full article here

There’s no escaping social media — whether it’s for the promotion of your product, service or blog, or even just for fun, it is impossible to deny the staying power of this fairly new medium. Because WordPress is such a popular blogging platform and content management system, and has such a healthy developer ecosystem, it should come as no surprise that there are countless plugins available to help integrate your social networking efforts with your WordPress driven site.

While it’s important promote your blog posts with social bookmarking, it is equally important to promote and link to your actual profiles, as well. The following WordPress plugins are just a few of the options available to help you accomplish this. If we haven’t covered your favorite WordPress social media plugins, please leave links to them in the comments.

I hope you’ll head on over to Mashable to read the full article and share your comments.

Welcome Mashable Readers!

If you are here because of the post on Mashable – Welcome!

Thank you for reading the article and coming to check out my own web site and blog. Below are some of the more popular articles that I’ve written that you might find of interest!

• Project Scheduling Advice from 14 Designers
• How To Use WordPress as a CMS
• Essential Web Developer Tools
• 6 Phases of the Web Development Process
• Taking the Freelance Plunge… I Am FREE!

If you’re curious as to just who is behind this blog, you can learn more about me here or through the links on the sidebar. I hope you’ll also check out my web design portfolio.

Thanks again for stopping by – I hope to see you again soon! And if you like what you see, please subscribe to the feed for updates!

Update: The contest has ended – winners announced below!

It’s sometimes difficult to believe how quickly time flies…

One year ago today, I took the plunge towards running my own web design business full time, by giving my two weeks notice at work. In two short weeks, I’ll officially be celebrating the one year anniversary of being a full time freelancer!

To commemorate this milestone, I’m hosting a giveaway!

I was approached last summer by UPrinting with an offer for free business card printing, in exchange for a sponsored review. Just starting out on my own full time, it was perfect timing for a new set of business cards to help promote my business.

UPrinting has contacted me again with a similar offer – but this time I’m able to give back to my readers by offering a giveaway!

What You Can Win

• One reader will win 1,000 FREE custom size business cards
• One reader will win 1 FREE 18×24 rolled canvas print

How to Enter

You can enter in one of two ways…

• Leave a comment at the end of this blog post, describing what you would use the free business cards and/or canvas print for. This gets you 1 entry.

– or –

• Write a post on your blog, linking back to this post and to www.uprinting.com -  then leave a comment here linking to your own post. This gets you 2 entries – twice the chance to win!

Contest Rules

• Comments will be open until June 13, 2009 at 4:00pm (GMT-4)
• You must include your real name and email address with your comment, so that we can contact you if you’re the winner
• Two winners will randomly be selected using Random.org
  
• You can choose from any of UPrinting’s stocks for the prize items
• Die cut not available on business cards
• Winners in the United States and Canada qualify for FREE shipping. Shipping fees will apply to winners outside these areas

About UPrinting.com

For over 25 years, UPrinting has been a trusted leader in Online Printing, featuring its signature easy-to-use website and the famous free file review, a complimentary proofing service which requires no upfront payment. UPrinting offers convenient marketing support services such as design, lists, and direct mailing to help grow small and medium-size businesses nationwide.

UPrinting.com’s high quality printing services include Canvas Printing, Business Card Printing, brochures, postcards and more, all at the most affordable prices.

Design Inspiration

To help inspire… you can view some amazing business card and canvas print design inspiration on Flickr!

Update – Winners Annouced!

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for the congratulations on reaching my first anniversary of being a full time freelancer! It’s been an amazing first year, and I can’t wait to see what is in store for my second year!

Of course, it goes without saying that I’d like to thank everyone who entered the giveaway, and UPrinting for sponsoring the prizes.

And The Winners Are…

• Melissa – 1,000 FREE custom size business cards
• Rose – 1 FREE 18×24 rolled canvas print

Congratulations to you both! I will send your email addresses to Uprinting, who will be contacting you shortly with details on the prize.

Winners were randomly selected using Random.org’s True Random Number Generator.

Given the complexities of the various phases of the web design and development process – including many variables often revolving around pending client feedback – I have often wondered how other web designers go about scheduling their own projects.

Status Quo

Although I officially started my web design company, iDesign Studios, in 2001 – it was originally nothing more than a bit of side work here or there. It wasn’t until the last couple years that I finally had the drive and determination to take my business to the next level.

Next month marks my one year anniversary of having quit my day job to run my company full time, and things have been steadily getting busier. Up until recently, my general policy on scheduling new projects was to start work on them immediately upon receipt of a signed contract and 50% deposit, delivering each major phase within one week (with two to three business days for minor revisions).

With this method, my workload has been (for the most part) completely manageable… until the moon and stars align, and I get hit with three or four people sending in their contracts and deposits over a two day period – leaving me with a very busy week ahead!

I’ve found this to be happening more and more frequently lately, and realize it’s finally time to re-evaluate my scheduling process.

Time For A Change

One of the primary reasons I made the move towards running my own business full time – in addition to being able to earn a decent living doing something that I love – is so that I could have more control of my life… aka work / life balance.

Over committing myself to too many client projects at a given time is not only stressful, but stretches me thin.

In addition to the health factors associated with too much stress, it can also lead to less creativity and lesser quality work – something that I am not willing to compromise on.

Currently Booking Projects Starting ___ [Insert Date Here]

I often see sites where developers post a note stating something like “Now booking projects for ___ [x date in the future]”

What I always wondered, was how do they determine what that future date should be? How many active projects do these designers take on at a given time?

I recently posed these questions on Twitter and got a lot of great feedback in 140 character blurbs. At the same time, I also found that several of you are struggling with the same scheduling issues.

@veeroo18 -  i took mostly 2 full web design per month. .. though its too less but i do some other design jobs too like logo icons

14 Designers Share Their Advice…

Despite the great advice I received on Twitter, it was obviously limited to short one liners. Since the issue of project management and scheduling seemed to be on a lot of people’s minds, I wanted to expand upon these short responses by asking for more detailed explanations from some of the designers and developers who are quite active in the design community.

