rabhuja design

Various Stock Icons : Part 2

admin — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:10:56 +0000

ICONS SET : Part 2

This post is part 2 of many in our groundbreaking series of Icons which gonna come real soon.

In the overview below we present some of the fresh high-quality free icons which you can use for your desktop; we also showcase free professional icon sets, buttons and vector graphics you can use for your web designs. You might know some of them, but hopefully not all of them. Not all listed freebies can be used for commercial projects, however you can use all of them in your private projects of for you personal purposes.

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Check out these and other stuff at following folder
http://deepakuw.folderland.com/

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If any of the rapidshare link is not working then please go into following rapidshare folder and find the file by “File Name”.

http://rapidshare.com/users/DEIMTY
Pass ::www.rabhuja.com

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File Name: IconFish.Circula.Icons

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12 Practical Ways for Freelance Designers to Increase Leads

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:43:52 +0000

As a freelance designer, your income will be dependent upon the ability to find potential clients and secure the opportunity to do the work they need. There are plenty of different ways to find potential clients, and in this article we’ll take a look at 12 things you can do to increase the number of leads you receive.

Methods for Increasing Your Leads:

1. Maximize Your Portfolio

An extraordinary portfolio is a designer’s best friend, and for obvious reasons. Potential clients will be able to gauge your skill level and quality of work from your portfolio. In order to maximize the benefits from your portfolio, put only your best work in the spotlight. Think about how your portfolio is organized and make sure that your best pieces of work are sure to be seen by potential clients. If your work has improved over time, keep your best and most recent designs in the portfolio and consider removing older ones.

Also, don’t simply keep your portfolio on your own site. You can showcase your portfolio at plenty of CSS galleries. If you’ve done work for a well-known client there may also be a justification to submit a press release about a re-design or some other significant change to the site.

2. Build Name Recognition

Many clients want to work with someone that they know or someone that is recognized. Those designers who have established themselves as being a leader in the field have far more opportunities than the average freelancer. Name recognition leads not only to more opportunities, but typically it also justifies higher rates.

Of course, becoming a recognizable name isn’t that easy — or everyone would do it! Some things you can do to help your chances include: getting your work into design galleries and showcases, working for high profile clients, getting involved in the design community (network), and the last suggestion will be covered in the next point: starting a blog.

3. Blogging

Designers who are willing and able to maintain a blog can bring in many more leads for design as a result of the exposure that the blog has provided for them. Blog posts will help with drawing traffic to the blog itself, and that will — hopefully — convert into visitors to your portfolio and inquiries about your design services.

A designer who runs a blog with an active readership will benefit from vastly improved name recognition. If you have the knowledge and the ability, a blog is one of the best and cheapest methods to share your voice with others in the industry. Additionally, your credibility can be helped as well. With just a small portfolio site it is very difficult for visitors to know and understand you. With a blog, you’ll become more transparent to your readers and that can give you added credibility that may help to attract more inquiries.

4. Network

Just about any career can be improved by networking, and freelance designing is certainly no exception. Building a strong network of friends and colleagues can lead to more referral work, some unexpected opportunities, or maybe even a partnership or sharing of clients. Being full-time workers of the web, many designers naturally network online, but offline networking is equally important. Get involved at your local chamber of commerce or some other professional group in your area.

5. Make It Easy

The easier it is for potential clients to contact you, the more leads you will get. Try to keep your contact form as simple as possible while still including everything that you really need. If possible, give multiple options for contacting you, because not everyone likes to fill out an online form. Make yourself accessible and welcoming to those who are considering contacting you.

6. Pay-Per-Click Advertising

An optional method for increasing inquiries is to market your site through PPC ads (like Google AdWords). If you’re going to take this route, avoid competing for highly-competitive search phrase like “web design”, as the prices will be likely be too high for the budget. Focus on searches for phrases that include specific types of design or particular skills that are your strengths. These visitors will be more receptive when they see that you are a great fit for what they are seeking.

7. Follow Up With Old Leads

This doesn’t technically increase the number of new leads that you receive, but it does give you more people to contact when you’re in need of work. Inevitably a certain percentage of people who inquire about your services will not convert to clients, but that doesn’t mean they will never become clients. Keep the contact information from all inquiries and follow up with them from time-to-time. You may be surprised by how many of them have yet to take action and are still in need of your services.

8. Be Proactive

In general, make an effort to reach out to those that could benefit from your services. Don’t be afraid to take the first step rather than waiting for them to come to you.

9. Focus On What You Do Best

You can improve the quality of your work by focusing your time and your energy on what you do best. Since your past work and your portfolio are critical to gaining more inquiries, you should always be working to improve that portfolio with your current projects. Consider your strengths when you accept a job. If it’s not a type of design that you do very well, consider passing and moving on to something else that will showcase your skills more effectively.

10. Ask For Referrals

Happy clients are great advertisements. When you have a client that is really satisfied with your work, why not ask if they know anyone else in need of your services? Most friends, family, and clients will be more than willing to refer you if they believe in your ability to do the job, but sometimes they won’t think of making the referral unless you ask.

11. Revisit Past Clients

Almost all of your clients will need some type of design services again in the future. Maybe they will need some ongoing maintenance, a design for another site that they own, or a redesign of your own work down the road. Taking a moment to catch up with an old client may just lead to new work. It’s a good practice to have some method to organize the contact information from past clients so that you can quickly and easily reach out to them.

12. Develop Trust

Building trust from potential clients through your website can be a bit difficult. You’ll of course want to have a strong “about” or “hire me” page to give readers the information that they want to know about you. Offering ways to easily contact you also helps for this purpose. You may also be able to use your portfolio to build trust. If you’ve done work for a business or organization that the potential client knows and trusts, some of that may be transferred to trust in you. Some of the other methods that we’ve already looked at can also help with building trust, such as blogging, name recognition and networking.

Source

Transitions: Saving for the Freelance Future

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:42:39 +0000

This post is the second half of our two-author, two-part series on smart saving.

Along with the health insurance dilemma, some full-time employees can be reluctant to quit their job to freelance full-time because it means giving up such perks as a pension and company-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan.

So, in this article, we’ll examine some ways you can keep saving for your future without being backed by a company.

But first, the obligatory disclosure: I am not an accountant or a financial planner, nor I am pretending to be. I’m just a writer whose done a fair bit of research. Please consult a financial professional before placing your savings into any one place.

Also please note that while the terminology in this article is specific to the United States, many other countries have similar options available under different names.

