#advertising layout has probably cost me the job now :(

[katya-goncharov]

oh noooo i just realised i made a really big mistake on the job application i sent off this morning!!

#it was for a publishing job and i wrote in the cover letter that i really loved this series that i thought was published by them #only i just realised that it isn't!! #the thing is i literally googled it before i wrote the application to try to fact check it. and when i typed the book series into amazon #this big banner for the publishers i was applying to came up on the search page and the layout basically made it look like it was their #series and their amazon page selling the books #only i just looked again and it was a very pushy sponsored advert for the publishers that amazon for some reason put to the top of the #search results in this really misleading way to make it LOOK like it was their series #anyway i'm so annoyed because i spent AGES on that application! and i did fact-check and everything. but amazon's pushy misleading #advertising layout has probably cost me the job now :( #it's such a mortifying mistake to have made as well. like it's the sort of thing they'll mention in cautionary tales for OTHER #people applying for jobs with them!

[lionheartslowstart]

Moved In (Again)

The last month or so has been pretty hectic and definitely stressful. My boyfriend "Thomas" and I finally moved out of the horrible apartment we were living in. While I initially liked the idea of moving back to the city, it was just so not what we thought it was going to be.

Obviously, the main issue was finances. Living in the city, really any of the five boroughs, has become exponentially more expensive than it was when I lived there seven years ago. And the type of job Thomas has requires a lot of commuting (which also adds up after a while), so it was just not a sustainable situation. On top of cost, I realized that living in the city is just not what I want anymore, which honestly makes me really sad. Several years ago, I thrived in New York. I loved living in that kind of apartment and joining in on the hustle and bustle every day. The only reason I left was because my POS ex forced me to. Maybe it's because I'm older, or because I have different needs now, but I came to the hard realization that, while I adore Manhattan, it's just not the kind of environment I can thrive in anymore. It does kind of make sense, when I think about how attached I've become to LA, and the kind of lifestyle that's over there, that I would in turn end up floating away from the NYC lifestyle. But I'm sad anyway, because I'm still losing something. And I can't help but be angry at my ex for that too. Just something else he stole from me.

But I digress. Funnily enough, we were able to move back to my old apartment building, though it is (thankfully) a different unit. I always had a good relationship with the management team there, so when I reached out to them to let them know we were moving again and ask if they had any availabilities, they were thrilled! They told me I was a model tenant, and they would love to have me back. I'm lucky I had an in, because they only had ONE apartment available and they weren't even advertising it online.

Thomas and I fell in love with the apartment as soon as we saw it. It's almost one thousand square feet, bigger than any apartment either of us had ever lived in. It even has a cute little den area where we keep the desk, the bookcase, and all of our witchy things. The living room is spacious, with enough room to put up the pole, and the bedroom is perfect: not so big that it feels weirdly empty, and not so small that you have to squeeze around the furniture. The layout is fantastic, and there's tons of room for our various art, with still plenty of wall space to spare! Unfortunately, due to the model of the unit and its layout relative to the rest of the building, we had to give up the balcony, but we mutually decided that was the right call. Again, ours was the only available unit at the time, and we wanted to pounce on it before anyone else could snap it up. But even if there were other units available, we probably still would have gone with this one. I can't explain it, but it just feels so..."us."

The application process was super smooth. Management even agreed to put our applications in a few weeks early, because they really wanted us to be the people to get it! Then it was just cleaning the old place, packing all our stuff, moving our furniture and things, unpacking our stuff, and (my favorite part) organizing our stuff. Those few weeks were the most stressed I'd been in quite some time. But now, we're finally more or less settled. We just have to finish hooking up all our gaming systems, do some cleaning, and then there's just a few odds and ends here and there (like figuring out where the heck to hang the Pride flags), and we're all done!

We've only been officially living here for just under a month, but we're SO much happier than we were in Brooklyn. It's such a great space, and we're both familiar with the area. I'm familiar with the area because I grew up not far from here. Thomas is familiar with the area because he did live in my old place with me for a couple of months before we moved to the city, and that man has the memory of a steel trap. Additionally, we're only about 40 minutes from my parents now, when we used to have to drive almost two hours to get to their house! Of course, we're still pretty far from Thomas' folks, but you'd be surprised what a difference an hour makes when you're driving long distance. We're also not too far from the city. The commute using public transport is easy and not terribly expensive, so it's there when we want to go visit. But we also happen to be sandwiched between a small city and a large town, both of which have great restaurants and fun recreational activities available. So it's really a win-win. We'll have fun no matter where we go!

I'm so excited to start a new life here with the person I love. The energy in this space is so much brighter, warmer, and happier than it has been anywhere I've lived before. I may not want to stay in New York forever, but this finally feels like home.

#personal #moving #life #growth #change

[kerrkay5]

What A Person About Design And Hosting

If you want to make a big splash in the fashion design industry, then choosing the right school is where to start. Fashion design may 't be everybody's choice of career, but for people who have talent in this field, there a wide range of opportunities available. It makes your site accessible. You are quiet apprehensive in using different designs with the fear hat their sites won't be accessible one some sort of design is used. Once Panzer Dragoon Remake CK keys Free plug-in a Flash in running then a lot of the users will likely to be able to visit you. This plug-in is used by comparatively a choice is about users all over. But if you want other backyard gardeners usually wonder no associated with your site to visit you, your design should be made inside a there isn't animation to dam other buyers. Firms with affordable web development services provide further providers without charging you a further amount. The business could wind up being providing repair off the spot to fix bugs and other errors which come up relying through the kind of website. These after-sale services that come with out will cost you. The target would be to construct relationship with purchasers and win extra initiatives in cases of future expansion. Panzer Dragoon Remake CK keys Free , you received a trip from some client anf the requests a person to design an internet business for his company. Your phone, he briefly informs you what his company approximately and asks about the prices, afterwards you fixed an arrangement with him for discussion. You will probably get excited in it and actually starts to get more data of the company by checking them on Google, and thinks about some prelim ideas for your website. As well stage, your research process has recently started. I discovered that design was becoming a vast part of my day, thinking concerning what new some tips i needed to learn, what new products I could learn to design and generally, what creative projects I get stuck into. My occupation could easily was a school teacher of course anyone who's been in teaching, you already know that that it is a lot of hard work that needs 100% willpower. If your hearts not in it, then don't undertake it as your not doing anyone any favours, especially your attendees. After returning to work and due to my new perspective, my eyes started open noting a few things that gave me a clearer idea of what teaching was about nowadays in secondary education for the teacher. Many budding web designers are as expected self-taught. In case you are reading this and never ever had a proper design lesson in your life, imply mean the to abandon your want becoming a web-based designer. Academic qualifications have to a degree (excuse the pun) taken a back seat to be replaced by hands on skills. Panzer Dragoon Remake PC Game is now a diverse industry provides a number of specific jobs you can work with. From creative director to artworker, there a job that's suited to you. In order to other designers; expand education and run on developing your creativity. Do not forget often you will asked perform within a team, so hone your communication skills as all right. Probably the factor that's most in order to many of individuals - just how much will it cost to attend the their school? It's nice if movie a situation where cost doesn't matter, but for lots of of us, we might want to be practical. If the tuition fees are high, you might find you must be spend far to much time working in a part-time job and so leave yourself short of this time for your schoolwork. Make sure your design is appropriate, too. You must use a font, layout, and color scheme that are right for company that's being advertised, and graphic elements of design that don't forecast place. A good logo design is one that doesn't just look good, but is right for that use you'll be putting it to, after all.

#PANZER DRAGOON REMAKE Crack

[tmnt-veelicious]

Across the Stars - Ch.17

*crawls out of a hole* HOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLYYYY FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Yes. I am alive.

Yes I had a rough patch of life over the last few months.

And jeeeeesus, I think I wrote the beginning of this chapter like 3 times....

BUT IT’S HERE. AND I’M SORRY IT HAS BEEN SO LONG. At least the next chapter will be interesting and will introduce some new characters!!! I am definitely feeling the writing juices flowing~

First Chapter -> HERE Previous Chapter -> HERE Next Chapter -> SOON

''I think this neighborhood suits you,'' started April as both women were comfortably seated at a table in a cozy café. Vee couldn't help her quiet chuckle, crossing her arms as her eyes ventured to the large window that offered a view to the street. ''I think it does too..., but I'll be so far from everything. Mostly far from Donnie. He's downtown and I'd be uptown...'' ''It's not so bad! You know these guys can travel fast and they know the city like no one else.'' True. A small sigh escaped the artist, her attention back to the other. She was glad the reporter had answered her call. Vee confessed feeling stupid for her sudden departure and her attitude, but April had been quick to waive those away, answering that all that mattered was that her friend was safe. The only thing left to do was to move forward. Harlem seemed like a nice place. It was mostly known for its nightlife and its jazz influences, to which Vee felt drawn to. Maybe she'd have opportunities up here, who knows? Her train of thoughts came to a stop as a waitress got to their table; a lovely african american woman adorning a dark afro like a crown. Vee did admire her style, noticing her septum piercing and her 'au naturel' look. It didn't seem like much, but so many people could ever inspire the artist, and that was the beauty of living in New York. As the orders were taken and the women left with coffees in hands, proper discussions could finally start. ''So...starting a family?'' started Vee. ''Since when were you two planning that little adventure?'' April's smile was soft: ''We were talking about it for several months, but only recently did we really start to properly consider it.'' ''Even with both your lifestyles? … You wouldn't be the most 'typical' and 'calm' family.'' ''I don't think that should stop us, or anyone. … It's something we both want, Vee, and we're ready to work for it.'' ''I'm not saying the opposite, don't worry!'' quickly reassured Vee. ''… I guess I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around that idea. I never really thought about having kids, so the thought process kinda escapes me.'' ''Oh?'' the reporter slightly cocked her head to one side, curious. ''I don't want to say I'm surprised, but still am nonetheless.'' The other woman seemed amused: ''There's so many things I have yet to accomplish.... Getting a child is the least of my worries right now. I guess I just don't really feel compelled at the idea.'' ''In that case I can understand,'' added April with a soft smile. ''It's only natural that you'd want to advance your career and get more stability, I get that.'' The conversation paused as their food arrived. But as soon as both were left alone again, the reporter couldn't help squinting a little, now curious: ''Although.... do you think you could ever have kids with Donnie?'' Vee almost spat her coffee, her thoughts suddenly rolling at a franctic pace. She frowned, reminiscing all those times they had sex without any protection. ''I, uh... I'm not sure,'' frankly answered the artist. ''I've never really thought about it, but now that you mention it, I should verify with him.'' ''I think it'd be in both your interests to set things clear. At least you'll know where you both stand in this...'' ''Yeah … that's for sure.'' What if he wanted kids? Could it be possible? At least for now her cycle had been steady and normal, so there was no fear regarding that. And the relationship was still in its early stages – it was too soon to think about that! Oh, those thoughts would plague her mind for the rest of the day, she knew that...   ''Anyway, enough kid talk,'' said April, thankfully interrupting Vee's thinking. ''I wanted to discuss apartment and furniture with you.'' ''What, you wanna know how I'll decorate my fortress of solitude?'' playfully commented the artist. ''Oh come on now...'' ''Just kidding, just kidding, don't worry. What's on your mind?'' ''Since I'll be moving in with Casey and he pretty much already has everything in terms of furniture... I was thinking about giving you some of the stuff we have at the apartment. Fridge, oven, whatever you need.'' The artist lightly frowned. ''Wait... give? April, I can't just receive without giving in return. Tell me your price and I'll gladly give you so-'' ''Vee, please,'' gently cut the reporter. ''… I know I'm putting you in a difficult situation and things can turn expensive. I want to help in any way I can, plus you can always repay me in other ways. Don't worry about it. I've given it some thought and I'm at peace with that.'' And the artist was absolutey thankful. Knowing she didn't make the best of incomes, this help felt like a miracle. … Just thinking about all her future expenses was enough to make her head spin, but at least with Donnie's help – and now April – she knew she could get a good footing and proceed without immense struggles. ''Also,'' added April, ''I know you don't have the best of conversations with your parents regarding your choice of living in New York, so I wanted to ease things up by giving you a good headstart and make them less worried.'' Vee softly sighed, although showing a small smile. She knew the brunette had heard some bits and pieces of conversations ever since she moved in. Even if the dialogues had been in French, it was not hard to notice the argumentative nature of those calls. ''I, uhm … it's been almost a month since I spoke to any of them, so there's nothing to worry about for now,'' said Vee. ''Is everything alright?'' ''The less I talk to them, the better! So, yes, everything is fine,'' tried to reassure the artist. April seemed good with the answer, but there was no denying that for Vee to avoid her family, it would probably blow back to her face in a nasty way. But today was not the day to think about such matter. Breakfast done and over with, both women were now on their way to visit the apartments. The first one proved to be a complete disaster; mold found in the bathroom and under the kitchen sink, only two windows and barely any natural light coming in, a broken wardrobe door in the bedroom. The landlord didn't seem like the most caring person either, insisting that he'd get the needed repairs done once a new tenant would move in. ''Those things have a cost, you know?'' he would say. … And this apartment will be a hard pass, you know? Vee couldn't believe that she got fooled by the advertisment online. It seemed so nice... At least the second stop was promising. The lot was at the top floor of a five story high building. The entrance was a small hallway that had one door to the left which gave to the bedroom (with a window!), and a door to the right that gave to the bathroom. The end of the hallway gave to an open area to which the left part was planned for a living room, and the right had space for a kitchen, the area delimited by a side hall that gave enough surface for an extension of the counter tops. Some windows gave enough light into the place, as well as a nice view on the street and buildings around. Plus, the living room windows were tall and large enough, one being an entryway to the emergency staircase outside the building. It was perfect. *** Her step was light as she made her way back to the lair, the greatest grin plastered to her face. She did it! Well … almost! But it was at least a first step in the right direction. Her first point of interest when she arrived was Donnie's workspace, but she found it empty, instantly bringing a small frown on Vee's features. Maybe she should check the garage next? Her attention snapped when she heard a sharp sound – a can being opened. Turning around, she slightly jumped as she spotted Mikey nearby, an orange crush drink in his hand. '' 'Sup?'' ''Jesus, Mikey, you gave me a mini heart attack,'' she breathed out. ''Oops, my bad,'' he said, taking a sip. ''You lookin' for Don? He just got out on patrol with Raph.'' ''… Aren't you guys supposed to lay low for a while with the Purple Dragons and Foot Clan situation?'' The orange clad one shrugged: ''Going out on patrol doesn't mean we're looking for them, you know? We still gotta look out for the bad ones on the streets. Plus, going out in small numbers attracts less attention.'' ''Huh... touché,'' admitted Vee. ''I guess the good news can wait, then.'' ''What good news?'' The artist's grin was back: ''I might have found a new apartment! The landlord just needs to do a credit check and then, if it's all good, the place will be mine.'' The terrapin's smile was soon as big as Vee's: ''Yo! That's awesome! Where is it? How big is it?'' The woman didn't wast any time to grab a blank sheet of paper and a pencil laying around on Donnie's desk, already starting to sketch the layout of the apartment. Deep in her explanations, she did not notice Leonardo now standing near, trying to take a peek from behind. ''What's that?'' he asked. Vee slightly jumped again, already on the lookout for the leader. ''JEEZE, what's with you guys scaring me tonight?!'' Leo showed an amused smile, arms crossed before him as he took some pride in that comment. ''I'm an excellent ninja. Getting to scare you means I'm doing a good job.'' ''Alright, don't get too cocky.'' She briefly sighed, next bringing the paper to clearer view. ''Behold, this is probably my next apartment!'' The blue clad mutant took some seconds to observe the layout, pensive. ''… There's quite some windows in there. I'll have to get Donnie to secure the place so no one can spot you and get in.'' ''Leo! Chill!'' faintly laughed Vee. ''I don't even completely own the place yet. Plus I'll be on the fifth floor; I'd like to see anyone get in other than by the emergency staircase or the entry door.'' ''I'm sorry I am cursed with the leader plague. I always have to think many steps ahead.'' Vee's smile was soft: ''Don't worry, it's appreciated. But now it's time to celebrate! There's no place for worry tonight!'' ''Now we're talkin'!'' added Mikey playfully, rubbing his hands together. ''… Watchu wanna do?'' The artist left her paper back on her boyfriend's desk, a smug smile now showing on her features. ''Donnie and I do have a little secret stash of red wine, and I fully plan on going through one bottle tonight.'' ''Hell yeah!'' Mikey was now nudging his brother's arm with his elbow. ''Care for a drink as well? Come ooooonnnnnnnn.'' Leo was squinting, trying to appear severe, but it didn't take long for him to conceed with a grin, his posture relaxing. ''Alright. Just one.'' *** Vee was delightfully surprised to learn that Leo also had a taste for red wine, happily sharing her bottle with him – and of course he did take more than one drink. Meanwhile Mikey had opted for beer, some cans already resting in the fridge. It felt good to kick back and just be happy, living in the present and have no worries. But soon celebrations took an interesting turn, Vee definitely inspired by her luck and feeling a little bold. An idea came to her mind as Mikey was showing her some stuff he was hoarding, especially when it came to hair dye bottles. She had always wanted to try a new hair color... It didn't take long before everyone was set up: Vee sitting in a chair with a towel over her shoulders, hair in layers. Mikey had ''borrowed'' some of Donnie's latex gloves (used for when he was tattooing), already at the task of applying the chosen color. Meanwhile Leonardo was sitting nearby, keeping company and enjoying the show. ''It's gonna look dope as fuck,'' commented the orange clad turtle, hair dye brush in hand as he was spreading some color. ''I'm kinda nervous about it, though,'' added Vee. ''Last time I did something to my hair, it was only some blonde streaks here and there. … It's my first time going full on with a non-natural color.'' ''There's never nothing wrong with going wild once in a while,'' said Leo. The artist threw him a glance, somewhat amused. ''Says the guy who seems to overworry a LOT about anything.'' ''Hey, I have my moments, alright,'' chuckled the leader, next taking a sip of wine. Mikey tsked; ''What, your last wild thing was to shorten your training time or somethin'?'' ''Nooooo, I-...'' Leo lightly frowned, his lips forming a thin line. A sharp sigh left him as he confessed: ''I asked Mikasa out.'' Both Mikey and Vee's gazes were now locked on him, their smiles wide. ''Finally!'' let out the woman. ''How did it go? Is everything good?'' ''Spill the tea, bro!'' chided in Mikey. Leo's smile was shy, carefully choosing his words. ''We're still figuring some things out, I guess? It all started when we got to you both at the Maneki Neko... I brought her back to her apartment and we kissed. … I dunno how to explain it, it just felt right at that moment.'' ''So far, so good,'' commented Vee. ''What's next?'' ''I'll admit that I chickened out after that,'' continued the leader. ''I just didn't know yet if I was ready to get into some sort of relationship. I was a douche and I didn't say or text a word to her after a couple of days.'' ''You're a fucking dumbass,'' added the other turtle, slightly scolding as he parted some more layers of Vee's hair. Leo raised his glass a little: ''On that I agree, BUT! I kicked my own ass and finally got back in touch with her yesterday. I explained the situation to her and she agreed to meeting up and talk about it a little more. … I'm just-'' His eyes met Vee's, somehow pleading. ''How can I know she really likes me? For crying out loud, how did you know you liked Donnie?'' The artist couldn't help her laugh, surprising both mutants. Leo didn't really know how to react. ''Did … did I say something wrong orrrr?'' ''No, no! Good gosh, no!'' tried to rectify Vee, calming her laughter. ''Oh jeeze, Leo, you and Mikasa are just so freakin' adorable. …. Would you believe me if I told you that she kinda asked me the same question a while ago?'' The blue one showed a smirk, amused: ''Welp, I won't hide that I had a smiliar conversation with Donnie as well.'' ''See!'' pointed the woman. ''Dammit, you two. Mikasa likes you, okay? You guys … all four of you, there are people who're gonna like you and even love you for who you are, no matter the fact that you're mutants. Damn, get that drilled in your heads, alright?!'' Mikey couldn't contain a chuckle: ''You're pretty straight-forward when you get some drinks in you, Vee.'' ''I only speak the truth without reservation,'' she added, taking a sip of wine. She savored her beverage for some seconds before speaking up again: ''But to answer your question, Leo, I knew I liked Donnie when everything felt comfortable. I mean … whatever I would say or do, I knew it wouldn't mind him. … His presence is like a never-ending warm hug around me. I feel true, I feel seen...'' Her eyes got back to him. ''And if you feel like you can be your true self around Mikasa, then I say that it's worth a shot.'' ''I'll take your word for it,'' replied Leo, smiling and slightly lifting his glass in cheer. *** Hours later and Donnie couldn't be any more glad to be back home. Patrol had been pretty boring and tame tonight, but at least he got to spend some time with Raph, which was never a bad thing, at times. Hanging his gear for the night, he then proceeded to his workstation, only to frown a little once he spotted a sheet of paper with some sort of layout draw on it.

By the looks of it, it seemed to be an apartment, the gears of his mind running as he also recognized Vee's handwriting. ''Bro!'' His attention snapped, suddenly realizing that he had been deep in thoughts. He turned to the source of his calling, then noticing Mikey with a big smile on his face. Donnie didn't have time to say anything that his brother spoke again: ''I have the immense pleasure to present to you the world-premiere revelation of Vee 2.0.'' He did some theatrical gestures before bowing and backing out of view in a comical way, finally giving view to Vee who had been hiding behind him. The purple clad turtle's eyes grew wide as soon as he noticed the artist's new hair color. Teal. A lush dark green color that reflected so well when exposed to any lights. ''Whoa! That's so cool!'' blurted the tall terrapin, already approaching the artist. One of his hands was still holding the paper, but his other one couldn't stay put, gently taking some strands of Vee's hair and having a closer look at the color. He couldn't erase his grin, his eyes scanning every inches. ''You should thank Mikey, he's the one who did most of the work,'' informed the woman. The tall terrapin did throw a glance towards his brother who was still nearby: ''No wonder it's perfect. There's always a positive outcome to any of his projects.'' ''Aww, thanks bro!'' added the orange clad mutant, somehow surprised, yet glad to hear such compliment. ''So … you like it?'' asked Vee with a timid smile. ''Like it? I love it!'' answered Donnie, his gaze meeting hers. ''It really suits you. … Any specific reason for that change, though?'' The woman had noticed the sheet of paper in his hand, taking it in turn and pointing the sketch she did. ''If all goes well, this little lot will be mine.'' Donnie's happiness was renewed: ''For real?!'' A simple nod from Vee was enough for him to lift her off the ground in an embrace, unable to stop himself from spinning around a little, obviously feeling overjoyed. Relief also washed over him, knowing how the whole process was stressing the artist – and himself as well, there was no lying there. ''You did it, baby,'' he gently said, loud enough for only her to hear, nuzzling her as he came to a stop while still hugging her. ''Almost, but yeah. Let's hope for the best...,'' replied Vee in the same tone, her arms gently coming around his neck. ''Get a room, you two!'' piped in Raph's tone, playful. The couple looked his way, the red clad terrapin making his way to Mikey. ''Come on, let's give these two nerds some space. Ya wouldn't want to catch their cooties.'' ''Hah! You're just jealous!'' added Donnie comically, next suddenly hurrying to his room, Vee still in his arms and now laughing. Raph was rather unimpressed, a sharp exhale of air leaving him as he glanced from the running one back to his younger brother. ''…. The day I'll be jealous of that bean pole, assume that I'm delirious or somethin' like that.'' *** It wasn't long before they were found in bed, exchanging everyday clothing for comfortable wears. Donnie was laying first, Vee next nestled in-between his legs, her back against his form. The artist was not finished, drink-wise, so she shared some more wine with the terrapin, a screen mounted to a telescopic arm brought over them so they could watch any videos they desired. It was during moments like this that Vee felt at complete peace, loved, and the happiest. The warmth that invaded her could only confirm that she was at the right place with the right person. And yet the same question kept repeating itself in her mind since her conversation with April. ''Donnie, are we compatible?'' she asked in a shy tone. The mutant slightly frowned, his gaze still on the screen. ''Define 'compatible','' he asked. ''Can we procreate?'' His body and muscles suddenly tensed. Both were now staring at eachother, not giving a damn about the video anymore, the turtle trying to find his words. ''… Uhm, well, no. I don't think so. … Wh- Why are you asking this?'' Vee shrugged: ''Well, we've been having unprotected sex and I don't take any contraceptive pills. I'm just curious.... How can you be sure that we're not?'' He sighed briefly, his thoughts running a hundred miles per hour. The video on screen was still going on, the subject suddenly a blur. But that didn't matter. ''First of all, we're not the same specie.'' ''Ok then, why can tigers and lions create ligers? Why can donkeys and horses create mules?'' ''Because to their roots, they are the same. As for us, we come from two different branches. I'm a reptile, you're a mammal; there's a huge spacing inbetween us. Plus, I'm suspecting the mutagen has something to do with it, as it mostly prevents us from contracting human diseases, amongst other things.'' Vee crossed her arms, diverting her gaze, slightly feeling uneasy as she circled her drink slowly and pensively. ''… You do make sense. … I guess I was mostly biased by the fact that you do present humanoid features.'' She felt one of Donnie's hands to her cheek, bringing back her attention on him. ''… Did you want to have a child with me?'' he asked in a hushed tone, forever soft. Vee suddenly blushed, frowning a little. ''No! I mean- uh. Based on your explanations, no. Also I'm not ready for that and it's too early in the relationship to know. I- shit, I dunno,'' she blabbered. The terrapin's smile was soft, amused by her reaction. ''Hey, don't worry, I was just asking! … I guess I'm just wondering too if you ever wanted one. If that was the case, I wouldn't want to prevent you from doing so...'' ''What? You mean you'd let me hook up with a human guy only so I can get banged up?'' questionned the woman, confused, as she sat up straight and was still looking at the other. ''Hell to the no - yuck. The whole pregnancy shebang doesn't appeal to me anyway.'' ''Adoption is also an option,'' added Donnie, matter-o-factly. ''That's pretty much this family's case!'' ''For sure, and I think it's very admirable, but raising a child is still a huge deal in itself.'' She sighed, timidly rubbing the back of her neck. ''… Sorry I brought that up, I was just curious. Ever since I spoke with April, it has been bugging me. I'm really not ready for that chapter in my life and I don't think I'll ever be, but I wanted to know your opinion on that.'' Donnie rejoined her, one of his arms snaking around her form. He was softly nuzzling the top of her head, keeping her close. ''Whatever you choose or decide, I'll always stand by your side, loving every moments – every seconds - spent with you. We build our own happiness, and that doesn't mean it has to imply a child in the future. … As long as you're happy, so am I.'' ''I know. … I do feel kinda weird for not wanting a child though,'' mumbled Vee. ''Hey,'' intervened the mutant. ''You're not weird, believe me. Having a child is not an obligation. This is your body, your choice, and I will forever respect it.'' ''Oh, you better,'' smirked the artist in return.