You might want to pull up a chair and grab a cup of coffee for this one, because it is a bit lengthy. However the wide range of scheduling techniques shared below are worth the read!

I know that I’ll be pulling bits and pieces from the suggestions below as I re-structure my own scheduling process – I hope you are able to do the same!

How do you go about scheduling work when you sign a new client? For example, when people say something like “now booking projects for June 2009″

This process is not always set in stone, I will typically get all the details from the client on the project and finalize exactly what they need done (this usually takes a few emails to narrow down). Once I have all the details and they have been quoted on the project, I will then ask them for a deadline, I then try to work around all the projects I receive and get the ones that have the closest deadlines done in the order that they were received.

Although this does not always work out to be a perfect scenario, so some deadlines may have to be re-adjusted based on the work already scheduled, clients make changes to scope, etc. I typically try not to allow a client to make a deadline that is within a few days so that they won’t expect to get a ‘rush’ project done on a normal busy week sometime in the future without being subjected to a rush fee.

I try to set client ‘expectations’ so that they know what to expect next time they need something done .

I don’t really take on enough clients to have to worry about this. When I sign a new client I sit down and do a rough timeline for the project but that’s usually the extent of it.

We typically will only take on 3 large projects at a time. We always have smaller projects being completed each week (print designs etc), but to really provide exceptional service to our clients, we only work on 3 larger projects at any given time.

Usually I have a clear plan in my head so I can give a rather precise deadline for the work. I always take into account the number of active projects and the priority of those. I have discovered to work very well under pressure which is why I regularly take on last-minute projects (charging accordingly though).

I’m usually always up for discussing new projects, even when I am super busy. So I usually start by talking things over with the client straight away, finding out what they want and putting a proposal together.

Depending on my work load I’ll start working on the project within 2-4 weeks, depending on when they can provide me with all the assets and a deposit.

I use a spreadsheet where I track the amount of time booked and available each month.  When I’m discussing the project with a new client, I’ll use it to let them know when I can schedule their project.

I also don’t lock in a date until I have a signed contract and deposit back from the client.

I’ve averaged about 100 project a year now since freelancing fulltime three years ago.  Some of them are large multi-month projects, others are simple three day turnarounds.  No matter what the project involves, I have learned that the best thing to take into consideration is your own ability.  I’ve gotten to the point where I know how long it will take to design a mockup, animate a Flash banner, or design a logo.  Because of this I can manage my time better.  I also am a big fan of sticky notes and a calendar.  It really helps to know what projects are coming up and which ones you are awaiting feedback from.

Overall, I typically have 3 or 4 projects going on at the same time.  Each is scattered and in a different phase of development.  So while I may be waiting to hear back from Client A about layouts, I can be working on Client B’s Flash header.  Then I can switch gears to Client C and start developing their site in HTML/CSS.

I also enjoy bouncing between projects as it helps to keep things from becoming stagnant.  Projects that have long timelines can get boring if that is all you are working on.  Though in all honesty, I’ve never had a project that took up 100% of my time.  Typically there is always at least a few days of downtime waiting to get feedback or approval between development phases.  This is especially true for larger clients.  Generally speaking, the larger the brand is, the more time needed for feedback.

Before I sign a new client I usually give them a basic idea of how long it will take me to complete the project based on the brief as well as when I will be able to start the project.  After the project gets the green light, I also provide clients with a list of milestone dates.

Oh, I need to re-think *everything*.

If I say, for example, now booking at the end of May, in my head I know I can start two new client projects that week. At least two major ones. It depends. We get a lot of little jobs, so we fit them in and around everything else.

We probably juggle too much though. I have a hard time turning down projects, especially if my referral list is as booked up as I am.

I’ve got a big blank desk calendar on the wall and tend to slot people in on Mondays. So whoever gets to me first, I slot them in the next available start date. Next client on the list gets started a week later, depending on how big the previous job was. Sometimes if they are BIG, I’ll space them every 2 weeks.

And then add in little one-off jobs around them.

If there are no other open/active projects on my plate then it’s pretty much whenever the prospective client is ready to begin. If I am entertaining two or more prospective projects at the same time, the scope of each project along with the client’s constraints dictate my response to each. One of the first questions I ask the prospect during initial conversations is “Do you have any upcoming external requirements for this project, such as a scheduled press release or event?” If not, then I present to them my typical two-month project plan of attack. Explaining this to them, along with what they are responsible for and how it affects the proposed launch, usually makes them think about what they’re asking of me.

If the project has no pressing timelines right off the bat, once an estimate is approved (via Freshbooks) I’ll kick off the project by setting it up in Basecamp, assigning milestones, to-dos, permissions, etc. From that point, it’s in my process flow and everything is in one place.

Lately I’ve been working on at least three projects at the same time, in various stages of completion. RFPs continue to come in, almost in sporadic spurts. Some are for consulting and advice, some are for full blown projects. I am up front and honest with all new prospects, letting them know what I currently have going on, and when I think I’d be able to get to their project. They seem to appreciate the openness and candor. I recently added a line to my RFP form stating that I am booking for projects starting in May, only because I reached a point where I knew I couldn’t handle any more active gigs while trying to be a family man and have a social life.

I don’t tend to have any highly detailed scheduling plans, for me it’s more a case of checking over jobs I’m working on and at what pace they are progressing, then book in as appropriate. In cases where I’m a little worked up I’ll postpone new work for the following month or so.

Well, I always have a steady flow of work both from new clients and existing ones that I never really had to put a ‘not available’ or ‘now booking’ notice on my site. If my schedule is full I’ll refer the client to a fellow designer, or ask the client if he or she could wait [insert number of days/weeks here] for my schedule to clear before I start work on their project.

I try to schedule about a month in advance. Most of my clients have no problems knowing that I am booked until XYZ date. Letting them know that I try to only work on one project at a time shows them that their project is important to me and gets the attention it deserves.

