“Weekly Design News – Resources, Tutorials and Freebies (N.133)” plus 2 more - Speckyboy Design Magazine Feed

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• Weekly Design News – Resources, Tutorials and Freebies (N.133)
• Google Chrome Becomes the World’s Favorite Web Browser
• 5 Biggest Freelance Mistakes You Can Make

Weekly Design News – Resources, Tutorials and Freebies (N.133) Posted: 22 May 2012 12:52 AM PDT This is our weekly column were we share our favorite design related articles, resources and cool tidbits from the past week. Enjoy :) If you would like to receive our daily updates and keep up to date with the latest and greatest articles and resources from the design community, you can follow us on Twitter, on Facebookor by subscribing to our RSS feed. Our Weekly Design News has been sponsored by MediaLoot. Check them out for some seriously useful resources like icon fonts, UI kits, vectors and themes. Building a Nested Responsive Grid with Sass & Compass SASS vs. LESS The "Dark Sides" of LESS (and probably SASS) Responsive Images and Web Standards at the Turning Point How To Customize The WordPress Admin Easily 5 Useful CSS Tricks for Responsive Design Some Random JavaScript Coding Tidbits Diving Into CSS Regions A New Take on Responsive Tables Building a Modern Grid System Stopwatch Using CSS3 without Images or Javascript Simple Responsive jQuery Navigation Plugin Coding the Digg v4 Layout with HTML5 & CSS3 Annotation Overlay Effect with CSS3 Simple Free Non-Profit WordPress Theme Seamless Tartan & Plaid Patterns Media Player UI Free PSD Template Free PSD: World Map & Pin/Marker Free Photoshop Environment Brushes Stroke – Free Font Job Title Generator This Week on CodeVisually Here are our favorite webdev resources from the past week: Colllor Css2Less rwdImageMaps Skrollr Cookie Control jq-idealforms dgrid Real Shadow Fixie cPrompt

Google Chrome Becomes the World’s Favorite Web Browser Posted: 21 May 2012 01:16 PM PDT This past week, Google Chrome overtook Internet Explorer to become the most used web browser in the world (well, at least for a day). While calculating the exact figures when it comes to the internet is hardly a precise science, Statcounter shows that Chrome has been growing at a steady rate at the expense of both IE and Firefox. Ever since its inception, Chrome has been winning converts and its rise in popularity does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. If we look at the Statcounter data closely, there are some interesting revelations: • For a start, IE is still the runaway leader in North America, whereas Firefox dominates the scene in Europe and Africa. Chrome has a tremendous lead in certain parts of Asia and South America (where Chrome’s share reaches as much as 50%). • IE fares well during weekdays (excluding IE9, which puts up a decent show on weekends), whereas Chrome wins on weekends, perhaps indicating that people tend to use Chrome at home to browse on weekends, while IE is still ‘enforced’ in certain offices. Until last year, IE had as much as 45% of the market share – today, its supremacy is very clearly under question. What will the figures be one year from now? Any guesses or thoughts? Feel free to share with us in the comments.