#chapter #writing #tmnt #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016 #fanfic #fancharacter #oc #selfinsert #donatello x oc #donatello x selfinsert

[vios-rockland-corner]

Life in Rockland 1

[Author’s note:  “Life in Rockland” is a creative writing project utilizing a specific OC in place of the MC for the “Rumors of Rockland” series.  I do not own any part of the Rockland universe, only my OC.  Fair warning, creative writing is not my forte.  This is a means of practice and a fun way to enjoy the content further].

Sasha Holmes is new to Rockland and just had quite an interesting day.

 Setting: After game events

Play: Rumors of Rockland- Article 1

[Spoilers below for RoR Article 1]

Sasha’s Choices:

[“Like the guy from Resident Evil?”]

[“Ah ha, what exactly do you have to do to look like you’re from around here?”]

[“Are you serious?”]

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“I can’t believe you’re still not unpacked yet.  Hasn’t it been almost a week since you moved?”

The voice came from Sasha’s laptop.  She was busy multi-tasking while video-chatting with her best friend Pierce.  Well she could see his face IF she turned over from rummaging through boxes and laying out things on the floor.  Some might consider this rude, but Pierce just found it a little hilarious.

“Look it’s a lot of stuff okay?  Besides, I was busy this week going back and forth with work preparations and trying to get the layout of the place,” Sasha said with a huff, looking over her shoulder at the computer.

“Sounds like too much work. You should’ve just stayed home. What’s wrong with waiting a few more years before moving out?”

“Nothing.  Nothing’s wrong with it.  I just...”

“Wanted to break your best friend’s heart?” Pierce gives a very exaggerated pout.  Sasha turns around and smiles coyly.  She crawls over to the computer and lays in front of it, resting her chin on folded arms.

“No.  Even though you kind of deserve it sometimes.”

“I COULD always go easy on you in pool you now?  I don’t mind toning it down.  You’re not gonna beat me otherwise.”

“First off, I don’t want a pity play from you.  Second, you know damn well how close I got last game.”

“Yeah, only to hit the eight-ball into the complete opposite pocket you called. Gotta say, it was almost impressive how you hilariously made a masterful bounce into the wrong fucking pocket,” he grins, holding back his laughter.

“Well I mean that counts as skill doesn’t it?”

“Yeah like scoring a basketball shot for the other team.”

“Whatever, jerk.”

“But back on topic…”

“Okay yeah, look.  I love my hometown, my parents, and even your obnoxious butt.  But I just…didn’t want to get rooted.  I didn’t want to be living with my parents the whole time.  I didn’t want to know ONLY my home.”

“You worry too much.  The rest of the world’s not going to get up and leave if you take too long to hit the road Sasha.”

“I know that, but I wanted…a challenge.”

“A challenge?  You?  I thought you liked everything neat and controlled.  You want to throw things out of wack now?”

“Nothing elaborate.  Just a life challenge.  Take care of my own expenses and start from the ground up.  Meet people on my own and establish a career.”

“I feel like you’re letting your childhood slip away here.”

“Pierce, we’re not kids.”

“YOU sure as hell aren’t.  You always took freakin part-time jobs during college, and full-time jobs in the summer. I had to DRAG you out to the pub and parties for your own sanity.”

“Well moving and covering the cost of living is EXPENSIVE, Pierce.”

“Jesus, how much did you have saved up?”

“Enough so that I could get a place living by myself,” Sasha smiled proudly.

“Not that I don’t think that’s an impressive achievement girl, but I think I would have felt a little better if you had a roommate.  You’re out there by yourself I mean.”

“Look I worked hard for this, so I want my privacy.  I also didn’t really feel comfortable with finding a roommate way out here.”

“You didn’t pick your roommate in college either though.”

“Yeah, but that was our local college Pierce.  I had friends and family right nearby, so if things got weird I had help.  I’m a few hours away from all that now.”

“A ‘few hours’ you say.  It’s like, you’ve gone too short a distance to even warrant a move, and yet just far enough to making it a hassle with visits.”

“I disagree.  I think it’s the perfect distance.  I wanted to be able to visit home, but I didn’t want the temptation to go running home every chance I could get.  Not impossible to go home though.  The point here Pierce is for me to be ‘independent,’” she huffed.

“Whatever.” Pierce rolled his eyes.

“Say what you will, the deed is done.”

“So uh…Rockland.  Why?”

Sasha shrugged.  “No particular reason.  Just seemed like the best choice.  I looked at job advertisements for surrounding areas by distance, looked at their reviews and job pay and what kind of areas they were located at.  The job in Rockland was just better pay from my current job, and the place is small but still attracts tourists.  Means I don’t have to worry about being overwhelmed, but at the same time it SHOULD have just enough amenities and attractions to keep me entertained.”

“Oh?  Entertain yourself huh?  Last I checked that was my job.  Isn’t your idea of fun sitting at a café and going through files?” He smirked.

“Very funny.  Did you forget all the movies we’d watch together too?  I don’t need a buddy for that, and I’ll find other hobbies here. Maybe I’ll start running again.”

“Well good.  Not like you’re gonna get any excitement from your current job.  I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to push yourself to do something a little more interesting.”

“Thaaat’s what the hobbies are for Pierce.  The job is just for stability.”

“Could have added a little more drama to your life if you’d just decided to follow your namesake.”

“Pierce, literally no one in my family has ever been a detective.  DESPITE our last name.  It’s just a random name picked by a random author for a character that became randomly popular.  It is not a go ahead to pursue a career in criminal justice.”

“Seriously, why has NO ONE in your family ever tried to be a detective?”

“Because it requires you to see a lot of messed up shit?  I think I’ll pass.  I mean…if it makes you feel better, I had a great uncle who was a PI.”

“Really?? What was that like!?” Pierce looked a little excited.

“Honestly?  From the stories I heard, he just got a lot of crazies paying him.  People paranoid about being stalked or just using him as a way to harass others.  Wasn’t exactly fun work.”

“Bummer,” he said in a dejected tone.  “Well, I guess if you’re in a place like Rockland, probably wouldn’t get much action anyway.”

“What makes you say that?  Haven’t you been here before?”

“Just SOUNDS plain to me.  LITERALLY makes me think of rocks.  Yeah I’ve been there.  But that was like, when I was a kid?  Just visiting.  Was never for long.  Uncle was there.”

“Right.  Younger you was probably also too busy running around and sticking his hands in the dirt to actually pay attention to what was around you.”

“Yeeeeep that sounds like me,” he smirked.

“Well, I don’t know if the place has changed since you were little or you literally just have zero awareness of what’s around you, but I wouldn’t EXACTLY call this place boring.  Not after today.”

“Oh?” Pierce leaned in, curious.  “I’m so sorry, what WAS your day like dear Sasha?”

“Well, I was…looking for a place for a regular hangout.  I found this one bar in the Town Central.  At least it felt a lot more welcoming than some of the clubs around here.  Most of the people in general seem friendly here…but they can tell I’m new.  Like…ALL of them can tell.  It’s a little nerve-racking.”

“Look if you didn’t want to want to stick out like a sore thumb, you should have moved to a city.  I told you that.  Much easier to blend in there.”

Sasha shook her head.  “No, I didn’t want to get overwhelmed like that.  The best city choices were too big.  Then I’d really feel lonely.  It’s not bad here, I just…have to be sure I make a good first impression is all.  I don’t…think they hate new people?”

“You JUST said they were friendly, didn’t you?”

“Yeah but…see the bartender…” Sasha shook her head again, “No, no you know what?  I think I was just getting jittery since it’s a new place.  Forget it.”

Pierce tilts his head. “What about the bartender?”

“He…OH!  His name,” she quickly recovered and laughed.  “His name is Whesker!”

“Like Resident Evil Whesker?” Pierce chuckled.

“EXACTLY LIKE RESIDENT EVIL WHESKER!  Dude even knew what that was!”

“SHIT FOR REAL?!  That’s actually pretty sick.  Points for the bartender.  What’d you order from him?”

“Nothing, actually.  Him and the other bartender had to do something out back.  Didn’t actually get to drink anything the whole time I was there.”

“Boo.  Points deducted.”

Sasha chuckled, “Well I mean they were busy.  I wasn’t really mad.  Kind of got distracted with this one guy having…a mental breakdown?”

“Woah.  Like, what do you mean?”

“I mean he was…really off kilter.  Not gonna lie, dude was kind of terrifying.  He kept cussing up a storm and saying he was gonna slit someone’s throat. He did SOMETHING awful.  Could not figure out for the life me what EXACTLY he did. He had a friend with him and I was certain this dude was going to punch him in the face or toss him across the room. He didn’t though.  He just…kinda…slumped down into a weeping mess. It was weird.  He said something about drinking.  I think the dude was an alcoholic.  It was kind of scary to watch.  At first I was kind of quivering from the raw temper he had.  Then…I felt a little empty.”  Sasha went a little quiet.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Pierce said in a reassuring tone.  “Dude was probably just drunk.  Lots of people probably get a little emotional when they’re drunk.  Met a ton of guys who say a lot of shit they don’t really mean when they’re wasted.  Did he go near you?”  Pierce looked a little concerned.

“Oh no, no I didn’t get caught up in any of that.  His friend I guess took him to some place to cool off.  The alcoholic kept saying something about disappointing someone for…whatever he did.”

“That’s good.  If you were to guess what he did though, what would you say?”

Sasha shrugged.  “Maybe he got in a fight?  Broke someone’s nose?  Or maybe he’s got a gambling problem?”

“Yeah.  Could be those.  He could also literally have just spent all his paycheck on booze, and now he’s gotta figure out what to do for rent.  I’ve seen that a few times.  Whatever the case, just…keep your distance Sasha.  Dude was probably just being overly emotional, but I suggest you stay away from wildcards like that you know?”

“Oh yeah don’t worry.  I don’t do so great anyway with very…loud people.”

Pierce laughed. “Yeah I know.  Just saying that if it’s a small place, you MIGHT spot him again.”

“I’ll be careful.  Should be easy to tell if he’s been drinking again anyway.”

“Sounds like his friend can keep him under control.  Don’t worry, I’m sure the next person you come across won’t be as scary Sasha.”

“Well…by all accounts…I suppose you’re not wrong, even though I feel like you should be,” Sasha laughed nervously.

Pierce cocked an eyebrow.  “The heck is that supposed to mean?”

“I..ummm…I never thought I would say this in my entire life…”

“And that would be?”

“….I met a drug dealer.”

Pierce blinked. “YOU.  Met a DRUG DEALER?  You are shitting me right now.”

“No, no this is a thing that happened.  Right after the alcoholic left.”

“What, you parked close to the back alley and he came out to hassle you?”

“No this was in the bar.”

“Oh, oh so you’re telling me that a drug dealer just walked right the fuck up to you and said ‘Hey wanna buy some drugs?’” Pierce was grinning and trying to hold back his laughter.

“…Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“YES!  I’m not joking! This happened!  And the dude collects snow globes and friendship bracelets too!” Sasha blurted out, exasperated.

Pierce burst out laughing, “NO FUCKING WAY!  No, I’m not believing that shit for a second.  Sasha you must have misinterpreted something there or this dude was just fucking with you.”

“THERE’S NO WAY TO MISINTERPRET THE LINE WORD-FOR-WORD, ‘You want to buy drugs, kid?’”

“Sasha no drug dealer is going to deal that stuff in public.  Cops eat at those places too.”

“Yeah, about that…apparently the cops here are either inept or can be ‘persuaded.’  I don’t know. Tyler’s plan was apparently to give them a blow if he got caught.”

“Okay one, who’s Tyler?  And two, which blow you talking about?”

“Tyler is the drug dealer and…both?”

Pierce stares for a full 10 seconds, stunned.  He then burst out laughing again, falling over on his side this time.

“OH MY GOD!  OH MY FUCKING GOD! Sweet innocent Sasha left home for no less than a week and you’re already hooked up with the world’s nicest drug dealer.  Oh man.  Sasha I take back what I said about Rockland.  Sounds like a riot.”  He had a large Cheshire grin on his face, but was holding his sides from laughing so hard.

Sasha rolled her eyes and said in a deadpan tone, “Well I’m glad through this long conversation, the thing that finally seems to get you to approve of my move is my association with a drug dealer.  Of all things.  Your reaction also makes me understand Dylan’s pain even more now.”

Pierce sighed, “Oh man, that just, that just made my day.  Thank you….wait who the hell is Dylan?”

“You’re welcome, and Dylan is Tyler’s friend.  He was mostly horrified about how open Tyler was.  Probably one of the more sane people in the bar that night. He dragged Tyler away at the end.”

“Aww, so you didn’t get any drugs?”

“No?  No number, no drugs.”

“Why would you NOT get drugs?!”

“What th-YOU KNOW ME!  That’s not me.  Plus my parents would have a heart attack if I tried anything.”

“But Sasha!  It’s not enough to just not buy a product from a vendor whose actions you don’t approve of.  You gotta purchase from their competition whose conduct you prefer!”

“…Okay I get what you’re saying.  Like if I want to support humanely raised animals, buy the food in the store that’s only from farms with humane raising tactics.  But, Pierce…you’re talking about DRUG DEALERS here. That’s ALL illegal.”

“Same difference.  I’d rather pay the friendly snow globe collecting drug dealer in the bar than the creepy freak in the dark alley.  It’s how you make the world a better place Sasha!  Illegal or not, not like they’re going away.”

“You are…just…I think I understand Dylan’s feelings even more now.”

“Let me come visit sometime.  You can take me to see Tyler.”

“Oh hell no!  If I have any say in this, I’m gonna try my hardest that you two never meet.  I will NEVER hear the end of it otherwise.”

“Boo.  Fine, be that way.  …Hey can I tell your parents about Tyler?”

“NO.  You’ll make THEM start to question my choice in coming here.”

“Okay okay.” Pierce settled down.  “So in summary, you walked into a bar where the bartenders dipped out, an alcoholic was in hysterics and the drug dealer was trying to get you in his books….Eh, you know when I say it out loud it doesn’t sound like the craziest bar ever. May even be pretty normal compared to some standards,” he grinned.

Sasha chuckled, “Yeah, I think I’ll pay the place another visit sometime. It was…interesting.”

“You could use a little spice in your mundane life girl.  Sounds like this place could be a gem.  Let me know who else pops up there next time, kay?” he winked.

“I will.  Have a good night Pierce.”

“Say hi to Tyler for me!”

“GOOD NIGHT Pierce.”

Sasha clicked “End Call.”

Sasha sighed.  She felt emotionally exhausted.

Her eyebrows furrowed.  “Did I forget something?  I think that was all the news.  There was something though…” Sasha thought to herself.  Something was nagging at her.

“The…bartender?  What am I…oh no I mentioned his name!  Pretty sure that was it,” she chuckled.

Sasha looked at the boxes and just shook her head.  She’ll finish it later.  Right now, bed sounded like the best idea after all that excitement.

#Rockland #Rockland Games #rumors of rockland #runawayoutlaw #rottenbonethief #my OC #sasha holmes #Life in Rockland #RoR

[homeremodelingatlanta7b]

Determining a Kitchen Remodeling Budget

Basement remodeling atlanta

It is very important to find out a financial budget for virtually any do it yourself project, and kitchen remodeling isn't exception.

A thing of caution: I spent hrs researching kitchen remodeling cost and budgeting online to accumulate data with this article. I ran into a few websites that gave size pricing for kitchen remodeling. Although I commiserate using look for an easy approach to determine remodeling pricing, this kind of advice just isn't based in reality. Remodeling jobs normally are so specific to the conditions of the building and tastes from the homeowner that no square footage pricing is ever going to starting point. I additionally encountered many sites that didn't offer you any real information about establishing a budget but basically interpreted Hanley Wood's Remodeling Cost vs. Value report that's published annually. You happen to be far better off going to the Cost vs. Value report on the web and evaluating the final results yourself.

home remodeling marietta

Like other things in this world a kitchen remodel will cost more than you thought it would and the sky's the limit about what it can cost determined by your preferences. You can find multiple factors that go into determining a remodeling budget.

There are numerous places online you can check out help you establish a basic budget number to start with. Our recommendation is Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value Report which is released by region and major city each year. The truly nice thing about this report would it be provides description from the "average" project to help you gauge in case your kitchen remodel is going to fall above or below the benchmark. Furthermore, i find their average pricing to be an exact reflection in the pricing for our company, so by recommending to clients before I even talk to them that they can investigate this report they are prone to begin a realistic budget we could work within to present them an incredible kitchen.

Custom Hutch designed with Semi-Custom Cabinets

While Remodeling Magazine's report is quite helpful, it is a very one size fits all method of establishing a budget. Continue reading if you want to try to hone your numbers a little.

Escape a pad and paper and jot down several notes about each factor along the way through their list:

Factor 1 Home Value- Consider not merely how you feel your home is worth, but also the price of similar homes where you live that curently have updates. The best site to check home values is zillow.com, simply enter your address and you also have an interactive map with home along with other information listed right on the map. Pay attention to which homes are of similar size to yours, happen to be purchased recently, but have a higher value, then peek in their windows to determine exactly what the house looks like. Ok, seriously, I became only kidding. Should you not know them perhaps it's time to meet the neighbors and ask for a simple tour.

Factor 2 Wow! - It is everything to use your primary goal and motivations. Write down each motivational factor which can be crucial that you you in the kitchen remodel. Here are several possible examples: Kitchen is falling apart. You want to cook and the layout doesn't suit you. You love to entertain and want to start living rooms like a place to gather. You need a kitchen that wows your guests. You get able to sell your own home and also the kitchen is really a sticking point with buyers... Now that you have your list, determine what motivations are most important and relist them in motivational order. Imagining your financial allowance beginning in "the middle" pay attention to which factors might move the budget up or down...i.e. attempting to remodel to encourage sales might slowly move the budget down, remodeling to wow guest might max it...etc.

Factor 3 Did someone say AGA? - List any "must haves" for a kitchen remodel to become worth the cost to you personally. Possible examples: granite counters, a tropical with an extra sink, an extra dishwasher, an advert quality gas range, etc.

Factor 4 Longevity- Determine to the best of what you can do the length of time you intend on owning the home.

Factor 5 Size Matters- Determine what amount of your property your kitchen encompasses. A sampling well over 100 modern home floorplans of 1000 to 3000 square feet homes revealed the average kitchen size to be 7% from the home's sq footage. If your kitchen is greater or smaller than this average you might need to decrease or increase your allowance accordingly.

Factor 6 Layout- should you may have learned you're going to want the sink moved, hawaiian isle sink added, an enclosed wall moved plus an exterior door added, you will want to add money on your budget well past such a basic facelift would cost.

Tricky layout: the decorative column conceals a sound wrapped drain pipe

Factor 7 Funding- Determine the maximum amount money you could manage to spend. If you're financing your project you are able to calculate such a lender will likely lend you. Lenders are interested in a personal debt to income ratio(DTI) of.36 or less. Your DTI is established by taking all of your monthly debt obligations (credit card payments, automobile financing, mortgage, etc.) and dividing from your monthly income. To discover your maximum safe monthly debt multiply.36 times your monthly income. Now subtract your existing monthly debt out of this number and you've got a monthly budget maximum. Here is a connect to a calculator that will perform the math for you personally: mortgage calculator

Putting it All Together

The key to managing your finances are choosing the amount of your home's value you should use being a budget guideline. While researching this article I discovered recommendations to make use of percentages starting from 10% to 25% of home value. For any kitchen remodel of any substance that features new flooring, appliances, cabinets, sink/faucet, lighting and bringing electric approximately code I have discovered anything below 15% to become very dubious number. I guess on a million dollar house 10% will be a workable budget, but on the 200k house a 20k affordability is marginal at the best for the complete kitchen remodel.

If resale value is very important for your requirements it is wise to keept the cost of your home renovation project within 20% of the present worth of your home. Staying within this range insures that the majority of the brand new kitchen's price is recouped in increased home value immediately, and the remaining cost must be recouped within 5 years because your home appreciates.

Ok, let's put into practice one example. Remember, there is no exact formula here. We have been simply doing good to become as informed as you possibly can and create a wise decision about how exactly much to spend on the kitchen remodel.

For the example let's use the house. It's a 50's cape cod with a modest square footage of 1500.

Factor 1 value: Zillow provides me with an estimated price of $167,500, however, I notice zillow hasn't yet updated and taken into account the single homes which are recently integrated the sector behind us with a starting expense of $270k. Zillow also has our square footage listed at under 1200. Looks like the previous owner did a bit remodeling with no permit. I am going to base my budget with a expense of 180k which is similar to other houses locally which might be exactly the same size.

Factor 2 Goals: My family and i want to entertain guests. To create a kitchen remodel worthwhile for all of us we must lose an interior wall to spread out up the kitchen and dining nook on the family area. I am going to add 1% to plan for this.

Factor 3 Most important items: As being a former chef two most important items for me personally are a new oven as well as a really nice propane range(no gas main service here), preferably an advertisement range modified for your kitchen at home (real commercial ranges lack insulation throughout the oven, critical for home safety). I am going to add another 1% to my budget to make certain there's enough money to acquire me my range and propane installation.

Factor 4 Longevity: We plan to be in the house at the very least 4 years. Generally of thumb it will take Five years for most remodeling to achieve and recoup all of its cost. Because we will probably be at least Five years I'm not gonna penalize the budget, consider there's a good chance we'll move right around Five years That's not me gonna increase it like I might whenever we were staying considerably longer.