I don’t really have a set way I schedule projects. I am always aware of my current work load, so when discussing new projects with new clients, I give them a rough schedule based on what I know my workload will allow.

What is the maximum number of active web design / development projects you have going on a given week? This is in reference to full design and / or development – not so much the “little” jobs like making quick updates to an existing site, etc.

I typically try to only have 2 big ‘full site’ projects in any given week, because most of the time when building a site from scratch its going to take more than 40 hours to get it all squared away.

2 Projects gives you enough time each day to make a good amount of progress on the sites without working a 100 hour week to keep up with everything (including the little stuff that you get anyway, like maintenance). It also depends on the size of the projects as well, so this is a little adjustable given the situations.

I try not to take on more than 3 full projects at a time otherwise my focus becomes too split and I can’t do my best work.

If we receive additional inquiries while we have 3 large projects running, we provide an estimated commencement date for any new projects. Most of the time, the clients are happy to wait to have their project started as they have researched companies quite a bit, and have decided to work with us, even if we can’t start their project immediately.

It is really down to how well new/potential clients respect your company and the potential you have to make their project successful for then.

That is a tough question since I’ve only started doing freelance work and uni has kept me busy until now. I do however have 3 active projects at the moment. In future I plan on having one or two large projects per week while working on lower priority jobs simultaneously.

I usually focus on 2 projects per week, while dealing with small updates, admin and communicating with new & other clients on the side.

I don’t have a maximum number of projects, I work based on my availability.  I might have two large projects going on at once or 6 small projects.

The most active projects I’ve had at one time was seven.  A couple of clients had some large last minute revisions before launching the site and just by chance I had received feedback and approval on other projects all at the same time.  It really doesn’t happen but once a year at most, but when it does you have to be willing to put in the time.

I’m a stickler on deadlines, and if I quote a timeline, then I will do everything possible to meet that deadline.  It ended up being a very hectic week with many long nights, but I didn’t miss a single deadline.  One of the projects I was working on that week was even awarded an Addy award.  Sometimes pressure can bring out the best in you.

I work with a small team of designers and developers so I can handle a lot more projects than just a single freelancer.  As far as my design business goes, WordPress Designers, I can usually handle about 5 design jobs and 5 code jobs at once.

On any given day, we’re working on as many as 4 to 6 different sites, jumping back and forth. If we need feedback from a client and have to wait, we just start on a task on the next client or one of those small jobs, or the still-in-progress previous client.

I am always overbooked and always running over, so I need to figure out something. Since the kids are around and we have a pretty full life anyway, we have a lot of interruptions. I keep regular hours, but Ron gets up late and goes to bed late because he works really well at night.

I try to limit myself to four active projects–full website development or redesign projects for businesses, using WordPress as the back-end CMS of choice. This doesn’t necessarily mean I am actually working on four projects every week, since more often than not I am waiting on client input/feedback/content. I am still a one-man shop, and a good portion of every day is spent on client communication and project management. I am getting better at this as time goes on (I’ve been doing freelance work since 2003); it is a trait that requires constant training.

I’ll also do occasional maintenance work for past clients, that aren’t necessarily active. And of course I will certainly allow some time for a Twitter response, email, or phone call for consulting, advice and the like.

I enjoy taking on projects that cover logo design, a character design or two and maybe a t-shirt or skateboard deck every now and again as well as general web design. There’s also quite a difference in time spent on jobs consisting of just the Photoshop mockup and those involving the actual site build. With this in mind it’s difficult to put a specific number on active projects, but six is a nice average. From past experiences I don’t like to take on more than 10 jobs at any one time as a personal rule of thumb.

I usually have a max of 3 projects I’m working on at the same time. It happens I’ll have more though cause we know sometimes some projects take longer than expected, but usually not more than 3 projects in a week.

I try not to take on more than 1 web design / development job in a week. If i took on more than this I would probably go nuts. I have a full time job and maintain my blog on top of freelancing.

Again, I don’t really have a set maximum number. Some projects are on a much larger scale then others. Sometimes, I could get several projects done in a few days. Other projects may take several days individually.

So again, for me it’s about knowing my workload, and scheduling jobs at a pace that keeps the client happy, and keeps me sane.

As much as we can plan for the various phases of a full web design project, there are inevitably client delays in providing feedback, content, etc… How do you handle these delays when they put a wrench in your project scheduling?

I try my best to keep projects moving forward and as fast as possible and within the deadline. Anytime a client starts slacking on the details or direction of a project I get as much of it done as possible so that the ball is in their court in every way, then I send periodic or daily email reminders to them just checking on the status of the items in question.

I also try to be as friendly as possible when doing this, because lets face it, daily emails asking for assets are annoying, but are sometimes necessary to keep a project moving and within the designated deadline, and not stuck in the background while you are taking on new projects and trying to schedule those and get them done in a timely manner. Sometimes the client needs to be reminded of the deadline, and if they want to successfully reach that goal, they need to send you the feedback or assets that you need to accomplish this.

I try to look at it optimistically and treat it like found time. I generally take these opportunities to work on my own side projects.

We basically ensure that the client knows each time a delay occurs that it delays the overall schedule of the project, and as a result, the initial completion date that we provided at the start of the project is no longer accurate. If the delay is for a really significant length of time, then we have to let the client know that it can often lead to a delay in getting the project started again. We make sure that they understand that if an extremely long delay occurs  then we obviously have to continue to take on new projects…and we can only place their project back into the schedule when there is room available.

From the beginning on I always make it very clear that each project is a collaborations between the client and me. Both must be involved and keep up with schedule. The way I handle delays varies from the number of active projects I have. In slow phases I will send e-mails to remind the client of that he still needs to provide me with more information or resources. If I have a lot of work I will put that particular project on hold for a while and catch up with others. There is no clear plan, it depends on many variables which have to be taken into account.

Usually there is another client project I can work on but I also use this as an excuse to work on my own work. Side projects, writing blogs, learning etc.

