Archive for 2008
In case you missed it, check out the LinkedIn.com Learning Centre for Entrepreneurs. The networking site for professionals (I’m a member, it’s free to join) “helps entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground”.
If you’ve been looking for a way to connect with fellow entrepreneurs and freelancers, then don’t underestimate the power of LinkedIn.com
You can…
- Post your questions on LinkedIn Answers to get experienced perspective from your network and beyond
- Use Advanced Search to find subject matter experts who you can retain as advisors or consultants
- Find and reference check candidates and contractors by finding others that they worked with at their various companies for an unbiased, honest opinion.
- Use Service Providers to quickly find those that have received recommendations from people in your network and other LinkedIn members. Past customer feedback is often more valuable than what a company or individual says in their marketing materials.
- And a whole lot more…
Me? I’ve been using it of late to find out who else is in the market place, who can I connect with, who can I learn from and who can I help along the way.
Popularity: 34% [?]
Freelancers Union, who provide a variety of insurance schemes, discounts and run an array of freelancer-aimed events during the year are looking for freelancers to take their 2008 Freelancers Union Survey.
While the survey is primarily US-based, there is no restriction on who can contribute to the survey. I took it, and it certainly doesn’t take the 15 minutes suggested, but there are in-depth questions in relation to economy, insurance, where you find difficulties with your outgoings etc.
I’m looking forward to seeing their results when the survey eventually closes. Check here for more details.
Popularity: 36% [?]
I’m currently working my way through 5-6 requests for Wordpress theme development (a bit of a back log) and each one aimed at a different audience / genre. Two of the themes I’m developing require a strong focus on colour theory and psychology with not only the content being important but the colours surrounding the content.
Often, designers go with something colourful, something flowery, something extravagant - but have you ever stopped to think what the colour actually means?
Here’s a list of resources for you on colour theory and psychology. Why not give them a read and see if you can include them in your next design?
- Color Psychology by David Johnson - do different colours affect your mood?
- The Color Wheel & Color Theory - Looking at a various colour combinations, double combinations, triad combinations, complimentary colours, what works and what doesn’t.
- Classic Color Schemes - Pros and cons of some classic colour schemes (monochromatic, analogous and more)
- Complementary Colours - Part of a tutorial by Worqx.com looking at complimentary colours. Perhaps some inspiration for you getting started in pairing colours and why you should pair colours?
- Colour Symbolism & Psychology - Wikipedia article including a great table breakdown on the meaning behind individual colours and their common connotations.
- Psychology Of Colour - The BBC’s take on colour psychology. The article is more aimed towards interior decoration but at the end of the day, it’s all about design.
Popularity: 42% [?]
I’m going to be attending PodCamp in Kilkenny on Saturday September 27th (I’m one of the organisers of the day-long event). Regular readers may know that I offered a Blogging For Beginners course back in May through a regional arts network, ArtLinks.ie.
Now, another ArtLinks member and blogging advocate is taking the reigns on a talk entitled “How Do You Do - Advice For Blog Beginners”.
While my own talk was very much delivered off the back of my own background knowledge and experience, this talk will take a different twist, engaging experienced bloggers to provide a number of their own tips and share (in an open discussion) their experiences with new bloggers.
Almost an “old guard meets new” feel to the session.
With just 17 days to go to PodCamp, you can register for free here and see a list of talks that are currently on offer (with lots more to come!).
It’s certainly keeping me busy anyway but I’m looking forward to another great unconference!
Popularity: 39% [?]
I should have mentioned this earlier but in case you had your head buried in the sand, it was announced last week that Going Solo, the conference for freelancers held in Lausanne earlier this year and due to be held in Leeds (UK) this coming September 12th, has been cancelled due to low registrations.
Instead, there is now a SoloCamp going to take place.
SoloCamp will run in a BarCamp, unconference-type setting, something which should work quite well and something I also feel would work quite well here in Ireland as a means of connecting freelancers (as in, it has me thinking about a possible Irish event).
