Web Design Business and Marketing

This past holidays meant having a lot of family over, eating till we fell over, then doing it all over again. I also had some downtime and I used it to clean up my office. I went through a lot of old junk. I also went through out dated backup CDs that I created every time I decided to reformat my Windows 98, 500 Mghz, 128 mb ram computer. It was my first love (sorry babe) and I always liked reinstalling windows just because it always seemed to run smoother with a fresh operating system. Anyways back to the story. I found a ton of old files and pictures that were awesome to go through and reminisce. In my findings I found the Tri-Omni website (this website) in it’s earlier stages. I found version 2, 3 and 4 making this current design and purpose version 5.0. I was so ecstatic about them that I decided to republish each version here on my blog. What about version 1.0 you ask? It is missing in action and I am still going through CDs to see if I can catch a glimpse of it. I found resources that indicated its start but did not find any end results of it. If I can not find it I will conclude that it never really launched as my memory does not serve me well. Nonetheless here are the other versions:

Tri-Omni Version 2.0

Tri-Omni Version 3.0

Tri-Omni Version 4.0

Please do not laugh as these were my pre-css days and all designs were constructed by tables. LOL!!!

I recently decided to launch the freelance business I have been doing for years into a full time business. I have been off to a great start and things seem to be shaping up for my business. One of the things I did to launch my business was research. I researched what books and materials were out there that would help me on my way of launching. I came across this kit in my search Web Design Business Kit. The kit is priced at $247.00 dollars on the Sitepoint Website. After reading this book and using the many resources that it has to offer it has paid for itself 10 fold. I am big on figuring out if my money is well spent. I always do a break even point in my head knowing that if I spent “x” amount of dollars on a advertising did it make it’s money back and then some.

In short

Pros: This binder was packed with information about web, marketing ideas and business advice. The book did not only have to do with starting a web business but also how to run a business. The one thing that resonates over and over is that most businesses have poor customer services and that if they would just fix this one thing they would be able to make more money. The binder was also packed with documents that this company uses for its business. You couldn’t get a better bundle of information for this price anywhere.

Cons: The documents provided in some cases seemed to be redundant. For example there is a sample website analysis form that came with the purchase. The questions seemed out of order and some questions were even repeated. I took this 14-page document and rearranged it to fit to 6 pages. But this still beats starting from scratch.

Overall: The binders and CDs were a great resource and starting point for my business. All of the information provided would have taken me months to come up. I was able to get past the creation of the documents and process and just tweak and fine-tune them to my needs. If you are serious about starting a web design business this kit is a must have!

Came across an interview with Jason Fried, CEO of 37 Signals and creator of Basecamp.

Wiki 37 Signals

View interview (BIF-3 Collaborative Innovation Summit)

Say no more and keep it simple!

I am sitting here at about 1:45am. I just finished working on a logo for a client, I glanced down at my to do list and was astonished to find out that I crossed out everything. Wow this is the first time that this has happened. I realized I only had four things on my list today and usually I have like 20. The point is keep your to do list short (realistic) so you will accomplish what you need to. If you do have a long list then prioritize it so you can accomplish what really needs to be done.

Additional reading: Six Slam-Dunk Time Management Tips

Smashing magazine did a great article on date pickers and calendar scripts.

Online Calendars and Date Pickers

We created a content management system for a client that required a date picker be added and one addition I would like to add to the Smashing Magazine article is Clean Calendar by Marc Grabanski. It is a great and easy resource to install.