Nerdburn

Most People Want to Pay Monthly for Web Design on Oct 31, 2009 in Tips For Freelancers As a freelance web designer, I'm always thinking of ways to smooth out the natural ups and downs of project based income. One of the ideas I've been toying with for a while is offering to build websites for a monthly cost, rather than an up front cos...

Freelance Designers - How to Level Income With Ongoing Contracts on Oct 2, 2009 in Tips For Freelancers As a freelance web designer, one of the trickiest skills to master is maintaining a steady flow of cash. In years past, friends used to chide me about my "feast or famine" way of life. I've learned a few things since then about keeping things steady,...

My Lucky 7 List of Design People to Follow on Twitter on Sep 26, 2009 in General Lately in the morning when I wake up, I've been checking Twitteriffic on my iPhone and reading everyone's updates. In the midst of a slew of personal anecdotes and random updates, there are a few people who consistently post interesting content that...

Stop Complaining and Start Educating Potential Clients on Sep 13, 2009 in General Lately I've been reading a lot of blog posts, rants, and articles demonizing the effects of crowdsourcing, cheap labor, spec work, and other such evils in the world; frankly, it's starting to get on my nerves a little bit. While I'm not promoting any...

5 Ways I Use Google Docs as a Freelance Web Designer on Apr 26, 2009 in Tips For Freelancers I never intended to become an advocate for Google Docs, and I'll probably write web apps to accommodate my needs some day, but lately I've found myself using Google Docs every day, without ever intending to depend on it. As a freelance web designer,...

Ballpark Proves There's Room for Another Invoicing App on Apr 11, 2009 in Tips For Freelancers Today I learned an interesting lesson I thought I'd write about. I signed up for Ballpark, the terrific new app from Metalab Designs in Victoria, right in my backyard, and was duly impressed. I, like many of you I'm sure, have thought about creating...

Art vs. Design, Passion vs. Cash on Mar 20, 2009 in General Over the last 3 months I've been struggling in my mind with the balance between doing what I love, and making a living as a responsible adult. The 9 to 5 Dilemma Back in January of 08 I joined up with the Viviti team as the only UI designer on board...