It will still take place in Leeds on September 12th, at the Old Broadcasting House, a co-working space in Leeds.
For those operating on a tight budget, especially those who feel the UK and Ireland are running in a recession economy state at the moment, several hundred pounds outside of travel and living expenses for a weekend can represent a serious commitment, one they may not be able to make and as a result, miss out on some fantastic opportunities to learn, network, connect and create.
There were 25 people booked in for the initial event but hopefully the change of approach to the day won’t hinder participation and will actually increase the turnout. Having been involved in organising a number of BarCamp events in the past as well as an upcoming PodCamp due to hit on September 27th, both signups and attendances in Ireland have been excellent throughout the past few years, something I hope is replicated in the UK next weekend.
If you find yourself in the area and have the time (without needing the money) to make it to SoloCamp then do! These events can introduce you to a whole new world of people and open the door to many new potential opportunities (work being just one of them).
Popularity: 44% [?]
I read a post online recently (link escapes me) from a freelance web designer living in the UK. In it, he mentioned that one of his aims over the next 5 years was to build his business and expand off the back of his freelancing work. He’s already been accepting freelance work for the past five years.
He’s got ambition, drive, enthusiasm by the bucketload - all things you should have before looking to start a business but also all vital ingredients when you’re entering the world of freelancing. By business he means he wants to pitch the bigger contracts, build his brand, get more people involved, establish a company presence.
Then again, there’s people who go the other way. They spend a lot of their life in the corporate environment yet gradually realise they want to break out on their own and take some freelance work.
But can you freelance forever? If the drive resides in you to turn freelance and pick up odd contracts here and there; the thirst is in you to keep this up and seek out more and more work; will the energy and enthusiasm overtake you and you find you’re back building a business all over again, taking on partners and entering the corporate world again?
If you’re good at what you do, there should be no reason why you couldn’t freelance forever. You could plan it that way. Pitch for enough work to sustain yourself comfortably year-in-year-out as a full-time freelancer. But when does freelancing become more than freelancing? Is it a bad thing that it does?
Popularity: 38% [?]
The changes are coming. September also seems to be a great month for planning, particularly from a blog point of view.
One team I’m working with are integrating a number of social media services to their blog - the likes of Twitter, Blip.fm, QIK etc.
Another team I’m helping integrate their Wordpress installation with their phpBB installation while assisting them with a redesign of their current Wordpress template. In fact, at present I’m working on five new Wordpress templates for client and personal project releases, including a redesign of my original blog. That, plus a slightly modified layout for Pro Freelance Blogger.
So all this Wordpress theming and scheming that I’ve found myself in for the month of September got me thinking - why not release some of the themes I’ve been developing.
That said, I’m asking you for your input. While I’m considering releasing themes I’ve already developed, I’m looking at releasing a number of new themes and would like your input - what do you look for in a Wordpress theme. Do you prefer the magazine approach? Standard 2-column, 3-column? Plugin-heavy or no-plugins required? Additional theme functionality and options or not?
Feel free to leave a comment or let me know via email.
Popularity: 42% [?]
I’m in the process of launching a new music blog with a number of co-authors. The content will focus around independent (unsigned) acts with news from bands, rated reviews of gigs, CDs, interviews etc.
In order to make the blog “work” for us content-wise, we’re devising an editorial calendar, much in the same way a magazine, newspaper or radio plot out days, weeks and months in advance when they’re content is going to hit and what is going to be published. Sure enough, there’s breathing room in the schedule for daily and flash news updates but for the most part we know that on X day reviews will be published, on Y day interviews will be published and on Z day competitions will be run.
We know this in advance and it gives our authors and blog editors the chance to prepare and release the content, or schedule the content in good time.
The same, however, can be applied to an individual blog, something which brought me back to a bookmarked post from Pureblogging back in May of this year.
