Self Employment
WordPress 2.8 Goodness
I’ve been using 2.8 beta since it’s release and upgraded this evening to 2.8 (Baker) this evening and nothing broke – that is always a bonus! Loving the upgrades to the WordPress platform and how everything is pretty much automated for users – – now not only can you upgrade your WordPress installation directly from your Dashboard AND search for, install and activate new plugins (and upgrade existing ones) directly from your WordPress Dashboard – but you can do the same with free WordPress Themes from the official themes directory. A true WordPress Trifecta – it’s brilliant. I’m going through […]
I love Wells Fargo
It’s Monday – start of a new business week. I started out getting myself organized for the week, and was doing pretty good. That is, until I visited the website of my favorite paper supplier to purchase more paper stock for some upcoming print work I need to get done. I went through their process of ordering – and then hit the checkout. I figured, in a few minutes, I’d have ordered what I needed – – and then check that off my list so I could move on to the next order of business for the day. That is […]
Do what you love . . love what you do
When I submitted the final, final edits for the second edition of WordPress For Dummies today – I breathed a tremendously huge sigh of relief. There is nothing like that feeling of accomplishment to carry you through to the next day. This was a big project – – just as it was the first time around, and having it finished, finally not only lifts a great big weight off the ol’ shoulders…but it made me reflect a bit. As I’m uploading the last and final files..I could feel myself physically relax. I sat back and thought – – I really […]
Designers, do you pursue local business?
It’s no big surprise that the majority of my design business thrives on national and international clients. Having a presence on the web will do that for you – your business is found by people from all over the world. If you run a design shop – your experience is probably much the same as mine, in that regard. But when is the last time you turned your focus locally to build business relationships? There is probably a virtual landmine of business opportunities right in your own hometown that you are possibly overlooking when your focus is global. I live […]
FreshBooks and Other Tools I Use
It was about a year ago that I started hearing about colleagues of mine using FreshBooks for their invoicing and time tracking needs. At the time, I wasn’t ready to move away from my tried and true practice of manual invoicing per project. Hey, I’m a creature of habit and it’s what I knew, and was comfortable with, at the time. I am an early adopter of some things…but not all. I started using FreshBooks a little over a month ago and I just can’t even begin to describe how excellent this service is and how much time it has […]
Tighten Up Those Terms and keep copies of EVERYTHING.. forever
Many times in dealing with my clients, I fear I repeat myself too often. When a client submits their order to us, they get treated to our terms of service statement not once… not twice… not three, but four different times during the order process. Plus, I refer them to the terms of service several times throughout their browsing experience on my site. In addition, their order will not be submitted to us unless they have checked the box that says “Yes, I have read your terms of service”. They are also presented with our terms within the project quote.. […]
2-Year Renewal
March is a month away and I got a notice in the mail that it’s time to renew my nursing license. Here, in Wisconsin, we have to renew them every 2 years in order to maintain the license. It costs, roughly, sixty-five bucks to renew every two years – – there’s no continuing education requirements to be met…. just money (of course). I think in other states, nurses have to meet a certain amount of hours of continuing education in order to maintain their licensure… here in Wisconsin – good ol’ cold hard green cash will do. I graduated nursing […]
Random Post Holiday-ness
Hectic! That’s the word for the week, to be sure! Hectic, but productive – – and productive is always a good thing. I had gotten myself a little bit behind on a few things – – which is ALWAYS a source of major stress for me. There’s nothing I hate more than having overdue items on my to-do list. My list is generally pretty long – but those overdue items mock me and stare up at me with distain. I hate it. But, there’s only one thing to do when things like that happen – – just put your nose […]
Providing Referrals – Are You Taking a Risk?
The scenario is simple: You have either approached me or have read something that I’ve written where I have provided a referral to someone, who I have worked with in the past and who I know, provides high quality development and/or design work. Based on my recommendation – you approach this person and you enter into an agreement with them and they start work on your project. Then it all goes down hill from there. You write to me and tell me about your experience with the person I referred you to. Poor customer service. Deliverables weren’t what you expected/wanted/asked […]