Web Design Business and Marketing

I was wanting to learn CSS and was advised to purchase “CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions” By Andy Budd, Simon Collison, Cameron Moll.

I really like the way the friendsof books are set up. I will be honest and say I didn’t go through the whole book. I read and studied the first five chapters and picked up CSS from there. I now use the book as a reference when I get stuck on a certain issue like CSS for forms, lol. If you want to learn CSS this book will get you up and running pretty fast. The best way to learn is follow the examples in the book and then do it for a client who is expecting his website at the end of the week. That will force you to learn it fast.

I just finished reading “Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big” by Bo Burlingham. If you own a small business and are challenged with the pains of growth this book has a different outlook and is a “should read”. Small Giants is written like a study of different great business. The study is figuring what makes these businesses great and different from the bigger corporations. The author explains in the book that each of these extraordinary businesses have something that many other businesses are striving to obtain and that is mojo. Mojo was a word he came up to describe it because it was hard to describe what was different. Bo takes a look at each business and compares to other “Small Giants” to see what are the similarities and pinpoint what the equation is for a “Small Giant”. You will read about great business lead by great people wanting to achieve great things. Each of these businesses was at one point approached about growth, whether it be going public, expanding or creating other locations. It was at this point in time there was a shift in ideas about going big. Each of these businesses refused to grow big are highly profitable and have never look back since. Overall I took a great liking to Bo’s perspective on the subject and really do have a different outlook at how to conduct business. I do advise that you read it and keep it as a reference.

Books I just purchased:

“A Technique for Producing Ideas” by James Webb Young (65 page great read and resource)
“How to Get Ideas (BK Life)” by Jack Foster (Just started reading based on book above)
“Purple Cow” by Seth Godin (Going to start reading after above book)

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!

I have been reading like crazy lately. I have just acquired a thirst for knowledge like I have never had before. Soon I will be adding a currently reading section on my blog and also list books I have read and recommend. From time to time I will also give my review on a book that I have read.

The book I just finished was Mobile Web Design Book which is an e-book written by Cameron Moll. The book recently became available in print.

The book was an easy read and Cameron made it easy to understand with pictures of different phones that were being tested. I never really learned to read and get the books with pictures anyways When I bought the e-book I initially thought that I was going to receive loads of code information I needed to get on my way. Though there was plenty of helpful code information, the book was something more than I expected. It is about a way of thinking. I tend to ask the question “Who is your target audience?” when I am dealing with clients and the same has to be asked of mobile users. Who are these mobile users? How will they be accessing the mobile web? and for what? Questions like these came up in the back of my head as I read through Cameron’s book and his book helped make that connection. One example that Cameron pointed out was that a mobile web user is more than likely holding coffee in one hand and his phone in the other to access the web. Now what information do you want to give that person? My answer is something quick, efficient and relative.

I don’t want to give too much information about the book. It was a great read and worth the money spent $19.00. If you do web design or if your company is looking to go mobile this book will help the way you think and gives you some code insight.