Transitioning

You want to quit your job and freelance full-time, but you’ve been with the company you’re working at for several years and have already been making payroll contributions for a 401(k) plan. What do you about it?

Some employees just withdraw the cash from the plan…and lose a big chunk of it in penalties to the IRS.

Ideally, what you need to do is roll the money over to another qualified retirement fund like an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).

A piece of advice from the blog SoundMoneyTips: “Make sure it’s a direct trustee-to-trustee rollover,” that way you’re still not paying taxes until you withdraw the money.

Solo or Individual 401(k)

You can still have a tax-deferred 401(k) plan when you’re self-employed. It’s referred to as a solo or individual 401(k) plan. Now, the IRS is strict on the solo part, you can only obtain one if you’re running a business where you’re the only employee (though an exception is made if your spouse works for you.)

In fact, there’s an interesting feature to the solo 401(k). As with a standard 401(k) system, you can contribute up to 15 per cent of your salary to be tax-sheltered until being withdrawn. However, as the business owner, you can add an additional 25 per cent to the fund.

That said, from all the research I’ve done for this piece, it can be difficult to find an investment firm offering a solo 401(k).

Individual Retirement Account and Roth IRAs.

An Individual Retirement Account is probably one of the most popular retirement savings plans for freelancers and small businesses due to the simplicity of setting it up.

Money invested in a a traditional IRA isn’t tax-deferred like a 401(k), but it is deductible at the end of the year. Once it’s withdrawn, it’s taxed as standard income. As with the 401(k), though, there is a limit. For 2008, the contribution limit for a traditional IRA is $5000.

However, since 1998, there been another option: the Roth IRA.

It’s a similar individual plan to the traditional IRA (same contribution limit for 2008) but differs in that you’re funding it with post-tax money. As a result, money put into a Roth IRA is not deductible but it’s also not taxed once it’s withdrawn.

An important note: while you can have both a traditional IRA and Roth IRA, the contribution limit is spread among both of them. Meaning, the combined contribution to both funds cannot exceed $5000 in 2008.

Once the money is in an IRA, you can direct it to be used to buy stocks, bonds and mutual funds to keep it growing, but also keep in mind that there are the associated risks of investing in all of the above.

Simplified Employee Pension

A Simplified Employee Pension (or SEP) is another form of IRA but can also be seen as a pension plan that self-employed workers can take advantage of.

That said, it’s significantly more complicated than the other forms of IRA.

Like a traditional IRA, your contributions are tax deductible and money can be invested in the same way.

For the contribution limits and percentage that can be deducted off your taxes, well, this is where the IRS literature made me cross-eyed. There are tables and worksheets to fill out to figure out what to contribute and how much to deduct. No matter what though, you cannot contribute more than $44,00.

(the entire PDF can be viewed here)

High-interest savings account

Others may wish to keep things simple and just make regular contributions to a high-interest savings account. Obviously, returns will be much lower than in other plans but in a shaky economy, it’s not necessarily a bad idea. You aren’t going to lose your money and there are no rules imposed on how you use it or when you withdraw it.

In fact, when I met with a financial planner a few months back to discuss saving for the future, after going over plenty of complicated options, she finally said maybe a savings account is all I really need.

Though, with such easy access to the money, it’s important to remember to keep it there and not use it to splurge on luxuries.

Conclusion

There’s a multitude of options available for freelancers to save for their future, giving them the possibility to retire like any other 9-5 worker. Keep in mind, though, that employer sponsored plans are usually deducted directly from your paycheque. You don’t get that as a freelancer so remember to contribute regularly or at least set up a direct-withdrawal to ensure money keeps getting put aside.

Source

How to Save: A Short Guide for Freelancers

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:41:16 +0000

This post is the first half of our two-author, two-part series on smart saving.

Many Freelance Switch readers are probably aspiring professional freelancers with a day job. Shama Hyder earlier provided 5 steps for switching from side gig to full time. There’s one really important step that Shama alluded to and that I’d like to expand on: savings.

Before you jump into full-time professional freelancing, you want savings. (Read further below for an explanation why, beyond the obvious.) Do not venture into full-time freelancing without savings.

General Savings Tips

Save for the future.Don’t save for next week, next month, or later this year. Lean periods in freelancing careers can and do ruin marriages and family relationships. Think like a business owner, not like one person constantly looking for freelance work. Use longer-term investments such as bonds or blue chip stocks (that you’ve researched well).
Use liquid investments.Put most of your “will need it soon” money into liquid investments such as an online savings account (OSA) or possibly some mutual funds. Do your research before investing in either. Some OSAs and funds have ridiculous front- and backend fees, as well as penalties for early withdrawal. If you end up with one of these, you’d have been better of keeping your cash in a cookie tin!
Have an emergency fund.Determine what consitutes an emergency, how much you can afford to keep, and then keep it somewhere that’s easy to get at (i.e., liquid investments.)
Keep taxes separate.If at all possible, have a separate bank account for the taxes (income, property) you will be paying.
Do automatic withdrawals.Whether for debt payments, setting aside taxes, investing, or long-term savings, automatic withdrawals enforce a schedule and reduce the time you spend on personal finances - an activity most people seem to despise but need to do anyway.
Use secure Internet connections.
Don’t do online banking or PayPal transactions over public Wi-Fi access. Should be obvious, but in case you need a reminder.
Pay yourself.Even if it’s only a small amount weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, pay yourself out of freelance earnings. This forces you to keep your fingers out of your business funds, makes accounting easier, and ensures that you don’t build resentment towards working. It’s important to mentally separate work and business funds.
Keep a financial spreadsheet.In addition to keeping ALL your receipts (for possible deductions), make a habit of keep an Expenses and Savings log book updated regularly (daily, weekly). You could do this in a print log book, but also keeping a spreadsheet means being able to file taxes more easily. You can “see” your expenses collectively, which might give you clues as to where you’re spending too much. There are all kinds of free web-based spreadsheets (such as Google Spreadsheet and Zoho Sheet), or if that makes you uncomfortable, the desktop based Open Office, which is like MS Office but free.

Types of Savings

I’ve broken down savings into five types, below. You won’t necessarily need five different bank or online accounts, but you need to mentally separate the funds, and keep them separate.

1. Operating Capital

This is what you need to keep your freelance business running smoothly and your personal finances covered. Costs to cover, as applicable.

