Sponsored by Slide + Stage.

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Sponsored by Slide + Stage.

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Let me know what you think!

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Lustra has been quite the journey. It started off as a horrible Kickstarter campaign that failed, was rebranded as Lustra, and then left alone as I slowly lost passion for it.

The past few months have been tough. We didn't get nearly as much sponsorship support as I'd hoped, and the cost of printing and shipping was a lot larger than what we had in the bank. We were stuck between a rock and hard place. We couldn't print the thing, yet had used some of the sponsorship towards costs relating to the magazine. I was stressed, and the project had become the bain of my existence.¹

All of this was going through my mind, and I couldn't figure out a way to quit. I was torn. I wanted to quit, but I didn't want to, nor could I. Then, yesterday, while sipping on a strawberry lemonade — I recommend one if you're having brain blockage — the lightbulb came on. I'd design the magazine as an iPad only magazine.

The magazine will come out as a single-issue app in the App Store. I know this will limit the amount of people that can have access, however the pros outweigh the cons at the moment. We'll be able to publish the magazine under budget, I won't have to worry about shipping and fulfillment, and I'll be able to design the reading experience beautifully. Lustra will be one of the few design magazines that looks great on the iPad.²

If you have questions, or want to tell me you love this idea, you know where to reach me. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

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You should take a listen.

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You should take a listen.

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You should take a listen.

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The past eight months have been interesting. I left a great job for more money somewhere else, and was subsequently fired. I made personal decisions that hurt my family, and those who love me. To say the least, when I felt that everything was going well, the rug was pulled from under me.

I've suffered the consequences of these bad decisions, yet grown in ways I couldn't have imagined. I've become confident with the person I am, proud of the person I've become, and am becoming.

I’ve become a person that thinks about saving money. A person that doesn’t take decisions motivated by greed, but instead with humility and a goal to keep things simple. Someone who understands that my decisions affect others, and to think otherwise is selfish. And what real love is, and how what you do says so much more than anything you could possibly say.

That said, I deal with the feelings of regret everyday. Why did I let money cloud my good judgement? Why do I miss that company so much when they don’t seem to miss me at all?

I also feel like one day, someone’s going to figure out I’m a complete fraud. Someone’s going to find out that I don’t really know what I’m doing, that my code sucks, or that there’s really nothing special about the design work I do.

Years ago, I thought these feelings of regret and fraud would go away. That a day comes when you don't care what anyone else says or thinks, you just produce great work, and you're happy. That one day, you don’t seek the validation of others. You don’t care about web traffic, or the praise and/or acceptance of your heroes.

Turns out that, this doesn’t just happen. You have to work at it. As silly as it seems, I’ve had to actively remind myself not to care. I’m constantly having to tell myself that my mistakes don't define me, they inform the person I am. I've had to force myself not to think of the "what-ifs" in life, but to accept that the past cannot be changed, and that the only way to look is forward.

However, there are moments, where all of these things, that I know to be logically true, go out the window, and we end up where I started this post.

There are moments when, even though I portray to know what I'm doing, I really don't. I have no freaking idea. I'm winging it, and waiting for people to find out.

The job search makes these feelings even stronger. Was I right to quit? Do I just have a huge ego? What if I end up under a bridge somewhere?

So what happens next?

The truth is, I don’t know how to “cure” these feelings. What I do know, is that they won’t stop me. There’s no point in allowing yourself to grow stagnent, you have to keep moving forward, and pushing your own boundaries. Sometimes that’s really scary, but I always think that if it’s not scary, you’re not doing something right.

Vulnerability is frightening, and most people find it to be a weakness. I disagree. Being vulnerable —those moments when you lay everything you’ve got on the table— is when you can truly grow and become a better version of yourself.

I’ll continue to deal with insecurities, but they won’t be calling the shots.

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Now, I know that Responsive get's thrown around a lot as a buzz word, but Sam is working with Happy Cog and Paravel as her unofficial advisory board. It's great to see the support she's received in Austin for teaching her students the right stuff, and I had a blast talking with her.

You should take a listen.¹

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You should take a listen.

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You can read more about the redesign here.

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What did The Hustle™ accomplish? I gained weight. I wasn’t spending enough time with my (now) wife. I felt like shit. I began to resent my work, and the work I was producing clearly wasn’t my best. I started cutting corners. I went from a mindset of shipping with quality and integrity to “when is this going to be over?”

[…]

If your colleagues, clients, or bosses don’t get why working less is a better idea, leave. There are far better places to be than at a company that values quantity over quality.

I absolutely love articles like this. Actually, I love people who think like this. It's been my experience that working a lot, doesn't mean you're producing a lot. Over time, I've tried to work smart, and try to get more done in a smaller amount of time.

This article hits home a bit closer today as I try to loose weight. Two years have gone by, and I've gained 100 lbs. Why? Because I was so focused on work, I forgot that it's only the means to live my life; not the reason to live life.

