One of the great features of using Gmail or Gmail for your domain is the auto responder. This past week in particular, between training days and increased time spent out of the office, I’ve been using the auto responder to inform clients and regular correspondents that I’m away for a few days / hours and will reply to their mail on return.

What is an auto responder you say? It is an automatic response issue on receipt of an email. The sender of the original mail gets an automatic response from your mail host with a pre-set message, as outlined below.

Want to know how to set yours up?

1. Sign in to Gmail.
2. Click Settings along the top of any Gmail page.
3. From the General tab, select Vacation responder on in the Vacation responder: section.
4. Enter the subject and body of your message in the Subject: and Message: fields. If you’ve enabled a personalized signature in your settings, Gmail will automatically append it to the bottom of your vacation response.
5. Check the box next to Only send a response to people in my Contacts if you don’t want everyone who emails you to know that you’re away from your mail.
6. Click Save Changes.

While the vacation responder is enabled, you’ll see a banner across the top of any Gmail page, displaying the subject of your vacation response. To stop Gmail from automatically sending the response, click end now within the banner. Or, if you’d like to edit the response, click vacation settings. (via)

Working online, I rely an awful lot on email and email access. With a regular flow of content through my inbox and a regular line of people looking to contact me, I think it’s only good practice to let people know you’re unavailable to return their mail at a particular time. If you drop me an email and I’m unavailable you’ll have a quick automatic mail delivered telling you politely that I’m unavailable, telling you when I’m back and that I’ll reply to your email on return.

In dealing with a lot of journalists (who tend to go on holidays every now and again), one useful tip to include in your responder message is an alternative contact i.e. who (if anyone) to contact in your absence. That said you can use it for anything - include links back to your website, maybe simply use an autoresponder to thank people for emailing you or submitting a query from your website.

If you haven’t yet discovered the automatic responder / vaction responder in Gmail, give it a look today. It’s a very handy tool indeed!

Popularity: 25% [?]

Wordpress 2.6.1 is out of beta and has been released to the public as a full download. Those of you running Wordpress 2.6 on your own hosting should have seen the admin status message over the weekend revealing the availability of the next version of Wordpress.

To upgrade, simply grab a copy of the latest release and FTP it to your server, replacing the existing Wordpress files. If you’re in doubt about plugin compatibility, a helpful suggestion is to disable each active plugin on your blog BEFORE running the update.

When you have everything uploaded, simply go to www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin/upgrade.php to call the upgrade script (where yourdomain.com is your actual domain name).

From the Wordpress blog…

With 2.6.1, we’re continuing our trend of releasing a maintenance release shortly after a major release in order to get fixes for the inevitable “dot zero” bugs into your hands without a long wait. If you’re happy with 2.6, however, keep on using it. You need not upgrade to 2.6.1 if 2.6 is getting the job done.

2.6.1 offers several improvements for international users. Styling of the admin for right-to-left languages is much improved thanks to the efforts of the Farsi and Hebrew translation teams, and a mysterious gettext bug caused by certain PHP configurations is now fixed. For IIS users, 2.6.1 fixes several permalink problems. Image insertion problems in the Press This feature experienced by IE users are also fixed. Of note to everyone is a fix for a performance bug in the admin where those with a lot of plugins would experience slowness on some pages.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Doing my regular weekend trip to the local book shop (and general magazine wonderland) I happened to spot the current edition of Computer Arts Projects magazine, a UK-based mag I used to read but have long since fallen out of touch with.

Until this issue.

If you’re working freelance or looking to embark on a freelance career then try and grab yourself a copy of the current issue, #114, as it’s all for the freelancer in you.

The mag includes lessons on freelancing from Dean Evans, tips on designing a logo to suit your freelance career, developing and maintaing a good looking online portfolio, dealing with tax and accounts setting up a home studio (based on a budget of £1,000, £5,000 or £10,000), networking, an interview with Matt Booth on the upside to being your own boss and a whole lot more.

There’s also a few accounting packages for Mac and PC users fired onto the cover disc with the current issue.

I grabbed mine for around €12. Check more details here or drop to your local newsagent to grab your copy before the next issue comes out (which looks to be about print media and print design).

Popularity: 11% [?]

One project I’m working on this week is sound design for a new theatre production, something I’ve walked into at relatively the last minute.

In the past I’ve hired sound designers for theatre productions - those who can source the sound effects, get the music right, get the cues sorted for the stage and leave us with a magnificent soundscape of pure audio delights.

This job also falls into my ‘free work’ category due to my continued involvement with and development of the theatre company.

What’s been making my job that bit easier are the samples available from Free-Loops.com. Over 5,000 of them in fact, with a lot of the samples covered by a Creative Commons. If you don’t want to go through the downloading process of single-clicking 3,000+ sound loops, you can contribute $20 to the site and get access to a single download file of the entire free loop archive.

If you’re working as a podcast producer, in radio, freelancing with some audio work then this is a solid starting point to explore. There is also a selection of free VST plugins you can download to integrate with your preferred audio editor along with some free standalone multimedia applications to help you with your work.