Day to day items such as office supplies.
Less regular but necessary business expenses, such as equipment (computers, printers, mobile devices).
Car expenses: gasoline, parking, car payment, potential maintenance.
Clothing allowance and laundry costs. That is, if you don’t have an in-home washer and dryer.
Rent, heat, hydro.
Groceries and meals.
Hygiene items - especially if you work offline
Phone costs. (You can probably deduct some of this. Make it easier by using a dedicated phone or cell phone for business.)
Internet costs: access, hosting, domain names.
Health and property insurance. Also, business insurance, if your clients require it.
Any other monthly debt payments for “necessary” items.

Add up these and any other “necessities” for one month, then multiply by 6. Six months operating capital is the minimum recommended to have on hand. But if you have other people relying on you financially, I’d recommend at least another 2-3 months.

I say this from hard experience - operating capital is crucial to success as a freelancer. It is a business. Things might seem rosy when you make the switch to full-time professional, when all kinds of new contracts come in, but downturns are commonplace for freelancers. If you can’t weather those downturns with savings, freelancing will be a rough life that will make you miserable.

2. Emergency Funds

These funds are much harder to define and to size up. The amounts you keep for emergencies depend on your circumstances and even the country you live in. For example, when it comes to health, Canadians are on average a bit better covered than Americans. Hospital and surgery costs can climb into the thousands, unless you have a good health insurance plan, which is something that a lot of freelancers neglect.

Other “sources of need” for emergency funds are old cars that break down or go kaput, relatives out of work, illness in general. I’m sure you can think up more. Sitting on your ass at home all day freelancing can cause a variety of illnesses, and if you’re too busy to be active, you’d better make financial allowances for healthcare.

3. Taxes

Every time a client pays you, approximate your income tax rate, apply it to determine what you might owe (before deductions), and immediately set these funds aside. If you can’t/don’t want to keep them in a separate bank account, then keep very good tabs on the totals - such as with a spreadsheet - and do not dip into these funds. If you do not have to pay quarterly installments, then you might consider putting this money into an online savings account, which give the highest savings interest rates at present. Do not put these funds into mutual funds or other semi-risky or risky investments.

If you have a mortgage, you will owe regular city property taxes. Set aside tax funds for this purpose as well. Unless you have an overwhelming reason not to do so, you can use the same account as you do for your income taxes.

Even if you cannot claim enough deductions to reduce your taxes, you can at least earn some interest on the amounts - which likely won’t happen if you stuff them in a regular bank account.

4. Long-term and Retirement Savings

Dr. Andrew Weill was on PBS recently and said that some scientists believe that we humans might achieve ages of 1,000 years, and that this could happen in our lifetimes. Dr. Weill doesn’t believe that himself (if I understood correctly) and neither do I. Though I do believe 100 might become more commonplace. (My own father is nearly 80 and he used to think he’d be like his immediate relatives, who all passed away before 45, or even younger.)

However, if this Methuselah factor is true, then in any society that thinks 65 is old and doesn’t respect the elderly and/or give them work opportunities, freelancers especially need to save for the long-term. Thinking of your mortality is never easy, but it’s a necessity. If you do stay healthy after retirement, you will probably want to do more than sit at home or garden, and it will take funds. Your savings, plus compound interest, will have to take care of the general cost of living decades from now, plus any activities you’d like to enjoy. However, if you wait to start a long-term fund, you lose out on a lot of the power of compound interest.

5. Play Funds

You know the old saying: “All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.” It applies to both sexes, but goes beyond just being dull. Humans are social creatures, and not allowing yourself to “play” once in a while affects emotional, mental, and physical health. You simply cannot work non-stop and not accumulate negative effects upon your health.

Decide what you can afford, based on earnings, for non-work activities - even it’s a couple of movies each weekend with someone, a dinner out, or a vacation.

The Emotional Benefits of Saving

If you’re an offline freelancer (and sometimes online), there’s something else you might have to contend with, if you go full-time: jealousy. My experience is that even when you’re not after the job of the employee of a client, some people will want to think you are. They’ll also think that you’re making lots more money than they are, and that they should have your job. (I’ve earned far less overall in my career as a freelancer than I would have as a full-time salaried employee doing similar work. There have been long periods of no work. I just happen to like the variety and freedom of being a freelancer.) They can and will make your life miserable - especially if you have the audacity to ask questions, even if it’s your job to do so.

If you’re a hot-headed, passionate but hard-working person, that kind of response can get to you emotionally, affecting your prospects and ultimately your finances. This in turn can drive you to a state of mind where you seem desperate basically because you are. Which almost guarantees you won’t get work when you need it most.

On the flipside, being nonchalant is far more likely to ensure you’ll get the contracts you apply for (assuming you’re qualified). The best thing you can do for your freelancing career is to save up the funds that allow you to automatically be in a nonchalant state of mind. When you’re not worrying about how you’ll pay the bills this month, you won’t come across desperate, and you might even exude quiet confidence - the key to getting contracts and building up even more savings.

Source

Co-working: The Middle Ground Workspace

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:29:49 +0000

Most freelancers I know work from home. It’s often seen as one of the perks of freelancing: it means having a five second commute to work and being able to work in one’s pyjamas.

However, there are plenty of downsides. It can be hard to focus, especially with the lure of the television or the video game console. Plus, it can be lonely, given the limited social interaction.

There are, of course, means of changing the scenery and gaining a little more interaction. Some freelancers will work out of a Wi-Fi equipped coffee shop while others will rent office space elsewhere in search of a better place to focus.

But there are still disadvantages. Coffee shops aren’t very private and they aren’t a real workspace while renting an office can be fairly cost prohibitive if the businesses isn’t bringing in a lot of money.

So, enter co-working, a middle ground between the two.

What is co-working?

Co-working is essentially a shared workspace where everyone in the facility pays a portion of the costs to make it affordable. It’s hardly a new concept — artists have been renting out lofts and sharing the rent for studio space for years — but it is quickly gaining popularity among folks working in other fields.

Co-working locations have been starting up in cities across the world, a list of which can be seen on the Coworking Wiki. The locations tend to host freelancers from a variety of fields, from programmers, writers, web designers and almost any other type who’d normally tote a laptop to a coffee shop.

Pricing varies but in reading up on the subject, I’ve noticed that most large locations offer different options, including the ability to buy a day pass for those who only need a part-time office or just want to see if the facility works for them.

Along with providing a desk or table to work at, most co-working locations also include some basic office amenities like conference rooms, printers, faxes and of course, an Internet connection. Plus, as the name implies, co-workers.

Indeed, one of the strongest appeals of co-working is being surrounded by other freelancers all working away and once again having that camaraderie in the workplace.