If you haven't, you should read the original article.

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You should take a listen.

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Think about the design portfolios you see on dribbble and around the web. They’re sleek, intuitive, beautiful…. and they all sorta look the same. They don’t tell you how they helped solve a problem, they just show you the hi-res designs of their solutions.

First off, I don't like the title of this post. However, it was probably meant to get people interested in the topic, something I've done before, so I'll let that slide. For a designer, I almost feel like the writer doesn't value the role of his own job.

Copy is not more valuable than design. They are equally important on the web. Without great copy, design fails to do it's job, and likewise, without great design, it doesn't matter how great your copy is.

For the most part, however, I agree with a lot of what he's saying. As designers, we should be good with words. After all, we are responsible for the presentation and effectiveness of a given message.

Read it, see if you like it.

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First off, I'd like to give a shout-out to my pal Matt Steele whom gave me this idea. He writes a post at the end of every month, I assume in an effort to document things. Here's the one he wrote for March.

Launching Tim Likes to Teach

At the beginning of March, I was so excited to launch my first product. Tim Likes to Teach is a place for anyone to learn Web Design, Front-End Development, WordPress, SCSS, Compass, and so much more.

I launched with one course called Design and Build an Art-Directed Blog, which is priced at $8. I priced it low on purpose. I wanted as many people as possible to have the ability to purchase it; whether you want to learn a new skill, you're considering a career change, or you're a kid who's only money comes from an allowance.

The East Wing Nominated for an Award

This is huge for me. I've never been nominated for anything before, so that y'all thought my show was worthy of this honor is very humbling. It's interesting to see a project which I started more for myself without any intentions of popularity or praise, garnering such.

Whether I win or lose, I love doing that show, and I can't thank those of you who listen enough for all the support and kindness you've shown me. It's a pleasure doing that show, and I hope to do it for a long time.

If you've listened to the show, and you like it, I'd love to have your vote.

New Shows

I'm also currently working on new shows. I can't say much about them at the moment but, I'm really excited to be planning them. I've had these ideas for quite some time, but I finally feel like I have the time (or I'll make it), and that I can make them a success; more news on this soon.

And that's it. March has been a busy month and it looks like April will be too. Thanks for reading!

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You should take a listen.

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Nothing has changed, now I just procrastinate on work. Ha!

Anyway, this redesign is a huge one. If you browse the site, you won't see huge content changes. The portfolio is the same, the about page as well. The biggest content change takes place on the contact page with the new form. I'm using Gravity Forms to power it.

The form is using conditional logic, and displays different inputs based on what you're contacting me for. I'm hoping that this new form makes it easy for people to get in touch, and encourages people to just say hello. I like getting those types of emails.

You'll notice that this new form also has a speaking engagements option. This is something I'm very interested in pursuing, and again, I hope this new form will facilitate that conversation with conference organizers.

Under the Hood

Over the years, I've tried to make it very easy to update the content on this site. I noticed that I came across a lot of links that I wanted to share a bit more "permanently" than just on Twitter. I also noticed that I didn't always have time to flesh out an article, but I wanted to add my thoughts to them. The link and video post formats have been perfect for this.

A huge pain point was the portfolio section. In the past, I'd gotten lots of criticism from potential employers for not having a portfolio. With NDA's, designs not being used, or only participating on parts of projects, I didn't really have much to show. Plus, I wasn't to keen on showing the early crap I had done on my own. Finally, while working at Lullabot, I was able to lead two projects that I was very proud of and I created my portfolio.

On the front end, it looked beautiful. I received some very nice compliments of my work and the way I chose to display them. However, on the back end, I was using pages for all of it. Essentially, I had pages nested within pages in WordPress. I had to hack it together, and if I did something incorrectly, the whole thing would break. Plus, I was using a whole bunch of custom fields, and it was just getting out of hand.

I decided it was time to conquer my fear of custom post types and get this done. Now, I'm using a custom post type for the portfolio and Advanced Custom Fields together, and everything is running smoothly and efficiently. If you don't know about custom post types, you should sign up for the Tim Likes to Teach Newsletter. I'll be covering it in the next course.

The last pain point was the about page. You'll notice that this page contains a list of my interviews and published articles. In the previous version, this was a page template that had been hard coded. Meaning that every time I wanted to add a new article or interview, I had to open up the file, add a new list item, git commit, and push.

I'm now using the repeater field to handle this. I've created fields for the name of the interview or article, the publishing date, and where it was published, and Advanced Custom Fields and WordPress takes care of the rest. Easy.

Wrapping Up

That's the rundown of the new site. If some of these concepts are new and or difficult for you, please sign up for the Tim Likes to Teach Newsletter. I promise to explain them in an easy way. The docs can sometimes be difficult to understand.

Please take a look around, have a cookie, and let me know what you think.