Factor 5 Size Kitchen: The kitchen at home is approximately 140SquareFeet(SF). That's over 9% of the SF of your home, 2% excellent. Obviously this kitchen is going to require some extra material and cabinets. I'll in the budget 1% with this, I am hoping it's enough.

Factor 6 Layout: We are going to customize the layout of our kitchen pretty extensively. We currently use a cooktop peninsula. The product range will probably use a differnet wall as well as the dishwasher will move to the peninsula, though organic beef ditch the peninsula, slowly move the fridge and add hawaiian isle instead. About the only stuff that won't move may be the sink. I will add another 1% to my budget, again hoping $1800 (1% individuals 180k value) is enough to cover the electrical and plumbing changes.

In my base I am going to use 20%. Because i mentioned earlier on, you'll find gonna be people who will argue with me on that, but going lower often doesn't leave you with workable budget numbers for full blown kitchen remodels. I'm adding 4% according to my factors in the above list. I adjusted my zillow.com estimated home value to 180k depending on the comparable size and value of other homes around me. This provides me a working budget of 24% x 180k= $43,200 When I match it up to the Cost Vs. Value report I see that in the centre Atlantic Region an important Kitchen Renovation is $59, 098. It looks like my budget could be bit low, especially since i have really would really like granite countertops along with the Cost Vs. Value specs necessitate laminate tops. Conversely the kitchen at home is really a lot small compared to their 200SF benchmark, i really think I'll opt for my budget number and discover what my contractor can perform personally because budget.

[shan-joed-blog]

Wisdom from Years of Android Development

Source of Information: Android Classes In Pune

I still keep in mind that day back in 2014 once I chose to begin Android growth, and this was among the greatest decisions I required in my entire life. It's been approximately two and a half a year today and that I had the opportunity to understand and un-learn a good deal of items in Android.

Originally when I began, I did not have a mentor or someone who could direct me to do things the ideal way.  I have done a LOT of errors and wasted a great deal of time later rectifying them.

Afterwards, after one and a half a year, I have the opportunity to use some really gifted and expert Android programmers, who advised me and allow me to shape matters in a far greater manner.  Both these stages helped me find out a hell lot of stuff in the tricky way.  

It's been quite a while I have been attempting to assist other programmers in a sense possible for me personally, indirectly and directly.  

In the following guide, I'll be sharing a few of the gems I have gathered lately.  It may help a person to get started quicker rather than repeat the mistakes which I did.

Disclaimer: I could largely be focussing on Android plus a few notions of product and programming development within the following guide, so if you aren't acquainted with some of them, you may rather not read any farther.  Others, just dip.  :--RRB-

Do not Reinvent the Wheel

Originally I had a lousy notion of not utilizing open-source libraries. Whatever I wanted, I only wanted to make it .  It has was severely a terrible thought.

When you've got a problem whilst creating your program, and if this problem was solved by another person earlier and in a fantastic way, why don't you use this? You may save yourself a good deal of time.

Focus on the core business logic of your program.  If you wish to create network calls on your program, you do not have to earn a Retrofit yourself.

Bonus: Android Arsenal keeps a record of nearly all of Android libraries made. Go take a look.

Pick Libraries Wisely

You will find lots and a lot of open-source libraries out there in Github that you use at no cost.  But do not get too excited and begin using libraries .

Assess the amount of celebrities that library gets, the greater the better. Assess whether the writer of the library also have established some other popular libraries too.  Verify the topics (both closed and open ), which may provide you a clearer idea of how powerful and secure the library is in creation.

If you're able to spend the time, then you ought to dip into the code of the library and assess yourself whether its really worthwhile.

You only wish to make certain that the code you're likely to use is dependable, bug-free and high quality.

Pro Suggestion: Try any library hosted straight from the command line with Dryrun.

If you aren't doing this, START today.

Whatever code you're in a position to write now is simply because you've read and heard something, somewhere, someday.  It is only a manifestation of what you know.  You may just grow and improve your self by studying and learning from other's work.

The fantastic thing about Android is the fact that it's an entirely open-source platform.  Dive in the code and assess how they've implemented the frame.  There are hundreds and hundreds of open minded libraries in Github.  Simply select a library and find out the way the programmer have employed it.

Bonus: here's a curated collection of a few of the greatest libraries and here's a list of nearly all accessible Android programs out there.  You're welcome:--RRB-

Should you compare coding together with composing, then coding criteria is similar to your own handwriting.

Since you'd be studying more of the others code, other folks are also studying a great deal of your code and you do not wish to frighten the shit from these, do you really?  And if you're working within a business and cooperating with other programmers greatly, do take particular care of it.

Write brief, readable and clean code which you and people reading your code will like thoroughly.  Your code should read as a narrative.

Do not complain if you compose a bit of code along with your coworkers do not speak to you for a couple of days.

You Want ProGuard, YesYou Want It!

ProGuard not just minifies your code, but it also obfuscates your code which makes it tougher for reverse-engineers to comprehend, replicate and control it.

Its free and comes bundled with all the Android SDK, and there's simply no reason for you to not use it.

I've observed many developers releasing their program in the marketplace with no ProGuard.  It shouldn't require more than a couple of hours to get a not-so-skilled hacker to control an the program published without Proguard.

Pro Suggestion: But if you'd like top-notch protection, then ProGuard is just like a cardboard at the same time you want a secure, and here it's, DexGuard.

Use a Suitable Architecture

You may thank yourself for choosing a suitable structure in the first location.

It's possible to utilize MVP (Model-View-Presenter) structure that may decouple your code to various easy-to-manage layers thereby enhancing code flexibility and significantly reducing maintenance period.

There's a good demo job for you to begin.  And if you're having trouble grasping it, here's a thorough guide for the novices.

Bonus: Do provide a check out this, this and most significantly this.  Every one these can help you in executing MVP on your undertaking.   User Interface Is just like a Joke, Should You Need to Explain It, It Is Bad

Should you work for any company playing the use of"only" a Android programmer, you likely won't have to be overly concerned about that, since there really are UI/UX designers to look after this.

However, if you're a single programmer, you have to get this directly in your mind.  I've seen programmers creating really great programs with good performance, however, the UI looks horrible along with the UX makes it a hassle to use.

Layout a clean, easy and gorgeous interface that's easy on the eyes.  You shouldn't just think as a programmer, instead you need to focus on igniting the concealed designer in you.

Attempt to make a lasting impression in your customers by designing a gorgeous UI, so they return to your program more frequently than others and often convert more (purchase your premium variant ( possibly ).

You ought to find a kick by eliminating elements from your own design, instead of adding.  Keep it minimal and clean.

And there's this book you probably would really like to see if you want to know more about design.

Analytics Is Your Very Best Friend

If you would like to produce a really amazing program, then you have to heavily rely on analytics programs to assess the operation and utilization of different sections of your program.

By analytics, I refer to both the collision reporting and program usage monitoring and you want both of these.

Anything you do, you can't ever make something ideal.  When actual users will begin using your program on various Android apparatus and on different Android variants available, you may also find a few of the greatest written code to drop flat on the floor.

Crash reporting programs can allow you to monitor and fix themone crash at one time.

You also will need to begin thinking like a marketer and also examine the use of various elements of your program.  This is what's going to allow you to bridge the gap between what you've created and what your customers' actually desire.

Pro Suggestion: I strongly suggest looking for the crash reporting tool in Instabug.  You're going to appreciate it.

Make a Marketing Ninja If you're a single programmer, you need to consider beyond being"a programmer" and need to understand marketing too.

I've observed great products fail because of lack of suitable marketing, and also the not-so-good ones become hugely successful only because of fantastic advertising.

If you're seriously interested in your work and need it to reach a huge audience, you want to spend your time and cash in properly advertising your program. But prior to beginning your marketing and advertising campaigns, make certain your program is totally stable with all attributes prepared.  You need maximum conversions out of each penny you pay, right?

Spend some time exploring who your opponents are and how you can overcome them. Identify the ones you're able to compete quickly as well as also the ones which you need to keep aside for a long term struggle.

Pro Suggestion: This is an inexpensive market evaluation instrument, I really like to use.

It Is Time to Boost Your Program

This is something which the majority of us don't do, however, you need to and you want to.

Write code which runs fast, takes less memory and absorbs less apparatus storage.

An unoptimized program works well under ordinary conditions, but when placed to various stressful circumstances, it may show you its true colours.

Bear in mind, a very small leak can sink a large ship.  Spend some time on knowing how the Garbage Collector works in Java, produce heap dumps and examine your live items.

Pro Suggestion: Use Leak Canary to discover your memory flows.  It can save a great deal of time by accomplishing this job for you.

Save Over 5 Hours Each Week with Gradle Builds

It is very very possible that you're utilizing Android Studio to create Android programs and utilizing Gradle as your own build platform.  Gradle is excellent but its slow and it becomes much thinner than a snail as soon as your job size begins to increase in proportion.

I recall the countless hours I've wasted just sitting and awaiting the Gradle assembles to complete.  On hefty workouts, I wasted around one hour just Gradle assembles and that is like 5 hours each week draining the gutter.

However, there are ways to speed this up too.

It is possible to stick to this and this article to greatly enhance your construct rates.  My construct time fell from 4 minutes to less than 30 minutes following appropriate optimization.

Evaluation, Evaluation and When You're Finished, Test Again!

There isn't anything more significant than testing.  This is something which needs to be on very top of your list.

Test your program as completely as you can.   Create various stressful scenarios for your program and see whether it can endure.

I'd formerly made the mistake of publishing my program from rush and did not spend appropriate time analyzing it.  I had been waiting for my customers to confront bugs, report it and then I'd go and mend them.

You may spare a day, or 2, or per week by cutting time from studying, but will most likely have to spend over double afterwards.

Make a visionary.  Sow today, reap afterwards.

There are a massive assortment of all Android devices with different display sizes and hardware specifications from plenty of different apparatus manufactures that personalize the OS for their heart's content.

Added to this are the a variety of Android variants at which Google adds/removes API performance from nowhere to raise your workload further (an example here).

By way of instance, not just one Android programmer has completed a program without using SharedPreferences API.  It is so common, however it had been broken up in Samsung Galaxy S using Android 2.2 (bug report ).

Spend additional time creating different designs for different screen dimensions.  Evaluation on various apparatus, having different variations, different specifications and from various OEMs.

Never presume something could work, simply as it appears so.

Start with Git, Now!

If you're still not utilizing Git, go right ahead and begin using it straight away.

Once I began Android advancement, I was unlucky enough to not understand exactly what the fudge Git was.  I used to replicate my whole project regular and keep 1 backup in my hard disk and another from the cloud.  Seems foolish?  Yes, it was.

Git can radically enhance your workflow.  If a person asks me to mention a tool I use everyday and can not quit using? It is Git and Git each time.

And likely after using it for a couple of days you'd fall in love with it and wish to understand how Git works tirelessly, so here it's prepared for you.

And after some time, you'd be starting a large project your self and get confused about how you should keep a suitable branching model, so that you go.

Bonus: If you're only starting out and can not manage to pay the monthly subscription fee for keeping private repositories from GitHub, it is possible to attempt BitBucket which permits you to do this free of charge.

Make It Hard for the Hackers

The open minded nature of Android is exactly what makes it susceptible to attacks.

You do not need it to happen for your program, right?

You ought to be aware of how to safely store API keys everywhere on your program. If you're managing sensitive information from those consumers, then you have to understand how to encrypt themwhat algorithm to select (secure yet quickly ).

It's also advisable to keep the encryption keys safely in the host or locally (if desired ).   If you're storing sensitive information in the database, then think about obfuscating it.

If your program includes a premium version that gets cracked and has published at no cost.  You'd incur a critical reduction in company, right?

There are many things you can do to stop your program from becoming tampered. There's not anything like 100% safety. Any proficient and recognized hacker with the proper tools, patience and tools may crack your program.

Whatever you need to do is make it hard, rather very tricky for the hacker to decode it.

A luxury apparatus will hide a great deal of flaws while creating your program. Suppose you're doing something from the UI thread that makes its way to get a laggy UI, however onto a potent device, you might never ever observe that.

A classic, low-end apparatus, dumped with a lot of programs makes it perfect for a development apparatus.  

That is an investment which will pay you eternally.

Whilst creating large and intricate programs, you may face some common issues that have probably been solved before by somebody more capable than you, that is when designing patterns comes in to play.

Here's a Github job that shows all of the design patterns known to humanity.

Looks like a great deal?  It really is not.  You'll begin enjoying them after you dip in.

It Is Time to Give Back

Most of us have a great deal of assistance from folks around us and by the net. Lets declare it.  When you have a issue, the very first thing you'd do is Google that and find the very first link from StackOverflow.  Sometimes you're in a rush and you wind up copying and pasting the alternative in the response with the greatest votes.

Ever believed the amount of libraries you're using from Github free of charge and the way in which they have significantly reduced your development efforts and time.  Its because somebody somewhere has taken the opportunity to construct it and donate to make the community better.

Recall the day, if you had been stuck in knowing a challenging idea or something that's completely new to you, and you wind up finding an wonderful blog post that made it super simple for you.  Its because someone skipped a film date and wrote this post.

We're active in our work and also we find it too hard to handle time and do something for others.  But try to get some time each week to donate and make this particular Android community wealthier.

I've attempted to discuss a few of the lessons I have discovered in this brief journey with Android improvement.  I'll continue my trip, find out more and share more.  I hope it will help somebody and makes their life somewhat simpler.

Android Course In Pune | Android Training In Pune | Learn Android Development In Pune

[purplesurveys]

592

Let's start off with some basics. Cool, I haven’t started off a survey with basics in a while. What's your name? Robyn, but y’all who have stuck around for a while know that already. How old are you? 21. What's your hair and eye color? Hair’s black, eye color’s dark brown/black-ish. How tall are you? I’m pretty certain I’m 5′1. What's your relationship status? In one. Alright, enough of that. Let's move on to the random shit.

What's your favorite song? Uhhh at the moment it’s Sam Smith’s cover of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. They did their own twist to it and it sounds incredible. It would probably take a bit to get used to in 2019, but once you warm up to the sound, the cover is just brilliant. What does that song mean? What is the message behind it? It’s a disco song, the lyrics just repeat for three straight minutes and is not supposed to be any deeper than ‘I feel love.’ Is it your favorite because you relate to it, or do you just like the beat? I love the beat, the sound, and what Sam offered to the song. Have any pets? If so, what are they and what's their names? Yes, I have a cute Santa Claus-outfit-wearing dog at the moment :)) His name is Kimi. Have you ever met your idol? I have never met Kristen Stewart, AJ Lee, Hayley Williams, nor Beyoncé. And I’d most likely pass even if there was a chance to meet any of them; I’m too afraid that I’d mess up in front of them. If so, were they nice or were they kind of an ass? What's your favorite method of gaming? (PC, Xbox, Playstation, etc) I don’t play a lot myself but I do enjoy watching games on Nintendo or Playstation consoles. If you're in college, what's your major and why did you pick it? I’m in journalism. I picked it because I thought it’s what I wanted to pursue back in high school. I was good at writing and loved telling stories, the obvious path was towards journ so I don’t hate myself or regret picking such a major. But through the years I’ve learned to hate it more and more though – my interests lie within public relations and advertising now, a complete 180 from the world of journalism. How're you doing today? A little too early to be asking that, it’s 7:43 in the morning. I do feel quite nice because classes ended up being suspended today due to the incoming typhoon, but otherwise it’s just mostly meh for now. What color are your bedroom walls? They’re white. Describe your favorite shirt. Right now my favorite shirt is a halter tank top I got for ₱50 at a small tiangge booth in Feliz, hahaha. I just wish I could wear it everyday without anyone judging because I look cute in it. Use this space to tell someone off. I don’t think anyone I know deserves that at the moment. What's your view on smart watches? Cool or a waste of money? Waste of money, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting one lmao. What is one poster that you have hanging on your bedroom wall of? I still have that damn poster of Nam Joo Hyuk up near my bed lol. I haven’t seen a k-drama since 2017, but I’m just too lazy to take it down. How many times have you moved in your life? That I can remember? Two. I think we moved a couple times more when I was an infant. If you moved, do you like where you are now better than where you were? It’s definitely more peaceful, quiet, and much much cleaner in our house; but there are days where I still miss having my cousins and grandma under the same roof. What's your favorite color and why? Pastel pink. It’s pleasant to the eyes and looks good on most stuff. My wallet,  purse, main school notebook, one of my highlighters, my phone case, clipboard, backpack, and shoulder bag are all that color hahahaha Do you have a calendar? If so, what's the theme? I have one on my phone; I don’t really need a physical one. No theme because I don’t think my phone allows me to customize my calendar anyway. Have any famous person's autographs? I have AJ’s from a signed poster that I bought like 5-6 years ago from WWEShop. Was never actually sure if she actually signed it but it’s always easier to believe that. Do you draw well? That’s the worst thing I can do, or try to do at that. What type of cell phone do you have? I have an iPhone 8. Should you be doing anything else right now or are you just bored? I am actually supposed to be working on final requirements, but they’re all for my newspaper layout class and I cannot be ASSED to open Adobe InDesign and work on some dumb layout stuff right now. If you're in school/college, what's your favorite subject and why? This semester my favorite class is Kasaysayan 117, or Social History of the Philippines (‘Kasaysayan’ means history in Filipino). Social history veers away from the typical elite/heroes/war/colonization/what have you narratives that history books typically go with, and focuses instead on the developments of, say, gender, education, illnesses, and religion in the country. It basically focuses on the everyday life of the ordinary citizen, which I find more interesting and relatable than war stories. I certainly wish I can take this class more than once. Are you a cat or a dog person? Why? Dog person. They’re friendly and sweet and silly and will always stay by your side, which I love. I have never been able to connect with cats and finally at one point, trying just tired me out completely lmao HISS at me then, sis Tell me about the plot of your favorite book. Not my favorite, but definitely a memorable one – Scarlett O’Hara is in love with some dude named Leslie who’s married to his first cousin. Scarlett ends up gunning after him for a good chunk of time, even as she marries Rich Guy Rhett Butler and has a kid with him. Eventually [spoiler] kid dies and Rhett realizes Scarlett never cared for her just as Scarlett realizes she loves Rhett. Not a good ending for Scarlett. Bunch of people die. Oh and all of this takes place during the Civil War. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Glasses. I flinch at the idea of putting anything anywhere near my eye, so contacts are a no-no for me. What do you think about horror movies? It’s a hit or miss most of the time. Great genre with some even greater hits, though. If you love them (I do), what's your favorite? Misery or The Shining. Cliché picks, but I personally enjoyed both so why not. Got any cool Christmas presents picked out for family or friends yet? I dunno about ‘cool’ but I got Gabie a Hydro Flask water bottle and I’m SO excited for her to get it because she’s always been envious of mine and she’s always talking about wanting one because water tastes so crisp and fresh from those bottles. It’s kind of a bittersweet story for me though – I lost my own Hydro Flask a day after I got hers. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Do you do Black Friday shopping or wait for Cyber Monday? I do neither of those things because I’m from the Philippines and we have no idea what those holidays(?) mean. Have any mental illnesses? I’m sure I do, I just have never gotten myself checked. What's your favorite word and why? I’m not really obsessed with any right now. What is the most expensive thing you own, and what is it? It’s either my laptop or my phone...I’m not sure how much they were; my parents paid for both. Although I’m guessing the phone cost more because it was the newest in the iPhone line at the time of their purchase. Did you buy that item yourself? Hahahaha, nope. Super grateful to my parents for getting it for me despite knowing I have the tendency to crack and break all the phones I own. This current one is staying strong, though! Where do you work and what is your postion? I don’t have a job yet but I’m part of two organizations in college, if that counts. I’m the vice president for external affairs in my journalism org and associate editor in our graduating batch’s yearbook club. How often do you cuss? Probably once every few hours? Definitely way less than when I was an angsty, feisty, annoying little teenager lmao. What type of car do you drive, if any? I have a Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback. Are you happy with it? If no, what's your dream car? I’m happy with it; it’s small, convenient, and easy to drive. My dream car is something just as small but a little more fancy, so I’m wishing for a Mini haha. Do you have a lot of social media accounts? Which ones? Nah I just have three main ones – Twitter, Facebook, and this Tumblr. I’ve made accounts on other apps like Snapchat and Instagram, but I stopped using the former and I never use the latter. What is your favorite genre of music? I don’t have one. Does your family have holiday traditions? If so, what are they? It’s not a unique tradition but we go to my grand-aunt’s house and we do Monito-Monita, which is essentially a Filipino Secret Santa. We fix ourselves in a circle and when you’re It, you have to dance/walk/prance around with your gift while everyone sings the monito-monita song (which I’m too lazy to expound on, lol). When the song ends, you have to hand your ‘baby’ their gift. If you're in a relationship, are you happy with it? Yes. How long have you been with your significant other? Three years, but that’ll change to four by February. Do you like psychology? (It's my college major). I love it. It’s one of my the-one-that-got-away courses, along with history. I wanted to have a glimpse of psych by taking a psychology elective once, but I got a bad prof and never got in the mood to take another elective again, so that’s a shame. What is something your state is popularly known for? We don’t have states, we just have provinces and cities. Antipolo is known for their delicacies such as kasoy, suman, and latik. Do you like to do craft projects? If so, what's the coolest thing you made? Kind of? I don’t like anything I have to sculpt or mold myself; but lately I’ve been into paint-by-number kits and I asked Gab to get me a couple of them as a Christmas gift. It’ll help with my seasonal depression, so I’m excited to be preoccupied during the holiday break. Do you watch sports or do you think they're overrated? I don’t think they’re overrated. I just don’t find most of them interesting to watch. What's one occupation you think gets paid too much and doesn't deserve to? TROLLS Do you straighten your hair? No. Ever dyed your hair a color that isn't natural? (blue, pink, etc) I haven’t dyed it at all. How's your relationship with your parents? We have a best friends-type of relationship in that we banter and not opposed to insulting each other and cursing in front of one another, but I don’t let them know me any deeper than surface-level. The angst and trauma I developed due to my mom being horrid to me when I was younger permanently kept me from ever desiring a soft, emotional, intimate bond with her. And as for my dad, well he’s worked overseas all my life and I only get to see him once or twice a year, so it’s easy to understand why I have not developed a super super SUPER close bond with him as well. Do you still live with them or do you have your own house? I live with them but I’d love to have my own place soon. What's something you are currently saving money for to buy? More Christmas gifts for loved ones. I’ve only bought gifts for my girlfriend so far. Do you smoke/vape? If so, what brand do you smoke/what device do you use? I vape, but don’t smoke. Gab gave me her vape pen which is from a brand named Smok, because she soon learned after vaping a few times that she’s asthmatic. :( I do get disposable vape pens from Vedfun which I honestly prefer more, though. Ever done drugs? Other than painkillers, no. Tell me one of your worst habits. Letting myself go hungry because I’m a little obsessed with the thought of saving money. What's a weird quirk you have that no one else you know does? I have to lock my car doors three times in a row before I feel entirely secure. If you game, what type of headset do you use? What type of computer do you own, and do you like it? I have a Macbook Air, and I love it. What's the thing that annoys you the most? Metro Manila traffic. What brand of TV do you have? All of our TVs are Samsung, I think. Are you excited for Christmas? (It's December 1st today when I made this) I can take it or leave it. Tell me about your favorite vacation you've taken. Sagada x Baguio last 2014. I was hurting a lot that time because of recent shitty events that all happened to me, but the climate, the nature, and the peace and quiet allowed me to recharge and let everything out. It helped that there was a movie that had just come out then called That Thing Called Tadhana (Fate) wherein the lead girl was going through the same stuff I did, then she took a bus trip to Sagada, stood on top of a cliff, and yelled and cried her heart out. I set out to do the same (I didn’t scream though, just cry haha) and it was a good release. I’ll never forget that trip because I had never been more in touch with myself and allowed myself to be that raw until that week.