I try to plan around delays by working on sections that need their feedback first.  I handle smaller delays by shifting projects around for the week.  If it’s a larger delay, I’ll contact the client and see if we need to renegotiate the timeline or responsibly.  The important part is to make sure you have at least one other project to fall back on, either a client or personal project.

Client delays happen.  It’s just the nature of business.  I include a clause in the estimate that warns the client that each phase of the timeline is impacted by response time.  I ask that they provide me with one main point of contact and that I need that person respond in a timely fashion.  If the project is larger, I add invoice dates into the estimate. That way, even if the client is holding up the project I can still submit an invoice and receive payment.

In the list of milestones, I also include dates for client feedback.  This helps to keep them from blaming me for not getting a project done on time.  They can clearly see that I need their feedback by a certain day to continue.  They see this from day one and have no one to blame but themselves if I don’t have their feedback by the date in the milestones.

It depends, I guess. If I’m waiting for their feedback and it’s been long enough I know it’s going to interfere with a proposed deadline, I’ll email a reminder and a notice that for every day they delay an answer, the deadline will be pushed back. I’ll even state flat out I can’t move forward / finish until and unless I get a reply.

Ah yes, the toughest part of any client interaction! I am actually dealing with this situation right now: client wanting to change the look and feel of the home page design two weeks before the scheduled launch date (original design was already approved). Generally speaking, since everything regarding the project is handled within Basecamp, the client can see exactly who needs what and when. And if something falls behind or isn’t completed it becomes readily obvious. In my experience, a message explaining the situation (late content delivery, feedback, and the impact) followed by a phone call to the decision maker usually lights a fire under the person(s) responsible for the delay. In polite terms, I simply say “work on the project will stop until…”

I generally don’t worry about delays too much, the downtime for one project always comes in handy on another, or to spend some time pumping out some blog posts for the upcoming month. As long as when said client comes back after 6 weeks they don’t expects their job to still be at the top of the list . However a quick check-in email can usually push a job forward when it reaches a stale point.

I try not to worry too much about this since it happens all the time. In the event a client is taking a bit longer to provide feedback on a design I’ll work on another project in the meantime or I’ll if I can I’ll work on my personal projects. I always have personal projects that need some attention so delays are rarely a problem.

I try to let clients know that signing contracts and estimates and sticking to deadlines helps us both. The more prompt they are the faster their project gets done.

Client delays seem to always happen. Thankfully, I normally have several other projects I could be working on as well. So, if I do not have what I need to finish a project at it’s ‘scheduled’ time, I’ll move onto the next.

What Is YOUR Scheduling Process Like?

Now it’s time to hear from you!

• What techniques do you use when scheduling
  work for new clients?
• On average, how many projects do you take
  on at a given time?
• How do you deal with client delays?

Please share in the comments below!

Of course, it goes without saying that I’d like to give a big thanks to all the designers who shared their scheduling process with us!

As I focus more and more on designing and developing custom WordPress themes for clients, I’ve realized that there is a core set of plugins that I regularly setup with every new site.

My latest guest post on Freelance Folder details some of the basic and essential first steps…

10 Essential Plugins Every Modern WordPress Site Should Have

Here’s a brief introduction to the post below:
read the full article here

One of the many benefits to WordPress, one of the most popular blogging platform and Content Management System (CMS), is that it is open source software with a very large and dedicated community. There are so many great developers working to make WordPress the best that it can be, that there are thousands of free plugins available to enhance the platform’s default functionality.

There are, of course, too many plugins to list here, so in this article we’re just going to point out the essentials… what I consider to be the bare minimum “can’t live without” list of plugins that should be installed with just about any new WordPress installation.

If you are new to WordPress, this basic list (which is technically not limited to plugins alone) should help get you started on the right foot. Whether you are running a basic brochure site, or a full featured blog, you should be sure your WordPress site includes these essentials.

I hope you’ll head over to Freelance Folder to read the full post – this post is great for anyone just starting out with WordPress (as well as anyone who wants a refresher on some of the basics!)

More Guest Posts

This is my fourth guest post for Freelance Folder, hopefully with more in the near future! If you are interested in reading them all, you can view my author page below…

• Selene M. Bowlby’s Author Archive on Freelance Folder

While January’s focus was on time management and productivity, February’s focus is on getting out of the feast vs famine cycle with various forms of marketing.

1. Follow-up with Prospects

The first step this month is to tap my existing sources for finding new work. I’ve sent out countless proposals to potential clients in the last 8 months of being out on my own full time.

I’ve found that while most people get back to you in a timely manner as to “Yes! When can we get started?” to “Will you check back with me in a couple months, when I’m ready to begin the project?” to “Sorry, I’ve decided to go with another designer.” – I’ve found that persistence certainly does pay off… Not to be confused with being a nuisance, though – you don’t want to go overboard!

Long story short, I’ve got a large number of pending proposals out where the prospect has essentially gone MIA. I need to round these all up and follow-up (one last time?) to see where things stand.

I basically want to better organize my prospects into groups of how likely they are to actually become a client, so I know who I should continue “courting” so to speak, and which ones I should just cut my losses on and give up on, already. This process will give me a better idea of who I should focus my energies on.

2. Setup Portfolio Sites

Perhaps the best way for any designer to get noticed is through their portfolio. There are many web sites setup for designers to post and share their portfolios. I have accounts on several of them, but have yet to post a single portfolio piece!

It’s something I’ve been putting off and realize that near the start of the new year is a great time to get my work out there in as many places as possible.

Below are my profiles on the portfolio sites, so watch these spaces soon for an update! These will contain the same projects as my portfolio on this site, but the portfolio sites serve as an additional avenue towards getting my work viewed by more people.

• Behance
• Carbonmade
• DeviantART
• Flickr

3. Re-Evaluate Site / Blog

Any successful web site is constantly building upon itself. One necessary component for this is to re-evaluate your site on a regular basis by taking a hard look at what does and doesn’t work and improving on it.

