Dreamweaver

Need I say more? Adobe just does stuff right when it comes to software, they always have and always will. Dreamweaver is the perfect environment for hand coding sites from scratch or just managing the content in the WYSIWYG editor. I get to pick and choose how I want to work, the WYSIWYG is great for editing stuff like content and images so you don’t have to spend time looking through all your code for that one typo. In Dreamweaver CS4 they did some major updates to make the WYSIWYG view even more realistic to what actually shows in the browsers. It doesn’t stop there, when it comes to developing, I build the entire site in the Code View and don’t switch over until I get ready to insert the copy onto the site.

There is other software out there that provides just the coding environment and they are okay, they just don’t offer all the features that Dreamweaver does. FrontPage however is absolute junk and I would never recommend that to anyone. Microsoft likes to inject a lot of their own meaningless code into websites that are built using FrontPage. They were out of the game for a while and just came out with a new FrontPage. I haven’t had a chance to look at it in depth however I still wouldn’t suggest that another developer give it a shot.

Photoshop

Photoshop is another awesome Adobe software and if you do anything with web or graphics then this needs to be in your A List of programs. It has been around for years and now offers the ability to do 3D design work, great for logos and those out of the box websites. You’ll notice some of the 3D work on our website Minds Eye Design.

So as a web designer, how do I use Photoshop? For me personally I use Photoshop to do all the design work of the website, header graphics, logo design, buttons, page layout, etc. Once I have a finished look I send it off to get approval from the client. It’s always easier to edit a .PSD than it is to change the layout and design of a site when it’s built out. I never build out even a rough draft of the site until I get approval of the design. Always keep your file layered so that you easily manoeuvre, remove, add new pieces to the design. Once I’m ready to start building I slice up the .PSD to be different sections of the website and I deal with those graphics individually.

Basecamp

It doesn’t matter how many clients you have, you must use some form of project management. Basecamp is an online based project management tool that grows with you. Think of how helpful it would be if you had one go-to place with document collaboration, to-do lists, milestones, file storage, etc. Not to mention creating a login for your client to login and give feedback on designs, write the content for their site, upload graphics and logos, along with seeing deadlines that you posted for their project. If you’re saying to yourself, “that it would be awesome” then you need to get Basecamp, because they do all that and more.

Freshbooks

Since I found Freshbooks a few years ago not a day has gone by that I haven’t used it. I’m able to manage my clients and all of their login information. I have the ability to put together proposals and notify my clients via email when they are able to login and view them. I can send out one-time or recurring invoices, even auto-bill through my Authorize.net account. For my clients that aren’t very tech-savvy Freshbooks can send them a statement in the mail with a pre-addressed return envelope.

My clients can login and create support tickets which will automatically notify me or another staff member that is responsible for that item. I never loose track of where I spend my time thanks to the timer that helps me to log time spent on projects. I can also create staff & contractor logins for them to track their time as well. Clients can also login and see how their project is coming along by viewing how many hours have been tracked to specific tasks on the project.

Of course you got to have some way to manage all your expenses paying for domain names, hosting, and contractors so Freshbooks gives you an area to manage all of your expenses. Freshbooks will even give you a report at the end of the year to hand over to your CPA.

MailChimp

MailChimp 
I’ve used a lot of email marketing applications such as ConstantContact, Benchmark, Campaigner Pro and none of them have even come close to touching the usability and functionality of MailChimp. They are the most affordable, have great analytics and the ease of use is mind blowing. They also just brought their new supercomputer, Omnivore, online. Omnivore is a powerful abuse detection technology that helps keep their clients free of Blacklisting. They were actually one of the first email marketing platforms ever made, however at the time there wasn’t a big demand so they kept it for in-house marketing. They launched MailChimp to the public a few years ago and since then have become one of the best Email Marketing companies around. Check out how they compare to iContact and ConstantContact.

WordPress

I’m hoping that you’ve heard of WordPress if you’re reading this. Most people think of WordPress as a blogging platform but really it is a CMS platform. It just so happens that WordPress is so easy to use that just about anybody can run a website. It’s one of the more popular platforms for bloggers since most of them don’t know a lot of HTML/CSS. It has been underestimated by web developers as a CMS for websites, although it has been picking up a lot of steam in the past year. I proudly use WordPress as my one and only CMS platform for clients.