Tell me something cool about yourself. [continued all the way from 7 AM because I just got lazy for the rest of the morning. It’s now 4:41 PM.] Anyone outside of pro wrestling will probably not find this cool but I’ve been acknowledged by all three of my all-time favorite female figures in the industry (retweeted by AJ Lee, followed by Natalya, greeted happy birthday by Stephanie McMahon). All three are memories I’ll cherish forever. Did/do you get good grades in school/college? Not so much in grade school, because I was admittedly irresponsible and my elders didn’t pay much attention to my study habits, either. I got better in high school, but I still made sure not to tire myself out because I knew the grades I’d get then literally wouldn’t matter in college. Now that I’m in college and for once the grades DO matter, I’m working 15 times as hard and getting good grades throughout. What's your ringtone on your phone? They’re all ringtones provided by Apple. What's your favorite store to shop in? For clothes, independent stores would do. They can sell a tank top for ₱50 (1 USD) that I would otherwise find in H&M for like, ₱299 (6 USD) lmao. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy and why? I’d pay off my parents’ various purchases like our house and cars so that the guilt doesn’t eat me up when I treat myself. How long have you had a Bzoink account? I don’t have a Bzoink account, but I’ve been using it to find surveys since 2008. My survey habit started veeeeery early, y’all.

Ever been to Field of Screams? If so, what's your favorite attraction? I have not. I’m not even sure I know what that is. Do you own a Polaroid camera? I don’t. Do you have hardwood floor in your room or carpet? Hardwood. It's a Saturday night, what are you typically doing? Taking surveys or catching up with work. Do you have a lot of friends or do you not have any at all? I have a lot, fortunately. College taught me to open up my circle. What's your all time favorite movie and why? Two for the Road. It just clicks with me. Audrey and Albert very both very passionate in their roles and their tandem worked amazingly to bring the story to life.

How many blankets do you sleep with at night? Just one. What's the last TV show you watched? Did you enjoy it? Queer Eye; I made Gab watch the Jones Bar-B-Q episode which is usually cited as one of the best of the series. I loved watching it the second time. Do you prefer cable TV or do you use Netflix? I use Netflix; I haven’t tuned in to cable TV for a good 4-5 years maybe. What is your dream job and why? Working somewhere in WWE. That company’s been a part of my life for...welp, my whole life. A part of me just feels as though I HAVE to end up there. Do you think you would be a good therapist? I know I’m a good listener and that I can read body language and signals quite well, but I don’t think I’d want people to dump their burdens and rants on me. What's your favorite brand of clothing? H&M. Did you like this survey? Sure!

#survey #surveys

[mcfrey]

something I wrote about BigHit on my phone at 2am to try and organise my thoughts that nobody asked for or has to agree with, but I just thought some people might find interesting to think about (it seems over dramatic with the layout but I swear that's just how I punctuate stuff in my phone sorry)

it finally happened

and by that I mean I'm gonna talk about something that's been bugging me

SO ANYWAYS

yeah

it's bighit

I felt it with answer not having all the songs on. they only left 2 songs and skits off of HYYH so like... to leave what was it like 6 songs off of answer?

sea, pied piper, paradise, love maze, 134340

okay that's the only 5 I could think of but it still applies

and it's like they chose those ones so that people have to buy all 3

I know I'm biased because those were literally my favourite ones and im still salty but

it feels like they chose to put in the ones with American producers and writers over prioritising fan favourites?

bighit

WYD

then came

burn the stage the movie

which didnt really bug me

lowkey just made me really happy but also really sad

although to have a YouTube series and a movie??? like I get that it costs a lot to make but if felt a bit weird

I got over it once I saw it though

but I still feel like their money making is hardly subtle

someone mentioned how bighit effectively make money off of overworking the boys through things like burn the stage and that's the upsetting truth. it raises awareness for what they do, but then they'll just have more fans so there will be more pressure and it will just get worse

okay wait part 2 should have been bon voyage

like yeah it's cute but breaks that are semi scripted with cameras in your bedroom shouldn't be classed as breaks

and then we watch it

we purchase it

it works

so they do it again

sometimes you get things which are meaningful out of those videos like when they were on the boat

or when they read letters on run

but are they actually meaningful? probably, but not compared to what happens off camera because

that's all we see

we dont know what goes on the rest of the time

how many actually genuinely meaningful moments there have or havent been

it's hardly news that we're not really a part of bts' story as individuals. not truly. so why fake it? why not embrace what it is?

next we have LY in Seoul screenings

kind of chill because not everyone gets to see the tour, plus even if there was a DVD it would be region locked

and it's just a nice chance to see them on a bigger screen and meet other armies so I cant really complain. nobody's making me go and for some people it's a really good thing.

but also kind of not chill because renting it on YouTube would be like 3£ and a cinema ticket is like 15£

*edit: and to do it when the tour is still going on feels strange to me? someone pointed out that some people couldn't go because it spoils it

and bighit push all this stuff about the boys overworking which we already know and feel guilty about but then they overlap this with their schedule when it makes so much more sense to promote and release this at a time when they're either on a break or working in the shadows so that we can get prerecorded content whilst they're resting*

bt21

cute and wholesome, but the collaborations with everything?

wait, this can apply to just bts themselves too

here's the thing, bighit, you may profit a lot from all these things but at the end of the day it's the partner who wins because people buy things they never wouldve thought to buy before bts' face was on it because that's just how consumerism works. bts are under your contract and by accepting every single deal presented to you one could argue that you are in fact damaging their image by contradicting the message of their music. we know that the members arent sincere in their promoting without even having to ask them. there is nothing spiteful about it. the members arent in the wrong or trying to deceive us. they're just doing their jobs. the problem is that people support bts because of their music, lyrics, and speeches which are all, just to name a few, anti capitalist, anti consumerist, and anti racist, and you make money off of them because they show those traits, and it's because it's all clearly sincere.

but you also make money off of them through their advertising campaigns with luxury products, fast fashion designs, and uninclusive makeup lines.

you cannot show two sides of BTS to the world without making one of them emotionally worthless.

and if I were you, I would not for a second risk losing the quality and sincerity of the message in bts' music that got you where you are today.

what makes it hurt more is that bts are still so passionate.

they make songs and remixes in their own time.

why arent they incorporated into the discography? why is the discography simultaneously over saturated and lacking? rushed yet milked?

their performances are still so strong, but they collapse at the end

is it really worth it in your eyes? why cant they simply perform less and better? is their hardworking image being abused for further popularity, exhibiting their sleep deprivation like its part of what attracts people to them?

and this stadium tour

now this is different

because it's not bad at the moment, just confusing

what I think it means is that bighit wasnt brave enough to try for stadiums the first time, then realised their mistake when every arena sold out in minutes or even seconds?

or worse, he knew they would sell out and wanted them to so that the show could be labelled as Sold Out

which is fair enough, and clever

but it's also really not

like there are hundreds of thousands of people missing out on the tour who want to give you their money but the venues were too small or there were too few dates

or you avoided their state, country or continent altogether

and now you could argue you're fixing that by going back with a larger capacity and giving them a chance but why with 9 days notice?

look I get that nothing can be perfect but this has just been piling up recently and I think it's the deals and tours that bothered me most

dont get me wrong, I'm much madder at the way *edit: i put a company name here* capitalizes and could probably be even more mad if I actually learnt about it rather than just using instinct (get it it's funny)

and I'm even more mad at *edit: I put a different company name here* for their poor management and neglect of what people actually want

but bighit really have bts

The BTS

and that gives them so many choices

yet they seem to make some really irrational ones

and now its 2:39am

and we'll end it on that beautiful negative note

*edit: please dont hesitate to let me know what you think about this or if you think it's just going to stir up something and I should take it down

and thanks for sitting through this whole thing*

#bts #bighit #bangtan #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan boys #bighit entertainment #bts love yourself #speak yourself #love yourself

[brand-it]

InVideo Review: How to make $1000 in 2021

Have you ever utilized Canva and admired how it aided non-designers in creating eye-catching images? If you answered yes, you would undoubtedly like InVideo. It performs the same thing but with an emphasis on assisting you in the creation of videos. I'll go through the following topics in this InVideo review:

What is InVideo, what are its features, and how much does it cost?

Should you go through with it or not?

How to make $1000.

How to Use InVideo Even if You're Not a Freelancer.

Sounds interesting. So let's start with an overview of the platform, particularly if you've never heard of it before.

What is InVideo?

InVideo, which is hosted on invideo.io, is a newcomer to the video editing business. It also allows you to use templates to produce various eye-catching videos, similar to how Canva allows you to create pictures.

You may also turn your blog entries and articles into videos with the assistance of InVideo, And I think it's a fantastic concept, particularly if you're a blogger who likes the notion of reusing your material. And what distinguishes InVideo from the competition?

“With little to no technological experience, almost anybody can make videos.”

That's correct, even though I am not a specialist in video content creation. Despite this, I've made several movies using InVideo over.

So, if I can make it, you certainly can as well. But, do you still not trust me? Then, allow me to take you through the steps of making videos using InVideo.

InVideo Review: How Does It Work?

The site of InVideo describes how the platform's video production works. Why? Because the team understands that it is the platform's most important feature. So all you have to do is “Sign Up” for an InVideo account, and you'll be able to get started right away.

To get started, choose a template that reflects your brand's narrative or concept. Following that, take advantage of InVideo's free stock of music, pictures, and videos. Colors, timings, typefaces, and other details may all be changed. You may also begin with a blank design and add components of your choosing.

After you've finished editing your video, export it. Within site, InVideo also allows you to post it on social media.

But first, let's learn a little bit more about the platform's features.

What Makes InVideo So Special?

For non-professional video producers like you and me, InVideo has a ton of features. Please have a closer look at them!

Audio equipment

Overlay of text

The media library

Aesthetic effects

Merge at high speed

Reseller privileges

Shareable link

High Definition Resolution

Fonts in a Variety

There are many stickers.

Changing the speed

Templates for font quotes

Templates that are already created

Video splicing and merging

From a blog post/article to a video

Character length is unrestricted.

Video Production and Stabilization

Shapes, text boxes, and other elements are available.

Uploading pictures and videos is possible.

Collage, masks, and other enhancements

And so forth. All of this comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee and support. But you're probably thinking that it's going to be too costly. Wrong. Let me now take you through InVideo's price structure.

Pricing for InVideo

InVideo operates on a freemium basis. Therefore, you may also start utilizing it for nothing. As a result, it has certain restrictions, such as the InVideo watermark.

Free Plan from InVideo

Let's see what you can obtain for free.

InVideo Watermark

4500+ Video Templates by InVideo

3 million+ standard media library

Text-to-Speech Automation

Each video lasts 15 minutes.

You get a lot more than you anticipate for free, in my opinion. And, if you're just getting started, I suggest enrolling for free at first and then upgrading later. Other options available include ‘Business' and ‘Unlimited.' Now let's look at them.

Business Plan from InVideo

If you pay for a year in advance, the business plan is $15 per month. If you don't want to commit to a full year, it's $30 per month. Without a doubt, you will appreciate the abundance of materials provided by InVideo. You may also export 60 videos each month.

I suggest the ‘Business' plan only if your video production business has grown significantly. Also, if you think it's worth it, you may pay for a full year and get a 50% discount. The information was accurate at the time of authoring this article. You should, however, go to InVideo's price page for confirmation.

Unlimited Plan from InVideo

The ‘Unlimited' plan from InVideo is really unlimited. You may also export an infinite number of videos, view 120 iStock images, and access 1 million. If you pay for a year, the ‘Unlimited' option costs $30 per month. If you don't want to commit to a year, it costs $60 each month.

Again, I think you should purchase the ‘Unlimited' package for a full year to take advantage of the 50% discount. After that, you only go for it if it's worthwhile. That leads me to a review of the platform.

InVideo Review: Worth the Money?

You probably already know how much I like InVideo, so I'll give it a good review. It does, however, have certain drawbacks. So, I'll discuss both the advantages and disadvantages. Does it seem reasonable?

Pros of InVideo

You may customize everything.

Detailed lessons are available on the YouTube channel and the blog.

You'll find a plethora of sticker options, text effects, and filters

Highlight the terms to search for related video footage.

Because you have complete control over them, you can sell and share videos easily.

Millions of stock photos, video clips, and audio are available to you.

Without question, there are many advantages to utilizing InVideo to produce your videos. But it leads us to the disadvantages.

Cons of InVideo

These are not the main drawbacks of utilizing the InVideo platform. However, the squad could improve on the following points:

First, only 50 scenes are allowed (you'll notice the recurrence after a while).

Second, it takes a long time to preview and export.

Third, your layout selections will be lost if your mind is changed.

All of these disadvantages aren't game-changers, but they are unpleasant. And, without a doubt, InVideo is an excellent video editing online tool.

How to Make $1000 with InVideo

InVideo enables you to produce many kinds of videos for several platforms. Among these platforms are:

Facebook

LinkedIn

Snapchat

YouTube and Other Resources

You may also select from the following kinds of videos to make your work easier:

Coupons / Promotions

Advertisements for Branded Products

Invitations to Presentations

Motivational sayings

Promotions for webinars

Bite-sized ads

Testimonial videos

Videos suitable for snacking

Listicles and other resources

Without a doubt, creating movies based on all of these categories is a breeze with InVideo. I provided freelance video ad creation, Instagram postings, and YouTube intros and outros. And in this manner, I have earned about $1000. Let me show you how to earn even more.

InVideo Review: Freelance Service Suggestions

By using InVideo, you may provide a wide range of services. Let me offer three service concepts that I've tested.

Intros and Outros for YouTube

As the world's second-largest search engine, YouTube is also the world's most popular video platform. As a result, you may find every kind of video maker there.

You can imagine how many prospective customers there are for you. Ask them to consider having you create intro and outro films for their YouTube channel. Make a Fiverr Gig out of it. And, like a pro, advertise your gigs or services.

Video Ads

Every once in a while, millions of entrepreneurs emerge. And, to be honest, every one of them should run video advertisements since they work so well.

Instagram Posts

Instagram is full of influencers. And they must all publish excellent material on Instagram. Videos are now worth their weight in gold on Instagram. Inform Instagrammers that you may assist them in creating amazing videos right now.

How Can You Market Your InVideo Services?

So you've made a fantastic video portfolio using InVideo. So, what now? You can't simply sit back and wait for the money to come into your account. You must get the word out about your freelancing services.

Here's how to do it:

First, make some video advertisements for InVideo, Distribute them as samples of your work and pitch them to prospective customers.

Second, create and advertise freelancing jobs on sites like Fiverr and Upwork.

Third, Cold emailing may help you sell your services.

Fourth, If you have any of these services, include them on your website.

And there are many things you may do to develop and market your freelancing services. Because it's not only the InVideo review, let me provide a way for you to become motivated for your company.

Go to InVideo's price plan and choose the ‘Free' plan. And consider it a game to go from ‘Free' to ‘Unlimited.' It will undoubtedly keep you motivated.

If you're new to freelancing, put these practical ideas to use.

Not a Freelancer?

Or maybe you do not want to provide freelancing services. If you operate an online company, InVideo may still be useful to you. Instead of offering services, make films to help you grow your company. For instance, if you own an e-commerce site, you might make product films.

Also, use video advertisements on social media. Videos are becoming more popular. You may also make similar videos if you have a blog on any subject. Everything is as simple as putting a link to your blog article into the InVideo.

Final Thoughts: InVideo Review

There is no reason not to make money online nowadays since the possibilities are limitless. You may make a full-time income by writing web content or creating videos with InVideo. InVideo is a potent tool for creating videos without any technical knowledge.

Here's a brief rundown of your options:

Begin experimenting with InVideo for free.

Make YouTube intros, video advertisements, and other services available.

Promote your freelancing opportunities.

Slowly expand your company.

This article is more than simply an InVideo review; it is a comprehensive introduction to the subject. Thank you for reading, and please share your views in the comments section below.

#invideo #makemoneyonline #how to start freelancing #freelancing #how to make money online

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What Does Audio Transcription Services Mean?

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It utilized to be that the most effective translation solutions were rather thin. Today, they compose an extremely remarkable on the internet presence. It is many thanks to the net that this kind of services is now in high need. Both brand-new as well as current organisations use the net to develop worldwide reach, so precise language company is insurance for their success.

As brand-new business appear regularly, it's challenging to identify which are truly the ideal accredited translation solutions in regards to top quality, know-how, as well as distribution. Some companies like writing phony testimonials and endorsements on their web site that deceive brand-new consumers and also draw them in their trap. PickWriters spotted this issue as well as determined to evaluate the most popular services.

Our purpose is to offer consumers with the information they need to choose their on the internet translation firms that are specialist, trusted, deliver top notch products and also solutions reliably. Further, we intend to guarantee those expert translators can fulfilling all requirements of each client exactly. To do this, we offer objective evaluations of the top companies.

Some Known Facts About Content Writing.

Our quality control team called each firm, positioned various orders, asked for alterations, communicated with customer assistance. They have actually also collected authentic comments and also commentary online from real consumers. Utilizing this info we produced this rating to ensure that you could make the very best option. Before starting our examination we came up with a listing of features that will be checked in each business to make sure that examination is reasonable.

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Navigating should be very easy, clear as well as interface ought to be easy to use. Web content on each website need to be easy to understand to ensure that consumers won't invest much time searching for pricing or alteration plans throughout the internet site. Even when website is adjusted into various other languages, best translation firms make certain that every little thing is localized.

If something goes wrong for one reason or another, firm must use cost-free revision if obtained papers had errors. Money-back assurance secures a client as well as his order. It's vital to check if the ideal translation company you have selected for collaboration has reimbursement alternative. Double-check what are the conditions of a reimbursement as there generally a particular amount of time.

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We aim to remove stress and anxiety of research you might deal with while searching for a company. We have done it for you. PickWriters is a one-stop-shop for up-to-date, unbiased, truthful info on specialists and also is fully independent. We are only here to assist individuals discover the ideal business translation services testimonials.

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To be certain that all companies meet the highest possible requirements of professionalism and trust, trustworthy practice, high-quality products, and also aid. Every business reviewed is examined against these high standards. We then offer a factual, objective evaluation for your reading. Policies, practices and customers feedback are assessed. We assess solutions as methods of evaluating help plus high quality.

Copywriting Services Things To Know Before You Get This

In addition to that score, we provide a full, written testimonial of a high degree of information to assist you discover the best translation website for on your own or your company/employer. We add brand-new evaluations frequently. Submit any site you would such as assessed so we can add it to our listing or leave your comments to help us upgrade our ranking.

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10 tips to choose the very best translation company was last changed: August 15th, 2019 by author1 If you require translation solutions you're probably trying to find the most effective translation agency to handle. Here are 10 tips to assist you in your quest. You will certainly desire for a whole lot of focus to be on the advantages of making use of an item and also an action call for the reader, if it is an advertising message.

When you utilize a translator, can they pass across the precise message, without losing several of the details? Understanding your ideal target market can help the firm supply you with the most effective linguists for the job. Being vague might lead to mixed outcomes. Check out translation examples when seeking a firm as well as locate out if they are capable of properly expressing the essence of your message.

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You ought to request for previous task samples. What steps of quality assurance have they established, is there a team that does top quality checks? For instance, exist extra editors that help in checking as well as editing and enhancing translations? Is the called for message tone thought about, depending upon the target audience? The facility to cater for all translation demands, regardless of the kind of translation, from advertising messages to legal records as well as from sites to software apps is called for in order to supply superb and quality translation services for any kind of file.

The most effective translation firm is anticipated to have appropriate experience for numerous sectors. Some translation business do not have the capability to appropriately convert clinical details or legal files. You will likewise require translators with deep understanding as well as experience in money as well as infotech relevant web content, to be able to take care of such tasks in the finest method feasible.

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Ask concerning how quickly your task can be finished. You need to additionally know if the firm additionally works past the typical functioning hrs. Some business attain this by using translators in various other countries. You ought to look out for costs translation companies if you wish to employ a translator. These firms have international sources at their disposal, providing much more advantage.

The translation firm should be able to ensure you that your information will certainly stay confidential as well as stored away from spotlights. They need to have a contract of confidentiality with their translators, particularly when they have a great deal of editors and also translators, with some functioning from house or various other countries. The business ought to be able to authorize an NDA for private records.

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Records to be equated must be transferred making use of a secure system; for this reason delivery systems must have this capability and also provide risk-free delivery. Take care to note every inquiries asked by the translation company, towards satisfying your needs. You need to additionally note their consistency. For example, will certainly they have the ability to utilize the exact same translator for all your products, to make sure that the voice and tone continue to be constant.

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Your http://edition.cnn.com/search/?text=translation services initial requirement needs to not be price. You need to first off ensure the top quality you are getting, when you wish to choose a translation firm. You can subsequently check the repayment packages for the very best translation companies you have shortlisted, in terms of top quality. If the rate is as well reduced to be real, do not go all out.

Know about the system of the translation company. Are they utilizing a cloud-based user-friendly system that provides transparency for archiving and also sending records, customer care communication in addition to payment information discussion? Do they have the ability for automated processes assimilation (API). You might require translation business with these abilities as time takes place.

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Avoid companies that just use Google Translate as a translation tool. Translation devices have to additionally be agreeable with different layouts for the translation of messages. Globalization and also the net may have assisted us in numerous means. The web has not only brought us closer to each other, however it has actually likewise made it incredibly very easy to accessibility all type of information from throughout the globe.

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Yet there is one significant downside of the net, something that we take an excellent point mostly, which is the abundance of options. Trying to decide which motion picture to enjoy on Netflix often occupies to an hour of your time. That's why choosing the most effective translation service can be a bit tough.

However you will read more certainly need to make some initiative to filter through the abundance of data to locate the appropriate option for you. Possibly that internet site is telling the fact, but you need to do your study before choosing a service, so you do not end up with any type of remorses.

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The company uses 24/7 services to clients globally.:

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The Complete Freelance Web Developer Guide: How to Make Money Through Freelance Programming Jobs

It’s common for developers to go the freelance route. This is true for many who have just finished freeCodeCamp and are thinking of working for themselves as opposed to working for “the man.” It is also true for many who have developer jobs but are considering going out on their own. The idea of freelancing is also appealing to those who would like to make extra money even though they’re already working a dev job. Regardless of the reason for which you’re striking out on your own, it’s important that you go about it correctly. Going about things “the right way” can help you to look like the guy pictured above.

While doing things the “wrong” way can leave you counting pennies like this:

I’m assuming you would rather look like the former and not the latter. If you have decided to go out on your own, and you are not opposed to prosperity, then this guide will help to serve as a road map for how to get your new business running. It will also serve as a guide as to how to manage things once you’re off the ground. If you’re someone who absorbs information more by reading, like me, then read on. For those who prefer a discussion based format, I’ve prepared this video:

This guide is geared towards those who have already decided to go the freelance/self-employed route. If you’re debating whether you wish to work for yourself, then you may wish to read the first section of my article on making money as a freelance developer. For those who have already decided that it’s time to strike out on their own, let’s get to it.

This guide, for obvious reasons, is quite long. This road map provides a layout of what we’ll be discussing:

Three essential rules for making money as a freelancer (jump to section)

Planning your new business (jump to section)

Funding your new venture

Deciding what niche you’re going to serve

Determining what services to offer & pricing

Structuring your new business

A “to do” list for planning your new business

Getting started with your new business (jump to section)

The importance of “starting out right”

Administrative items to complete

Marketing items to complete

A “to do” list for getting your business started

Finding clients for your new business (jump to section)

The need to get clients in the short-term, while focusing on the long-term

How to sell yourself to clients

Getting clients in the short-term

Building a brand for the long-term

A “to do” list for getting your marketing started

Managing your day-to-day business (jump to section)

Administrative & financial management

Managing your development/substantive work

A “to do” list for making sure you properly manage your business day to day

When reading this guide, just hit a “back to top” link and you’ll be brought back to the road map. So, without further delay:

There are three essential rules for making money has a freelance developer (back to top)

The first step in making money as a freelance developer requires an understanding of how to make money in general. Trying to make money without understanding these fundamental things will go about as well as playing monopoly against an expert without having an understanding of the game’s rules. The three rules for making money are:

Understanding that the amount of money (or lack thereof) that you earn will be in direct proportion to the level of value which you provide to others.

Understanding that making money requires putting time into high value activities.

Understanding that you have a full-time job as soon as you strike out on your own, regardless of whether you actually have any clients.