I’ve been making small adjustments to this site since it’s soft launch back in March 2008 (though technically this design has been online on my old URL “selenedesign.com” since November 2007). It’s time to give the site another once-over to see how I can make it better.

In the last year I’ve received feedback from peers in the design/development community as well as from potential (and existing) clients while going through the prospecting phase. I can take all of this information and come up with a new plan as far as additional updates that I need to make to the site.

Of course the updates themselves will be a topic for future months as far as implementation, but the planning stage must come first.

What Are Your Goals?

What three things can you accomplish this February to propel your small business? Please share in the comments below!

Did you share your goals on any of the previous “Just Three Things” posts? If so, I hope you’ll go back to the comments and update everyone with how you did!

With it being the beginning of a new year, there is no surprise that my primary focus for the month is to get organized

Time management and productivity are at the top of my list – and for all the right reasons… after all, we’re already half-way through the first month of the year, and I am only now posting this month’s goals!

1. Fininalize My 2009 Game Plan

This item carries over from December’s goals – I got a good start, but still need to pinpoint a more specific timeline for all of the major tasks I want to accomplish in 2009.

Since it’s so early in the year, I’m sure this initial schedule will be subject to change, with more fine tuning as the months go by. But to have a general set of deadlines will help steer me in the right direction for the year.

2. Create a Daily / Weekly Schedule

In an attempt to better manage my time and get organized, I recently purchased a new FranklinCovey planner book, complete with shiny new 2009 daily calendar pages. This is something that will work MUCH better than notes on random sheets of paper, post-it notes, Google calendar, etc.

My plan at the moment is to use a combination of Google Calendar to mark down all major deadlines, and use the planner to (also record deadlines) and plan a daily line-up of what specific projects I need to work on in a given day, outlined by time-slots in as many as 15 minute increments if necessary.

I just got the planner last week, so I’m working on figuring out the best schedule for myself and how best to utilize it. My goal is to have a set schedule by the end of the month (for example, use the early morning hours for marketing tasks, mid-morning for client work, afternoons for phone calls, etc.)

3. Create a Blogging Schedule

One of my major goals for the year is to improve upon this blog, which means that I need a more regular posting schedule. Right now, I often go 2-3 weeks without a new post, and with my RSS subscriber base increasing, I need to be sure to provide quality content on a consistent basis.

I’d like to devise a plan of setting aside 1-2 days a week where I will just sit and write for a couple hours. I have a ton of half finished posts in the Drafts folder – some are complete and only needing a final read-through for proofing.

By the end of this month, I want have a posting schedule planned out at least two months in advance.

P.S. You can subscribe to all the great new posts coming up this year either through your RSS Reader or via Email. It’s quick and easy, just give it a try!

What Are Your Goals This January?

Now that we’re half-way through January, what are your goals to help grow your business this month? Have you already started on fulfilling these, or do you need to rush to complete them in the next two weeks? Please share in the comments below!

Did you share your goals on any of the previous “Just Three Things” posts? If so, I hope you’ll go back to the comments and update everyone with how you did!

As with any New Year, comes a new set of resolutions! Creating goals and milestones are essential to to the success of any business. However as New Year’s resolutions go, while you want to set your sights high, it’s often easy to fall into the trap of creating too many unrealistic goals for oneself.

As part of the “Just Three Things” series, I’ve decided to limit my own New Year’s resolutions to just 3 major areas. Yes, they each have their own set of baby steps to take in order to achieve each task, but my theme for this year is to keep it in “threes”

2008 was a fantastic year for me, and I hope that 2009 will be that much better! So without further ado, below are the “three things” that I hope to achieve this year…

1. Achieve a Healthy Work / Life Balance

My primary goal for 2008 was to achieve “full time freelance status with a healthy work / life balance.” I surprised myself by reaching the full time freelance portion of this goal within 6 months – half the time I had planned for it to take!

My goals were a bit lofty, though, because although I was able to quit my day job, I still have a long way to go to strike a balance between my business and personal lives.

In 2009, my primary focus will be to finally achieve the ever elusive healthy work / life balance.

Yes, things are much less hectic now that I’m not juggling a full time job with running my own web design business. However the balance between the two is far from ideal.

To say that I’m a workaholic is a bit of an understatement! If I’m not in the office working, I’m with my family thinking about it. Not exactly what you would call healthy…

A major part in achieving this goal will be to focus on organization, productivity and time management in ALL areas of my life.

2. Increase Income by 25% Percent

Another one of my 2008 goals was to match the annual income of my day job. Making half that amount to have in savings was a major requirement before I allowed myself to officially take the plunge.

I was again very pleasantly surprised as I tallied up my 2008 freelance income to find that I had made 25% more with freelancing alone than what my annual income would have been if I kept the day job for all of 2008. Not a bad start to a solo career!

In 2009, I’d like to increase that income by an additional 25%.

In order to achieve this goal, I will need to place a heavy emphasis on marketing. I’ll need to come up with a better marketing plan – one that is consistent in order to avoid the inevitable feast vs famine cycle that is all too common with running your own business. I’ll also need to focus more on SEO – Search Engine Optimization. After all – what good is a web site if no one knows it exists?

Another aspect of this goal – and something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while – is to begin creating and distributing my own free and premium WordPress themes. While distributing free themes will act as a form of self promotion, premium themes will serve as additional (passive) income to aid in reaching this goal.

3. Increase Blog Subscribers to 3,000

My third major goal of 2008 was to start building this blog, and reach a subscriber base of 500. Due to networking on the social media sites (especially Twitter), as well as getting my feet wet in guest posting on other blogs (specifically Freelance Folder), I surprised myself by doubling my goal to over 1,000 subscribers!

In 2009, I’d like to triple this number to 3,000.

In order to achieve this goal, I will need to focus on writing more frequent, quality articles – at least on a consistent basis of once a week (it has been fairly sporadic to this point, with posts coming out anywhere from 2 to 5 times a month). I’ll be working more on guest posting on other blogs, as well.