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I’ve distanced myself from past projects; I’ve avoided pushing for the sort of work I really want; I’ve glossed over details to avoid admitting how little I actually know. I’ve worked hard, terribly hard, to make my checklist add up to a good job.

This is such a great thought on The Pastry Box Project by Sara Wachter-Boettcher. I just love her writing. Not to mention, it's incredibly helpful to see someone you admire have a lot of the same nervousness and insecurity with their work. It reminds us that we're all human, and that to a certain extent, we all feel we're figuring it out as we go.

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You should take a listen.

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When I started The East Wing, the objective wasn't to win awards. My only mission is to sit down and create a show better than the week before.

I've come to conclusion, however, that it's really important to celebrate achievements in life. Even being nominated for something like this is huge. Life has a way of bringing you down, and if you don't stop to look at the things you're doing well, it can get pretty depressing. I feel like we focus on how to improve so much, that we can forget about all the awesome we're already accomplishing.

I was raised to be humble; to never brag. My belief is that humility is a necessary quality in life. I don't feel this means we shouldn't celebrate our achievements.

The past six months have been some of the worst of my short life; completely because of my poor decisions. The next six months are going to be better. There's little to nothing I can do about the past, so I'm going to allow myself to be proud of the good things I'm accomplishing and more importantly who I am as a person.

Celebrate your achievements people. Take yourself out somewhere nice. Oh… and pictures, or it didn't happen.

If you'd like to vote for the .net awards, you can do so here.

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You should take a listen.

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I've been working hard for a couple of months to create an introductory course for Tim Likes To Teach. When I say introductory, I don't mean in skill level. It's introductory in the sense that it will acquaint you with the site, the type of content and perks that come with each course. This course is a six-part series that spans more than six hours of content. It covers best practices in HTML, CSS and more. We cover the markup necessary for the design, yet we also talk about why we mark it up in that way. At least in my experience, that has so much value.

In the future, I'll be creating other courses. You might have heard that one of these will feature a complete redesign of The East Wing. I hope you'll subscribe to the newsletter so you're always in the know of the latest course. To those of you who purchased the first series, or if you plan to, my sincerest of thank you's.

If there is something you'd like to learn about, I hope you'll let me know!

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You should take a listen.

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If you liked this screencast, you might like timlikestoteach.com! Learn web design, front-end development, WordPress, Scss, and more!

Video Notes

• ൱αϯr๏ (matro) on Twitter

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You should take a listen.

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I really like working remote but, in recent months, being away from the family, I've noticed that my love for it has decreased. I don't see many people during the day and it feels kind of blue. But, I've noticed that the days I go out to the coffee shop or make a lunch plans, are much better days for me. I produce more and generally feel happier about the day.

Have you felt something similar? Do you work from a co-working place? A coffee shop? Or do you like only working from home?

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Take a listen.

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You should take a listen.

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You should take a listen.

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Inspiration is not only the way you think; it's why you think that way. It's a feeling. It's the feeling you get before you work on something for hours. For me, it's the moment I know I'll need a fresh cup of coffee.

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by James, the Editor of The Branch, to write an article about this simple question: What inspires you? I've always had a difficult time responding to that question but, I feel the article does a good job of exploring what my answer is. Hope you find my thoughts useful.

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You should take a listen.

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You should take a listen.

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However, I noticed that people loved the idea; they loved the idea of a magazine about people making great things. It is the magazine for and about the underdogs; the people that don't always get the spotlight they deserve. This is definitely a message I could identify with and many others too.

I decided to keep this idea going.

After lots of internal debate, I decided to rename the magazine Lustra. In Spanish, the word "lustre" means to give polish or shine. I felt that this word resonated with the mission I was on with this publication. I changed a letter so it would be a bit easier to pronounce in English and bam! Lustra Magazine was born.

I'm really excited about what's coming and we're very close to confirming the fourth and final interviewee for this issue. I'd like to give a huge thanks to Jared Erondu for assuring me that I had chosen a great new name and for all the help he's given me throughout this project. I'd also like to give thanks to everyone who's been following along, for your support and kind words. I appreciate it so much.

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Freelancing is regarded as the holy grail in our industry. It’s something most people look to as a magical fantasy land where all dreams come true. However, being a freelancer can be very difficult if you don’t know much about the business of design.

About a month ago, my buddie Josh Long asked if anyone was interested in contributing to the Treehouse blog. Since I have a constant need to feel & sound smart, I jumped at the chance! Today, my first article went live. I talk about some things I've picked up related to the business of design.

Enjoy!

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You should take a listen

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However, with a new year, comes a feeling of excitement; a feeling of starting anew, where we all begin at zero and where we have the hope to set and reach new goals. At least for me, the goals seem to be the same for every year: lose weight, get up earlier, etc.