More Free Sound Loops

Another resource I picked up during the week was SoundSnap.com offering a multitude of free MP3 samples to download. The interface is a lot cleaner and certainly easier to navigate around with clips also available in WAV format (not all clips).

Then there’s the old reliable of SoundDogs.com, which I find to be hit and miss quality-wise depending on what you’re after but it’s always worth a look for short effects / sounds.. You do indeed have to pay to download samples from SoundDogs.com (or grab the MP3 links if you want a low-quality copy.) For commercial use and project use you must open a professional account. The previews, which are low in quality are for demonstration purposes only, with high quality samples available with a pro account.

As with any audio or video download, be sure and read any accompanying license agreements or terms and conditions if using samples in a commercial project or venture.

If you have any free audio resources you would like to add, just leave a comment and I’ll get it added to the list above.

Update 1: Try also, Free Sound Project

Popularity: 23% [?]

When it comes to work-life, I’m a total techie. I rely on technology for everything I do - mobile phone, laptop, broadband, TV, sound recording, the whole lot.

However, there’s some things I feel are totally necessary to have in the home, especially if you’ve set up a dedicated work space.

High Speed Broadband Connection

I rely on the internet for everything - my daily news, delivering my client work, sharing large files via FTP with the theatre company, keeping my blogs updated etc. I’ve got a 6mb cable broadband connection coming into the house and at this point find it difficult to work at lower speeds. Working from my Sligo base is tricky due to restrictions on mobile broadband coverage but for any freelancer, particular those working in the field of web design, a high speed broadband connection is a must.

Finding the balance between speed and affordability is the key.

A Wireless Router

A wireless broadband router is a must, especially if you’ve got a laptop. Yes - I mentioned dedicated workspace but sometimes it’s good to be able to get out of the room, out of the small office and sit in the garden or maybe the kitchen and get some work done - without the worry of “will my cable reach?”. I picked myself up a Linksys WRT54Gs wireless router last year and haven’t looked back since I bought it.

A Skype Phone

More and more I find myself turning to Skype when ringing clients and dealing with clients and friends out of town. It keeps my home phone bill down and more importantly it keeps my mobile phone bill donw. I picked up a cheap Skype phone (USB) on eBay for around US$15, upgrading to a desk phone (dual PSTN / USB) earlier this year. Both are fantastic working solutions and beat the hell out of a headphone and mic combination.

Good speakers

I don’t listen to the radio an awful lot, only tuning in if there’s something very specific I feel I need to hear. So on a daily basis I often play through my MP3 collection. I like the music loud and I like it clear. So I invested in some desktop speakers. Hearing music through the laptop just doesn’t cut it and I couldn’t face wearing headphones eight hours a day and then some.

You could pick yourself up a simple 5.1 speaker setup from Logitech for under the €60 mark (Irish market, see here on Komplett)

A Laptop

A simple one, but not often a given. The wireless router is useless unless you’ve something solid to work from - I chose a MacBook Pro almost two years ago. While MacBook’s are expensive (in comparison to PC-based models from the likes of Dell), I’ve found the Mac to be a solid investment that has more than paid for itself in the last two years. If I had to make the choice again to choosing a platform to work from, I would choose Mac all over again. It’s light, portable and hasn’t thrown a single day’s trouble since day 1.

A Second Monitor

A second monitor has become a must for me. Being involved in a lot of design work, the extra desktop space and screen space provided by an additional monitor has been a lifesaver and times, and boosted my productivity. The laptop has a secondary DVI port to connect a monitor, while my desktop also holds a graphics card with dual monitor output.

I managed to pick up a 19″ flat panel LG monitor for under €180 some time ago and like the MacBook, I’ve never looked back and even now find working on a single-screen setup restrictive.

A Mobile Broadband Option

I raved about this so much before buying into it. More to convince myself than anything but now that I’ve secured the mobile broadband option, my internet options are secure. Firstly, I can travel outside of the house, working from a client’s premises, a coffee shop - whatever happens. Secondly, already this week we had a power outage. A power outage means the desktop PC won’t turn on, the wireless router won’t turn on. But providing I’ve still got a charge in the laptop, I’m free to work away with the mobile option as a back up.

That option in itself alone came in so handy this week.

Small things, but things nonetheless that I rely on a daily basis. How about you?

(A late night post again for my ‘post a day’, thank my current theatre production for that! But we got there)

Popularity: 14% [?]

Earlier this morning as part of a podcast show I host weekly we had an interview with Deborah, founder of Tast.ie and Spicendipity a new artisan foods company based in Ireland.

During the interview it was found obvious that a lot of Deborah’s blogging comes from the workplace - her kitchen; blogging, email, Twitter interaction etc.

So that got me thinking - where do you blog from?

Me, I tend to blog mostly from home. I’ve got a bedroom semi-converted to an office space with a desk placed at either side of the room (one for the Mac with the audio equipment and one for the PC, it helps to have both). As I write my blog posts each day I’m able to cast my eye out the window onto an extremely quiet and relatively private housing estate. Rain, hail or shine it usually looks good.