First steps here will be to create a regular blogging schedule, and outlining future posts. I’ve got a few new ideas in store that you’ll be seeing in the coming months, so I hope you’ll stick around for those. And if you aren’t already subscribed, I hope you’ll subscribe to blog updates via RSS or via Email.

What Do You Want To Accomplish in 2009?

What are your business goals and resolutions for the New Year? Please share in the comments below. It’ll serve as a good reference point to come back and check on your progress throughout the year!

Here’s to 2009!

It goes without saying that I wish you ALL a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! May 2009 be all that you hope for, and more!

As I work on achieving my small business goals for the month, I’ve just finished my latest guest post on Freelance Folder…

15 Incredible WordPress Theme Customizations

Here’s a brief introduction to the post below:
read the full article here

Given the quality of WordPress, it’s no surprise that it’s become the platform of choice for many web professionals.

Due to its incredible popularity, though, the majority of WordPress sites look very similar. It can be hard to find a site without the same-old header, footer, and sidebar that is seen on the majority of themes.

But those sites do exist. If you look hard enough, you can find the incredibly talented designers that take WordPress to an entirely different level. By combining an eye for design, technical know-how, and a sense of “outside-of-the-box” thinking, these designers create customizations that make you wonder how you lived without WordPress as your CMS.

Check out the sites below for 15 of these impressive theme customizations, and see what can happen when you take the standard function of WordPress and step it up a notch.

I hope you’ll head over to Freelance Folder to read the full post – there’s a lot of WordPress inspiration and eye candy in the article that you might enjoy!

More Guest Posts

This is my third guest post for Freelance Folder, hopefully with more in the near future! If you are interested in reading them all…

• 15 Key Elements All Top Web Sites Should Have
• 10 SEO Techniques All Top Web Sites Should Have
• 15 Incredible WordPress Theme Customizations

Image Credit: Nikolay Bachiyski

This post is part of the “Just Three Things” series…

There is nothing like putting your goals “out there” for others to see. It brings your intentions to a whole new level. After all, you don’t really want to announce to the world that you’re going to do something, and then fall through on it!

Learn more about the concept, and join in! And without further ado, here are my three things for December 2008.

1. Write Three Guest Posts

This is carried over from the November 2008 post… Although if I had a tough time finishing one guest post last month, I’m not quite sure how I’m going to do three – I just need to block out the time to do it!

2. Analyze Existing Client Trends

Something I should be keeping track of as I sign each new client – is to keep a list of exactly what types of clients I do have (small/home businesses, non-profits, larger corporations, etc.) as well of HOW they found me (client referrals, search engines, blog posts, social media, etc.). Keeping good stats of my existing clients will help in devising a game plan as to how to attract new clients. It’s about time I got that down on paper!

3. Create a Business Game Plan for 2009

Perhaps the most important item this month is to completely lay out my business goals for next year. There are many ideas floating around in my head (and on several sheets of miscellaneous paper)… I need to gather everything together and come up with a solid month-by-month plan of exactly what I need to accomplish in 2009 and give myself deadlines for when they should be done.

What Are YOUR Three Things?

What three things do you want to accomplish in the final month of 2008? Please share in the comments below, or by posting on your own blog and linking back here!

Let’s see what we can accomplish this December!

There’s been a LOT of buzz lately over Itty Biz’s latest product, Online Business School.

If you don’t know Naomi Dunford, she runs Itty Biz, which offers consulting to small and home business owners. It’s through the Itty Biz blog that I started gaining more knowledge as to how to run my own web design business full time – especially in terms of marketing and self-promotion.

My Own Personal Experience With Itty Biz

It wasn’t long before I hired Naomi myself – you can read more on my Taking the Freelance Plunge post, as well as on this home business success story over on Itty Biz.

Long story short, I knew that I wanted to leave my day job to run my own business full time. I had the talent as a web designer, but not necessarily the sales or marketing skills to make it a viable option.

I knew I needed some expert advice, so I hired Itty Biz back in January. We had an amazing consultation that set so many things in motion! I can’t even begin to express how motivational my consultations with Naomi were!

She offered me amazing advice and support, and I credit her with being a big part of the reason I was able to take the “plunge” a full 6 months earlier than planned. Of course determination and talent played the largest role, but Naomi’s helpful advice helped steer me in the right direction.

More Than Just Consulting

Itty Biz has since released several information products – including SEO School: How to Become an SEO Ninja. Last week, after an enormous amount of work Naomi and her husband Jamie have launched their next big  project:

• Online Business School

On The Fence

I admit, I was on the fence about buying this product for some time. As a client of Naomi’s, I know how great her advice is. This chick knows what she’s talking about – no doubt there!

But, I’ll be honest – Online Business School is not cheap. It’s currently $197 which for some people – myself included – is a bit of money. If you are thinking of buying, though – don’t wait too long, as this is just a limited price!

There are a LOT of big name bloggers who are marketing this product. Once the first 2,000 orders have been made, Online Business School will be going up to full price – $397.

Pretty good marketing technique I must say. More proof that Itty Biz knows their stuff, LOL. It worked on me, anyway, because I knew I wanted to get it, and wanted to get it at half price, so I made a purchase of my own over the weekend – and am so glad I did!

What Exactly Is Online Business School?

To get straight to the point, here’s what’s covered in the program…

The course consists of 6 modules – each consisting of an mp3 audio file, pdf ebook and mov video screencast. The modules focus on each of the 6 income streams to diversify your income:

• Affiliate Marketing
• Coaching and Consulting
• Ebooks and Downloads
• Niche Sites
• Physical Products
• Service Business

The pdf and audio files essentially cover the same material (the pdfs are transcripts of the audio). I find it helpful that they include both formats for several reasons:

• you can listen to the audio and follow along in the pdf at the same time (double reinforcement so to speak)
• if you learn better through reading, you can just read the pdf
• if you learn better by having someone talk to you, or if you want to pop this on your iPod while driving to work or running errands, you can listen along

The video is an added component from Naomi’s husband, Jamie. Different than the audio, these basically serve as companion pieces as they go further into some of the topics that Naomi covers in the audio portions. The videos consist of screencasts with examples of some of the site referenced in the audio, etc.