Recently, I've had the time to think a lot about these goals and my life. My first reaction was to get upset and angry at myself for not accomplishing these seemingly simple goals. Yet, I've come to the realization that keeping hope and not giving up on these things are in and of itself a feat. I've realized that the effort says as much and maybe more about a person than the results.

It's only normal to think the other way though. We've grown up in a society that measures results; whether it be money, statistics or championships. What about the hard work behind these results? And the work of those that didn't reach them? Are their efforts of any less value? What about us?

It makes no sense to measure our results by someone else's definition of success.

This past year has been rough for me. I've made bad personal decisions, I quit a job that I loved and was fired from the one I quit for. I was left with no savings, a new apartment lease and a hefty car payment. All while being more than 1,600 miles away from my family in a place where below zero temperatures are normal during the winter.

For a while I was content with saying my life sucked and calling it a day. That's no longer the case. It goes against my nature to be this way. I'm an optimist and I know that things always find a way to work out. But, you've got to put in the work. I refuse to be of the people that are only happy when success is handed to them.

With that said, here are my goals for this year:

1. Lose Weight
   Like I've said before, this is something I've been trying to do forever. I need to eat more vegetables, fruit and less sweets. I just got myself a gym membership too.

2. Pay Attention to the Relationships that Matter
   I love my family. I love my friends. I need to spend more time with them. At the end of the day, these are the things that make you happy and that really matter in life.

3. Speak on Design
   I'd really like to speak more in 2013. I did one talk at my local meet up last year and it went great. I'd be a great speaker for any event. Don't believe me? Listen to my podcast.

4. Work Less
   For many, this might seem like a dumb goal if you're trying to be successful but, again, who's definition are we measuring it to? I'd like to work just enough to pay my bills and use the rest of my time for other important things.

5. Travel More
   I'm single and in the prime of my life. I need to get out of my apartment more and get back to exploring the world one cup of coffee at a time.

So these are the goals I hope to accomplish in 2013. If I don't accomplish them all, there's always 2014. The point is to never give up on your goals, nor on yourself.

What about you? What do you want to accomplish?

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However, I've come across something extraordinary. In each of these coffee meetings, we always end up talking about something fascinating that the other person is working on and my question is always the same: "Why aren't you writing about this?".

I've realized that way too many people are shy about writing or documenting about their process and work. Interestingly, I talked about this with Brian Hoff on The East Wing the other day. We talked about how helpful it was for him to start The Design Cubicle. That blog has not only been a huge source of work for him; it's served countless times as a valuable resource for me and likely for many of you.

What would've happened if he hadn't been keen on sharing? I think it's safe to say that his career would be completely different.

Let me tell you another story. I had the pleasure of going to The Front-End Design Conference last June. Both Dave Rupert and Darcy Clarke clearly admonished people to share and blog more about what they were working on.

I completely agree with this movement.

You might be thinking, "Another blog? Would anyone even be interested in what I write?". That doesn't matter. Let me give you a couple of reasons why you should be writing.

1. Learn as you go
   Do you think Chris Coyier knew what he was doing when he first started CSS-Tricks? I bet you he didn't. He was fascinated with what you could do with CSS and just wanted to share what he was learning along the way. In the process, he went from being a beginner to a very respected person in our industry.

2. Get work
   Most of the work I've done, whether it be freelance or the full-time jobs I've been so fortunate to hold, have come about either through this blog or The East Wing. Employers and clients like people who are passionate about what they do and sharing things you're learning is a great way to show that.

3. Strengthen Your Personal Brand
   A lot of people want to write for the big blogs or publications to be recognized but, what they're forgetting is their own brand. I think a great example of this John Gruber. You know him from his own personal writing place: Daring Fireball, not as the writer from another publication. He's turned his name and brand into a very respected one.

So what do you say? Will you throw embarrassment or the thoughts of not having enough experience to the wind and start your own blog? Will you start sharing what you're working on and help others who may be trying to learn something similar?

Do it.

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You should take a listen

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Wunderlist is here to help you get things done. Whether you're planning an overseas adventure, sharing a shopping list with a loved one or simply keeping track of your daily to-dos.

Earlier last week, 6Wunderkinder released the new Wunderlist 2. I had never used any of their products before but, I'm so glad I finally did. Wunderlist 2 is an amazingly well-made app. The polish and simplicity is great and as you'd expect, you can reach your lists and to-do's from anywhere.

If you, like me, like to keep track of the things you need to get done and love gorgeous UI's, you need to get your hands on Wunderlist 2.

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I can't believe how quick these past 10 months have gone and the huge support we've received. For me, a person that doesn't have thousands of followers, it's amazed me to see the number of listeners rapidly increase every week.

You should take a listen. It'll take two minutes of your time.

You can read the transcript here.

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You should take a listen.

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You should take a listen.

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Debbie Lewis knows this and wanted to create a toy that would stimulate an interest in science and engineering for girls. It's called GoldieBlox. I admire what she's doing and I'm glad she's doing it. Find out more about the toy here.