Not available everywhere, but it could be

Not every place in the world has an established co-working location (looking at the wiki, it seems more prevalent in North American than anywhere else) but it could be a worthwhile project to organize. Like all the artists in lofts, it doesn’t take much the find a group of like-minded freelancers and split the rent on a small office.

Source

Social Media and Simplicity, Part 10: The One

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:28:24 +0000

Muhammad Saleem is a social media consultant and a top-ranked community member on multiple social news sites.

This post is the final part in our groundbreaking series on how freelancers can use social media and the principles of simplicity to build their businesses.

Day 10 - The 10th Law of Simplicity: The One

Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

This entire series has been about extending your existing life as any kind of freelancer or even a full-time web worker and adding a social media perspective to it without being a victim of information overload. In achieving this goal, this series consists of two distinct kinds of of posts. The first is the immediately actionable advice and the second is more holistic.

[View this image from Read Write Web to get a visual overview of what I’ve been talking about.]

So many new services are launched everyday that you can hardly keep up with all of them without completely losing sight of your actual goals. At the same time, it is hard to ignore these services and not feel as if you’re out of the loop and not using the web to its fullest potential. To the untrained eye, it seems that our options are limited, but as we have shown, by following a few simple rules, you can be successful and largely free of complexity in 10 days (or even less).

For sake of simplicity, let’s recap:

Day 1 - Reduce. The first step is to reduce the niches/mediums that you participate in, reduce the sites within each nice that you participate in, and to reduce your scope by increasing your focus.

Day 2 - Organize. If you can organize everything you do on the basis of the purpose of the act and prioritize your actions based on the relative importance of each you can accomplish more by doing less.

Day 3 - Time. Time is of the essence and time is money. Rather than always feeling that you’re out of time and worrying about it rather than getting work done, understand and embrace the time you have. As always, don’t forget that even though it may not seem like it, sometimes it’s best to step away and take some downtime.

Day 4: Learn. Things seem complicated and out of control the less you understand them. No one knows everything, no one can know everything, and no one needs to know everything. That said, do accept that there are things that you need to learn, there are right and wrong ways to learn them, and that every minute you spend learning today will translate to hours you will save in the future.

Day 5 - Differences. Simply being a part of the conversation and using the tools is not enough. How you participate is just as important. Stand out and make your efforts count by marketing the differences between yourself and your competition as well as understanding the differences between your core audience and your potential audience.

Day 6 - Context. As a part of your learning process from day 4, learn to create context for whatever you do. An apple without context is just a fruit, but an apple in context can mean the difference between the discovery of gravity and the Forbidden Fruit. Just as you create context for your audience, create context for the services you use to ensure that you’re prioritizing and not wasting time on the unnecessary.

Day 7 - Emotion. If you think you’re missing the secret sauce, chances are that you’re not showing enough skin — emotional skin that is. Not everyone has to like what you have to say. Not even most people have to like what you say. If you can get enough people to love you and/or hate you enough to be interested in what you have to say and respond to it, you’ve accomplished what you set out to do.

Day 8 - Trust. No freelancer or webworker is an island unto themselves. In this international and boundless community, trust is a vital and precious resource. Learn to trust yourself so others will trust you, but also learn to trust the larger community and the system you operate in.

Day 9 - Failure. As you go through this entire process, remember that failure is an essential part of the learning process and the path to success. Accept that failure is OK, that some amount of failure is just the cost of doing business, and in fact, if you see it as I see it, failure is not a step backwards or time wasted, instead, it is a step forward and a lesson in what works and what doesn’t.

Day 10 - The One. Reading this once isn’t enough. Even reading this many times isn’t enough. This is my process. While this will be applicable to a substantial majority (with or without modifications), the “rules” may vary from individual to individual, in which case you shouldn’t hesitate to rewrite the book.

Finally, while their application is completely different, the basis of these “rules/laws” have been adapted from Maeda’s book, The Laws of Simplicity. I would recommend picking up a copy to apply the principles of simplicity to the rest of your life!

For simplifying the rest of your life, check out John Maeda’s Blog.

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Why Freelancers Should Watch Their Backs (And How To Turn The Threat Into An Opportunity)

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:27:06 +0000

If you take a look back through the comments here on the ‘Switch there seems to be an uneasy current of tension that appears whenever anyone mentions working with freelancers who live in less than first world countries and charge rates of $10-15 per hour (or less).

You typically hear cries of “You get what you pay for”, “You’re exploiting them” or “You’re devaluing the work of professionals in your own country”; they’re classic defensive statements.

The problem is that with the globalisation of the economy and the increasingly internet-enabled population in less developed countries, it’s opening up many industries to growing competition from all parts of the world.

And as a freelancer and business owner, it’s not good enough to simply sit there and say “It’s not fair”… it is what it is and only the savviest of freelancers will not only secure themselves and their business against the threat, they may even find a way of turning it to their advantage.

So here’s why the defensive statements just aren’t going to do you any good - and how you can turn the threat into an opportunity:

“You get what you pay for”

It’s easy to assume that someone paying a designer $10 an hour is going to get a far less “professional” design than paying $50 an hour but it’s not alway the case. There is a very good reason why designers in some countries can charge so little - and it’s often to do with the cost of living, not with the lack of design skills or quality of work.

I say this having spent the past 14 months travelling around the world running a business from lower cost countries and having met global colleagues who produce exceptionally high standards of work at a fraction of the cost of UK/US counterparts.

Freelancers who live in countries like Thailand, India, the Philippines, Africa and elsewhere can afford to charge $10-15 per hour because on that amount they can still manage to support their families comfortably. That is absolutely not to say that the quality of work is going to be any less than yours - why should it be? To think otherwise is arrogant, ignorant and presumptuous.

“You’re exploiting them

Firstly, the people who claim this have often never actually worked with an overseas colleague - or ever asked them if they felt exploited. I have - I’m Filipina by birth and like to work, if I can, with other filipinos because to me, in some ways, it feels like I’m giving back. I’d far rather support local businesses and entrepreneurs by using their services than throw money at a charity.

I asked my Filipino VA what she says about being exploited by us wicked westerners and here’s what she said:

“I always feel bad for those people who don’t like the idea of hiring VAs from third-world countries just because they think that low rates equal low quality of work. If they feel that hiring someone from a third-world country charging low rates is tantamount to exploitation, my advice is why not try working with one first? Then, if you find that he/she is doing quite well, by all means, let go of that guilty feeling by paying higher. I hope more people realize that service providers from poorer countries can afford to charge lower rates because of the low cost living NOT the low quality of work.”