• the PDF files each run 9-10 pages long
• the audio files each run 35-40 minutes long
• the video files each run 20-30 minutes long

With 6 modules, it’s clear that they do not skimp on content!

Yeah, But What’s The Point?

The point of Online Business School is to teach you of the 6 different methods of earning income. With today’s economy being as down in the dumps as it is, it’s important not to rely on JUST one source of income alone.

Naomi wrote a post for the sales page titled “Why We’re Broke and How To Fix It” – the point to bring home here is that your family is depending on you. If you are depending on only one source of income – and something happens to that source – well, then what?

Say Goodbye to the Feast or Famine Cycle

As a freelancer or small business owner, you are probably all too familiar with the term “Feast vs Famine.” I touched upon this in the Get Clients Now series, which I want to start up again next year.

The goal of any small business owner – especially in a service business – is to sell your services and get a steady range of work. The operative word here being STEADY. Going solo or being self-employed, you no longer have that steady paycheck coming in once every two weeks. Nope. It’s now all up to you to secure your next client.

For most of us, there is an endless cycle of either having too much work, or not enough. In a service based industry, you typically start off by marketing your butt off to get some clients… when your marketing efforts pay off, you end up being slammed with work. That’s GREAT!

But the problem here is that you’re so busy doing work for your own clients that you end up not having any free time to continue marketing yourself. So a month or two go buy where you feverishly complete work for your new clients and get PAID!

But then what?

As you reach the end of these new client deadlines, you realize that you haven’t spent any time marketing yourself this last month or two. You’ve received your last payments for these jobs and think…

What the heck am I going to do NEXT month?

That’s where you’re potentially screwed. No new work other than the odd small job here or there. So what do you do? Market yourself like crazy again! You spend another month with hardly any income – instead you spend all of your time focusing on self-promotion.

That ends up being a financially difficult month as you scrape what money you had, possibly diving into savings – aka Famine. Until your promotional efforts pay off and you are once again slammed with work – aka Feast.

It’s an endless cycle – rinse and repeat.

Diversify Your Income

The theory to Online Business School is that you are playing with your family’s future and well being by putting all of your eggs in one basket. You go through the “Feast vs Famine” cycle, you get stressed on the slow months because ALL you have is your online service business, or your consulting business or product sales – whatever it is that you “do”

Enter the additional forms of income streams!

If you have several income streams going at once, you will always have SOMETHING coming in. Whether that be affiliate commissions, product sales, etc. you’ll have something to fall back on when your primary source of income slows down. And yes, it is inevitable that you will always have both busy and slow times regardless of what type of business you run.

One of the income streams covered in the course is ebooks and downloads. As a web designer – especially one who specializes in designing and developing custom WordPress Themes – I’ve toyed with the idea of releasing my own premium WordPress themes, but have yet to act on it.

Online Business School really hit home the point that I should have this in place already! For the slow months while I’m focusing my energies on self promotion, I could be making both affiliate and ebook/download sales as a backup. If I have a steady stream of 3-4 income sources going at the same time, I’ll never be completely stuck with NO income when one of the streams temporarily slows down.

I’ll be honest that I’m actually surprised by how much of a fire Online Business School has lit under me! There are ideas that I’ve tinkered with for months now, but haven’t taken any steps towards implementing.

But after listening to the program, I’ve actually started to schedule myself in – as though I were my own client – so that I can implement some of these new income streams. With the current economic crisis – for the well being of our own families – to safeguard our futures – how could we not?

It’s All Inter-Changeable

Another benefit of Online Business School? It’s not as transparent as it seems by looking at the list of what’s included.

When I first heard of the course, my first thought was…

Well I have a service based business. That’s all I need!

Why can’t she just sell them individually so I don’t have to shell out $200 for the whole thing?

Well first of all, that defeats the entire purpose of the course, as it’s goal is to teach you how to diversify your income. Yes, it’ll help give you techniques to make your existing method of income better. But, it’ll also teach you how to incorporate NEW income streams.

But better yet, in almost every case, EACH and EVERY module of the course has something you can incorporate to a different area.

For example…

• I’m primarily interested in the Service Business section. Upon listening to the Coaching and Consulting section – I realize that much of the advice still applies to my existing service based business.
• I figured the Physical Product section would be entirely pointless to me. Nope – this module touches on Search Engine Optimization and Ad Words (something I had not previously used and quite frankly didn’t know much about).
• The Coaching and Consulting module delves into issues of Pricing your service and Sales. Regardless of what kind of business you have – you do need to deal with pricing and sales.

I could go on, but long story short, I’m sure that you’ll find at least one item to take away from each and every one of the modules that can be applied to your business.

Working On My Own Income Streams

With the “How To” information from Online Business School, I’ve made it a priority to carve out some time to update my own site and service offerings. I learned some great ‘tricks’ from the Service Business module that I can use almost immediately to update on my own web site.

For the web designers reading – and I know a lot of you are web designers – there is a lot of good info for us in the course, especially in the Service Business module!

Still Not Convinced? Check Out the FREE Preview

If you’re still not sure if Online Business School is for you, go check out the (very long) sales page over on Itty Biz. There is a lot of FREE content on the site, including a few free video and audio pieces. Including an interview where Naomi mentions one of my own clients, Nicole from Pick Nick’s Brain as an example of a Consulting business!

There is also a video (pictured above) where Naomi explains how she made $176,000 in the first part of 2008. I can only hope to bring in that much income one day!

My Own Recommendation?

Yes, I do recommend Online Business School (and not just because I’m an affiliate – this is a completely honest and from-the-heart review!) Since I’ve worked directly with Naomi in the past, I know her, and I know first hand that she offers some kick ass advice.