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In the upcoming months, I'm looking forward to the projects we have in the pipeline and also being part of positioning ourselves to do some really exciting things with WordPress. We're overhauling the branding of the company and the website will receive a much needed re-design. Again, I can't tell you how excited I am to be part of all this.

The East Wing

My podcast continues strong and I'm amazed that I'll be publishing episode thirty-five this week. I've had an amazing year with the show. I've talked to some very smart people, people whom I've been following for years and can now call friends. Stay tuned for full update a on The East Wing coming out in the next couple of weeks.

Make Awesome

First of all, thank you to the many who supported and backed this project with their hard earned money. I'm so thankful to you. The Kickstarter campaign did fail but, it's not the end of this idea. I'm currently talking to companies interested in sponsoring the magazine and I've found a local printer who will print the magazine for a significantly lower price. This is great for two reasons. First, the reduced cost will make the magazine affordable for more people and second, we'll be able to say the magazine was created in Minnesota. We have such an amazing community here and it'll be exciting to see one more thing that was completely made here.

Also, in the next couple of weeks, Make Awesome will resurface with an all new name. I'm renaming the magazine because a very popular designer, Leslie Jensen-Inman, had started doing things under Make Awesomeness. I had no idea of this when I named the magazine. Since we haven't published an issue yet, I want to change the name in good faith and not interfere with anything she might be doing. What's the new name? You'll have to subscribe to the newsletter to find out.

Browser Tap

This is a project I'm very excited about. Craig Condon, Tim Erickson and myself have been working on an app that will make cross-browser testing so much easier than it is right now. We've rethought the way it's done and hopefully made an application that will fit into your workflow instead of you having to accommodate to an application. Craig is a genius and has been doing some amazing things from the technical side. We hope to start sending out beta invites very soon. If you want to stay updated, follow @browsertap on Twitter.

So Much More

Quite honestly, there is so much more I'm planning on doing. Matt Steele will tell you. I want to get more involved here in the Twin Cities community. Maybe organize a meet up. Maybe even a conference. The days of me sitting around and seeing other people do all this awesome stuff are gone. I want to do things I have a passion for. I'm going to make stuff because I want to see it exist and I'm going to have fun doing it.

The end of this year puts an end to an extremely bittersweet time. I've made great decisions and horrible ones; some of which I'll regret for a very long time. But, life isn't about sulking about the things that happen to you or the stupid things you decide to do, it's about learning, moving on and making things better. 2013 is my year.

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The problem

I was watching Parks and Recreation (you should watch it too if you're not) the other day and I noticed that even though I had finished work, I was constantly checking my email.

I've noticed that ever since I started freelancing, I respect my personal time less. I'm always on and I hate that. At least for me, I'm not liking the unbalanced balance I'm striking here. As much as my clients might not like it, I shouldn't be available past 5pm Central Time. Anything that happens after that can wait till the next morning. Of course, there are some exceptions but for the most part, it can wait.

I'll always remember something my Dad tells me:

You've got to look out for yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.

As sad as that is, it's true. If people know they can get you to do things for free, they will. If they know you're reachable at night for "project emergencies", they will take advantage of that. Of course, I think it's essential to be respectful when establishing these limits and I've seen that when I set them early, things go so much smoother.

So, in an effort to keep the balance a bit better and enjoy life more, I'm eliminating email from my phone. In the world we live in, with everything being instant and people becoming less patient, I think it's important to disconnect and enjoy the things away from the desk.

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As you may know, the amazing Vic Bell did the logo for my new company Anythin’ Goes. Anythin’ Goes is my small one-man design studio specializing in web and iOS design. I had some business cards made by the awesome people at Moo to hand out to people in an effort to look as professional as possible. I hope it works.

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Many have labeled Andy Rutledge as a jerk for his advice on freelancing. Although I don't agree with him completely, I do see the value of his words now.

As I operate my business day to day, I'm noticing that I've become significantly better at a lot of things. However, like with everything, there are aspects that I'm still trying to get better at. This post is to look at the things I feel I'm doing right and others that, well, not so much.

Shower When You Wake Up

This sounds like an obvious one but, it's not. There are some people that shower every other day. For me, I shower everyday. When I worked full-time, I'd always shower at night.

I've seen a huge increase in my productivity when I shower in the mornings. Especially since I work from home, it could become to easy to roll out of bed and immediately sit down at my desk. In contrast, a good shower makes me feel fresh, awake and ready to get to work. I've only been doing this recently but, I've noticed that when I do, I feel really good about the day.

Don't Eat Junk Food

This is one I haven't been doing so well. I've noticed an increase in my weight since I began freelancing because I'm not as cautious of the food I'm consuming. Junk food is not only bad for your health but, I've noticed that it makes me feel crappy about myself. Low self-esteem is no good for a designer or, therefore, anyone.