There is nothing new about outsourcing or using labor from countries where the costs of doing so are lower - it has been happening in many industries for years. That’s not to say it’s right but it has frequently supported and driven the overall growth of an economy - just look at India.

“You’re devaluing the work of professionals in your own country

Only if you let it; and this is where the savviest of freelancers will see an opportunity and not a threat. So what can you do?

Here’s where it gets really interesting…

There is little doubt that you already have enough competition from freelancers within your own country, yet alone having to cope with lower cost competitors from overseas; and if freelancers don’t watch their backs, they can easily be undercut, priced out of the market and driven out of business by those offering to do it better (or just the same) faster and for less. But that’s a worst case scenario and one that’s not worth focusing on.

Instead, let’s look at a few ways that you can turn this to your advantage:

Expanding your price offerings

I’m sure many of you have had a few prospects not work with you because you were too expensive for them and quite rightly, you weren’t willing to budge on your rates. So the prospect went elsewhere, you lost that income and that was that.

What if you could offer a lower cost option? Perhaps provide a solution that the prospect is looking for at the lower rates they’re looking for? How do you do that? By outsourcing the work to a third party supplier.

There are a number of ways you can work this and commercials and details are up to you to thrash out - but it’s certainly an opportunity to provide a more affordable version of what you’re offering and a solution to a client that you would otherwise have lost.

Expanding your capacity

Have you ever had to turn down work because you just couldn’t fit it in? Maybe you’re at a stage where you need to grow your freelance business but you don’t want the extra hassle of employing someone or perhaps you’ve turned down a client because you just didn’t want to do that kind of work.

Outsourcing work to third party suppliers is a way to expand your business capacity and the volume of work you can take on without the additional admin of employing someone in your business.

Expanding your skill set

The company I run was recently asked if we could help a client with a rather large project that went beyond our technical skills. We could help with the business/process/design aspect but there was no way we could build it. So we proposed a project management type solution where we would complete the aspects we could do and then manage the development for them. Rather than having to turn away the project, we leveraged our suppliers, worked to our strengths and ended up making a nice profit from the overall job.

Whether you’re positioning yourself to your target market as the “one stop solution” or not, becoming known as the “go to” provider amongst your clients and prospects is likely to help not harm your business - and working with suppliers who can offer the technical skills you can’t is one way to do this.

Some things to watch out for…

The success of the above strategies obviously depend upon quite a few aspects - here are some of the things you’ll probably want to consider:

Finding a supplier you can trust - start out slowly, give them some test projects and trust your instincts.
Protecting your brand & reputation - decide whether you want to integrate their work under your brand, create a sub-brand or keep it entirely separate and ask for a referral fee.
Managing the client - you can either continue to manage the client yourself or hand them over entirely to the supplier again for a referral fee.

It’s very easy to feel threatened when the world comes banging at your door, threatening your livelihood and challenging the freelancing business you’ve put your heart and soul into; and it’s easy to feel hopeless and frustrated by your seeming lack of ability to do anything about it.

So instead of seeing your global colleagues as a threat, focus on ways to work together to strengthen what you both do and you might begin to see the opportunities emerge rather than the threats that loom.

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Social Media and Simplicity, Part 9: Failure

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:24:28 +0000

Muhammad Saleem is a social media consultant and a top-ranked community member on multiple social news sites.

This post is part 9 of 10 in our groundbreaking series on how freelancers can use social media and the principles of simplicity to build their businesses.

Day 9 - The Ninth Law of Simplicity: Failure

Some things can never be made simple.

This whole series has been about succeeding at what you do — in fact, being the best at what you do — and taking advantage of new technologies to take that success even further. Why all of a sudden talk about failure? Because failure is one of the most important experiences you will have. Just like there is a return on every good investment you make, there is an equally important return on every wrong decision you make. Remember the fourth law? Learn. Here’s how to make the best of your failures.

You May Fail At First

There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, who never pursue their dreams because they believe their dreams are fundamentally unattainable or unrealistic. Their mistake, of course, is that they violate the eighth law — trusting yourself. Yes, online media has matured over the years and it isn’t as easy to break in and break through as it was a few years ago. The bloggers who started industries (such as TechCrunch for industry news, Mashable for social networking news, Problogger for making money by blogging, etc.) have incredibly comfortable positions at the top of the ladder, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot join their ranks through sheer hard work and determination.

I recently discussed the Matthew Effect — the idea that the rich and famous get richer and more famous — at Problogger recently, and came up with the following 5 ways to beat the Matthew Effect:

Work harder
Differentiate
3. Collaborate
4.Use your network
Don’t get discouraged

Similarly, many people refuse to participate in socially driven communities because they feel that their voice will be lost or muffled by the voices of the “power users” or “social connectors”. The fact of the matter is, though, that with the exception of a select few (who had the luxury/foresight/luck to join from the onset), we all start from the bottom and work our way to the top.

For example, before I was even ranked in the top 1000 community members on Digg, I got to know a few users who were in the top 50. Today, some of these users are ranked much lower (and some aren’t even on the top 100 list) but I am now ranked at number 2. The people who were ranked in the top 20 back then are no longer around and have been replaced by others who worked hard, participated passionately, and rose to the top. This could easily be your story.

Here’s another example, up until a little while ago, there were less than 100 people following me on Twitter. However, in the last 3 months, the number of people following my lifestream has increased by 350%. Sure, you cannot compare this to the number of followers Robert Scoble or Jason Calcanis have, but this does show that if you are putting information out there, the people who find it relevant will find their way to it. Though this may take a while, it’s not impossible.

Success doesn’t come easy. I submitted dozens of stories to Digg before getting a substantial number of votes on any of them, and it took even more time before a submission I thought was interesting actually made it to the home page. The same is the case with my blog. I had to deal with months upon months of virtually insignificant traffic before I had any audience to speak of. Make your life simpler by acknowledging and embracing the fact that there will be times when life isn’t fair and there will be times when you simply fail.

Failing is OK — Even A Good Thing

I honestly believe that people have “failing” all backwards. Yes, it isn’t a good feeling to work hard to write/design something only to find out that it just doesn’t work. And many mistakes are certainly avoidable as long as you pay attention and learn from the experiences of those who have made the same mistakes before you. However, you’re bound to slip-up every once in a while, and as long as you take a long-term view of things, while every misstep seems a step in the wrong direction in the short run, overall, even the mistakes you make are steps forward.

As long as you learn from the mistakes you make, don’t think of them as failure, think of them as education. As you learn from the mistakes of others, take it upon yourself to help others learn from your mistakes.

