The 46 Must-Read Productivity Tips for Freelancers on FreelanceSwitch is full of great stuff. In fact there must be hundreds of tips if you click through to read all the links in the article. But really any business person can benefit from some of these ideas.
Here are five of my favourites:
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Since making the switch from chemist to web developer, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy getting up in the morning. Aside from not having to handle toxic chemicals on a daily basis and smelling that ghastly lab-smell, I also don’t miss the commute, lunches from vending machines, unhappy coworkers and office politics. Starting my own business is by far the best move I made so far (after marrying my husband of course).
Launched just a few weeks ago, freelanceswitch.com is a website that offers loads of hints and tips for freelancers. Advice on how to take care of yourself while working long hours, managing your increasingly long list of usernames and passwords and reviews of the different types of pitching and decision-making clients are just a few of the articles that you can find.
It’s a great resource for anyone wishing to quit their job and start working for themselves. Not only is the site full of great information, it’s also beautifully designed. I wish I had access to this type of information when I launched Bluelime Media.
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication but judging from the questions I have received recently, from a user perspective its not really simple at all! Basically, RSS is a means by which information can be published and made available over the Internet to interested parties in one central place. For a user, this means that you can subscribe to information you want from specific blogs, news feeds, e-zines and so on and have this information sent directly to you in real time as updates are made.
I recently purchased a copy of Jason Beaird’s book “The Principles of Beautiful Web Design“. I must admit that I was skeptical when I purchased it. Unfortunately I’m one of those people who are influenced greatly by design. and thus tend to judge my books by their cover. Having just finished reading “Transcending CSS” which was exceptional, beautifully laid out and with a great looking cover, I didn’t think that a book which such a boring looking one would be very interesting. And the sentence “You don’t need to go to art school to design great looking web sites!” on the back also didn’t make me feel at ease. I know quite a few graphic designers whose face turns purple just hearing that kind of statement.
Thus I had very low expectations for this book and yet I would recommend it to anyone. The book is extremely informative, full of great images and resources and Jason does deliver what he promises. A simple, easy-to-follow guide illustrated with plenty of full-colour examples. This book is ideal for people who are just starting to get into web design, programmers who routinely build “somewhat dull” looking web applications or people like me who have been designing for years. I didn’t go to art school and so don’t know the fundamentals of design. I learned everything from the seat of my pants. I sure wish I had read this book years ago.
Still confused about Web 2.0? Mhairi from Outsmart sales and marketing has written a great article explaining what’s what.
Web 2.0 was coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004 and refers to a perceived second generation of web-based services such as social networking sites, wikis and communication tools. I’ve heard the term here and there for a while now, but was never quite sure what it meant. I came across this video on youtube yesterday and thought that it explained things very well.