Recently, I've made a bigger effort to buy vegetables and fruit. I'm a big fan of apples and oranges which are great for you. Apples have some great antioxidants on the outside and are yummy. Oranges have a good dose of Vitamin C and I've noticed that when I make a habit of eating them, I get sick a lot less.

Wake Up A Bit Earlier

Another one I haven't been great at but, getting better. My sleep schedule had me going to sleep at 2am and waking up at 11am (way past McDonalds breakfast. Doh! See last point). What would happen is I'd finish my normal work day around 8 or 9pm. For me this was really bad. I felt tired all the time and even though I was getting up late, I still felt I wasn't getting enough sleep.

This week, I decided to always be in bed by 12 and wake up at 8 and it's made a huge difference. I feel rested and ready to kick the day's butt. I also get coffee earlier and am suitably caffeinated for my commitments.

Better Business Practices

Consult with an accountant! Do it! This is one of the biggest mistakes I made last time around. An accountant can help you figure out what type of entity you want to be and the proper procedures around quarterly tax payments. Use something like OutRight. They make it easy to import your account and then categorize your expenses.

No Scope Creep I had the tendency to price projects at a flat rate. When you sign a contract for a final payment of $5k, that's great, until you realize you invested about $6k in time. Bill hourly and make sure the complete scope of the project is in the contract! (Wait, don't have a contract? Get one!) Make it clear that any work beyond the scope will be billed at the hourly rate and to make sure, get all of those requests in writing so that you can prove they approved this extra work.

Have a Contract This is necessary for any freelancer. I whole heartedly agree with Mike Monteiro on this one. When asked when it's time to get a lawyer he said:

When you want to stop being a design amateur and be a design professional.

However, as my next point will state, having a steady cash flow is one of the hardest things to create. So, with that in mind, I suggest you take a look at Andy Clarke's thoughts on this. He wrote up a very good contract that I still use for all of my clients.

Creating a Steady Cash Flow I talk about this as something I seriously need to get better at. At the moment, I feel like I'm living too tight. As much as I've tried to keep my expenses down, I was used to a nice full-time salary. Although some offers do come through, not all of them turn into business.

For this point, I turn to you. What have you done to make this better? How do you go about saving money?

Wrapping Up

Well, I think that's it for now. There is so much to share but, I think small doses are better. Is there something I missed? Or something you'd like to read more about? Let me know and I'll do my best to write about it.

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I think the reasons I dislike start up culture come down to two things. It's detached and not personal, and I feel it's downright douchey most of the time.

Detached and Not Personal

This is my biggest gripe against startups and venture capitalists. It's very detached. There is a common saying that goes, "It's not personal, it's business". Although I mostly agree with these words, I feel like there needs to be a little bit of a personal element.

Too many companies throw the needs of their users away for the money that the guys with big pockets can throw at them. These companies aren't solving people problems, they're coming up with ideas that get them funded. It might seem like the same thing, but it's not. I know that money pays the bills as much as the next guy but the start up culture promotes making billions, not doing what you love and living with what's necessary.

It's amazing to me that people covet having millions of dollars, a downtown loft and private jets. Everything comes at a price and those who live that life are empty, work most of the time, and don't have meaningful human relationships.

It's Downright Douchey

I don't care if your buddy is the ex-co-founder of Twitter. Don't talk to me about pivoting and please don't tell me your idea is the Facebook & Netflix of mommy blogging.

Being an entrepreneur used to mean something. Entrepreneurs were innovators. They weren't content with the way things were and dreamt of new and better ways to do them; it wasn't something you could just put in your Twitter bio and it certainly didn't give you license to be a douche.

Sure, I like to make things. Yes, I might not always think about my products all the way through. I may never be rich. But, damn it, I will have had fun. I will have had passion for the things I get involved in and I will love my family and my friends to the death.

So, I invite you to make business personal again. Have fun. Be nice. Do what you love and make sure you have time for the important people in your life. Money makes no one happy and I'm pretty damn sure "pivoting" doesn't either.

Further Reading

• You're Not an Entrepreneur (Via @mattepp)

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Just like an Olympian can’t know if they’re going to win a medal without actually performing on game day, you can’t know if your product is going to be a success in the market without actually releasing it to the market.

That's a sentence I wholeheartedly agree with. In his article, Joshua goes on to explain information that can be gathered about your product before it launches and I agree with that as well. However, it's been my experience that people tend to over analyze things. I've been on both sides of the spectrum where in one case, too much pre-launch work was being done where we should've had a priority to ship, and another where we should've waited to launch.

It's difficult to find the balance but, I know there is one. My pal Jared Erondu tweeted the other day that it's vital to believe in the product your building. There comes a point where I feel a team thinking and re-thinking the different aspects of a product starts to feel like a lack of faith. That's the moment where you either fire them or, you get out. At least personally, I'd rather start generating income and being paid to improve an already launched product than sit on it for months and realize it's been headed in the wrong direction.