Every time I write a piece on my blog, I measure the reaction of my audience by looking at the traffic stats as well as the number of people who link to it or comment on it. Now if I write something and my audience doesn’t like it, I can either mark that as a waste of time, or I can learn from it and over time get a better idea of what exactly my audience is interested in. As long as I pay attention to what works and what doesn’t, I am learning daily how to keep my audience happiest. Similarly, every time you participate in a socially driven community, you can see what works and what doesn’t work, and over time increase the success rate on your participation. Furthermore, based on how well your content is received by the social media audience, you can find out what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

Ultimately, the more successful you are, the more comfortable you’re bound to get and the more you risk losing your drive. Your mistakes and your failures are what force you to strive to better yourself everyday, and nothing is more valuable than that. Make your life simpler by not worrying about what you’re doing wrong. Instead, appreciate the value of your failures.

For simplifying the rest of your life, check out John Maeda’s Blog.

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Passive Marketing for Freelancers

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:22:07 +0000

As freelancers we all have the need to dedicate time towards providing the services that produce our income, whether it is writing, designing, programming, etc. Of course, we also have the need to find that work in one way or another. Freelancers can market their services in any number of different ways, but passive marketing is capable of bring in new clients without taking up a considerable amount of time to find those clients.

In addition to the services that produce income, there are so many business-related activities that can consume our time, and of course marketing and promotion can be included here. While things like bookkeeping, invoicing, marketing, networking (and many more) are all necessary to run a business, they don’t directly produce income. Obviously, marketing is necessary for most freelancers, but if we’re able to generate leads and new business with less time investment, we’ll have more time for providing the services that make money.

There are a few ways that we can passively market ourselves and our services. If these methods are able to produce all of the business that we need, marketing and promotion will require a very minimal amount of time.

Your Portfolio

A killer portfolio is the ultimate tool for passive marketing. As the portfolio is seen by potential clients it will sell your ability for you. The online portfolio is available to anyone at any time, and it does its job without you being present or dedicating time to marketing. Additionally, the portfolio shows clients what they can expect from your work if they hire you.

For more on developing an effective portfolio, see Building a Killer Online Portfolio in 9 Easy Steps .

Referrals/Word of Mouth

When your clients, friends, and family are telling others about you and your services, they are doing your marketing for you. Having other people that market your services is actually more effective than doing it yourself. Potential clients will probably trust someone else’s opinion of your services more than they will trust your opinion of your own services. Clients that come to you at the recommendation of a friend will often have more trust and a better connection to you than the average new client.

Repeat Clients

If you have an ongoing relationship with a client you don’t have to spend time to find that work. The key for retaining clients, of course, is to provide great services that satisfy the client. Additionally, you’ll want to be sure that they are aware of all of the services that you are able to offer. Follow up with clients from time-to-time and see if they have a need for ongoing services or for additional work. Repeat clients are also a plus because they will tend to have more loyalty to you and you’ll be more familiar with them and what they need from you.

Online Profiles

Posting your profile at networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and other similar sites can give you additional exposure. Some aspects of social networking came consume a lot of time and wouldn’t really fit into the classification of passive marketing, but online profiles typically don’t require a large time investment and then can point people back to your primary website and your portfolio. When setting up an online profile be sure that it gives others a convenient way to contact you and that it clearly states the services that you offer.

What Types of Passive Marketing Produce Results for You?

Please share your experiences in the comments.

Source

Social Media and Simplicity, Part 8: Trust

admin — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:19:02 +0000

Muhammad Saleem is a social media consultant and a top-ranked community member on multiple social news sites.

This post is part 8 of 10 in our groundbreaking series on how freelancers can use social media and the principles of simplicity to build their businesses.

Day 8 - The Eighth Law of Simplicity: Trust

In simplicity we trust.

Trust is one of the most important elements of any relationship. Whether it be the relationship between a writer and her audience, a consultant and his client, or an individual and his fellow community members, without trust, the system screeches to a halt.

Trust and You

Before you can do anything worthwhile, you have to learn to trust yourself. Only once you trust yourself will you be able to trust your peers and trust the system, and if you don’t trust yourself, others are even less likely to do so. Every time you start a blog, someone has already started one better, when you start a business, there are a dozen more people trying to do the same (and with the backing of venture capital), and every time you go to participate on a socially driven site, there are dozens of “top users” who are dominating the conversation. But this shouldn’t be discouraging, not as long as you trust yourself and your abilities that given time, you can rise to the top and be a part of the so-called “A-list” crowd.

If you trust yourself, you make your life simpler by not wasting time worrying about everyone else and can actually achieve your dreams.

Trust and the System

The web makes it very easy to pretend to be someone that you’re not, or take credit for something you haven’t done, or only half-deliver on your promises. In fact, people do it every day and get away with it. Just yesterday, I reported a site to abuse@digg.com because the administrator of the site was stealing content from other sites, publishing it on his own site, and then pushing his site to the front page of Digg (and building traffic and links in the process). I reported that person because he wasn’t simply getting the traffic, links, and advertising revenue, he was stealing it from the people who had actually researched and created the content.

Because it is so easy to do this, a substantial number of people use this technique to get ahead. It is not only infuriating for the victim, but it is also discouraging for others who are already putting in the extra hours but are not as successful, or for people who want to enter a space but feel that hard work won’t necessary be rewarded. In cases like these, it is important to place your trust in the system and believe that in the long term, the system will recognize those that are unfairly manipulating it, and that these people will be punished while those who work hard will be rewarded.

While it is possible to make a few bucks by taking shortcuts in the short-term, the best thing you can do to succeed in the long-run is to work hard and when you come across someone who isn’t playing fair, report that person to the system.

If you trust the system, you make your life simpler by knowing that the cheaters will get caught and the long-run will reward you for your hard work.

Trust and the Community

There are two ways to approach any community. First, you can join, questioning the established netiquette or completely disregarding it. Second, because you start participating, you can make yourself aware of the prevailing etiquette of the community. While blindly trusting that a community works is relatively easy (we do it every day), it is much harder to trust individual users. In the end, trust is a two way street. It is just as important that you are able to trust other users as it is for those users to trust you.

There have been hundreds if not thousands of articles written about how to succeed in various capacities. Whether it be the broad goal of making money online, or something more focused like becoming a professional blogger or a top-ranked community member in a socially driven community, it all comes down to trust.

I will hire you as a consultant if I trust you when you say that you can improve my business and if I trust that you will not overcharge me for your services.