5 Biggest Freelance Mistakes You Can Make Posted: 21 May 2012 08:26 AM PDT As a freelancer, you know how challenging it can be to juggle your time between marketing your services, managing your budget, and tracking invoices – not to mention actually working on client projects. Being a freelancer means being every department in one, and many freelancers fail to reach their potential because they make crucial mistakes that consistently hold them back. I know, because I’ve committed the same mistakes. The following highlights the five biggest freelance mistakes you can make and how to rectify them. 1. Charge too Little When you’re breaking in to the business, nearly all the advice regarding what to charge indicates you should settle for less to get established. There is some truth to this, as it definitely pays to have a solid portfolio, but it can be a double-edged sword. Consider what happens if two or three of your first clients become long-term customers at a nominal fee. You could end up spending the majority of your time on their work for little pay off. Image Source: Vector Set of Wooden Tablets via Shutterstock To avoid that trap, double your fees. Yes, it will be more difficult to find clients. And yes, you’re likely to lose a few you already have. But you’re far better off working for a handful of clients who pay you well than dozens of clients who amount to two or three times the work for the same pay. Charging more lends a sense of legitimacy to your skills, and therefore enables you to land higher-quality clients and focus more on the quality of your work rather than the quantity. 2. Refuse to Delegate As your freelance business grows it can become increasingly difficult to give up control over any aspect of your work. Keep in mind that the more work you have, the more paperwork you have. You could easily find yourself devoting ten to twenty hours each week on non-paying “business stuff” that would be better left to other business professionals. Image Source: Handwriting Blackboard via Shutterstock Let’s say, for example, you spend five hours per week on bookkeeping and invoicing – all non-paid work. If your fee is, say, $90 per hour, you’re losing $450 each week to maintain your business records and make sure you get paid. I’m willing to bet you could find an online bookkeeper to handle those accounts on a part-time basis for less than $200 per week, thus allowing you to earn an additional $250 in weekly income. Over a year, that adds up to $13,000 – a pretty significant chunk of change. 3. Ignore Your Local Market One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first set out as a freelancer was to ignore the local market. I thought I could find all of my clients online and never have to bother with face-to-face meetings. Of course, I could have and probably would have done just that if not for an opportunity presented to me by a friend in the design industry. My friend introduced me to a local client who had a need for ongoing work, who in turn introduced me to other local clients. Now, nearly half my client stable is comprised of local businesses. It’s important to understand that despite all the advantages of services such as LinkedIn and Facebook, people still trust those they shake hands with – or have a beer with, for that matter – more than anything they read online. If you can get a foot in the door of your local market, and do a good job, I guarantee you will increase your client base easily. 4. Ignore Networking Opportunities This goes hand-in-hand with your local market. A large portion of B2B business is acquired via referrals, not overt marketing, for the same trust-related reasons I’ve mentioned. When you are not an active member in your community, online or off, you’re are undoubtedly missing out on opportunities to grow. Image Source: Network Definition Magnifier via Shutterstock Join your local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, and BNI. Attend the meetings and get to know your business community. Attend open houses and business cocktail parties. Volunteer to help. Online, be an active part of communities your customers are members of. Don’t pitch – such sites likely have paid ads for that – just be helpful and cordial. In a few short months, such networking opportunities can begin paying huge dividends. 5. Fail to Take Breaks Breaks are necessary for efficiency and creativity. The science backs it. You need breaks during the day to relax and refocus. Some say you should work in 90 minute bursts with a 15 minute break between sessions. I don’t know if it’s paramount that you follow such strict guidelines, but when you notice yourself slowing down or hit a block in creativity, take a few minutes for yourself. A walk around the block, a mile on the exercise bike, or even a few minutes picking at my guitar seem to work for me; find a brief distraction that works for you. Image Source: Man on the Beach via Shutterstock Not only should you take breaks daily, a weekly lapse in work – most call them weekends – can work wonders for your stress levels. And a couple of vacations during the year can essentially hit the "reset" button on the grind of hard work so you return refreshed with an abundance of creative ideas. For a stress-free trip, get ahead of your work and give clients advanced notice so you don’t have to worry about playing catch-up when you return. Better yet, delegate someone to handle your calls while you’re away. If you’re struggling as a freelancer or you simply feel as though you haven’t realized your potential, incorporating these suggestions into your business will allow you to work more efficiently, more creatively, and more profitably. You may also like… Good Old Static HTML Sites Aren’t Dead Yet. Should They Be? → Should You Keep Your Website Open Source? → Should Designers know how to code? What do you think? → Is a Design House-Style Really Necessary? → Ode To a Wooden Spoon – How The Right Tool Can Help You Design Better → 10 Things Designers Can Learn From Pastry Chefs → Apple Pie Appeal: How Simple, Classic Design Works → Repeat Work and the Search For The Holy Grail → Thoughts and Considerations for Freelancing on a Part-Time Basis → Is Working Freelance Really Worth It? Pros and Cons → Tips for Converting Your Freelance Operation into a Business → Thoughts on why Spec Work is Bad and Why You Shouldn't Do It → Technostress – The Freelancers Disease? →

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