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Visual design is more than an outlet for the aesthetic you're into right now.
Allison House

This small tweet by Allison really got me thinking about my own work. It merits thinking about because what this quote really asks is if you're designing according to the goals of the website and the needs of its users or only according to the trend you're into at the moment.

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I had the absolute pleasure of receiving my copy of Insites: The Book in the mail yesterday. I was excited to take it out of its packaging and delve into what turned out to be some fantastic reading (but, I'll get to that in a moment).

The care, love and absolute craftsmanship that has gone into creating this beautiful book is outstanding and deserves praise. Not only does the book smell fresh off the press, the stock, and type and imagery within are beautiful. I admire the work that Elliot and Keir have done. It's a showcase of attention to detail. As someone very interested in the work that goes into creating a print publication, I can't begin to imagine all the difficult design decisions that were made for this book.

On The Inside

Though their backgrounds are diverse, there's one trait our contributors all share: the love what they do. From that love springs their trademark craftsmanship and relentless curiosity. Their passion is what we appreciate about their work, and in turn, it's what we appreciate about them.
Aarron Walter

Now let's talk about the content. The interviews and spectacular pieces by Aaron Walter and Cameron Koczon truly resonate with me. The people interviewed are of amazing success and it's great to read something with such an inspiring and coherent theme. Every single one of these people have chosen to do what they love and to create new things with love. It's this motivation which has created Brooklyn Beta, A Book Apart, Creative Mornings and more.

Personally, it engraved in my mind that I should be creating things with this same incentive. As Cameron states in his foreword, it's the way we add depth to our online community; the way we extend beyond our small avatars and 160-character bios. I for one, am very happy to be part of this group of caring and smart people.

If you haven't already, you should order your copy.

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There is a lot to be said for the difference between planning for six months, developing for a year, learning that your users don’t want to pay for something, pivoting, starting over on development, and having your investors clean you out, as opposed to launching an open-ended, simple, and small version of a great product in which users tell you exactly what they’re willing to pay for while they’re already paying you.
Execute Book

I came across this excerpt from Execute, a book by Drew Wilson and Josh Long. I pre-ordered a while back and I highly recommend you do to. I've had the chance to talk with Drew and I really admire the guy. He get's things done without even breaking a sweat; at least that's how it looks from the outside.

Drew has created several income generating products and make a living from them. I think we'd all love to do the same. Pre-order the book and maybe some of Drew's genius will rub off.

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Your website is not a feature that you can half-ass. Spend some money. Protect your future. A good website works hard for your business. Much harder than many employees can offer.

What an amazing article by Brian Hoff telling businesses to value the work done by a website. In it, he talks about paying up to $100k for his own site. His examination of how online businesses are flourishing is great and hits you with a reality check. It's so true, our economy isn't in the pits, it's just that business isn't done the same anymore. You should definitely read this.

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When I launched Make Awesome, I had a general and, honestly, vague idea. It was a dream that hadn't been completely fleshed out yet and three weeks later, I now understand what I want this project to accomplish a lot more than I did when I initially launched it.

Since the project's inception, I've had the privilege of doing some interviews that have helped me create a better vision and I'd like to transmit this idea to you.

The point of this magazine is celebrate young and relatively unknown people in our web industry. It aims to not only get you thinking about where our industry is heading and new, creative ways to solve new problems; it invites you to enjoy life and to remember that work is only the tool that allows us to enjoy it.

I'd say that the magazine will not only be a design magazine but a lifestyle magazine. One that examines what creatives do outside of work and gives suggestions about getting away from the noise. That's also the reason why I want the magazine to only be print. I completely agree with Kai Brach. We are so attached to our devices and I hope that this magazine serves as a much needed break to relax on the couch, have a freshly brewed cup of coffee and read the inspiring stories of others that, hopefully inspire you to continue working on your own.

If you are a person that loves what you do and has a passion for doing great work, this is the magazine about you. Our industry needs a publication about and for the regular people: those of us who don't write books, speak at conferences or interview for big publications. Make Awesome is that publication and the magazine is only the beginning.

Back this project, share the magazine and share the vision.

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Pocket is a “read it later”-style service that allows users to bookmark parts of the webs to be read in the future.

This seems like a pretty awesome app. I had to find out if it integrated with Tweetbot because that's where I usually save links from. It definitely shows promise. Now a days, I feel like I do most of my reeding from recommendations on Twitter instead of RSS feeds anyway. What do you think? Will you be giving it a shot?

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So how do they do it? I've heard that some dedicate a time in the day to write. An hour, maybe two where they sit down and write something. My pal Jared Erondu used to write 10-20 pieces a day for a blog he founded and is now the Editor of The Industry at the age of 18. He's half man, half amazing.