I will subscribe to your blog if I trust you when you make the promise of delivering good and unique content to me every day and will provide a better value proposition than the hundreds of bloggers competing with you in your niche.

I will follow your Twitterstream, befriend you on Facebook, keep track of your submissions on Digg, if I can trust that you are a genuine participant in the social media sphere and aren’t merely there to exploit it for yourself.

If you can learn to trust the community, you can make your life simpler by appreciating that trust is a two way street and that it will take time before you can prove yourself and the community can begin to trust you.

For simplifying the rest of your life, check out John Maeda’s Blog.

Source

Review: Wacom Cintiq 12WX

admin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:08:21 +0000

As the gap between analog and digital realms continue to merge, we are constantly on the lookout for ways to increase our efficiency while maintaining the sense and idea of the dreams that we are trying to bring to life. Wacom, a well known contender in this field, with product lines from the Bamboo to the Intous (among others), are hoping to continue the momentum of their past 25 years with the release of the Cintiq 12WX.

A pen tablet with a 12.1″ LCD display that is targeted at not only the professionals who have been able to resist the Cintiq line thus far, but also amateur artists and photographers who are interested in keeping a natural feel in their digital workflow. Can a small screen with a big history provide the tools to bring the analog world even closer to the digital universe? We took a few weeks to take a closer look at this hybrid display, and now present our results.

Overall Dimensions: 16″ W x 10.5″ H x .67″ D

Display Area: 10.3″ W x 6.4″ H

Screen Size: 12.1″ diagonal

Native Resolution: WXGA (1280 x 800)

Weight: 4.4 lbs with video control unit

Aspect Ratio: 16:10

Pressure Levels: 1,024 on pen tip and eraser

Stand Adjustability: Flat on desktop, 25° to 60°

Rotation: 360° flat position on pivot

Warranty: 2 year

After all the parts and pieces were sorted, set, and configured, it was time to grab the pen, and see how well this new device could fit into my workflow.

The look and feel of this, the smallest of the Wacom Cintiq line, is outstanding. I spent the first day just doodling, playing with brush sizes, trying out different applications, and generally smiling about the whole experience. In my hand, the pen feels hefty, but not overweight, with a comfortable rubber grip, and the “eraser” end is slightly springy. The physical canvas area, unbroken from edge to edge from the frame, helps keep the ideas flowing. All of my applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, et al) are able to function with the new interface with little to no configuration changes.

The next day, I went looking for a little inspiration, and set in to create a complete piece (which you can see a sample of below).

Workflow that would have normally started as a series of sketches on paper, subsequently scanned into my computer for editing, was now reduced by two steps. I could now sketch directly on the screen with a look and feel that I would expect from the analog realm of pencil/pen and paper.

What really struck me was the intuitive way that I reacted to working with the device. For example, in the image above, after the sketch was complete, I started cleaning up the edges, refining the design so that when I transferred it over to Illustrator, my results would be easier to deal with. To accomplish this, I flipped the pen over, using the eraser side and zoomed in, erase, erase, erase, wipe….wait a minute, what just happened? Staring at the side of my hand, I began to laugh. I had actually tried to wipe the imaginary eraser bits off the screen. Later, after I explained the story to my wife, I turned back to the design, erase, erase, erase, wipe…slap head. Thankfully, after a couple of weeks, that sort of “ghost” behavior has been minimized.

Using the pseudo-tablet for photo editing is natural and instinctive. Much easier to accomplish with the grip pen and steady hand than it ever was to use the mouse or trackpad. Tasks such as smoothing out skin texture, cloning out an errant power-pole, or even just burning the edges of the image, become less detached, more visceral. Even when using my Bluetooth Wacom tablet, the disconnect of drawing in one zone, and seeing the results in another was a distraction. Not with the 12WX, if you slice the pen across the page, the cut appears, giving an instant feeling of satisfaction (or regret, but that’s what Undo is for).

In exploring uses outside of the norm, I also had the pleasure of playing with a early version of Crayon Physics Deluxe from Kloonigames using the Cintiq. A follow-up to Crayon Physics, it’s Amazing Machine meets Rube Goldberg with drawn objects that have realistic physical reactions to the crayon-drawn puzzle world that is the game. A fun title to say the least, and made even more exciting through the use of the Wacom device. Not something that you would necessarily purchase this unit for, but it was nice to know that the 12WX has more hidden capabilities than one might think.

Getting the 12WX connected to my main PC was as easy as connecting a second monitor. Even with the driver install, and deciding on the layout, the process couldn’t have been simpler. In my configuration, I have my main Viewsonic, with the Cintiq just below (angled at 25° with the handy angle-o-matic on the bottom of the screen), mouse to the right, pen on the left and keyboard in it’s tray below. If you lay the display flat on a smooth surface, there is even a built-in pivot point, helping those who like to twist and turn their work as they go. The most difficult setup decision involved where to run the cables and hide the sizable breakout box. On the larger Cintiq models, this functionality is built into the display.

The power switch is located on the upper left lip (power and video coming through a cable on the opposite side), with blue indicators signifying the power is on and when you use the pen. The screen texture is not quite slick, not quite rough, providing for a nice feel. Clean-up, for me, was a spritz of high-quality lens cleaner, and a wipe with a microfiber cloth. My contact at Wacom tells me that the big design houses that use the Cintiq units actually wear a sort of fingerless glove to reduce the amount of grease and sweat. There is a little bit of heat generated near the bottom left corner, something that exists on all of the Cintiq line.

By default, the pen comes with a standard nib plus five replacements (three standard, one stroke, one felt). I like the stroke (spring-loaded) feel for most applications. My complaint is that the nib management provides no easy way to store and use the nibs without a little bit of struggle. Without something like a snap-on nib replacement with storage on the included pen holder, I’m more likely to store the replacements in a location I won’t remember later, sticking with one nib type until it’s annihilated. All of the Cintiq and Intuos pens are compatible with the Cintiq 12WX (including the Airbrush and Art Brush), the rest of the Wacom line, sadly, do not work.

The pen settings are controlled through the Wacom Tablet Properties. Selections such as pressure sensitivity, double-click distance, button configuration, and calibration are managed along with every other function of the display. There is a bit of noticeable cursor shake when moving to the extreme corners, something that isn’t quite as recognizable on the larger Cintiq models (according to my Wacom contact). This effect didn’t cause any issues once I had established that navigation in these areas needed to be quick and precise.

One would think that with a 12.1″ screen, that the unit would be smaller, but there is a large amount of smooth rounded plastic around the edges, making room for a sizable wrist rest, the Touch Strips and ExpressKeys. Customizing the capabilities of these buttons/touch zones is accomplished through the same interface as the pen.

