I am a frugal person. If there is a deal to be found I will sniff it out and make it happen. If there is a way to do something myself rather than pay someone else, I will take the extra time (and sometimes the headache) and figure it out in order to save money. The ever-expanding library of online resources has helped me save money by doing my own auto repairs, computer upgrades, and much more. Of course, I have also used it to continually teach myself web design and development for the past 15 years.

Because of my personal understanding of a desire to save money, I have at times helped potential clients install and set up their own WordPress websites when their budget did not allow for the hiring of a professional. While this means less paid business for me, in the end I am helping someone out who couldn’t afford to pay me anyway. If I can help save someone a headache or two by giving them a small amount of my time, pointing them in the right direction and answering a few questions, I will do it.

Unfortunately, there are usually problems that occur when someone with little or no experience begins attempting to set up their own WordPress website, and I have had countless inquiries from the frustrated and confused webmaster wannabes, buried under the weight of something they never really completely understood in the first place. While WordPress is a relatively simple way to set up a basic blog or uncomplicated website, it can quickly become a nightmare for the weekend warrior website builder.

In this post I want to point out a few of the pros and cons of hiring a professional to set up your WordPress website versus doing it yourself. If you are considering either, hopefully this will help you know what to think about and weigh in your decision making process.

Posted on May 06.10 to Design, Online Presence/Branding | 20 Comments »  

Each week I tweet what some may consider a ridiculous amount of resources to share what I am reading and learning from with those who choose to follow me. Everything from social media, technology, freelancing, web and graphic design, search engine optimization and more! Now at the end of the week I am compiling these resources to share in one spot for those that are interested. So here is some weekend reading, or a mega-bookmark, or however you choose to use this list. I hope you enjoy it!

Posted on May 01.10 to Weekly Links | No Comments »  

Several times over the past few months I have received some ridiculous communications via Twitter from freelancers or small businesses who obviously are new to Twitter and have clearly decided to jump on the social media marketing bandwagon in an attempt to utilize the tool to find new clients. The reason I say these exchanges are ridiculous is because they have been asking me – a web designer – if I would like to hire them to do web design! Not asking if they can assist me or if I need an outsourcing contact, but flat out asking me to hire them to design a website!

Thanks to yet another misguided attempt at engaging me as a client for web design recently, I have written this post to help identify some critical steps that should not be overlooked if you are trying to use social media to drum up business. My hope is that it will provide some much-needed guidance for those that are new or considering diving in, while simultaneously aiming to rid current social media enthusiasts of the annoying, hard-sell marketing spam that is making its way onto our platforms.

Posted on Apr 26.10 to Online Presence/Branding, Social Media, freelance | 33 Comments »  

This is a question I’ve begun asking myself recently as it seems I am stumbling across a newly-created website donning this title every few days. With the growing success of online endeavors in the design realm, it is beginning to appear as though every designer must have some type of blog or design-related website if they stand a chance at establishing a name for themselves, and even more so if they are looking to simultaneously create some manner of passive income.

I’m not sure where it started, nor do I particularly care. I am a fan of many design blogs, and I am indebted to many more because of their contribution to my continuing growth and education as a web and graphic designer. There is definitely a need for quality design blogs, and in many ways the abundance should promote a healthy competition to provide a high standard of content.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Posted on Apr 21.10 to Design, Wanderings | 28 Comments »  

Since I started publishing these weekly lists of all the links and resources I tweeted in the past week, this is by far the biggest yet! With over 600 links to this week’s published articles about SEO, social media, web and graphic design, freelancing and more, there should be enough weekend reading here to satisfy everyone.

Posted on Apr 17.10 to Weekly Links | 7 Comments »  

I cannot tell you how many times it is assumed that I am a Mac user, since the word “mac” graces the name of my design business with its presence. To tell the truth, I think Apple products are amazing in almost every way – design, style, functionality, user experience, branding – pretty much everything but the price. I am a bargain shopper to the core, so when it came time way back when to purchase my first home computer, it was a no brainer to go with the much more affordable PC. Throughout the years the beautiful machines that Apple has produced have often tempted me to drop 2-4 times the dollar amount for a comparably equipped PC, only to watch me submit to my frugality and practicality over and over.

I did eventually purchase an older iMac to mess around with, and I even won an iPod Touch in a radio contest, but I have never made the full switch to becoming a Mac instead of a PC. Still, I am not an Apple hater by any stretch. The truth is, as I’ve explained, if I could have afforded these things throughout the years, I would have happily donned the Mac title years ago. Alas, this was not the case.

Then along came the iPad.

Posted on Apr 12.10 to Wanderings | 38 Comments »  

It’s Saturday again and that means time for the weekly list of resources I have tweeted over the past week. This week I was out of town on Sunday and Monday, so it was a little slower in the tweeting department – only 490 or so links. Next week hopefully we’ll be back into the 550 range, but for now this will have to do. Every day I tweet links to all of the articles and blog posts I subscribe to and read. Most of them are related to web design, graphic design, social media, technology, SEO, freelancing and sometimes just the latest buzz. Hopefully these weekly list will give you a place to catch up on anything you may have missed.

Posted on Apr 10.10 to Weekly Links | 2 Comments »  

I’ve started posting a list like this on Saturdays for those that would like to go back through all of the resources I have shared each week. On average I tweet around 550 links and resources a week, in the topics of web and graphic design, social media, SEO, freelance and more – basically all of the things I am interested in. So here is a list of those tweets in the order I tweeted them, for your review.

Posted on Apr 03.10 to Weekly Links | 3 Comments »  

The past few weeks I’ve started posting a list like this on Saturdays for those that would like to go back through all of the resources I have shared this past week. On average I tweet around 550 links and resources a week, in the topics of web and graphic design, social media, SEO, freelance and more – basically all of the things I am interested in. So here is a list of those tweets in the order I tweeted them, for your perusal.

Posted on Mar 27.10 to Weekly Links | 6 Comments »  

Athough this post was inspired by recent events in the US political arena, it is not about them in particular. This is not about which side you or I are on or how either of us feels about recent historic events.

This is about grown men and women making a conscious decision to carry themselves like adults or like third graders when something they feel very strongly about does not go their way. I have been on both sides of that equation for various reasons at different points in my life and, although I probably have not always succeeded in behaving like a mature adult when I have experienced a disappointing loss in something I was fighting for, bearing witness to the poor behavior of others in similar situations has bred in me a distinct distaste for the immature and destructive antics of the poor loser. I want to share one of those experiences in hopes that a view from another angle may help us all to consider with compassion those around us as we determine our next course of action whenever we don’t get our way.

Posted on Mar 22.10 to Wanderings | 18 Comments »