Sink or Swim

Designing mockups today for a receipt printer company. I don’t say this a lot but I feel like I’m on fire! Normally, I need about 4-6 hours to design 2 mockups but I’m only on my 2nd hour and I already finished one kick-ass layout, if I may say so myself. I have these quotes to thank for.

I need to print these out and paste them on my wall so I can be inspired all the time.

Looks like our meeting this morning will take longer than the usual 2 hours. The board is deciding on a Retail System and although I’m not included in the decision process, I was asked to attend as well. Personally, I think it’s a waste of my time when I could be designing and finishing the mountain load of task on my desktop. But you have to do what you have to. It pays the bills and just like what my boss says, everything that I’m asked to do, even if just talking to him about ideas and other work stuff, is part of my job. So yes. I am sitting in and taking notes because I suspect that was why I was called and then just find a way to finish all my designs later when the meeting is over.

Our housekeeper found a flyer about Message Therapist Jobs and wondered if I can help her get more information. She said her niece might be able to benefit from the job listings and hopefully be able to help their family from the province. I instantly agreed which is why I am looking for similar jobs online when I’m supposed to be working. I just feel the need to help them knowing they are trying to feed 6 mouths under the age of seven. If there’s one thing I wish for Christmas, I really want to have more money so I can help the kids have a good education or at least find work opportunities for the ones who can already work.

To-dos for this week:

Find inspiration for graduation invitations that I need to design for a client.

Finish the WordPress website that I’m developing so the client can populate the pages.

Design new logos for a friend. This one’s a pro bono project. Something to help her on her new business venture.

Make sure all tasks are done by next Thursday so I can attend my daughter’s PTA meeting.

Forget about acquiring new projects. Just finish all my backlogs first.

I can’t believe how many companies I’ve researched for printing for less and yet my client still finds them expensive. If only I’m not using my sideline earnings for our savings, I would go ahead and tell my client that it’s in the house! That’s how skinflint he is. Luckily, he already agreed to the cost of designing his brochures or else, I’d be worried that he may not be able to meet my estimate. He has this idea that he will save more money by printing it at home. He never takes into consideration the amount of time you will have to fold all 5000 brochures, replace ink, calibrate the colors, etc. But I think I’ll go ahead and force him to choose one from my top three. He trusts my decision at the end of the day. Most of the time, he just loves to see me sweat.

Just had another long meeting via Skype tonight. I tried my best to listen but when the boys started throwing terms such as SSDI, SSL, Linux commands, I somehow spaced out. Good thing there’s twitter to occupy me during the those 30 minutes when they wouldn’t know if I stayed on the line or not. I just made sure that my other ear was tund to the conversation just in case they mentioned something about the design, which is my main responsibility. This is why I love working from home because I can have meetings late at night and yet be ready for bed as soon as we wrap it up.

If you run a small business and would like it to expand by having presence on the web, you would need a web site designer who can build your business web site and brand your logo.  Choosing between signing up between a web site company and hiring a freelance or independent web site designer varies has its advantages and disadvantages. Cost is a primary consideration but qualifications-wise, you can get more value for your money if your sign up with an independent web designer sometimes.

One should also note that many “web designers” claiming to be one are actually graphic designers whose expertise is more towards print media than web media.  One might reason that graphic and web design are entirely the same with very few differences, but size resolutions, color palettes, sizes, and layout concepts are entirely different. A skilled web designer would know what would work beautifully and consistently among different operating systems and browser versions of computers.

A quality web site design company or an independent web site designer should also specialize in these basic design services: Commerce Solutions, Web 2.0, Internet Marketing, E-Learning, SEO, and Pay per click campaigns. Design wise, a web site designer should lay the foundation for good SEO marketing to ensure the web site will favor a landing on top search engines.

Here are some criteria you need to consider when choosing a web site designer:

1. Credentials – A web site designer should have his own web site that serves as a portfolio of his past work and list his credentials – educational background and work experience.
2. Experience in web site designing and scope of projects or work made – Again, all of these can be seen in his portfolio
3. Feedback from previous clients
4. He has a vision or basic plan of the type of web site you want.
5. Familiar and updated with technology – Internet technology updates fast. A good web site designer is not only updated with technology, he knows how to apply these to your site.
6. Pricing and payment – Know what are the ballpark figures of web site design and construction are these days. Most of the time, prices also depend on:
7. Ongoing support – Ask if they will be providing support after site launch, if it’s free, and if his support covers maintenance and regular updates and upgrades to the software used in handling your web site.
8. Location – Would you prefer your web site designer to have face to face meetings with you? Or it is perfectly fine for you to conduct meetings over e-mails, chats and video conferencing. Outsourcing web site designers would end up being cheaper for you without sacrificing great talent.

Here are some of the things you should look for in a web site designer’s portfolio:

• Ease of navigation in the sites they have designed.
• Visual aesthetics. This would all depend on the type of web site you want to achieve. Some prefer the artsy look while others like the clean graphic look with classic designs.
• Static HTML pages that contain optimized web copy and images that can be crawled by search engines. When an entire site is flash-based, it cannot be crawled by search engine spiders and robots.

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AbieL is a professional blogger and writer for five years now. She writes articles for Business Opportunities Expo and You Love Coupons where you can get norton security coupons and go daddy coupon voucher.

Every time I win a project bid, I can’t help but envision our future dream house. Not only that, I see the exterior design, number of bedrooms even stuff like best laminate flooring, high-end bath fixtures and kitchen appliances parade in my mind. I feel like I’m getting close to my goal the more side projects I get. The earnings from them usually gets transferred directly to my untouchable savings account, if I don’t get sidetracked with other big-ticket purchases. This year, however, most of my side project earnings will go to my new machine (yeah!) and to the first birthday party budget for my youngest. I am about done meeting my quota for that so whatever projects that will come after will be put into our future home budget again. I am not rushing this time. I know God will provide when it’s the right moment.