Is it a gene? A natural talent? Can you develop this talent? At least in our industry, I'm always talking to designers and developers who say its essential to write. Not only to develop your thoughts and truly know what you're feeling, but to also share the work you're doing. I've tried to do some of that myself and I've found it very therapeutic.

However, I'm coming to realize that the problem I have with my writing is that I feel no one reads it. Maybe that's the adjustment I need to make. Why do I care if people read my horrendously written thoughts? That's something I learned from Dan Eden. He told me in a recent interview that he started blogging because of course he wanted to be like Chris Coyier some day, I mean, who doesn't? But also because it was his playground. Somewhere he could express his thoughts and the latest techniques he was learning.

To me, it really nailed home the idea that I should be writing because I want to do it and that's it. If no one reads, that's quite alright. It helps me organize my thoughts and ultimately makes me a better designer.

So if you're thinking of starting a blog or you've already started one but you've abandoned it, I encourage you to keep it up. Share the link in the comments and I'll be sure to visit.

From this day forward, I'm going to write for one hour each day. Some of these are going to really suck but, I hope you'll join me.

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Ok, now that you know who I am and a bit of my personality, you'll agree when I say that I'm a nice guy. I'm the type of person that opens the door for women, keep my elbows off the table and always put my napkin on my lap. I'm nice, well-mannered and respectful.

Yet, like everyone else, I get upset. People at times say hurtful things because, hell, they're on the internet and there is nothing you can do. My pal Matt told me yesterday that basically "trolls gonna troll" and it's very true. Some people find satisfaction in bringing other people down and that's just something you have to deal with in your life.

Anyway

The point of this post is to talk about keeping your cool. There have been times recently where nothing would have made me happier then to go all Mike Tyson up on some people but, it's not worth it. That's something I'm very proud to say that my mother taught me. It's never worth reducing to someone's level.

What has worked for me, is that I always remember that there is a real person on the other side of the screen. Always. I don't want to be the cause of anyone's feelings being hurt. This isn't common but, I've chosen not to care about what other people do.

I will always be nice. When I offer criticism, it will be constructive and with tact. When someone decides to troll, my response will be one filled with respect. This is how we make the web a better place: when we decide to not say anything that we wouldn't say to someone in person and as I'm sure everyone's mother said at one point, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all". Because, honestly, the time spent hurting people could be better spent doing something great yourself.

Be nice.

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Nowadays, it seems that everyone wants the high profile clients. People with big ideas, the next great product. I admit that I'm included in that group. I would love to design for Rdio or a product similar to that. However, I made realization today that great clients and exciting work can come from anywhere.

I'm currently working with a client whose business is to sell truck bodies. To the typical person, this would seem like a regular client; maybe not something to get excited about. Yet, I am excited about this project.

The owner of the business is a blue collar worker who genuinely cares about his business and the quality they can provide for their customers. He understands his business, the needs of the customers and how important it is to have a web presence. He's open to new ideas and accepts the opinions of the professionals, which in this case, is me.

To be honest, I don't really know what I want to accomplish with this post; I think it's to persuade people to give clients the benefit of the doubt and not consider any project to small. For me, this experience was unexpected and I'm so glad I've had the chance to work with these people. What about you? Have you ever felt that you had a great unexpected experience with a client?

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This is a discussion that happens often. The value of apps are always being measured and I think, unfortunately, the trend is to sway on the low side. I feel like people don't realize how much work goes into creating a quality application. Countless hours of work; thinking, discussing UX, refining the design, thinking through interactions and development. We're not talking a couple of days here; we're talking months of full-time work. In this case, Tapbots has created Tweetbot for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Quality products deserve to be paid for and the guys at Tapbots have done an amazing job with this suite of applications. Don't be a douche. Pay for their stuff.

Tweetbot for Mac

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You should take a listen.

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Show Notes

• Code School, Assembling Sass
• CSS Pre-Processors: Stylus, Less & Sass
• SASSin’ It Up with Bermon Painter

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The Reason Behind the Name

I chose Anythin' Goes because I want it to be the parent company over my different projects. I'm not only doing design work, I host a podcast and soon (hopefully) I'll be publishing a magazine.

I don't know exactly what lies in the future for me or the company but I'm excited to find out and I hope you'll come along for the ride. I think this is all for the best. I feel like finally things are turning around and I'm headed in a good direction, both in my life and career.

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I'm so excited to announce that we launched the Kickstarter campaign for Make Awesome today! I've shot and reshot the video tons of times and finally I had to just be happy with it. I've been doing a lot of behind the scenes work and I'm anxious to see if people believe in the idea as much as I do.

At the moment, we already have some amazing contributors like John Higley, Abby Barlok, Spencer Hamm, Joel Glovier, Jeff Eaton and more to come. Like I've said before, we've confirmed three of four interviews with Janna Hagan, Vic Bell and Sam Soffes.

If you'd like more up-to-date info, back the project to get the amazing weekly updates!!

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