There are ofcourse other blogging platforms that are pretty good such as Blogger and Typepad. I personally don’t care for Typepad simply because you have to pay for it. I understand they want to make money but at a minimum of $9/month I don’t see why you wouldn’t just do a Blogger site. Blogger however is a little annoying because of the shameless advertisements and that you don’t have the flexibility as you do with WordPress. Now it’s important that you understand there are two genres of WordPress, one is WordPress.com which is hosted online and you can get a free account however that is the same as a Blogger account. Everything I’m talking about is WordPress.org which is a free download that you can install on your own server and customize as much as you want. If you’re not going to host it yourself then it’s really a toss up between Blogger and WordPress.com

Wufoo

Last but definitely not least is Wufoo, an online HTML Form Builder. Wufoo changed the way that I do HTML forms. Now instead of it taking me almost an hour to create and setup a custom form I can have it done in under five minutes. Wufoo also creates a database for every form that you create where it saves form entries. If you’re a freelancer then you need to have Wufoo on your A List, they can save you time and they are very affordable. You can even use them for to create a paid event registration form able to accept all major credit cards via an Authorize.net account. Wufoo forms can even send instant notifications to your cell phone, which comes in handy when you want to keep up with new client consultation requests.

What’s on your A List?

What are some programs or third-party apps that are on your A List? Have you had the pleasure of working with any of the programs I listed above? I’m interested to hear how you use them.

No related posts.

Photo by Paopix

It often feels like you’ve got to try twice as hard at being professional to make up for your age. People often assume that because you’re young, you’re the typical teenage stereotype – sitting in your room bashing out table-based websites for quick money, not caring about the meaning of code you churn out as long as the site looks ok. I would like to point out that this is not you, because you have come to this site to learn more about the industry and how to do things better. But how do you get it across to other people that you are not that stereotype?

What follows are some mistakes that not just young people make, but also people who have been in the industry for years. Many of these have tripped me up along the way.

Don’t pretend to be something you’re not

If you have a website, make sure the ‘about me’ page has information about you, about what you do and how long you’ve been doing it. This is usually the first thing that people want to know when they visit your site. Put a photo up to prove you’re a real person. If you’re studying, say it.

Don’t make out you’re more than one person. Never, ever use “we” when you mean “I”. There’s nothing wrong with being a one-man-band, and making out you’re more than that will cause problems later on. Also, be up front about your age early on…

Tell people how old you are

Avoid an uncomfortable situation later on and let the client/potential client know how old you are. If you don’t tell them and they find out later on, they may think you’ve been deceiving them. They may even walk away from the project (leaving you out of pocket).

It can feel really unfair when someone turns you down because of your age (this has happened to me a couple of times), but you’ve got to accept it and move on. In a few cases, my age has been a big advantage. Some clients perceive me as some sort of computer whisperer (aren’t all teenagers?!). I’ve even given advice to computer technicians who have been so impressed, they’ve taken a load of my business cards and handed them out to their clients.

Don’t take on too much work

Photo by Coldcut Crew

If all goes well, you may find you’re so successful that you’re constantly being asked to do work for people. This is where, if you’re not careful, it can all go horribly wrong.

Firstly, make sure you have enough time to complete these projects. Are you still studying? Have you made allowances this? What if you become ill?

It’s a good idea to break down projects into stages and work out the number of hours each stage will take. Then triple it. In my experience, a project will take 2 to 3 times longer than you think it will take. As you get more experienced, you’ll be able to work faster.

Don’t be afraid to turn work down. Politely say that you’re very sorry but you’ve got a lot of work on at the moment, and that you will get back in contact with them when things calm down in a few weeks to see if they would still like your help. Or if you’re a really nice person and know someone who is in need of some work, recommend they contact them.

Watch out for clients who will rip you off

Some clients may want to take advantage of your age, and they’ll either be really bad at paying you, or get you to do more work than you’ve agreed. Other web design companies can be the worst offenders if you do freelance work with them. Make sure your invoices state that they need to be paid within 30 days, and don’t be scared to follow up late payments.

