Here’s an interesting thought to consider: how important is good, up-to-date technology to doing good work?

I think that if you tell yourself you need a certain computer before you can start a project, you’re a) kidding yourself and b) never going to start. The computer industry is designed in such a way that you are never content with what you have, because your up-to-date technology is never up-to-date for long. Read the rest of this entry »

The old rule of thumb for freelancers goes like this: for every hour of billable work you do, there’s another hour of work you can’t bill for.

It could be book-keeping, it could be marketing, it could be organizing or brainstorming. For the record, you shouldn’t be billing your clients using an hourly rate, but by charging a fixed rate for the deliverable. Working out your hourly rates is useful for planning purposes only.

Let’s say you’re earning $1,000 a week as a freelancer. Depending on your situation, this probably means you’re comfortable. Maybe not comfortable enough to go out for a beer every Friday night, but you’re also not struggling to pay the rent. Read the rest of this entry »

I just wanted to drop a quick note to my readers about a great service that has just launched. This week I had people asking me what theme they should use for their new site in record numbers, and it’s timely that my friend Nick Cernis (who you may know from Put Things Off) has launched a new site, Wordprezzie.

Wordprezzie offers tutorials and themes for WordPress, and Nick has launched out the gate with:

• A tutorial on WordPress security tips and growing a great comment section,
• A premium and very attractive theme called Ice Cream Dream,
• And a free theme called Changing Room—an entertaining way to say, “We’re under construction.”

Before you ask, I don’t make a cent from Nick for posting this, but I know that many of you are just starting out in building a web-based business and that Nick always does high-quality work. This is definitely a site for your RSS reader, and perhaps your credit card if his themes look useful to you.

WordPress themes, tutorials and design from Wordprezzie.