The Touch Strips initially caused me a bit of grief, as I would find myself brushing against them accidentally, zooming or increasing the brush size when drawing. With a bit of practice, this too was avoidable (but still happens occasionally). The usefulness of these touch sensitive areas is far too appealing to disable them completely. I currently have the left area set to increase and decrease brush size (keystroke [ and ] in Photoshop), while the right is set to auto zoom/scroll.

I didn’t change the ExpressKeys settings much, leaving most of the buttons to their default modifier settings. I did set one to Display Toggle (allowing me to navigate my main Viewsonic using the Cintiq display area, when necessary) and another for screen captures. The buttons have a very tactile response, and are easy to navigate by touch (due to the raised button indicators and beveled edges).

Lowdown

Even if you are an amateur artist or photographer, I would still say that this could be the way to take your talents to the next level — even if you don’t really need it. It is a remarkable device with a lot of capabilities. For those professionals out there, who don’t already have a tablet of some sort and have been desirous of one, you have no excuse. For the price, the results are outstanding. I, for one, will be picking up my own.

The Good

Intuitive

Customizable

Greatly increases efficiency

The Bad

Breakout box and cable configuration makes portability difficult

Needs a better way to manage spare Pen nibs

Some cursor shake in the extreme corners

Price

The Cintiq 12WX is available here for $999. For that price, you get the display, Grip Pen with standard nib and 5 replacement nibs (1 stroke nib, 1 felt nib and 3 standard nibs), pen stand,converter Unit (breakout box), AC power adapter, power cable, VGA to DVI-I cable, DVI-D to DVI-I cable, USB cable, application software DVD (Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 / 4 for Mac for editing family photos, Corel Painter Essentials 3 for creating original artwork, Nik Color Efex Pro 2 IE for selectively applying photo enhancements, Wacom Brushes 3 for use with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4+ or Photoshop CS+), Driver CD, Installation Guide and Hardware Manual, plus access to Wacom privilege with valuable partner offers.

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Social Media and Simplicity, Part 7: Emotion

admin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:02:07 +0000

This post is part 7 of 10 in our groundbreaking series on how freelancers can use social media and the principles of simplicity to build their business.

With these tips, over 10 days, you can simplify and streamline your social media workflow and ensure that you take advantage of all that social media has to offer but still have time for other things.

Day 7 - The Seventh Law of Simplicity: Emotion

More emotions are better than less

The internet has revolutionized our existence. In most ways this is a positive development but in many other ways it has taken us a step backwards. For example, many people have questioned the value of online relationships. Not the kind of relationships you can develop through Match.com and its kind, but the kind of relationships that a designer in Russia has with her client in Portland, OH, or the kind of relationship a blogger in Sydney has with his audience all over Europe and the Americas, or the kind of relationships we have through social media.

Is someone you know through the social web really a friend? And if not, how do we improve our relationships on the social web?

Note: This post isn’t for everyone, particularly adherents of stoicism.

Emotions are the Universal Social Lubricant

As human beings, almost every decision we make is at least in part driven by emotion. By expressing happiness or sadness, anger or elation, it is through our emotions that we connect with each other. Somewhat paradoxically, the web allows us to connect, network, and collaborate, but makes it harder for us to build lasting, personal relationships.

BYOE: Bring Your Own Emotions

One of the reasons that most people have a hard time connecting with their audience, or making a lasting impression on a community they are a part of, is because they fail to show emotion. People like to connect with other people, not nameless and faceless entities (one of the most basic reasons why most corporate blogs are bound to fail). Ask yourself, would you rather visit a blog with no “about me” page, no author profiles, and no hints at the person behind the content, or would you rather visit a blog where you recognize the author and know a little about his or her background?

One of my favorite new authors of the last few months is Skellie from Skelliewag. I know that she has a background in web design and consulting, and now does freelance writing for her own site, Problogger, NothxEast, as well as Freelance Switch. I also know that she is studying political science in Australia and enjoys gaming and football (European, not American). While I certainly don’t feel like we grew up together, not only do I feel much more comfortable approaching Skellie, but because I have gotten then Cliff Notes version of Skellie, I am much more inclined to follow her content all over the web and to contribute to the conversations she is having.

People don’t want to consume information put forth mechanically, they want to learn from the experiences of others, and want to hear what you’re passionate about.

Similarly the most successful social media operators are the ones that are most open, human, and emotional about themselves, their passions, and the people they network with. People want to know what you like as much as they want to know what you don’t like, what frustrates you and why. If you want to succeed, use your name, use an actual photograph (or an avatar along with a photograph), make it personal, and be honest with your audience. Take a page from my book, here’s what I say on my Digg profile:

Please add me as a friend and add me to IM. I would love to get to know you, chat with you, and help you out on Digg in any way possible. I have 5 different IM options listed so shoot me a message and I’ll be there

And following the message I have multiple ways to get in touch with me. I don’t do this as a marketing gimmick (because being genuine is just as important as being open), but I do this because I actually value relationships with different community members. You’d be surprised how many people actually add me to their IM and strike up conversations with me just because they know I’m open and willing to take the time.

Let Emotions Run Wild

How wild you let your emotions run is a personal choice. While some of my favorite sites, such as Problogger, try to be very politically correct and curse-free, there are many other popular sites that have built careers out of the exact opposite (eg. Valleywag and Uncov). Though it is usually a good idea to keep your emotions somewhat in check (controversy is okay, you don’t want to say something that will cost you your career), it’s always a good idea to let the emotions of your community run wild. In fact, I discussed the issue at Problogger recently, how you should go out of your way to encourage people to disagree with you (not just for the sake of disagreeing, but if they genuinely have a problem with what you’re saying). Here’s a quick summary:

1. Disagreement makes you a better writer

2. Disagreement makes your community think

3. Disagreement makes for better conversations

4. Disagreement increases engagement

If you’re going to leverage the social media audience, be prepared to come face to face with your harshest critics every single time. Unlike your loyal followers, the social media audience is incredibly unforgiving. For us, however, this isn’t a bad thing at all. Take Scott Adams’ advice to heart: “If everyone exposed to a product likes it, the product will not succeed… The reason that a product “everyone likes” will fail is because no one “loves” it. The only thing that predicts success is passion, even if only 10% of the consumers have it.”

Not everyone has to like what you have to say. Not even most people have to like what you say. If you can get enough people to love you and hate you enough to be interested in what you have to say and respond to it, you’ve accomplished what you set out to do.

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