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

Developers must understand that making money means providing value to others

Most people starting a business for the first time are used to working traditional jobs. Such jobs often mean getting paid for one’s time. When you go into a job that pays “x” per hour, for example, then you get paid “x” regardless of what you actually produced in that hour. When you’re providing dev services to a client, however, all the client is going to care about is how much value they receive out of it. If, for example, you’re building a website or app for a small business then what the business is willing to pay is going to depend on the value they expect to receive from the website or app in the future. The price the customer is willing to pay is not based on the time you put in (as is the case in hourly jobs), instead it’s based on the increase in value that your customer will receive. So, to put it bluntly, making money means understanding that your services are about providing value to others and not about putting in time.

It’s also important to understand that value will always be based on the customer’s perceptions and not yours. Too often developers see a website built on one type of framework as “better” than something that looks and functions the same, but is built on another framework. The bottom line, however, is that if each meets the customer’s needs just as well as the other, then the one which provides the most value to the client is that which costs less. Think of it like this - suppose a customer can get a website built by someone using a CMS for $2,500. You propose building something with Bootstrap for $3,500. You think yours would be better because you’re using “real code” and not a CMS like WordPress or Joomla. At the end of the day, however, both websites visually look the same and one does just as good a job of bringing in business as the other. This means that your “better” website didn’t provide more value to the customer, it just cost more. Obviously, the customer would not be happy with such an arrangement. Want to make money? Then start thinking in terms of how you can provide what the customer perceives as value.

Developers must understand that making money means putting time into high value activities

The heading for this section may seem like something you would say “duh” to, but you would be surprised. I see many, many, many, many (many) instances in which small businesses or solo operations are putting time into efforts which really don’t matter very much at the end of the day. Think of it like this. Many small operations make really good money engaging in activity “x.” They then think that they want to grow their business by beginning to offer service “y” in addition to x. When service y doesn’t work out, they then scrap the idea on move on to service “z.” This strategy, unfortunately, is a bit insane. If activity x is making money then, instead of spreading resources across activities, just do more of x. In other words, pick your highest value activity and do more of it! This is why Mark Cuban has been quoted as saying that “diversification is for idiots.”

Let’s look at two examples of what I mean by this. Suppose you can build a relatively simple website, with certain functionality, for small businesses and charge $3,000 for this service. Creating such a site takes you twenty hours (meaning you make $150 per hour of input). Now suppose you can build larger scale ecommerce products for around $7,500 to $10,000 a pop, but only earn $130 per hour of input due to the projects being more complex. It’s easy to look at these projects and think the latter is worth more money. The former, however, pays more per unit of input. This means you should be focusing on getting more of those $3,000 projects and try to make such projects your primary business. To put it simply, identify the projects which pay the most per unit of input and to the extent possible, focus solely on getting as many of those projects as possible.

Freelance developers must understand that they now have a full-time job

I’ve talked to a lot of start-ups and entrepreneurs who don’t understand that they got a full-time job as soon as they struck out on their own. This is true even if they don’t have a single customer. I strongly, strongly, strongly (strongly) believe that this is one of the main reasons why many small businesses fail. Let’s look at why I say one has a full-time job as soon as they start up.

Suppose Joe Developer starts up his new freelance dev operation. He puts up a website advertising his services and maybe pays for a little bit of advertising. He gets the occasional customer here and there. He completes projects for these customers on a timely basis but never really does much else to grow his business. He probably only puts about twenty hours a week into the operation during the course of the year. At the end of the year he wonders why his business is stuck in first gear. Joe then shuts down his operation thinking that his phone “didn’t ring enough” from customers and that his advertising was ineffective. Joe blames “bad advertising” for why his business failed.

What Joe failed to understand was that he had a full-time job once he started up. His business failed because he only worked part-time (twenty hours a week) at it. It’s really quite simple. People don’t get paid for not working. This goes for business owners as well. Once you start up, consider yourself as having a full-time, minimum of forty hours per week, commitment. What this means is that if your coding and admin work only takes up twenty hours a week, then you are now required to put the other twenty hours a week into hustling up new business. So Joe spent twenty hours a week coding, and should have spent the other twenty hours a week going to networking events or some other marketing activity. If he had put in his time, he would have gotten more business.

Once you start up, just remember one simple rule. You now have a full-time job. To the extent that you don’t have coding projects to put in time on, you are now obligated to spend the rest of your working time trying to hustle up more business.

Do you want to be successful? If so then it’s simple. Understand that you have to provide value to your clients and that you should be focusing on the value providing activities which yield the highest amount of money per unit of input. Finally, put the time into your new business. Those three rules are key to making money in any new enterprise.

Planning your new freelance development business (back to top)

Once you’ve decided to start up it’s then important to plan out your business. I can’t stress how crucial this is. Too many entrepreneurs just open up shop and start haphazardly engaging in activities out of the hope that such activities will yield a profit. Well, no disrespect to such fine folk’, but starting a business without a plan is a lot like getting in your car, driving around aimlessly, and acting surprised when you don’t wind up in a place you’d like to be. Accordingly, let’s look at what you need to for the “planning” phase of your new venture.

There are several steps involved in getting your new endeavor off of the ground. We’ll look at each of them in turn. These steps include:

Funding your new operation.

Deciding what niche you’re going to serve.

Deciding on the services you will offer as well as pricing.

Structuring your business.

Let’s dive in.

Freelance developers will need to fund their new business

After reading the heading to this section, you may be saying “what funding?” This is understandable as most think freelancing requires little more than their laptop. Well…...wrong. There are going to be expenses associated with your new venture. Especially if you want to…..you know…...make money. Such expenses can include renting server space, buying liability insurance for the business, fees for professionals (such as attorneys and accountants), and more. The good news is that it takes very little money to start up in today’s world. The amounts necessary will seem especially small once you start generating some revenue. With all of that said, let’s look at a few rules around funding your initial operations.

The number one rule to remember with your finances is that, contrary to what many people in tech-related businesses think, it is not OK to lose money! This point was driven home really well in the book Profit First, which I strongly suggest reading. While many small companies are willing to lose money for the sake of growing quickly, I cannot stress enough that this is actually a really bad idea. The reasons for which I say this is a bad idea would a) be lengthy and b) be the subject of another article. The biggest point to take away for now is that you should be profitable on Day One and in each month thereafter.

The easiest way to ensure that you start out profitably, and stay that way, is to remember to avoid debt when you’re starting up as a solo. Unfortunately, way too many people start a business (of any type, not just coding) and start putting initial expenses on credit cards. They may also take out some type of personal loan to get started. Ensuring that you are profitable from Day One, and that you stay that way, is simple as long as you avoid debt. Why do I say this? Because…..if you’re avoiding debt then you can’t spend more than you take in. So, by definition the worst you can do is break even. Growing your operations then comes from reinvesting your profits. As you make money, reinvest in the business for growth. This leads to greater profits. Keep repeating the process and next thing you know the business is doing really well without ever having borrowed any money.

Freelance developers must decide which niche they are going to serve

There are a few things to address in regards to deciding what niche you’re going to serve. The first is an explanation of why you need a “niche” in the first place. The second is how to go about choosing that niche. As I’ll explain below, focusing on a particular subset of customers, and not saying “I’ll take whatever walks in the door” leads to higher profits and a more scaleable business. Second, picking that niche is a lot easier than many people think. So…..let’s have a discussion.

When striking out on your own it’s crucial that you focus on a few particular types/classes of customers instead of trying to be a general purpose coder for every type of business. The reason for this is simple - if you’re always building different types of products then you put yourself in the role of constantly learning new frameworks and familiarizing yourself with whatever third-party applications the customer may want to integrate into the product. While I understand that it is fun to learn new things (I like to consider myself a constant learner), this is not the way to run a business. The reason for this is simple - it’s scale. If you build products for a particular type of company then you will certainly have to learn something new for each customer, but this learning curve will be nowhere as extreme. This leads to greater profits on your end. Let’s look at what I mean.

My primary business tends to focus on building and maintaining websites for law firms as well as individual app development which allows an attorney’s practice to run more smoothly. Since many law firms have similar needs I can generally re-use the same code base. Since I charge a flat rate for dev services, I’m collecting my full fee without always having to build a product from the ground up. If, by contrast, I offered these same types of services to every type of business which existed, I would lose the ability to scale up the use of existing code. Do you want to grow your profits? If the answer is “yes” then find a niche and focus on it.

One other point about choosing a niche is that you wind up providing a much, much, much (much) higher level of service to your customers. Because I have extensive experience in serving a narrow class of companies, I’m able to anticipate their needs and offer solutions they may not otherwise have thought of. Also, since I’m not completely starting a new codebase all the time, the client does not have to be overly worried about bugs. So, in other words, I am able to provide a better product and better service by focusing on a niche.

Unfortunately, many startup developers decide to take whatever work “comes in the door.” This is very bad for their long-term profits. I just spelled out why serving a niche increases profits. Taking “anything you can find” works in the opposite direction. First, you may put a lot of time into learning something new only to find that you never use it again after you deploy the customer’s product. Second, all that time that you put into having to learn something new or write a brand new code base could have been put into developing marketing towards your niche. In other words, people who take whatever they can get are foregoing actual business building to make a few quick bucks. This is the equivalent of stepping over a dollar bill so you can pick up a penny. Never a good idea.

When deciding what type of niche you want to serve, you really only need to ask yourself two questions. First, is there an area where you can bring unique experience or value that some other developers may not be able to provide. If the answer is “yes,” then you have an opportunity to provide value to your customers. Second, ask yourself if there is a particular type of work which you would enjoy doing. If you don’t fit into one of these two types of niches then you’re going to have problems. The reason for this is simple. First, if you’re not providing unique value then you’re going to grind it out and get frustrated with how difficult it is to run your business. Second, even if you’re not providing truly unique value, if you’re really passionate about what you’re doing then you’ll be able to persevere the grind. Picking an area that you’re good at/have specialized knowledge in or picking one that you have a passion for will help you to succeed.

Developers must figure out their services and pricing in order to be successful

Once you’ve carved out the niche you’re going to serve it’s then time to decide what services you will offer, within that niche, and what you’ll be charging for your services. Deciding what services to offer may seem like something you can do quick, but it’s actually important to consider a few different factors in regards to your offerings. Also, when determining pricing it’s important that you consider going the flat fee route for services as opposed to charging by the hour. Let’s dive into each of these issues.

There are three things any freelance developer should consider when deciding what services they wish to offer. Once these three areas are analyzed, if your potential service offering seems to make sense, you consider the size of the current addressable market. The first of the three items to consider is your level of interest in a given area. The second is the extent to which you can scale up the offering. The third is your ability to outsource some of the work. You then look at the market to see if there is enough available work to turn the offering into a business.

I can’t stress enough that your service offerings should focus around things which interest you. Again, as stated in the section above, you’re likely to burn out and quit if you start engaging in activities that leave you looking as bored as this guy:

By selecting an area that you are generally excited to learn about and work in, you will be able to view your work as something other than drudgery. This leads to you putting in more hours which, in turn, leads to more of ‘dat sick cash flow. So, again, when deciding what services to offer, ask yourself what you’re actually interested in.

It’s also crucial to consider scaleability when deciding what services to offer. The concept of scale is simple. You want to focus on something where your profit margins actually increase, or at least stay the same as you grow your revenue. Areas in which you can write, and then re-use, a codebase allow you to achieve this. Areas in which you are constantly doing things from scratch, and spending a lot of time learning things that won’t apply to more than one or a few clients, will take you in the opposite direction. Always ask yourself “can I scale this up” before diving into an area.

The final thing to consider is the extent to which you’ll be able to outsource the work which needs to be performed. The greater the ability to outsource then the more you can grow the company by leveraging the labor of others. In our main business, for example, we subcontract the writing of legal content to attorneys and law students who wish to write as a side hustle. Given that there is a large population of people who have the skills to do this work, and are looking for the opportunity to do so, outsourcing our content needs does not prove to be a problem. Another example of products which outsource well are those which don’t have complicated codebases. The simpler it is to build a product then the easier it will be to hire/subcontract another developer to assist you. This is due to the fact that you will not need to bring on an individual with as high of a skill set.

So when deciding what services to offer your niche, you’re looking for a scalable area which interests you and in which you can outsource as much of the work as possible. Once you find this area, it’s time to weigh it against the actual size of the market. If you have a great offering, but there just aren’t enough available customers, then you’re not going to get anywhere for obvious reasons. If, however, there is an abundance of available customers then have at it.

Let’s look at how the concepts discussed above work in practice. As an example, a company we recently started is focusing on building simple (often single page) websites for small businesses for a low introductory rate. We greatly enjoy working with small businesses and given the simple nature of the websites we’ll be building, we’ll be re-using large amounts of code. Also, since the websites won’t require extensive javascript development, or much other development beyond HTML and CSS, this is work we can outsource. So this area would be considered viable under the three factor test I just laid out. We then have to weigh the idea against the size of the market. Well, as I mentioned in my article on whether one should become a freelance developer, roughly thirty percent of America’s 24 million small businesses didn’t have or needed a new website in 2017. This means that there are roughly 7.2 million potential customers out there for the new company we started (30% * 24 million). This is certainly a large addressable market. Since our business idea passed the three tests and will address a large market, we went ahead and launched the service offering.

It’s time to determine your price structure once you’ve decided what services you’re going to offer your niche. It’s important that, as much as possible, you stick with flat fees for a project as opposed to any type of hourly billing. You also want to try to create recurring revenue. Let’s discuss why these things are.

To the extent possible, you should work for flat rates and avoid “by the hour” work. This leads to greater profits for a few reasons. First, as your expertise within your niche expands then you’ll be able to complete work in less time. Suppose you take on a project for $5,000 and get it launched after 50 hours. This equates to $100 an hour. Now suppose that a similar project comes along a few months later. You charge another $5,000. The second time, however, you don’t have to spend as much time learning about the domain of the business and you can also re-use some of your previous code base. You get the second project done in only thirty hours. This means that your “per hour rate” just went from $100 to $166. This value of prior experience and code writing is lost when you elect to charge by the hour.

The fact that you are reusing old code, in the example above, in no way means that your second client is receiving less value. In addition to the product you launch for them, they are also receiving the benefit of your gained expertise in their area. They are also gaining the benefit of your experience in building similar applications. This experience means a smoother launch, fewer bugs, etc. So flat fees are a win-win for everyone.

In addition to working for flat fees, you want to develop offerings which can generate recurring revenue. As an example, the company we started which services small businesses also provides ongoing maintenance after we launch a website. We host the customer’s website on our virtual private server and keep everything up to date for the client. We charge $50 per month for this service and it forms a nice piece of recurring revenue. By offering services with a recurring revenue stream, you help to make your income more consistent.

So, to wrap up, when deciding your pricing it’s important to remember three words: “flat fee” and “recurring.”

Freelance developers need to choose the right business structure when starting up

It’s time to form your business after you’ve selected a niche and narrowed both your service offerings and pricing. It is generally suggested that you form an LLC through which to run your business. Doing so provides you with liability protection that you won’t receive if you operate as a sole proprietorship (disclaimer: this article can’t be construed as legal advice and I am not holding myself out as a legal professional. It’s suggested that you discuss your individual situation with an attorney). Generally speaking, this liability protection can help you in the event of a lawsuit and can also help to prevent you from being personally responsible for business debts if your affairs are structured properly. Also, there are tax benefits, which I briefly discuss below, associated with forming an LLC.

Once your LLC is formed then it is important to remember that you and your company are now considered separate legal entities. This means that you must keep separate bank accounts and that you must not run personal expenses through the business. For a full breakdown of the legal requirements associated with managing an LLC it is, again, suggested that you speak with an attorney.

There are also multiple tax benefits which you can reap by forming an LLC for your business. The specifics of these benefits should be discussed with a tax professional as I am not licensed to give tax advice. The benefits of an LLC include, among other things, being exempted from self-employment taxes in regards to the company’s profits. To ensure that you receive this break you need to fill out IRS form 2553 and “elect” to be treated as an S Corp. You will also need to pay yourself a reasonable salary. To avoid making this part of this guide too long, I break this idea down, in further detail, in this video:

The tax benefits alone are reason enough to go the LLC route. Add in the liability protections and it becomes a no-brainer.

Action items for developers who are preparing to start a freelance business

I can’t stress enough that it is crucial for you to adequately plan your new venture. I’m a very strong believer that the reason for which many small businesses fail is a lack of adequate planning. If you take the time to “do it right” then you can avoid the fate that many small businesses, unfortunately, arrive at.

Your immediate list of needs should include the following:

Determine how you are going to fund your new venture

AVOID debt or credit cards as a form of funding

If necessary, work some type of second job until you have the money needed to get off the ground

Decide on the niche that your new business is going to serve

The niche you wish to serve should be in an area you enjoy and/or are interested in

DO NOT get in the habit of taking work simply because it is available - stay in your niche

Determine what services you will offer to your niche and determine your pricing

When determining pricing and services, weigh your ability to scale the service and to outsource work against the size of the addressable market

Charge flat fees whenever possible and avoid hourly billing

Make sure you have a model which can build recurring revenue

Form an LLC for your new company

Discuss the benefits, and specifics, of doing so with an attorney immediately

Discuss your tax situation with a professional and consider making the S Corp election (again, after talking to a tax professional)

Getting started with your new freelance development business(back to top)

Once you’ve planned your new business then it’s officially time to hit the ground running. The first step in doing so is making sure you have everything you’re going to need in order to start out effectively. If you don’t have everything you need then it’s going to be like hitting the ground running with no shoes on. That’s why this section of the article will be devoted to things you need to do right away in order to make sure that you’ve got clients coming in and that you’re operating efficiently.

I’m going to look at several points in this part of our discussion. The topics we’re going to dive into are going to include:

The importance of getting started off on the right foot

Administrative items which need to be completed

Marketing items which need to be completed

The importance of ongoing learning

So…...shall we?

Freelance developers must understand the importance of starting their new business off on the right foot

Before I get into how to hit the ground running, it’s important that we discuss the need to start out well organized and with all of your ducks in a row. It’s crucial for multiple reasons. First is the fact that there is no easier time than right now to get organized. Think about it - as you get more customers and get busier, it’s only going to get harder to get things done. Second, if you don’t have the items discussed below taken care of in advance then they’re only going to get in the way once you’re trying to run full speed ahead. In other words, starting out in a disorganized fashion will get in the way of trying to get your substantive work done. This, in turn, will interfere with your ability to do a good job for your clients.

A final, and crucial, reason to get organized now is that not doing so will lead to you working in an inefficient manner. This inefficiency will stem from the fact that you will constantly be interrupting your work to deal with administrative headaches. This leads to massive inefficiencies throughout your workflow. These inefficiencies will compound on one another and you will suffer from decreased profits as a result. Accordingly, choose to get organized now and not later. This organization includes both your administrative needs and your marketing needs.

Developers must get their administrative affairs in order when starting up

One of the biggest challenges to freelancers who are just starting up is dealing with the various administrative tasks involved with running a business. It’s easy to get in the mindset of “I’ll deal with these tasks later.” Such tasks, after all, can seem boring, confusing, and completely irrelevant to the actual work you’re doing. Neglecting these items now, however, can create massive problems down the road. A little later this article will discuss how to deal with such things on an ongoing basis. For now, let’s look at the items that you need to deal with from the start.

The first item of business is to make sure you properly form a company. As mentioned above, it will often be the best course of action to form an LLC. The specifics of your situation, however, should always be discussed with a lawyer. In addition to forming the company, it is important that you get any necessary business licenses and that you complete any other documentation required by your Secretary of State as well as your county level or city level governments. Some states will require more of this documentation than others. Failing to properly obtain your necessary business licenses, or to obtain other necessary records, can result in you not having the legal right to do business. Make sure you’re properly complying with all requirements in this area.

The second item of business is to get your company its own mailing address. It is generally a good idea that your business have an address other than that of your residence. First, it allows you to list an address on your website that is not your home. Second, doing so can prevent people from looking up the business on a Secretary of State’s website and getting your home address. Third, having a separate business address helps your company to appear more legitimate. If you’re just starting out, and have few to no customers, then a post-office box may be your best bet. You can also look into shared working spaces (such as WeWork). Such spaces not only give you a place to work, but you will be provided with a mailing address as well.

The third item on the agenda is to open a bank account for the company. It is crucial that you do not intermingle your personal finances with the business finances. This company account is what you will use to pay for business related expenses, to reimburse yourself for business expenses which you paid out personally, and to accept payments from customers. Personally, I would suggest using a large national bank (such as Chase, Wells Fargo, etc.). The reason I suggest this is that the largest banks will be the most likely to integrate with various payment options, to have branches in every state, etc.

Next up is to sign up for different software services as well as other services that you will need to run your business on a day to day basis. First on this list is a business suite with which you can set up a branded email address, receive cloud storage for the company, etc. We use G Suite in our company but here are plenty of other options, such as Office 365. Next is to sign up for a service offering accounting software (I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping good books). There’s more below about how to keep the books in your business, but for now just know that you need to have accounting software set up from the get go. For most freelancers I’d suggest trying Wave’s accounting software. I suggest Wave because, while not as robust as Quickbooks Online (which many consider to be the gold standard for accounting software), it is much easier for non-accountants (a.k.a. “you”) to use. Three other reasons to use Wave are a) it’s free, b) it’s free, and c) it’s free. After you’ve signed up for your accounting software you’ll also need to sign up a payment processor so you can accept credit cards and e-checks. Most accounting software options also have an add-on component for payment processing. Personally, I find the option Wave offers to be acceptable and we use it in our company. While not an exhaustive list, these are some of the services and software offerings which you should sign up for immediately.

It is also critical to have the contracts which you will use with your customers ready from the start. Not having a properly written contract can result in you not getting paid, in you getting paid less than what you thought you had bargained for, or even in you getting sued. To explain the importance of contracts in some detail, and your options for preparing properly drafted agreements, we are fortunate enough to have this contribution from Cari Ross, an Ohio attorney with Ross Legal Services (the video embedded below is a larger course, but will open directly to the section containing Cari's lecture).

Personally, I would suggest erring on the side of caution and retaining legal representation to review your agreements. Often, an attorney can be found who will review your documents for a one-time fee.

Another thing that I would strongly suggest is that you sign up for professional liability insurance on behalf of your business. We maintain insurance in our company and it costs us less than $70 per month. If a client were to sue us, claiming that we bungled a product that we built, we would be able to turn the lawsuit over to our insurance company and they would deal with it. Having an insurance policy such as this makes it easier to sleep at night.

The foregoing list shouldn’t be considered as everything you will need to have starting out. These are, however, things which I don’t believe you should consider optional.

Freelance developers should get their marketing infrastructure in place before starting up

Striking out as a freelancer means the opportunity to make money. You are going to need clients to make that money. You need to get your marketing infrastructure set up as soon as possible in order to get those clients. Let’s go over a list of things which you should get set up from the get go. While some of the items on this list may make you say “duh…..I know to set that up,” you’d be surprised at what some people don’t do before getting started.

The first order of business is to build your company website and to include a portfolio of your various projects. A great thing about freeCodeCamp is that you will have built some projects for your coursework even if you don’t have any customers yet. It’s important to remember that your website is the equivalent of a store front. The level and quality of the work you put into it will go a long way in deciding how seriously your potential customers take you. Your site should highlight work you’ve done, make clear to the layperson what type of work you’re available to do, stress customer service, and make it easy for clients to contact you.

One point that is important to remember in regards to your website is to consider your audience. All of us (including me) can be guilty of forgetting that most of our customers really don’t care about code or technology. They just want a solution to their problems. A customer likely doesn’t know what HTML is and they don’t care if your using Bootstrap, Flexbox, or some other framework to build a responsive page. If you want people to become your customer then don’t alienate them by talking like a tech head on your website. Instead, present yourself as a problem solver that is ready to assist them.

The next crucial point is to have a branded email. This is taken care of by signing up a business software suite, which is suggested above. Having a company email is important because you want your customers to take you seriously and, trust me that they won’t take you seriously if your email address is “[email protected]”. You might as well be using “[email protected]” if that’s the case. Get a branded email.

