5 Unconventional Places to Scout for Web Work
If you’re a freelancer or a full-timer looking for additional income, there’s a variety of places you can go to seek for project-based work.
There’s a ton of websites geared specifically for freelance workers, such as All Freelance Directory and Guru.com. Many of these sites do, however, charge you a subscription fee to access their job listings.
Typically, a lot of work comes from referrals, advertising in your local area, or through your website.
But if projects are running thin or you’re seeking to expand your project search, check out these 5 places you might not have considered before.
How to Create an Effective Web Design Questionnaire
The internet has given the web professional a plethora of venues for seeking project-based work. With lots of places offering freelance gigs such as allfreelance.com, classified listing sites such as craigslist , and job boards on popular weblogs such as FreelanceSwitch and Smashing Magazine, the resourceful web builder can scout and find jobs that extends their geographical boundaries.
An effective creative questionnaire allows you to gain relevant, focused, and helpful design information without taking up a lot of the client’s time. I use the term “questionnaire” because it’s a familiar term, but as you’ll see, some examples aren’t questions.
This article is primarily about developing a one-way questionnaire where you aren’t there to explain or expound on the questions you’ve asked the respondent, though the same concepts apply whether you’re communicating via email or during a face-to-face meet.
5 Reasons You Didn’t Get That Freelance Graphic Design Job
I posted an article today on You the Designer, “a graphic design blog dedicated to providing quality graphic design tips, graphic design resources, graphic design news and much more!”
Here’s an except of my post over at YtD.
“We’ve all been there… you’ve just pitched an (at least in your mind) amazing design that will revolutionize the client’s company, and you even submitted a few mock-ups and a 20-page (single-spaced of course) design proposal that you did free of charge to try and win them over. Now you’re just waiting for that phone call that will tell you what you already know — that your proposal rocked the house, and now they want to pay you the big bucks.“
If you’re interested to hear my thoughts on the subject, hop on over to You the Designer, here’s the direct link to the article:
I talk about some of the reasons I felt I didn’t get a freelance gig (back in the days when I was still doing graphics design work) when I thought that the deal was sealed. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment over there, here, or shooting me a message using the form on the contact page.
10 JavaScript Effects to Boost Your Website’s Fanciness Factor
There comes a point in time where we want to improve our website’s interface or provide a captivating experience that our users will remember.
We have three main options (from hardest to easiest): write the scripts ourselves, use a JavaScript framework such as jQuery or mootools (which will make coding easier), use a pre-made script that works with existing JavaScript frameworks or that the author has developed from scratch. This article’s for the individuals who chooses to make things a bit easier and those who don’t want to re-invent the wheel.
Here’s a collection of 10 powerful – yet easy-to-implement — JavaScript effects to supplement your web page’s interface. These were picked using a “bang for your buck” methodology; meaning that these effects were chosen specifically because they provide high-impact effects with very little effort in installing and using them.
Author’s note: Title of this article, by request, was changed to reflect the content featured in this list. I apologize for the confusion this may have caused, and better quality control will be implemented in subsequent articles.
10 More Worthwhile Web Developer Websites to Check Out
A recent article of mine entitled “20 Websites That Made Me A Better Web Developer” attained a large amount of popularity and I was pleased to find out that many people found a link or two that they’ve bookmarked.
The list started out as a massive collection of 100 websites (after going through my massive-huge bookmark collection) , but I then decided that, instead of overwhelming readers with 100 links that will be skimmed and forgotten the next day, that I would filter it down to only 20 quality websites that have been truly helpful and rich with information. A few things on the list were there for sentimental reasons, such as Web Monkey and SitePoint, which did help at the beginning, but now I’ve outgrown.
I received plenty of feedback regarding sites that should have been on the list. Here, I’d like to make amends and list down websites that have helped you (and me) further our understanding of web development and design.
9 Simple Strategies to Getting Things Done At Work
I was fortunate enough to be invited to write a guest post article on Lyved - a website run by Andrew Galasetti about living life to the fullest.
Here’s a quick excerpt of the article:
“Having a full time job, running a web development and design blog, and being a co-founding member of a small group of freelancing web professionals, I tend to have a lot of things that need to be done right now. Naturally, I’ve come to develop a handful of habits that helps me manage such a busy lifestyle while living a balanced life that allows me to give enough attention to my personal well-being.”
If that piques your interests, here’s the direct link to the article:
9 Simple Strategies to Getting Things Done At Work
20 Websites That Made Me A Better Web Developer
As a web developer, if you’re to be successful, you have to have a constant yearning for learning new things. In an industry that evolves rapidly, you’ve got to keep up or you risk being obsolete and outdated. Keeping up with trends, weeding out the fads, and adopting new techniques to your web-building arsenal is an essential part of being a web developer.
I spend (literally) most of the day in front of the computer and even in my spare time, I choose to read, learn, and keep up with web technology news. This leads to a massive collection of bookmarked links, but through the years, there are only a handful of websites that I frequent.
I’d like to share 20 websites that have broadened my knowledge, expanded my skill set, and improved the quality and efficiency of my web development projects. Most of these (hopefully) you’ve already encountered, but if you come out with just one or two links you’ve never heard of or you end up bookmarking a link or two, I would’ve accomplished my goal.
A Simple Guide on How to Effectively Talk to Clients
Everyone needs a website made, but not everyone can talk “tech” like we can. From the farm owner in Indiana to the brain surgeon in Malaysia, we quickly see that employers can come from all walks of life. Learning how to carry on a compelling conversation about web development is a paramount skill that all web developers should possess if you want to keep the checks coming in. Maintaining your audience’s interest and gaining an accurate picture of what they truly need to get done can prove to be a challenging part of any web development project, but here’s a few tips that might help a bit.