Only recently I’ve picked up a mobile broadband option allowing me to dip into town and get away from the office (my actual office, not the home setup) with the occasional blog post surfacing from one of Kilkenny’s many coffee shops.

So, what about you? Do you blog from anywhere interesting on a regular basis? Another interview I caught recently with a podcast producer had him podcasting from a wardrobe as it was “a bit quieter”. Do you need to lock yourself away or can you podcast from anywhere?

Popularity: 10% [?]

The term ‘pro bono’, to quote Wikipedia is

…sometimes used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms. Pro bono service, unlike traditional volunteerism, uses the specific skills of professionals to provide services to those who are unable to afford them.

Some times I like to do some work, gratis. The community bone in my body likes to give up some of my (ever decreasing) time to particular projects. I love getting involved in BarCamp and PodCamp type events. I’ll sometimes give up some time to help others on a design projects, assist with online installations, provide some artwork for bands… whatever takes my fancy at the time.

I will do this regardless of whether the person on the receiving end can afford the service or not.

While some people might look on it as turning down the chance of income, however great or small, I’m a fond believer that one good turn deserves another and often I’ll find that small projects or favours you’ve done for people using your professional skill set will come back to you, possibly opening doors to new referrals, new clients or the opportunity of more work from the person you’ve helped in the first place.

What I don’t like is someone throwing the usual “eh, we don’t actually have any money but we’ll give you more work” or “we can’t afford to pay you but…”. I don’t take well to people asking me to commit time to a project with no return, but if I see an opportunity to assist someone without their asking, I’ll happily offer my services.

One good turn does indeed deserve another.

Popularity: 14% [?]

In case you missed it over the weekend, Chris Brogan laid on a post on Thursday listing 20 free ebooks on social media.

With direct links to download, some books which may interest you (as they do me) include the Podcast Marketing eBook by Chris Penn, The New Rules Of Viral Marketing by David Meerman Scott and an Introduction To Good Usability by Peter Pixel.

Some of the blog-specific ebooks reference versions of Wordpress prior to 2.5 and above but check out the full list here and grab them while you can.

If, like me, you’re working from a budget then you can’t argue with a free ebook to pick up some tips and tricks to help you along with your web work.

Popularity: 16% [?]

I’m quite happy to say I’ve passed the 100-post mark here at profreelanceblogger.com, something which sees me on track for the year.

One thing I did when starting out with Profreelanceblogger.com back in April (technically March) was to set a target for a post count during the year - that post count being 300. Counting April, May, June, July as full months and stepping in to August (while seeing June and July as quiet months due to serious work commitments), I would count myself well on track to reaching the 300-post mark.

I think for a blog to succeed, particularly any new or beginner blog, one needs to have targets for blog. Whether it’s reaching a certain traffic level, reaching a certain post-count, reaching a particular page-rank, building a certain number of RSS subscribers.

A lot of it comes down to numbers. You can’t achieve those numbers unless you know what it is exactly you’re trying to achieve.

So one of my goals is to reach the 300-post mark come next March 30/31. Today’s post brings things to 101 leaving me 199 to go.

Good thing I’ve been keeping a notebook full of posts, titles, ideas and tips for the blog.

What about you - have you certain goals for your blog, levels you want to reach, things you want to achieve? Let me know by leaving a comment or dropping an email here.

Popularity: 17% [?]

I’ve got a problem.

Late at night I used to crawl eBay. I could spend hours looking through random listings, watching old ones expire, see new ones creep in, go bargain hunting with or without ever actually buying anything.

That was 2007.

In 2008 I’ve become a domain name junkie, something that hits me when I sit down to do some work on the laptop late at night when I don’t have a heavy workload on. I end up crawling GoDaddy.com looking for domain names thinking to myself “Yes, I’ll do something with that one”.

Last night was no different as the collection of domains I have across two providers passes the 60 mark.

There are some good bargains to be had - .com domains for $9.99 and under (save another few percent with the coupon code “saveten”), .ca domains now for $12.99 if you’re in the market for a Canadian web presence. But this isn’t a sales pitch.

What I find myself doing is buying the domain name, attaching it to a pre-existing hosting account (deluxe accounts all the support of multiple domains to individual directories) and placing a blog there. It keeps me on my toes in terms of setup, delivery, then pushes me to the creative side to come up with a logo for the domain I’ve just picked, a custom blog theme, custom blog features and get everything launched.

With that said, you can expect I’ll be telling you in the not-too-distant future that I’ve gone and launched yet another blog of some form. Whether the blog stays maintained or gets passed over to someone else doesn’t matter so much to me. I think I’m just addicted to blogging in general.

It is a test though and if you’ve ever thought of adding a second blog to your collection why not go my route?

• Choose a blog topic
• Choose a suitable domain name
• Design a logo
• Design a blog theme
• Launch the blog and make your first post

Of course, the flipside to that is with my growing collection of domain names purchase on late-night whims, they’ll eventually have to be renewed, something which can become quite an expensive habit.

But the feeling of getting a new theme out there, a new blog started is quite a good one. In the end, if it gives you ammunition for a portfolio or something you can retail to a prospective client or on the freelance market then you’re on a winner all round.

Popularity: 31% [?]