And with this course, it is advice you have in video and audio files that you can replay whenever you want. Listen to them all now… or focus on just one aspect now, and come back to another in a month or two. It’s all there whenever you need.

Bonus Material

As if the course itself wasn’t enough, I received an email from Itty Biz the day after I purchased, saying that my bonus material was ready. Bonus material? Huh?

YES! Tons of great bonuses! I’m truly amazed at the support Naomi has received for Online Business School – many of the big bloggers out there have contributed their own products to be part of the bonus material.

Just for starters…

• Emergency Money Plan – Naomi Dunford from Itty Biz
  (a shorter, bonus audio for the course, which gives suggestions on how to make quick money if you are in a pinch)
• 30 Hours a Day – Dave Navarro from Rock Your Day
  (the first THREE sections of the program – both audio and PDF’s included)
• SEO Nomicon: SEO Magic for WordPress – Michael Martine of Remarkablogger
  (this is an advance copy – it hasn’t even officially been launched yet! – both audio and PDF included)
• Writing for the Web – James Chartrand and Harrison McLeod at Men with Pens
  (PDF ebook)

Plus many more – all-in-all, there are 9 bonus downloads!

Money Back Guarantee

And the best part of the deal? Itty Biz is also also offering a money back guarantee in case you don’t find Online Business School to be helpful at all.

Even better than a refund, if you have questions and don’t understand some aspect of the program – Naomi will personally coach you. The value of personal coaching is much greater than a refund, so how could you possibly say no to that?

I understand that you might be reluctant, which is why I’m giving you the same 100% money back, zero pain in the ass factor guarantee that I give for all my IttyBiz stuff. Except it’s going to be even better.

Because income streams are scary and because you might think you can’t do it and because I know you’re probably worried and hopeful at the same time, here’s what we’re going to do.

If, having gone through Online Business School, you are not absolutely certain you can create a better living on this crazy thing we call the World Wide Web, you have two choices.

I’ll give you your money back without being a pain in the ass about it. OR I’ll personally coach you through it so that you have a plan of action that will work for you.

Don’t Miss Out – Get 50% OFF Now!

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• Online Business School

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Freelance Folder recently posted an open thread asking the question “How Do You Stay Sharp?” The post has some great discussion in the comments section, where many people said that it’s through web sites and blogs that they are able to keep up to date on developments in their particular fields.

Web Design / Development Blogs You Should Be Reading

I myself have a set of design and development related blogs that I read… whether for the latest xhtml/css and WordPress tricks, for design inspiration, etc.

I asked my designer friends on Twitter which sites they thought were the best design blogs to read. You know, the old question “if you were stuck on a desert island and could only have one…” LOL

Without a doubt, the number one answer was Smashing Magazine – for good reason! But there were many others, as well. So for all of the web designers and developers out there, below are 17 essential design blogs you should be reading!

• A List Apart
• Creattica Daily
• CSS Tricks
• David Airey
• Design Mag
• DevSnippets
• Dzineblog
• Function
• Net Tuts
• Noupe
• PSD Tuts
• Script & Style
• Six Revisions
• Smashing Magazine
• Vandelay Design
• Vector Tuts
• Web Designer Wall

More Design Blogs You May or May Not Know About
aka Some Twitter Friend Link Love

The blogs above are great and very popular, but we all know there are a LOT more than this. There are a ton of great blogs out there, many of which you might never have heard of. Or if you have, they don’t quite get the publicity they deserve.

I’m eternally grateful to my Twitter friends – we’re a great bunch helping each other out with questions, retweets, Diggs, Floats, you name it… Twitter has a fantastic community feel to it. I’ve received a ton of support and link love and I want to return the favor…

So without further ado, here is a bit of a Twitter link love of my own – 46 design / development blogs of some great Twitter friends!

• Anidan Design | @josieg182
• Arbenting | @angbowen
• Athena Emily | @athenaemily
• Bitt Box | @bittbox
• Blog Design Blog | @blogdesignblog
• Boxed CSS | @boxedcss
• Brian Yerkes | @brianyerkes
• Colorburned | @colorburned
• Crazy Leaf Design Blog | @crazyleaf
• CSS Tricks | @chriscoyier
• Design Cubicle | @behoff
• Design For Users | @KrisColvin
• Design O’ Blog | @nebrow
• Design Shard | @designshard
• Designer Daily | @mirkohumbert
• Doug Cloud | @dcloud
• Ebb and Flo | @Jacen_Xhan
• Elite by Design | @EliteByDesign
• Essential Keystrokes | @charpolanosky
• Gabe Diaz | @gabediaz
• Fudge Graphics | @fudgegraphics
• Fuel Your Creativity | @adellecharles
• I Am Mike Smith | @blogdesigner
• iDesign Studios | @idesignstudios that’s me!
• Im Just Creative | @imjustcreative
• Joshua Clanton | @joshuacc
• Just Creative Design | @justcreative
• Keylime Creative | @keylimecreative
• Komodo Media | @rogieking
• Lee Munroe | @leemunroe
• Mayhem Studios | @mayhemstudios
• Naldz Graphics | @naldzgraphics
• Organized Chaos | @arronlock
• Penflare | @penflare
• Phire Design | @phiredesign
• Pro Blog Design | @problogdesign
• Productive Dreams | @gopalraju
• R27 Creative Lab | @r27
• Sean Neill | @seaneill
• Sharebrain | @sharebrain
• Spyre Mag | @jophillips
• Styl.eti.me | @styletime
• Tanya Nichols | @cre8tn
• Think Design Blog | @thinkdesign
• Union Room | @unionroom
• Web Design Fanboy | @webdesignfanboy
• WPMU Tutorials | @andrea_r
• 99 Graphic Designs | @99graphicdesign

To all of the people above, I say Thank You!

What’s In Your Feed Reader?

If you could only read 1 design related blog, what would it be?
Please share your inspiration in the comments below!

More Essential Feeds

• 25 Essential Feeds for Small Business Bloggers