Another important item to get is a dedicated phone number for your business. There are a variety of reasons why you don’t want business calls going to your personal cell phone. These include the fact that clients will then have your personal number, you’ll be putting your personal number on your website, and you’ll have to answer personal calls with a professional sounding greeting (since you won’t know if it’s a potential customer calling). The best way to deal with the separate number issue is to sign up for Google Voice - which is included with any free Google account. This allows you to add a second VOIP number to your cell phone. You’ll be able to receive calls, make calls, and text from this number. And again, the beautiful part is that it’s free. If, for some reason, you don’t want to use Google Voice or some other VOIP, you can always get a second cell phone. If you go the second cell phone route, make sure it is signed up under your LLC so that the monthly bill is deductible on your taxes.

A key, key, key, key (key) part to your marketing is going to be to sign up profiles on which clients can leave you positive online reviews. These include your profile on Google My Business, a business page on Facebook, and a Yelp profile for the business. I cannot stress enough the fact that many people, even those referred to you, will want to look at your online reviews prior to deciding to hire you. Failing to have a bank of reviews is going to cost you money, and a lot of it. I’ll be speaking more below about how you can actually go about getting those reviews. For this part of this guide, just be aware that you need to sign up and fully fill out these various online profiles.

Another important step is to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is as complete as possible. Make sure your profile makes clear that you are available for freelance work. You’ll want to include your various projects in your profile and make sure you list your various skills. Also, I’d strongly suggest taking the various LinkedIn tests to gain their coding certifications. These tests only take a few minutes and, for example, your profile can indicate that you are actually certified by LinkedIn in HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc. These certifications will go a long way towards prompting others to contact you for work.

These are simply some initial “must haves” that you need to get taken care of immediately. I’ll be discussing, in depth, how to actually get clients as you move further through this guide. For now, just be aware that you should have the above items before you dive into the world of trying to hustle up your next project.

Freelance developers must decide to be continuous learners in order to succeed

Yep, you’ve just learned to code and before you even get that first customer you should already be deciding that you’re going to continue learning about a variety of topics. In truth, coding only makes up a part of your business and unless you decide to continuously improve your skills in a variety of other areas, you’re going to have problems. The areas about which you should be learning on an ongoing basis include communication/soft skills, personal and business finance, business history (in order to learn from the successes and mistakes of past entrepreneurs), and more. It’s important to remember that completing freeCodeCamp, and having learned to code, is the beginning of a new chapter and not the end of an old one. If you want to succeed, get in the habit of lifelong learning before you even get your first customer. If you don’t want to succeed then, don’t worry, you never have to pick up another book again.

My suggestion would be to set aside some time, every morning, in which you’re going to improve yourself through learning. Personally (and this is just what I do), I read for forty-five minutes each morning. My daily routine consists of “wake up,” “eat a quick breakfast,” and then “open a book” for forty-five minutes. Again, this is what works for me. Some suggested initial readings include:

These are just my suggestions. I will say though, that each of these books went a long way in changing my outlook and making me better at business. One of the most common habits among super-successful people is continuous learning - so get to it.

Action items for freelance developers who have just started their own business

Again, it’s important that you have all your ducks in a row before you start taking clients. That’s why I’ve put together this list of “to do” items that should be completed after you’ve formed your business and are preparing to start taking customers.

Your “to do” list for this section includes the following:

Administrative

Research the local business and licensing requirements for your new company and make sure you follow these requirements

Establish a separate address (such as a PO box) for your business

Open a separate bank account for your business

Sign up for “administrative software” that you will need

A business suite

Accounting software

Credit card processing

A payroll service

Develop/obtain the contracts you will have potential customers sign

Sign up professional liability insurance

Marketing

Build out your website and online portfolio

Establish a branded email

Establish a dedicated phone number for your business

Sign up the profiles necessary for your business to receive online reviews (Google My Business, Yelp, etc.)

Build out your LinkedIn profile

Continuing Education

Make a plan to become a lifelong learner

Execute on the plan to become a lifelong learner

Freelance developers need to begin the process of finding clients after their business is organized, up, and running (back to top)

Once your business is planned, formed, and your initial “to do” list is taken care of, there’s something you will need - customers. Hustling up business is going to be crucial for anyone just starting out. Like anything else there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about getting business. I fully recognize that you will need clients now, in the short term, while you are building your new empire. It is vital, however, that you don’t make the mistake of focusing only on getting clients in the short term and, as a result, don’t do the things needed to build a venture that is sustainable for the long-term.

In this section of our guide we’ll be discussing the following:

The importance of building your long term business while still getting clients in the short term

How to sell yourself to your clients

Sources of business for the short term

How to build your company over the long term

A list of action items to get rolling with immediately

With that said - on to the next section!

Freelance developers must get business in the short term while focusing on their long-term business

Before we get into how to get clients for your new business, it’s important to discuss your strategies over both the short and long term. In the short term you will be working to hustle up work, to make a few bucks today, while over the long term you’re going to build a brand. The value of having a brand is that you will be able to get more work, with less effort, and will often be able to charge higher prices. Unfortunately, too many developers get caught in a trap. This trap involves developers putting all of their time and resources into getting clients today in the short term. These developers can never rest easy and know that they’ll have a steady flow of business and, quite often, spend many years working at reduced rates. By building your brand over the long term you’ll be able to avoid this trap while still making money in the meantime.

The difference between a short term hustle and a durable brand is simple. Short term hustles involve you spending quite a bit of time and money convincing others to let you do work for them. Again, this work will often be at a reduced or mediocre rate. Having a brand means that people will seek you out, as opposed to the other way around, and you can then charge higher rates. The latter is a path to success while the former will make you feel like you’re stuck on a hamster wheel like this guy:

Now let’s figure out how you can avoid getting stuck like this. We’ll start by looking at how you’ll get clients today and then move on to building your brand. The first part of getting clients today is learning how to sell yourself to potential customers.

Developers can sell themselves to clients by playing the role of a problem solver

It’s impossible to succeed as a freelance developer unless you’re able to effectively sell your services to clients. A big problem for most freelancers, however, is that they don’t go about selling their services in the right way. This is due to the fact that, as developers, we tend to think that we are selling code and products to clients. The fact of the matter, however, is that we are selling solutions to clients' problems. When we see ourselves as “developers,” instead of “problem solvers,” we tend to fail to effectively communicate our value to a client. The truth, at the end of the day, is that a client won’t hire someone if they don’t see value in the services being provided. By presenting ourselves as solving the problems of a client, we can show how much value we are providing and, in turn, the client will want to hire us.

Consider the following example. Suppose your are called by a local pizza shop that wants to develop a new website, to implement online ordering, and to develop a mobile app so that people can order food while on the go. You go to the pizza shop and explain which language you will build the app in and start speaking technical mumbo jumbo which the shop owner most certainly doesn’t understand. After your presentation, the shop owner won’t understand the difference between what you’re going to build and what someone else can build, for less money, in a CMS such as WordPress. He or she is simply left with your word that your product is “better” without any understanding as to why. This shop owner is not likely to hire you because all they want, at the end of the day, is something that meets their needs.

Now suppose that you go to the pizza shop and have a conversation with the owner in which you take the time to understand his or her needs and goals. You then show them how the website and app you are going to build can meet those goals. You’re doing this while using little to no technical jargon. You then explain, in layman’s terms, why the person using a CMS won’t meet those goals (for example - you may specifically explain how limited the CMS’ functionality will be when translated into an app). Now you’ve spoken to the owner in their language and they see value in the service you’re providing. They are now more likely to hire you because you spoke to their needs, through the lens of a problem solver, without using “tech head” speak.

Do you want to close more sales with clients? If so, then it’s simple. Present yourself as a “problem solver” and don’t speak code. Once you start freelancing, you need to stop seeing yourself as a developer and, instead, recognize that your purpose is to solve a client’s problem in the most efficient way possible.

Now that you know how to sell your services to clients, let’s look at how to go about getting business over the short term.

There are several ways to get clients in the short-term. As you will see in the following discussion, these methods do not involve spending large sums of money (or any money for that matter). Let’s take a look at how you can immediately get clients through the following types of resources:

Leveraging of your existing contacts

Services such as Upwork and Thumbtack

Services such as Fiverr

Free advertising through Craigslist

Networking groups, such as BNI

Let’s dive into the pros and cons of each of these.

A good place to start getting clients is by simply leveraging your friends and contacts. What I AM NOT saying is for you to simply start telling everyone you know that you are now a freelance coder and you want to build them a project. Instead you take the approach of telling various individuals that you are embarking on this venture and that you just wanted to let them know of your availability in case they come across anyone who needs your services. Also, make sure that you give them some of your business cards. I wouldn’t suggest bringing it up again after these initial mentions - then you’re just annoying your friends and acquaintances.

I’ll give a personal example of how powerful it can be to simply reach out to your circles. I recently spun up a separate business which will assist small to medium sized businesses/entities with basic web design. First, I mentioned to one friend that I was starting this service, in the “fyi” fashion I described above. The friend became excited and quickly told me that her mom had founded a church (something I didn’t know) and the church needed a new site designed. Second, I mentioned that I would be starting the new business to my next door neighbor (who is self employed) and that I would drop him off some business cards just in case he came across any entrepreneurs who needed help. His wife quickly mentioned to me that the parent-teacher organization at the school their child attends wanted to build a new website. So, two conversations wound up yielding $6,000 worth of work for what are actually very simple projects. And these were just the first two conversations I had. You get the point. So, making your availability known to your immediate circles can be a great way to get started.

The next step is to sign up for services such as Upwork and Thumbtack. These are platforms on which consumers can state what services they need and ask for proposals. You will typically pay for the ability to submit a proposal and these jobs will often be for lower amounts than what you would normally charge. Is this perfect? Nope. Is it good for someone just getting started? Yep, and especially so when the alternative is to sit around and twiddle your thumbs. There are a few things to make sure of when signing up for these types of services. The first is the need to make sure that your profile is filled out in as robust a manner as possible. Include introductory videos for yourself and your services if the platform allows them. Also, as you complete projects it is important to ask clients for reviews if you are sure that they will leave you good feedback. As you build up a bank of reviews, you’ll be able to bid on higher priced jobs available through these services. While these types of services aren’t a good way to get rich, they are a good way to start building up a portfolio of work and to get paid for doing so.

The next option is to set yourself up as a service provider through a company such as Fiverr. If you are unfamiliar with Fiverr, it is a website that essentially allows you to set up a store front and provide services in different categories. The available categories include web and software development. As with Upwork and Thumbtack, you’ll typically be providing services for a good amount less than your normal “going rate.” With that said, Fiverr simply brings the customers to you and you pay a portion of your fee to the service. You are not paying up front for the leads. Personally, I prefer this approach over services like Upwork. This is due to the fact that you are not paying for leads and, perhaps more importantly, you are not putting time into submitting proposals for work that you may or may not get. As with the other services, discussed above, it will be important to do a good job for your customers, to provide quality service, and to get good reviews. This will allow you to charge more over time. Again, while not a long term solution, this is a good option for getting started.

An option that you’ll want to take advantage of is advertising on Craigslist. For reasons, which go beyond my understanding, this remains a highly unutilized option. You can advertise your services on Craigslist at the cost of $5 per post and a post will last up to 30 days. Depending on how many people are using Craigslist in your area, one post may still visible without being pushed to the bottom for the entire month. In other areas, it may be necessary to post once a day or so. When creating a Craigslist ad, I’d strongly suggest a few things. First, create a graphic to insert into the post. This should include your name, the services you provide, contact information, etc. The standard size for a Craigslist graphic is 600 x 450 pixels. Also, you can use a limited amount of HTML when writing the text of your advertisement. So make it look nice.

Right now you may be thinking “Craigslist?” My answer to this is “yep!” People always look at me odd when I tell them that this is an underutilized option. Over the years I’ve suggested to various businesses (including attorneys, realtors, etc.) that they advertise on the service. The same naysayers are then surprised at the fact that they actually make money doing so. These won’t be high end clients (you’ll typically only be doing very basic web design). But, again, it’s revenue to help you get started.

A final option, and an important one at that, for those starting out is to join a networking group through your local BNI chapter. BNI (short for “Business Networking International”) is a worldwide networking group which focuses on helping entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through effective networking (I stress the effective part). I’ll be writing an article in the future on how to network the “right way” (spoiler alert). In short, BNI is a way to have other business owners refer you business whenever the opportunity arises in exchange for you doing the same. It also allows you to meet entrepreneurs with whom you can form a business synergy. If, for example, you want to build websites and apps for small businesses then you will likely need a photographer to help companies produce proper photographs of their products. Your local BNI chapter may include a photographer to whom you can refer business. That photographer, in turn, may refer you business whenever they do work for a company which mentions wanting to improve their web presence. Don’t underestimate the power of networking, when it’s done correctly. BNI really does give you the opportunity to “level up” your networking efforts.

One of the downsides of the networking route is that it can be quite time-consuming. Also, if a referral source ever decides to get out of the game, then you lose your flow of business. These are just some of the reasons why you can make a few bucks in the beginning through networking, as well as the other methods discussed above, but it remains important to build your brand and long-term business. Let’s talk about how to do so.

Freelance developers must build their brand and company over the long-term

It’s one thing to put time and effort into your business and to get a few bucks back in return. The real power of working for yourself, however, comes from building a brand and an actual company. You will then be able to charge higher rates and customers will seek you out, as opposed to you having to find them. Building an actual brand/company helps you to look like this:

I’m assuming that you find this type of look acceptable. In order to get there, you need to build something enduring. There are several aspects and options to doing so. Let’s take a look at the following:

Why repeat customers, and referrals from former customers, will always be your most important source of business

The importance of online reviews

Leveraging a blog

Leveraging YouTube

Let’s dive into each of these shall we.

The first point, which I cannot stress enough, is that you have to provide your customers with both high quality service and a high quality product. This makes them want to use you again in the future and, importantly turns them into a referral source. Why is this so important? Simple - you can’t succeed otherwise. Think of it like this. Your marketing efforts lead to a phone call from Joe the baker. Joe has you build a basic $2,500 website for his bakery. You do a good job for Joe. Six months later he refers you his friend, Bob the restaurant owner, who pays another $2,500 for a restaurant website. Then you do a great job for Bob and he later refers you someone. Do you see what just happened? Your marketing only led to one phone call from Joe, yet that one phone call indirectly turned into two additional phone calls.

The above example relates to a crucial point. You’re not going to make it if you have to generate a marketing related phone call for every eventual customer. Doing so is resource intensive and kills your profit margins (if you’re able to stay in business at all). If Freelancer “A” earns 10x the revenue of Freelancer “B”, it’s not because A’s marketing yields 10x as many calls. It’s because, while they do get more calls, they make sure that one phone call yields more than one customer. This is how you grow your business exponentially. Conversely, if growing your revenue by 10x requires you upping your marketing by 10x then…….good luck with that.

So how do you make sure that you’re earning repeat business and referrals? First, deliver a quality product in the time frame that you promise and DO NOT make excuses. Second, be timely in responding to phone calls, emails, and other customer communications. Be courteous and simply treat your customer the way you would want to be treated. In short - provide good service. While this may sound like something that makes you go “duh,” you’d be surprised at how many developers fail in this area.

Another important part of building a brand/enduring business is to consistently get good online reviews from your customers. Even if your dealing with customers from a wide range of geographies, it’s vital that you have a bank of reviews with which potential customers can evaluate whether they want to hire you. You can also refer potential customers to these reviews for their consideration. The reason I’m stressing this is that good reviews mean that your marketing won’t need to generate as many phone calls for your to make money. Let’s use a hypothetical to explain why this is.

Suppose that every $1,000 devoted to marketing, by Joe Developer, generates two paying customers. Now suppose that each of these customers pays Joe an average of $3,000. This means Joe nets $5,000 for the first $1,000 in marketing [($3k * 2 customers) - $1k of marketing expenses]. Now suppose Joe wants to double his business. He spends $2,000 on marketing this month and nets a total of $10,000 after expenses. This sounds fine and good until you consider the epic story of Jill Developer.

Jill Developer regularly gets good online reviews from customers while Joe doesn’t think that such reviews are important. As a result, people who find Jill online, or via referral, are more likely to hire her. As a result, Jill gets three clients for every $1,000 in marketing as opposed to Joe’s two clients. So, Jill’s first three clients yield a net profit of $8,000 [($3k * 3 customers) - $1k of marketing expenses). This is sixty percent higher than what Joe gets for his first $1,000 in marketing spend. When Jill doubles her marketing budget, her $8,000 in profit jumps to $16,000. Do you see how the gap in income is going to continue to grow between her and Joe, even though they are increasing their marketing budgets by the same amount? Getting good online reviews turns more of your marketing dollars into actual revenue. Neglecting the accumulation of reviews will leave you spinning your wheels.

There are a few tips to follow when it comes to reaching out to your customers for good reviews. First, while it may sound obvious, don’t ask for a review unless you’re sure the customer will actually leave a good one (you’d be surprised what some people do). Second, it’s important to get the reviews on websites which people actually visit (Yelp, Google, Facebook, etc.). Third, don’t just ask customers to leave you reviews. Simply asking will result in a very low percentage of your clients actually doing so. Instead, once you’ve completed the project, call your client and thank them for their business. Then make sure they know that if they ever need anything they can give you a call. Ask if there was anything you could have done to improve your services and, if they are happy, ask if they will leave you an online review. Once they say “yes,” thank them and let them know that you will send them an email with review links. That email should look something like this:

Dear [name of customer],

Thank you for allowing us to assist you. As I mentioned, I’m including a few links for online reviews. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to say a few kind words. The links below will take you directly to our review profiles:

If we can ever be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks again, [Your name]

The links to your review profiles should go straight to the review section and not the general page. You’ll find that this approach will lead to a much higher percentage of customers, who say they are going to leave you a review, actually doing it.

Another tool for building a lasting brand is to develop a blog which speaks to the needs of your customers. This has been a key to our primary business which deals with providing solutions for law firms. The key to developing a successful blog is to provide information that is, again, useful to your customers and not simply that which you want to write about. Why do I stress this? Simple….one of the most common blogging mistakes I see is people taking the approach of “I’m going to write on the things I want to write about” as opposed to writing on the topics about which their potential customers are seeking information. Let me give you two examples of what I mean.

I wrote an article on how law firms can use Evernote as a tool for reducing clutter in their office. Over time, my analytics showed that article consistently receiving traffic. Since the article was popular, I wrote a comprehensive series of articles on how law firms can leverage Evernote to make their offices more efficient. Each of the articles in that series went on to generate significant traffic for our website. Conversely, I also wrote a series of articles on how law firms could improve their cyber security (you would think this would be a big deal to those who handle sensitive information). The thing was, however, that our analytics showed those articles to receive little to no traffic. In other words, our potential customers simply weren’t looking for the information (maybe that’s why law firm cybersecurity is so bad - but that’s a rant for a later time). The moral of the story is this - monitor your analytics and write more on the topics that are proving to be popular and stop writing on the topics that are not popular. You’ll be surprised how many potential customers pick up the phone and call you as a result of your providing useful information.

As with a blog, it is also a good step to start a YouTube channel. The steps for integrating YouTube into your brand building are very similar to those involved in building a blog. This means to leverage your analytics and do videos on the topics your customers show interest in. Do not devote energy to topics which your customers are clearly not interested in. Also, it’s important to actually put some effort into your YouTube videos. Do a few takes so you are putting out a quality product. Make sure you have adequate lighting, use a microphone, and do some basic video editing at a minimum (there are a ton of free/low cost and easy to use editors out there). The one thing I’ll add on YouTube is that it’s natural to be nervous and apprehensive about doing video. Just remember this, the biggest YouTubers didn’t start out big. If you look at their early videos you’ll see a big difference in quality from where they started and where they are today. Everyone has to start somewhere after all.

The big thing to remember, as we close out this section, is that you can make a few bucks with short-term strategies. Building a brand, however, will give you something which no one can take away and will lead to a far more lucrative business.

Action items for freelance developers who are ready to start bringing in business

The foregoing discussion provided a discussion as to how you can bring in business in both the short and long-term. It also discussed the importance of brand building so that you can increase your profits. The following is a “to do” list which will help you get a stream of customers a’ flowin’:

Start to think of yourself as a “problem solver” and not a developer

Remember that your customers don’t care about code or technology. They only care about getting their needs met.

Begin brainstorming the potential issues that your customers face, and how you can discuss a solution to those issues in ways that your customers will understand.

Work on your “active listening” skills so that you can “hear” the needs and concerns which your potential customers are conveying.

Begin the process of “short-term” business building so you have immediate revenue

Make everyone you know aware that you are starting up. The goal of these conversations is not to sell your services to your current circles. Instead, it is to turn your current circles into referral sources.

Complete a robust LinkedIn profile. Your profile should make clear that you are a freelance developer accepting work.

Create robust profiles for yourself on services such as Upwork and Thumbtack. Consider bidding for jobs through these services.

Make your services available through Fiverr and begin advertising on Craigslist as well.

Join BNI or other similar networking groups.

Begin the process of long-term brand building

Create profiles for your business on Google My Business, Yelp, and Facebook. Begin getting client reviews on these websites and make the acquisition of reviews an ongoing process.

Develop a blog which speaks to the needs of your customers. Leverage your analytics over time to ensure that you are writing on topics which interest your customers.

Develop a YouTube channel which also speaks to the needs of your customers. As with a blog, leverage your analytics to ensure that you’re doing videos on the correct topics. Make sure you put some effort into your video production. This includes considering your scripting, lighting, sound quality, etc.

Freelance developers must develop systems to manage their business on a day-to-day basis (back to top)

Once you have customers coming in the door then it is vital to ensure that you properly manage your business on a day-to-day basis. Failing to do so will lead to inefficiencies and wasted time. This leads to two horrible things - decreased profits and unhappy customers. Assuming you want to avoid these things, it’s important that you embrace your new role of business manager in addition to that of being a developer. When managing your business, it is important that you focus on the administrative side of things as well as on the substantive work to be done. Failing to do so will lead to administrative problems which will pop up at bad times. These problems will then get in the way of your substantive work. So, while administrative tasks may seem boring, it is vital that you give them the attention they deserve.

Too many freelance developers get into the mindset of thinking “I’m a developer, not a businessperson.” Well, if you take this mindset once you start freelancing then you want have to worry about being a businessperson. The reason that you won’t have to worry about being a businessperson is that you’ll go out of business so fast that the problem will simply take care of itself. If you want to avoid this fate then focus on running all aspects of your business correctly.

This section is going to focus on the following areas when it comes to running your operation:

Managing your business’ administrative and financial affairs.

Managing your substantive development work in an efficient and profitable manner.

An action list meant to help you develop procedures for keeping your business running.

Again, I can’t stress enough the importance of seeing yourself as a “businessperson” and understanding that your business is now development. Think of it this way - if a chef starts a restaurant and makes themselves head cook, they are now a restaurateur and not a “chef.” The same is true for your new business. Now let’s get to it.

Freelance developers must focus on their business’ administrative and financial management

The reason why I’m discussing the management of one’s administrative affairs before the management of substantive work is simple - this is the area where most freelancers get themselves into trouble. The neglect of one’s administrative affairs leads to problems which have to be dealt with immediately. This means having to drop whatever current development task one is working on, telling a customer that there is going to be a delay, and  putting out an unnecessary fire.

A simple example, which I’ve seen more than once, is the small business owner who never does their bookkeeping. At the end of the year, those books must be done so that the business can file its tax return. The business’ return must be filed so that the developer can file their individual returns. Once tax filing deadlines are getting close, the small business owner has to drop everything, run around like crazy, and blow off their substantive work in order to get twelve months worth of bookkeeping figured out. All of this could have been avoided by spending a small amount of time each week simply doing the books. Such weekly bookkeeping could have been handled in an orderly fashion, planned as part of a workflow, and handled in a way which did not disrupt one’s business.

The first step in managing your freelance business’ administrative affairs is to develop a monthly budget for the company as well as financial restraints. Far, far, far, far (far) too many small business owners utilize “bank balance budgeting.” By this I mean that they simply look at their bank balance and they assume that having “X” in the bank means that they have “X” at their disposal. Gee, with an approach like that I can’t imagine why so many people have financial problems. The crucial first step for your new venture is to set up a financial system. How to do so would be a very lengthy guide, in and of itself. So, for the purposes of this guide, I strongly suggest that you read the book Profit First and implement its suggested systems. While there are certainly other possible approaches, I think this book gives a solid framework which will help those who struggle with financial management.