Write everything down and confirm it with the client. If they’re asking for more than you’d originally agreed to charge them, tell them this. It’s vital to write a specification before you start work so both yourself and the client know where you stand.

Don’t Undervalue Yourself

Don’t lead yourself down a slippery slope by undercharging. I have made this mistake too many times, and from it I learnt that by undercharging, I am undervaluing the work I do. If you charge too little, people will assume you’re not very experienced at what you do. However, at the same time you’ve got to be careful not to tip the scales the other way.

But Don’t Overcharge

You are not a web agency, and if you’re just starting out, you don’t have the experience or the running costs to justify charging a lot of money yet.

Use qualitative calculations when working out how much you should charge. A good way of finding out how much you should charge is by using the Freelance Switch web calculator. this calculates an hourly wage, and you can increase this wage as you become more experienced and your running costs become higher.

Do your paperwork

Photo by Videolux

If you’re working as a freelancer, you need to contact HMRC (her majesty’s revenues and customs) to tell them you’re self-employed. This is no biggie, you just need to fill out a form, and pay national insurance contributions every 3 months. Otherwise they might fine you for earning money and not telling them.

You must must must keep receipts for everything. Invoices (your own and other peoples), travel expenses when meeting clients, software and phone bills. I’d recommend attending a free Business Link course on this (see the paragraph on milking it).

I’d strongly recommend writing down how long everything takes you to do so you can learn for estimating a project next time.

Don’t blame the tools… Too much.

Just because you use GIMP to make sites doesn’t mean you’re a bad designer. It sucks not being able to afford CS4, but having amazing software doesn’t make you a good designer. Know your limitations, and know your software, whatever you use. I’m still discovering things I didn’t even know I could do with Fireworks, and I’ve used it practically every day for the last 3 years.

Don’t use the same website that you market your services on as you do to blog about getting drunk

If looking professional is important to you, make sure your online life projects that. If the website you use to attract client contains feeds from Twitter, Facebook or Flickr, make sure the content you put up there projects the same image you want to convey.

I’ve visited too many portfolio sites where people plug in their Twitter feeds, and tweet inappropriate things about their clients.

And related to this…

Get to grips wiv gramma an spellin an stuff.

Be professional with all communication with your clients. It reflects badly on you if you’re spelling is sloppy, and makes it look like you don’t care. We’re not all perfect, but take a minute to spell check your emails and webpages before publishing them.

If you’re terrible at spelling and grammar, use the phone more, but make sure you write everything down (see being ripped off).

Plan ahead

Think about what you’re going to be doing in 6 months time. Will you be heading off to uni? What will you do if a client phones you up in a year asking for changes, or saying their site is down or their email is down. Remember that you are taking responsibility for part of the functioning of their business. It’s incredibly unfair and unprofessional to neglect them 6 months down the line because you don’t feel like doing it any more. If you decide web design isn’t for you, make sure your clients are given all the information they need to hand over to someone else.

Be realistic

You’re not going to have the opportunity to redesign Coca-cola any time soon. Start small.

Thinking “it’s good enough”

This is a very difficult lesson to learn. There are so many terrible websites out there, and it’s easy to compare your sites to these and think “hey, the sites I make are a lot better than some of this rubbish”. Do you want to make average websites, or do you want to make amazing websites? Aim to make sites that stretch your abilities, that make you learn new techniques and at the same time perfect the old ones.

Find out what’s important in the industry

Well, you’re reading this, so you obviously care about the industry. I’d really recommend making an effort to attend any web-related meetups too. This can be difficult for cash-strapped students, especially if the events are far away or require a stay in a hotel. When I started out, I really wanted to attend the Future of Web Design conference in London. There was no way I could afford it, so I asked my school if they could help me with the ticket cost (in return for redesigning their website) and they did!

Don’t forget to milk it ;)

Photo by Tim Welbourn

Often schools have budgets set aside for this sort of thing. If you’re in secondary school, I’d recommend talking to an IT teacher and showing them the details of the conference. Say you’d represent the school (they love it when you say that). If they say no, it may be worth emailing the conference organizers to explain your situation and ask if they could offer you a student discount, or if you could volunteer and help them set up.

Enjoy what you do

Finally, you need to enjoy what you do to be successful.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

Herman Cain

Related posts:

1. Employment and Portfolios