The creation of a calendar or publishing timeline both creates and breeds consistency, one of the three points raised by the post.
In summary, an editorial calendar will
- Increase your post quality
- Improve your blogging consistency
- Increase your RSS readers
While the first two speak for themselves (consistency, “practice makes perfect”), the third point is interesting. While there is no guarantee that any amount of posting can increase or decrease the number of RSS readers to your blog, the feeling here is that through anticipation of particular content you will garner subscribers eager to read the news as and when it hits - something we’re hoping will work for us in terms of anticipated reviews and interviews.
While we’ll likely use and sync iCal calendar entries during our weekly meetups, you might consider Google Calendar for yours? You can also sync gCal with your iPhone, iCal, Outlook and other calendar services and you can access it anywhere on the move.
I’ll let Michael Martine take it from here…
Popularity: 40% [?]
If there’s one tip I can give you about scheduling posts to go live in Wordpress it’s this - double-check your dates.
Why would I say that?
Because yesterday’s post, knowing I would be away from the web and out of the county for at least 24 hours, never surfaced though it might well do sometime this December!
That said, it brings a relative end to my ‘post a day’ series for August which has managed to kick me back into the blogging groove. A notepad chock full of ideas, some new clients because of the posting series and some nice introductions via email over the month have created a nice additional direction for the blog.
If you want to check back over the ‘post a day’ series for August simply look through the archives or August specifically right here. I’ll drop in yesterday’s post later tonight but right now, I’m off to live-blog a music event (another post on this coming soon).
Popularity: 40% [?]
I’ve often thought about publishing an ebook online or getting something into print media (a physical book). Getting an ebook together wouldn’t be a difficult feat for me. I’ve read enough of them to recognise the layout, I’m quite comfortable in a variety of publishing and layout packages - convert the end product to PDF and find a home for it online.
So this morning I collect my mail and find a question from someone interested in publishing a book but also looking for illustrators for their book so I thought, why not make some suggestions through a post and share the information.
Publishing Your Book
I won’t lie - I’ve never dealt with physical book publishers. However, at CreativeCamp in March (I was one of the three main organisers of the conference), we had a talk on self-publishing books and what your options are online for print-on-demand books.
One option is Lulu.com who offer a variety of paperback books, hardbacks, photobooks, cookbooks and more. If you have all your files ready to go, you can upload the individual pages of your book to Lulu.com and get instant quotes on how many books you need.
My query for a 68 page (consider 4 belong to the cover, inside and out) colour A5 book, perfect bound, worked out at €281 for 20 copies of the book, meaning the manufacturing cost per book would be €14.05. Buy in bulk and save, opt for black and white and save, change your stitching types and save, change your page size and save.
Lulu.com also allows you to define your own price, sell the books online from your own store front, get your own ISBN number and look at distribution options in up to 60,000 outlets online and off.
Another company in the self-publishing marketplace is InstantPublisher.com who will turn around a minimum order of 25 copies of your book at trade quality in 7-10 days. For 25 books at 68 pages, colour cover, black and white content, perfect-bound in similar size the cost was significantly lower - at just $113.50.
Freelance Illustrators
So you’ve found a publisher you’re happy with and you now need an illustrator for your book. Why not explore the options provided by the many freelance illustrators working online?
The NJ Creatives Network, based in New Jersey, is home to several freelance illustrators whose samples of work and contact details can be found here.
Creative Freelance are a UK-based organisation drawing on freelance artists and illustrators from the Ipswich and Suffolk area of the UK. You can find some of their freelance illustrators here.
The Freelance Alliance (creative freelancer network) also plays home to a number of freelance illustrators working online, again all with samples of their work, viewable CVs and direct contacts for the illustrators in question.
Something To Add?
If you’ve got something to add or would like to share a resource on self-publishing or sourcing freelance illustrators for books, then leave a comment or drop me an email and I’ll get your link added.
Popularity: 43% [?]