A key thing to remember when running a business is that your company’s bank accounts are not your personal account. You do not get to simply raid the business funds anytime you like. An issue which I see arise, far too often, is that of a business owner who takes excessive withdrawals from their business account for personal purposes. The business then finds itself short on cash when bills are due and, to make up for this shortfall, the business owner then takes work at a reduced price to generate immediate cash. This reduced price work means there is still not much money in the business account and the owner has a hard time getting their personal bills paid. This begins a difficult cycle which can be hard to break. By practicing financial restraint, you can avoid this trap.

The next point, which is crucial, is that you regularly perform your accounting and understand your business’ books. I never understand the small business owners who don’t do their books regularly. Such business owners, as a result of not doing their bookkeeping, never actually know how much money they’re making. This can lead to a belief that you’re doing better or worse than you actually are. To put it simply, if you’re not going to be regular about doing your books then don’t go into business for yourself. How to do your books could easily be a course in and of itself. Fortunately, Erin Lehr of KPI Bookkeeping was willing to put together a group of instructional videos meant to get you started when it comes to keeping your books. She also put the slides from her presentation together into two separate documents. You may download her slides on money management here and her sample chart of accounts here. Again, the following videos are introductory only (Erin's videos are embedded into a larger course, this link will open directly to her section of the video):

Again, and not to beat a dead horse, but it’s crucial that you handle your books regularly. If you need assistance then contact a bookkeeper such as Erin. Don’t neglect this chore.

One last point I’ll make, in regards to the management of your finances, is to understand the difference between not having any business and not having any money. I’ve consulted for way too many small businesses who call me freaking out due to the fact that they have no money in the bank. The freaking out entrepreneur, however, starts these conversations by saying that business is dead. In other words, they assume that the fact that they’re broke is due to business being slow. Upon talking to such people, however, it turns out that they actually have quite a bit of business. It’s just that they spent the money as fast as it came in, usually on indulgences (including large indulgences such as high end cars, etc.). “Not having any business” would mean that you’re twiddling your thumbs and that you have nothing to be working on. If you’ve got a mountain of work to do, and no money, then it’s probably a sign that you need to practice better financial restraint.

It is vital that you manage your administrative tasks as well as affairs involving your finances. Administrative tasks include timely filing any necessary documents with the Secretary of State, keeping your business licenses up to date, etc. Not keeping these affairs in order could be devastating. You don’t want to be sitting there, in the middle of a coding project, only to find out that you’ve lost your legal right to do business for the time being, all because you didn’t file a piece of paper with a regulatory entity. Know your licensing and regulatory requirements and, if necessary, hire an attorney to help you with these matters.

Freelancers must manage their development in an efficient manner

A freelance developer’s “substantive” work consists of the tasks which he or she is actually paid to perform. In other words - development work. If you’ve come this far into this guide then I think it’s fair to assume you’re interested in making money. Assuming that you are on a quest for prosperity, and that you haven’t read this article because there was nothing interesting at the public library, we’ll devote this section to making your substantive work as profitable as possible. As mentioned above, the key is to identify your high value activities and to ensure that such activities receive a serious and efficient time commitment on your end. To help you get there, this section will discuss the need to focus on the right tasks, how to make sure you’re putting in the right amount of time, and tips for making sure that you’re using that time efficiently. If you focus on these things, then you’re likely to make more money. If you don’t….then you’re not.

The most important part of getting rich is making sure that you’re focusing your time into higher value activities. This concept is pretty simple; identify the tasks which yield the best results and do more of it! While that sentence may leave you going “duh,” you’d be surprised at how many entrepreneurs fail to recognize this concept. Let’s look at some specific examples, both in terms of your substantive work and your marketing activities.

Suppose you develop what you consider to be a typical small business website for $3,000. The site includes multiple pages, lots of media, and extra functionality (such as online ordering for a restaurant). Now say that such a project typically takes you about twenty hours to complete. This means that this type of work yields you $150 per hour ($3k/20 hours). Now suppose that you can drum up work building one-page “starter websites” for small businesses for $500 a pop. You can typically handle such projects in two hours (given that you’ll likely develop a number of templates to work from). This means these “starter” sites can be completed at a rate of $250 per hour ($500/2 hours). While the latter may pay less in total than the former, it actually pays more per unit of input. A developer who actually wants to make money would focus on doing more “starter” sites and less on the larger projects I mentioned.

While the math I just laid out may seem obvious, you would be shocked at how many developers (and small business owners for that matter) fail to focus on the work which yields the most per unit of input. This can be due to not keeping track of the inputs (i.e. not tracking how much time you’re putting into something) or simply focusing on the price tag as opposed to the hourly profit. Whatever the reason, those who fail to identify their most profitable activities, and focus on them, are making a big mistake.

Mark Cuban is on record as saying that diversification is “for idiots” and Warren Buffett is on record as referring to diversification as “madness.” This is also true when it comes to the activities you are engaging in as a freelancer. If you identify an activity as being more profitable than any others then it makes NO sense to engage in other activities. Instead, you should be trying to drum up as much of that profitable activity as possible. This is true in terms of your substantive work, your marketing activities, etc. In short - focus on high value activities.

Once you identify your high value activities then it is vital that you put a lot of ‘da time into them. How much you need to work should be thought of as a function of efficiency and time (a few speeches from Elon Musk really opened my eyes to this). Consider it in these terms. Jill and Joe perform similar tasks as freelance developers. Jill, however, works twenty-five percent more efficiently than Joe, meaning that Jill can get twenty-five percent more done in an hour. You might think that Jill is going to make more money than Joe, right? The problem, however, is that Jill only works thirty hours a week and thinks her increased efficiency makes up for any lost time. Joe, by contrast, works forty hours every week. At the end of the week, Jill’s thirty hours of work will produce the same amount that Joe would produce in 37.5 hours (30 hours worked by Jill * 1.25 of Joe’s efficiency). Since Joe works forty hours each week, he’s going to get more done than Jill. Since Joe produces more than Jill, due to his better work ethic, he will make more as a freelance developer. If Jill had just worked forty hours, like Joe, then one week would yield an amount of production that would have taken Joe fifty hours (40 hours * 1.25 Joe’s production = 50). What you can take from the epic story of Jill and Joe is that you have to put in the hours but that you have to be efficient also.

The foregoing concept is why I put a minimum of 43.3 hours into my business each week. My hourly requirement of 43.3 hours is based on a simple formula; if I’m working at the same level of efficiency as some hypothetical person, and that individual only works forty hours a week, then by putting in 3.3 extra hours per week I add one working month to my year. In other words, someone working at the same level of efficiency as myself, who is only putting in forty hours a week, will take thirteen months to equal the level of production I reach in twelve months. It’s important to stress that the average of 43.3 hours a week is a minimum that I put in. If there is additional work, which must get done due to some type of deadline, then I put in extra time. Any extra time that I put in can then be taken off from a later week. When working efficiently, however, it isn’t too often that I have to go over my 43.3 hours. By adding an extra working month to my year, using this method, I feel my production greatly increases.

The point of putting in your hours is so important that I’m going to rant about discuss it for just another moment. An overhyped belief is that it is important to work “smarter not harder.” To this idea I say:

It is, instead, important to work smart and hard. I deal with plenty of self-employed individuals who put in a lot of hours and manage to get nothing done. This is due to the fact that they work in an extremely inefficient manner. You can put in sixty hours a week, but if you’re only working at fifty percent efficiency, then the average Joe will equal your production in just thirty hours a week. At the same time, the math shown above in the hypothetical about Jill and Joe, shows that you do need to put in the time. This is why the amount you produce, which largely dictates how much you make, is a function of both working efficiently and putting in the time. There can be no compromise on either.

Here’s an important tip, which I cannot stress enough, for working as efficiently as possible - always assume that you’re operating inefficiently. I work with way, way, way…….way too many people that are convinced that they are operating in an efficient manner. After going through how they do things, however, it quickly becomes obvious that improvements can be made. My approach to my business is to assume that I am inefficient and to be in a constant state of trying to do things better. Remember that no matter how well you think you are doing, there is always room to do better.

Now that we’ve gone over the importance of identifying high value activities and putting time into them, let’s give some specifics on how you can run your business more efficiently. Again, it’s vital that you streamline your operations. It’s too easy, after all, to work all day, not get anything done, and then go home feeling like you’ve actually accomplished something simply because you put in time. The tips below (which by no means should be considered an exhaustive list) will help you to eliminate “noise” which causes unnecessary distractions, to eliminate unnecessary work, and to avoid self-inflicted extra tasks. Let’s get to it.

The first step for working efficiently is to develop the Only Handle It Once (O.H.I.O.) method. This is a straightforward time-saving idea which too many entrepreneurs fail at. The idea is simple. Do not deal with an item unless you are prepared to take action on it at the time you deal with it. Consider how often the following occurs. Joe receives an email from a customer. He skims it and says to himself “I’ll deal with this later.” When “later” comes, Joe then has to read the email a second time before dealing with it. In other words, Joe to take the time to read the email twice instead of just reading it once and dealing with it. Now multiply the wasted time of one extra reading by every email received in the course of a year. The time lost quickly becomes mind-boggling. Instead of making this mistake, Joe should not even open the email until he is prepared to deal with it. This will save him the time of a second reading.

The O.H.I.O. method can be applied to a number of different contexts. Imagine every piece of administrative paperwork you receive (notices from the Secretary of State, forms you have to fill out, etc.). As with the email example above, it’s easy to look at such a document and put it off to the side for later handling. Again, when the task is completed this means you will have reviewed the document twice. The idea of Only Handle It Once means just what it says - do not open an email, pick up a piece of paper, or start a task unless you are prepared to actually deal with it. The time savings that come out of this method can be extreme.

The next step for working more efficiently is to adopt an idea that you’re not going to start on something until you finish it. In other words, don’t spend a little time each day working on numerous projects. Finish one project and move on to the next one. Failing to do this means that you never get into a groove with your work. Let me explain this by way of personal example. A big part of our primary business is adding blog posts to our client’s websites. Also, we recently switched our virtual private server from the company we were using to Siteground. As a result of this switch, we had to migrate all of the websites we manage from one server to another (this was a lengthy process). In regards to adding client content, and migrating websites, we could have taken the approach of adding content to a few sites each day and migrating a few sites each day. This would mean constantly switching tasks, however. So, instead, we set aside time where we weren’t going to add content and were going to devote ourselves to site migration until it was finished. Once that was done, we devoted ourselves to adding content to the websites until that project was completed. In other words, we finished one thing before we moved on to the next. The benefit of this is extreme; when you switch tasks it takes time to get into a groove in regards to the task you just switched to. This “lost groove time” greatly reduces your efficiency. It is, therefore, important to finish one task before moving on to another. Don’t keep jumping back and forth between partially completed projects.

When taking on new freelance projects, I take a “one at a time approach.” If I’m building something out for customer One, and I know it’s going to take me a week, then I let potential customer Two know that I won’t be starting their project for a week. I also adjust my proposed delivery date accordingly. Keep your workflow as such that you’re working on one thing at a time, but that you have a stream of work lined up. It is common for us to have multiple projects lined up and under contract. We, however, always finish one before moving on to the next. We do not jump back and forth between projects. This allows us to get more done, in less time, and we make more money as a result.

The third step to increasing your efficiency is to deal with problems as soon as they arise. And when I say “as soon as they arise,” I mean immediately. Not doing so will simply allow the problem to swell and become larger. Here’s a simple example - my business partner pointed out to me the other day that the app we use for syncing contacts between everyone’s email accounts wasn’t working. I immediately stopped what I was doing to fix it. It would have been easy to say “I’ll deal with this later.” In between the instant moment and later, however, people in our organization would have needed to make notes about customers, to pull up contact info, etc. The app not syncing would have created problems in others’ workflow. This would result in a small problem (the app not working) compounding into larger issues.

Not dealing with inefficiencies immediately can compound in other ways. Consider this real world example: I was once talking to a customer on the phone while they were heading to their office. Once they got to their office, it took them extra time to get in the door. This was due to the fact that the customer had an excessive number of keys on their keychain and she said “I don’t even know what most of these keys are for” while we were talking. When I talked to the customer again, about a year later, they made the same comment. Now consider this - the customer probably loses thirty seconds a day fumbling through keys that didn’t even need to be on her key ring. That’s 2.5 minutes lost per week. Over the course of the year that works out to roughly two full hours that are lost. 2.5 hours of substantive work likely works out to several hundred dollars. If this customer had taken a time out to take unnecessary keys off of their key chain immediately after realizing it was a problem, they would be making several hundred dollars more a year.

The foregoing story of the key ring may seem silly to some. It proves the point, however, of dealing with issues as soon as they arise. Failing to do so results in ongoing lost production. Taking the approach of “I’ll deal with this minor annoyance later” will result in you losing many hours over time in order to save a minute today. Don’t sacrifice hours to save a minute.

The fourth, and one of the biggest steps towards increased efficiency, is to improve your management of communications. Communications are one of the biggest ways to lose time, for completely unproductive purposes, while feeling like you’re getting work done. Let’s look at the need to completely avoid real time communications and to better manage email.

One of the biggest problems in many tech companies (and businesses in general for that matter) is the use of real time messaging platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, etc. The problem with these platforms is twofold. First, they result in people sending a large number of small messages as opposed to requiring that they put all of their thoughts into one message. This requires the reader of these short messages to work in a constant state of distraction. The individual gets far less done as a result. Second, and perhaps worse, is the fact that these platforms lead to co-workers/employees/partners sharing random thoughts that don’t really have anything to do with the project at hand as well as the sharing of messages essentially saying how much one liked the last message. These types of interruptions contain no actionable information and, instead, just lead to the reader being bombarded by extra noise. It is far more efficient to read one comprehensive message, which is why we avoid these types of platforms.

Many developers could also improve upon their management of email. It is a mistake to read emails as soon as they come in. Instead, you should completely deal with your email inbox during one to two set times per day, and avoid it for the rest of the time. There are several reasons for this. First, as stated above, you shouldn’t read an email unless you are prepared to act on it. Second, it is important to consider how people tend to use email. Way too many people fire off a message as soon as a thought enters their head. It’s not uncommon for me to open my inbox in the afternoon and have multiple emails from the same customer. By waiting to deal with emails until a set time, I can then read all of their emails and write one consolidated response. This is opposed to writing separate responses, which would take more time. Also, you actually create more email for yourself to read if you respond to messages immediately. Suppose Joe Client sends you a random thought and you respond. Now suppose that Joe does this several more times, and you respond, during the day. Joe is likely to respond back to each of your responses (creating a large number of emails to read). By writing Joe a consolidated response, at a set time of the day, Joe will only have one email from you to respond to. The net result is far fewer messages hitting your inbox. This saves a great deal of time.

After reading the prior paragraph on email management, you may be saying to yourself “but my clients want to hear from me right away.” If you go through your inbox at least once a day, then they’re never going more than about 24 hours without a response. If something is so important that someone can’t wait 24 hours for a response then they should be calling you on the phone as opposed to shooting you an email. I never go through my email more than twice a day and our customers feel that we give good service. Save yourself time and only respond to emails during set time blocks each day.

When you put all of the above-mentioned concepts together you will greatly improve your efficiency. By using the O.H.I.O method you will reduce the amount of time you spend reading email, reviewing documents, etc. Only starting projects when you are prepared to finish them, and working on one thing at a time, reduces distractions and allows you to stay in a groove. Dealing with problems as soon as they arise will result in you losing minutes today, but saving hours over time. Finally by improving/reducing your communications, you will avoid distractions and actually have fewer messages to respond to. Put these things together with actually putting in the hours and you can look like this happy person:

Suppose the foregoing efficiency tips make you twenty percent more efficient than the average developer. Also, suppose you average a minimum of 43.3 hours worked per week (the reason why I use this number was explained above). Finally, suppose your competitors average forty hours a week at average efficiency. You will achieve in one year what it takes your competitors roughly 15.5 months to achieve. If you focus all of this production on high value activities, then your bank account will grow quickly.

Action items for freelance developers who wish to better manage their business on a day to day basis

Freelance developers can greatly increase their net income by better managing all aspects of their day-to-day operations. The following is a list of “action items” which can help you to immediately increase profits:

Properly manage your financial and administrative affairs.

Read Profit First and adopt its suggested financial plan for your business. Alternatively, develop your own financial plan and stick to it. Sign up accounting/bookkeeping software and get in the habit of doing your books regularly.

Research and learn about administrative requirements you must meet (i.e. filing for a business license). This will vary by state and locale. Your local Secretary of State’s Office may be able to assist with this information.

Manage your development work in an efficient manner.

Identify your “high value” work opportunities.

This is the work that pays the most per hour of labor, not necessarily the most in total.

Make a plan to focus your business on these high value activities and maintain a narrow focus in regards to the type of work you take.

Decide on a minimum number of hours that you will commit to the business each week. Make sure you hit this hour requirement on a weekly basis.

Adopt the Only Handle It Once (O.H.I.O.) method.

Adopt the habit of not starting on something until you are prepared to finish it.

Adopt the habit of dealing with problems as soon as they arise.

Improve your management of communications.

Avoid “real-time” communication platforms such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.

Set aside time each day in which you will deal with email. Do not deal with email outside of these designated time periods.

Conclusion

In no way is this guide meant to tell you every last thing you need to know about running your own business. Sticking with these tips, however, will help you to get out ahead of your competition. Keep in mind that being successful in business requires effort in all of the areas described above. You’re never going to be better than the area you are weakest in. I can’t, therefore, stress enough the need to be striving for constant improvement in all aspects of your business.

About Me

I am a web developer who maintains websites and other software on behalf of law firms through SEO For Lawyers. I am also a co-founder of Modern Website Design. I enjoy writing on issues related to small business and entrepreneurship.

via freeCodeCamp.org https://ift.tt/2RjQgCs

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[eveprofessionalpractice]

Social Media.

In the past decade there has been such a massive evolution and development of social media. In the past social media was used mainly for finding friends and communicating your thoughts and feelings, with individual usage times being less as well. However, in 2019 social media has taken over with its prominence in everyones daily life increasing dramatically, with many people living their lives online and communicating only through social media. This change of how social media is used has had a major impact on, not only the everyday user, but also the professional as platforms are now tailored for promotion and showcasing.

Within photography and videography social media use is key as each platform allows individuals to promote themselves as an artist, allowing others to contact them directly and find people through out the world. Social media also allows artists to showcase their work to the world, as they can present their strengths and interests showing off work they have created which is a new age way of presenting art work.

When thinking of social media in a professional setting I think it is especially key for people working in the creative industry to use social media to their advantage. Many people working within the creative industry decide to make the transition to self employment which means promoting yourself and advertising has to be done by yourself, social media allows this to happen as you can pay small fees within platforms which will promote and advertise your account to there users. Also, promotion can be done through close contacts who then share your details to their close contacts and a tumbleweed effect happens, having this ability to showcase your work and services to other people is key to success.

Instagram

For me, one of the best social media platforms right now is Instagram especially for photographers and videographers, as the layout of the platform allows for your work to be showcased straight away to other users as soon as they visit your account. 

Within the platform, Instagram allows you to change your account from a personal account to a professional account which gives you advanced features such as contact information, promoted posts, scheduling posts and analytics of your account. These features are very beneficial within the promotion of yourself or business as it allows engagement and consistency.

Hashtags are a big element of Instagram which can be added to posts allowing it to be categorised so it can be seen by a wider audience within the platform. I think hashtags are beneficial for brands and creatives especially when they're starting out, as it allows their posts to reach a larger audience and become apart of different communities on the platform. 

Instagram stories have become a big phenomenon within the past couple of years as the idea is based on that of snapchat stories, which allows users of the platforms to document what they're doing in real time with the posts lasting 24 hours. Stories means professionals can have more engagement with their audience and also consistency is heightened as posts only last 24 hours so less thought can go into posts. I think with Instagram stories it also allows professional to promote themselves as an individuals as they can speak directly to their audience and show off their personality.

Another element of this platform is that of verification which instagram adds to accounts based on their following and engagement, if an account has a verification stamp it allows them to be promoted to brands and also other users. There is also a sense of security as creatives and professionals can be ensured that once their work has been posted that it is verified as their own work.

Facebook

Facebook is probably the platform that has the most users as the aim of the platform is to allow people to engage with people they know such as friends and family, this personal element makes the platform user friendly as their is a wide age range. Users are able to post about their life through text and photos and communicate through Messenger, which is an add on messaging service linked to your account. 

When becoming a professional, Facebook allows users to create pages separate from their personal accounts which gives people the opportunity to build an online professional presence within the platform. The fact that the page is linked to your personal account means that your current friends can be invited to the page, meaning a following can be developed quicker due to personal connections.

When you create a page on Facebook you began building a business presence as you can grow your page allowing users to interact with your page through Likes and Comments. Through Likes and Comments professional can see if the response to their work is positive or negative and also the level of interaction from their audience.

Page promotions and boosted posts are services that are offered by Facebook usually at a cost which allows the page to be viewed by a larger audience and keep their audience engaged. A target audience can be developed which means your page and posts are only promoted to those who you want to view it, establishing a target is key to becoming a professional as this will help you with making decisions about your business.

Twitter

Twitter is a social media platform which I believe allows professionals to focus more on engagement with their audience, as it works sort of like Facebook as accounts make posts either text, images or video which other users can interact with. Users are able to create an account whether it is personal or professional they have the same features, once an account becomes verified that is when more features are added to an account.

On Twitter a presence can be developed through the use of hashtags, paralleling with Instagram, which allows posts to be viewed by certain communities and people with same interests. Your posts can also reach a wider audience through the retweet function, users are able to share your post onto their account and to their followers which allows for engagement from a wider spread audience.

I think Twitter is a harder platform to gain followers on as it involves a lot of engagement from both the professional and the followers they have, hashtags are probably the best way of gaining followers and drawing clients to your account as they can directly search results for what they are looking. There is also ways of promoting your account and tweets within your account which could help attract people to your business, however I still feel like personally it could be the most difficult.

LinkedIn

While the above social media platforms are for anyone and everyone, LinkedIn is geared towards professionals only, as it connects professionals from around the world and allows them to network and build their own portfolio. Users of the platform create an account which is basically a page which allows you to promote yourself to other professionals and employers, almost like an online CV. This platform has a very niche market as it is for professionals and users conduct themselves as if they're at work or at a job interview.

The Job section within LinkedIn is probably one of the key elements of the platform as not only is it a place where professionals can meet and talk to each other, it is a job site which allows users to search for jobs and opportunities. I think having the ability to promote yourself and then being able to apply to jobs allows you to see if you're promoting yourself in the right way, and if you get the right results from your hard work.

Within LinkedIn you can also grow your network which is similar to Facebook as you send out connections and people can connect back to you, however, it pushes you out of your comfort zone as the people you are adding are like minded individuals and not friends and family. I think this is key for becoming a professional as you need to push yourself to talk to other people and to move out of your safety net, as this will allow you to build a bigger network of people who may be able to help and assist you with any issues you may have in your professional career.

For me, LinkedIn is something I need to look at more as it is heavily promoted within this module however, moving away from the common informal style of traditional social media platforms is something I think myself and other people need to work on, as you need to know how to present yourself professionally for certain situations.

What type of promotion can you start doing as a student ?

Even though I am still a student, I feel like promoting myself should start now as I can start building an online presence for myself as a creative to promote my work and interests. I currently have an Instagram account which is for my work and inspirations for work I want to create, I also have a Facebook page which I have called a visual media account as I don't want to limit myself on the work I want to create. I think right now I need to start just creating work that I love and I'm invested in and posting it for feedback and for others to view as you never know what it could lead to.

[markwatkinsconsumerguide]

Consumer Guide / No.88 / author of the UK’s First Bubbling Under Book, ‘Hits That Missed’, Michael Hows (aka Colin Driscoll) with Mark Watkins.

MW : Your new book, ‘Hits That Missed’, was 15 years in the making. Why did you set out on this journey, and what were some of the steps (and obstacles overcome) along the way?

MH : When I retired from a job that involved writing I decided to set myself a project which still involved writing. I had always been interested in 1950’s music and I recall Record Mirror published individual dealer returns from which they compiled the Top 20, but there were many other records that were in these returns that didn’t make the charts, so I set out to log these. I didn’t realise how long it would take and what a difficult journey I would embark on.

MW : Why did it take so long?

MH : I first bought up as many of the pre-1961 Record Mirror’s from ebay as I could costing thousands of pounds to lighten the load, as the only place in the UK where these magazines are located en masse was at The British Newspaper Library at Colindale, London (now at The British Library King’s Cross, London).

Record Mirror, which came out weekly, was published from June 1954 and stopped its published dealer returns in March 1961 (the time span of my book). So there are about 350 magazines to carefully trawl through and log the relevant details and put them on a spreadsheet. I could generally get through about ten Record Mirrors per visit to Colindale, but it was not a quiet library and there were lots of distractions so it was tiring maintaining my concentration at times, often meaning I had to double-check the results. I hate to think how many journeys I made to London using the Northern Line to Colindale tube station. I suppose this labour of love did not make economic sense, but it was a project I was determined to complete - although I did not think it would take 15 years!

MW : What type of support have you received along the way from your publisher?

MH : I was lucky that I quickly found an online publisher called Music Mentor with a fantastic back catalogue of 1950’s & 1960’s music books - and was as committed as myself to the project. Without this support I would not have been able to complete the task, particularly in relation to some of the more obscure entries like Jazz & Irish genres and the biographies of long forgotten artists like Nash Lorraine.

It was decided from the outset that we would include all the information from dealer returns - including Classical, Show, Jazz & World Music - not just the pop stuff which became more dominant post-1955. This was a mammoth (i.e elephant!) task and the mammoth took a lot of nibbling away over many often frustrating months - what we hope we have produced is a historical time capsule of the development of post-war music in the 1950’s and the early days of Rock & Roll in UK which so influenced the Beatles & the Rolling Stones - besides being the first ‘UK Bubbling Under’ (the charts as archived by the Official Charts Company) book. We would have loved to have had the support of the Official Charts Company but all they seem interested in was financial return so in the end we did not include their information.

MW : Tell me about the chosen format of the book…

MH : The experience of Music Mentor was key to the book’s layout and the requirement to condense all the information into a reasonable, understandable and affordable number of pages (428 including copious illustrations).

We followed the ‘US Bubbling Under Format’ and UK chart publications of previous decades but keeping our own individual way of presentation.

MW : How has the book been received so far?

MH : If this Book had been published before the Millennium it would have been great - but the music scene has changed completely over recent decades, so much so that artists like Jerry Lee Lewis, Marty Wilde, Chuck Berry & Little Richard - still household names up to the 1990’s - are now forgotten.

So it is a struggle in what now is perceived as a niche market - it means working harder on marketing and this will take time. I am sure there are still an audience out there both in the UK and abroad for this book as it’s entertaining, educational and nostalgic. It is getting across the fact that HITS THAT MISSED is out there. Every little bit of publicity helps, of course.

Online sites like Twitter and YouTube help to spread the message, but some of the “target audience” (probably post-55) may not have wide internet access. There is targeting magazines like Record Collector & Vintage Rock but advertising in these can be very expensive, unlike in the past these mags like the Official Charts are run as businesses with profit margins clearly in mind. There is no such thing as a free lunch these days and when a book (no matter how important or interesting it might be) will not be a big seller it does not make economic sense to market it via this route

MW : Where can we buy it?

MH : The ISBN for HITS THAT MISSED is 978-0-9562679-9-3 so using this number you can order it through any bookshop or on-line. It is also available from the publisher http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/catalogue.html or from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hits-That-Missed-Bubbling-1954-1961/dp/0956267998/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hits+that+missed&qid=1559723063&s=gateway&sr=8-1

MW : Tell me about your interest in music in general?

MH : My teenage hero was Buddy Holly and I have seen the Buddy Show many times - but as time goes by I have widened my musical interests to include Folk/World/Classical but Rock 'n Roll will always be my passion - and name any rock ‘n roller and I probably have had a record or compilation of his/hers at some time. Nowadays, I rely on Radio, YouTube & Spotify to connect with music, although I still collect obscure UK artists that have not been compiled. My latest search is for Cuddly Dudley ‘Too Pooped To Pop’ - is there a copy or mp3 out there?

MW : What’s your all-time favorite single and LP?

MH : Very difficult -it does change from year to year - but I suppose for single the combination of ‘Raining In My Heart’ c/w ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’ must take top spot - so nostalgic - the posthumous release after Buddy Holly’s death February 1959. LP must be Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ - not a naff track on this superbly crafted album - which is somewhat dismissed now but in 1970 was WOW.

MW : What newspapers do you read and why?

MH: I am embarrassed to say that my wife buys the Daily Mail for the puzzles etc. and I have been known to skip through the pages - particularly the sport - I am an avid and often nervous Southampton football club supporter - so a sympathetic sports’ columnist gets me interested. Otherwise I pinch a Metro from the local bus station or get my news off the TV or internet.

MW: …favourite news presenters?

MH : My favourite news reporter is Norman Smith. My favourite news anchor is Louise Minchin & my favourite weather presenter is Carol Kirkwood. Actually, the only one to wind me up is Piers Morgan (he’s like marmite, I guess).

MW : How do you relax?

MH : I have been forced to relax after a health issue this year. I am concentrating more on walking my ten thousand steps per day and eating at least my 5 portions of rabbit food per day! Besides that, I am still chart-compiling but this work is unlikely to be published. Then there’s surfing the internet, listening to music in the background, holiday planning, tending the garden, and my family to keep up with.

MW : Now you’re in retirement, any regrets looking back? What are you now looking forward to?

MH: I never look back (other than my music) but not in my life - I am a great believer in Doris Day ‘Que Sera Sera - Whatever Will Be Will Be. The only regret is that my book was not published in the heyday of chart archive publications - not really for me, because all I ever wanted was to complete my project, which I have done, and I now have my book on my bookshelf to prove it, but for my publisher, George Groom-White at Music Mentor, who put so much faith, energy, patience and kindness into the project, as well as time and money - he deserves success with this book and I look forward with help from the buying public to deliver it to him.

© Mark Watkins / June 2019

[lets-misa-blog]

The 9-Step SEO Strategy for 2019 [NEW] http://google-keyword-research.s3-website.us-east-2.amazonaws.com review regarding it below

Today I'm mosting likely to show you a VERY effective SEO method for 2019.

(Detailed)

As a matter of fact, I recently made use of these precise steps to rate # 1 in Google for "Video Search Engine Optimization".

As well as "keyword research study device".

Let's dive right in ...

Action # 1: Find an "Possibility Keyword"

Allow's encounter it:

A # 1 ranking isn't what it utilized to be.

That's due to the fact that Google keeps adding things to the search engine result.

For example, consider the key phrase "SEO Equipment":

Like a lot of search results page, you have actually got ads on top of the web page.

Plus, a Featured Bit:

A "Individuals also Ask" box:

THEN you get to the # 1 result:

That's why you wish to focus on Possibility Keywords.

Possibility Keywords are search phrases with a high organic click-through-rate (CTR).

How around an instance?

I recently developed a message optimized around the term "Search Engine Optimization Audit":

As Well As "Search Engine Optimization Audit" is a Possibility Keyword phrase.

Certain, there are ads:

Yet that's in fact an advantage.

(More ads=greater industrial intent)

Apart from ads, there isn't a lot to distract individuals from the organic results:

You can likewise estimate natural CTR with Ahrefs.

For instance, when I put "SEO Audit" right into Ahrefs, it states that 61% of searchers click an outcome.

Okay.

Which leads us to ...

Action # 2: Analyze Google's First Web page

OK, so you discovered a Chance Keyword phrase.

Now it's time to see what's already helping that key words.

To do that, just kind your key phrase right into Google.

Scan the leading 10 outcomes:

And write any kind of patterns that you see.

For instance, the first web page for "Search Engine Optimization Equipment" is LOADED with checklists of tools:

So you would certainly intend to write: "great deals of list posts".

After that, move onto action # 3 ...

Action # 3: Develop Something Different ... Or Much better

When it involves content, you've obtained two alternatives:

Choice # 1: You can develop something various.

Option # 2: You can create something better.

Below's how ...

Various

Sometimes you want to produce something larger and also much better than what's available.

(aka The High-rise building Method)

Yet occasionally you're much better off with content that's totally different.

Why?

Since it helps your content STAND OUT.

For instance:

A few months ago I rested down to create an item of material enhanced around: "Mobile Search Engine Optimization".

And I saw Google's first web page was cluttered with list articles, like: "X Ways to Mobile Optimize Your Site."

Currently:

I can have produced a BIGGER list message like: "150 Ways to Mobile Optimize Your Website".

However that would not make any type of sense.

Rather, I developed something totally various.

Especially, I published an utmost guide to mobile optimization.

And also since my web content stuck out, it got a lots of shares:

Comments:

And essential of all, back links:

Much better

This is a whole lot a lot more simple.

All you need to do is discover what's working ...

... and also publish something METHOD better.

For instance:

A while back I noticed that a lot of content regarding "SEO devices" only listed 10-20 tools.

And also I recognized that releasing one more listing of 20 devices wouldn't work.

So I made a decision to develop a listing of 188 Search Engine Optimization devices.

As well as it did GREAT.

Actually, it now places in the leading 3 for the key words "Search Engine Optimization Equipment":

Action # 4: Include a Hook

Here's the offer:

If you wish to place in 2019, you need back links.

Question is:

HOW?!

Initially, you require to figure out WHY individuals connect to content in your market.

("The Hook")

Then, include that "Hook" in your content.

For instance:

In 2014 I saw an increasing number of blog writers blogging about voice search.

I discovered something else as well:

When people blogged about voice search, they connected to material that featured statistics and also data:

So I chose to do a voice search research that was LOADED with stats:

As well as it worked!

To day, this solitary article has racked up 848 back links:

And also 90%+ of these backlinks mention a specific stat from my message:

That stated:

Data is simply one kind of Hook that you can utilize to get web links to your material.

Below are 3 various other Hooks that are working great today:

New Approaches and Techniques

Assume concerning it:

What do blog writers and reporters LOVE blogging about?

New things!

And if you develop something brand-new, you've obtained a hook.

As an example, a couple of years ago, I created the expression "Guestographics".

This was a new technique that no one learnt about.

As well as because Guestographics were new (and had an unique name), 1,200 individuals have actually connected to my blog post so much:

Large Guides

When you release a huge overview, your overview itself is The Hook.

I'll clarify with an example ...

A few years back I released Web link Building: The Clear-cut Overview.

It was (and still is) the most full guide to web link structure out there.

Here's where points obtain intriguing ...

Every now and then a blog owner will certainly state "web link structure" in a blog post.

However they don't have area to cover the whole subject.

So they link to my guide as a means for their viewers to discover a lot more:

Really amazing.

Situation Research Study Results

Instance studies are GREAT for obtaining web links.

However to obtain web links to your instance study, you require to include a particular outcome.

For instance, a while back I released this situation research:

This was a SUPER comprehensive study.

Yet I didn't feature ONE cause the post.

Instead, I noted out 20+ results:

Which meant my study didn't have a single Hook for people to connect to.

And really few people linked to it.

Blink ahead to a couple of years later on when I published this study:

This time around, I focused on ONE result (a 785% boost in my blog's conversion price):

As well as that single outcome was The Hook that brought about hundreds of links:

Good!

Action # 5: Enhance For On-Page Search Engine Optimization

This step is everything about keyword-optimizing your material for Search Engine Optimization.

As well as right here are the 3 on-page Search Engine Optimization methods that are functioning best for me right currently:

Inner Connecting

Yup, interior linking still functions.

Yet you need to do it right.

Especially, you intend to connect FROM high-authority pages TO pages that need authority.

For example, I published Google Look Console: The Clear-cut Overview previously this year.

So I found a page on my site with a load of authority ...

... and also connected from that web page to my brand-new guide.

Simple.

Short, Keyword-Rich URLs

Our analysis of 1 million Google search results page discovered something that surprised a whole lot of people:

Brief Links crush long Links.

That's why I make my Links either just my keyword ...

... Or my target keyword plus one more word:

In either case works.

Semantic Search Engine Optimization

Lastly, I maximize my material for Semantic Search Engine Optimization.

Simply put:

I find words that belong to my target key words.

Then, I utilize those terms in my material.

Below are the deets:

Initially, pop your key words right into Google Images.

And Google will certainly provide you words and also expressions they take into consideration closely-related to that topic:

Second, type the exact same key words right into normal Google search. And also scroll down to the "Searches associated with ..." area.

Ultimately, sprinkle several of those terms right into your material:

And also you're set.

Step # 6: Enhance For Individual Intent

Simply put: The Skyscraper Technique 2.0.

I'll show you exactly how this collaborates with a fast instance.

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post concerning getting even more traffic to your website.

It did OK.

But it never ever broke the top 5 for my target key words ("boost website traffic").

And also when I analyzed Google's initial page, I understood why:

My web page didn't satisfy individual intent.

I'll explain ...

A lot of the web content ranking for "rise web site web traffic" detailed bite-sized web traffic ideas.

But my article provided a high-level process.

So I rewrote my content to match this search phrase's User Intent.

Particularly, I turned my process into a checklist article:

And also currently that my web content matches Customer Intent, it places in the leading 3 for my target search phrase:

Which resulted in a 70.43% increase in organic website traffic contrasted to the old version of the article:

That said:

You can also release Customer Purpose maximized content right out of eviction.

In fact, that's what I performed with my recent message: The Ultimate Search Engine Optimization Audit.

I saw that most of the material position for "SEO Audit" detailed out non-technical actions.

So I included basic strategies that anybody could utilize:

I also stressed the fact that my audit was non-technical.

(This hooks individuals so they do not recover to the search results page)

And Also this Individual Intent optimization (as well as my site's Domain name Authority ... much more on that later) assisted my article split the first page of Google within a month.

Action # 7: Make Your Content Look Incredible

Design is ONE OF THE MOST underrated component of material advertising.

You can have the best content ever before created.

Yet if it appears like this ...

... it's not gon na job.

That's why I spend A GREAT DEAL of money and time right into material layout.

For instance, you've probably seen among my conclusive overviews:

These guides are created and coded 100% from square one.

(Which makes them super expensive to make)

That claimed:

Great material design doesn't have to cost a fortune.

In reality, here are 4 sorts of visual web content that are incredibly easy to manage.

Graphs and Charts

These work so well that I try to consist of a minimum of one graph in every article.

Why?

Since they make data EASY to comprehend.

As an example, take this stat from my mobile SEO overview.

I do not know about you, yet I have a difficult time visualizing 27.8 billion ANYTHING.

So I had our designer create a wonderful graph.

As a perk, individuals will certainly often utilize your graph in an article ... as well as link back to you:

Screenshots and Images

You may have noticed that I make use of WHOLE LOTS of screenshots in every article.

In reality, this solitary article has 78 screenshots:

To be clear:

I do not make use of screenshots simply for the benefit of using screenshots.

I only use them if it aids someone execute a details step.

For example, these screenshots make the 2 actions from this guide dead-simple to comply with:

That stated:

Screenshots only make good sense when you describe something technical.

Suppose you're in a non-technical particular niche ... like health and fitness?

Well, images offer the exact same purpose.

For instance, my friend Steve Kamb at Geek Fitness makes use of pictures to reveal you just how to do exercises the best method:

Blog Post Banners

Unlike charts and screenshots, post banners serve no practical purpose.

They simply look trendy

Depending upon the blog post, I either use a right-aligned 220 × 200 picture ...

... or a gigantic banner at the top of the message:

Graphics as well as Visualizations

Graphics and visualizations are type of like graphes.

But rather than envisioning information, they visualize principles.

To be clear:

These DON'T need to be elegant.

As an example, in this post I discuss exactly how all 4 variations of your site need to reroute to the same URL:

This isn't rocket scientific research.

But it's hard to visualize this idea in your mind.

So our designer made a straightforward aesthetic that makes this concept understandable.

Action # 8: Build Hyperlinks to Your Page

Currently it's time to proactively build web links to your content.

Especially, we're mosting likely to use 3 link building methods that are working TERRIFIC now.

Broken Web Link Building

Here's where you locate a damaged web link on somebody's website ...

... and provide your material as a substitute.

For example, this is an outreach email that I sent to a blogger in the advertising and marketing specific niche:

(Note just how specific I am. I do not claim "Please think about connecting to me in a post". I have a details position on a particular page where my link makes feeling)

As well as because I assisted the individual out BEFORE asking for anything, they mored than happy to include my web link:

Rival Evaluation

This technique is old-fashioned.

But it still works.

Initially, locate a website that's ranking for a key words you wish to rank for.

For instance, I'm trying to rank for the key words "Search Engine Optimization Audit".

So I order this arise from the first web page ...

... and consider their back links.

I can see that this page has web links from 160 domain names:

So I ought to be able to access least a handful of the very same links they have.

To do that, I go one-by-one through their backlinks.

And discover web pages where my link would certainly include value.

For instance, this message discusses the Ahrefs web content by name:

There's no reason to connect to my blog post there. So I relocated onto the following chance on the list.

And I encountered this message:

This time around, the link to Ahrefs becomes part of a huge list of sources.

A list that would be also MUCH BETTER as well as more full with a web link to my Search Engine Optimization audit blog post.

Evangelist Technique

This technique is less about links ... and even more about obtaining your material before the best people.

(Especially: people that run blog sites in your specific niche)

I'll discuss exactly how this method collaborates with an instance ...

A while back I intended to advertise a new High-rise Method case study.

So I made use of BuzzSumo to see that just recently shared content regarding The Skyscraper Strategy.

And also emailed everyone a variation of this design template:

And also when they responded "sure, I'll examine it out", I sent them a web link to the blog post:

(Keep in mind exactly how I DON'T ask for a share. This is a Judo step that makes your outreach stand apart)

Which resulted in dozens of shares to my brand name article:

Action # 9: Enhance and Update Your Material

This is functioning remarkably well today.

You could have checked out the time that I made use of The Web content Relaunch to improve my natural traffic by 260.7%:

And I enjoy to tell you that this technique still functions.

For instance, in 2014 I relaunched this checklist of SEO techniques.

But I really did not just re-post the very same material and also call it "new".

Rather, I underwent as well as got rid of old screenshots and images:

Added brand-new approaches:

And also removed approaches that really did not work any longer:

The result?

An 62.60% natural web traffic increase to that page:

Incentive Action # 1: Rise Your Domain Name Authority

This is the best SEO superhack.

When you have a high Domain Authority, SEO gets A GREAT DEAL much easier.

For instance, allow's consider the keyword phrase "SEO audit":

According to Ahrefs, you need back links from 108 internet sites to rate for this term:

But my material cracked the top 3 within weeks ...

... with just 38 internet sites connecting to me:

That's the power of Domain name Authority.

Right here are 3 methods to raise your Domain Authority:

Content Partnerships

Collaborations can 2-5x the variety of shares and also web links that you obtain from your material.

For instance, my friend Larry Kim and also I co-created this infographic:

As well as we both advertised it to our audiences on the exact same day:

Which got our infographic before thousands of individuals.

As a matter of fact, I still obtain links from this co-branded web content ... 2+ years later:

Publish Research Studies as well as Data

I discussed this in Action # 4.

However it deserves repeating.

In reality, if you consider my website, 3 of my leading 5 most linked-to blog posts are studies or data-driven overviews:

Guest Posts, Interviews, Talking Jobs (and Yes) Summary Articles

In other words:

Get your name around ... and the links will follow.

Actually, when I first started Backlinko, I visitor posted like crazy:

I went on any kind of podcast that would have me:

And also I invested hrs flying to nations like Romania as well as the Czech Republic to talk at meetings:

Even that wasn't sufficient ...

I was so identified to advertise Backlinko that I added an "Interview Me" web page on my website:

(That "Interview Me" web page really did not function. Yet at the very least I tried)

Essentially: I rushed to obtain my name around.

It really did not occur over night.

However in time, all this job caused a lot of direct exposure ... and links.

Benefit Action # 2: Develop an Area on Your Website

A while back Google stated that remarks can assist your rankings:

To be clear:

I'm not persuaded that blog site comments are a straight Google ranking aspect.

But I am convinced that a community indirectly helps with SEO.

(For instance, area members are a lot more likely to share your stuff on social media sites)

With that, right here are 2 fast tips for obtaining more talk about every post:

Be Picky

This is counterproductive.

But remain with me ...

Picture you simply checked out an AWESOME blog post.

As well as you wish to leave a remark with your 2 cents.

Yet when you struck the comments section, you see this:

Are you still going to leave that remark? Most likely not.

That's why I'm SUPER particular regarding the comments I allow through.

And this pickiness promotes terrific discussions, like this:

Respond to Comments

I respond to 90% of the comments that come in.

As well as considering we have 24,189 complete talk about the Backlinko blog site ...

... that's around 21,000 replies.

Wow. That's a great deal of replies.

And also I have ABSOLUTELY NO is sorry for about responding to numerous remarks.

Why?

These replies reveal individuals that I care.

Which transforms arbitrary commenters into energetic participants of the Backlinko Area.

Now I wish to Speak with You

There you have it:

My 9-step SEO approach for 2019.

Currently I wish to speak with you ...

Which method from today's post are you all set to try initially?

Are you going to update and relaunch older material?

Or maybe you wish to attempt Broken Web link Structure.

Regardless, let me know by leaving a comment listed below now.

#window #misa #happy #game

[nayeeman-blog]

How to Increase Website Traffic?

A Lot of us be aware of that search engine optimization generally is a extraordinary strategy to generate traffic for a website. However, for some of us, search engine optimisation perhaps our only approach of visitors and expand search out come. This can be a unhealthy thing. It is essential that you understand how to diversify the site visitors that is coming to your internet site, and no longer count wholly on search engine optimisation. In any other case, if your foremost site visitors source fails you, it could imply the end for what you are promoting.

Combine it up or mix it up:

There is no magic formula for content advertising success, regardless of what some would have you suppose. For that reason, differ the size and format of your content material to make it as appealing as feasible to specific forms of readers. Intersperse shorter, information-founded web publication posts with lengthy-kind content as well as video, info graphics and information-pushed portions for maximum have an effect on

Get Social

It’s no longer sufficient to produce best content and hope that men and women to find it – you have to be proactive. One of the quality methods to expand site visitors to your website is to make use of social media channels to promote your content material. Twitter is excellent for brief, snappy (and tempting) hyperlinks, whereas Google+ merchandising can aid your website exhibit up in personalised search results and seems above all effective in B2B niches. Should you’re a B2C product enterprise, you might find best traction with photograph-heavy social sites like Pinterest and Instagram. This is extra recommendation on making the most of social media advertising.

Write Irresistible Headlines:

Headlines are one of the most important materials of your content material. With out a compelling headline, even probably the most complete weblog submit will go unread. Grasp the art of headline writing. For example, the writers at BuzzFeed and Upworthy most of the time write upward of twenty specific headlines before eventually choosing the one so that it will drive probably the most traffic, so consider cautiously about your headline before you hit “post.”

Pay awareness to On-web page search engine optimisation:

Think SEO is useless? Suppose again. Optimizing your content material for search engines like google continues to be a useful and priceless practice. Are you benefiting from snapshot alt text? Are you developing inside hyperlinks to new content material? What about meta descriptions? Optimizing for on-web page search engine optimization doesn’t  ought to take a while, and it would help increase your natural visitors.

Begin guest blogging:

before you say it – no, true visitor running a blog isn’t useless, regardless of what you could have heard. Securing a visitor put up on a professional website can increase weblog traffic to your internet site and aid construct your brand into the bargain. Be warned, although – requirements for visitor blogging have modified radically in the course of the past eighteen months, and spammy techniques could effect in stiff penalties. Proceed with warning

Target lengthy-Tail keywords:

obtained your excessive-intent keyword and general keyword bases covered? Then it’s time to target lengthy-tail key phrases, too. Lengthy-tail key terms account for a majority of web searches, which means that for those who’re no longer concentrating on them as part of your paid search or search engine optimisation efforts, you’re missing out.

Invite others to visitor weblog for your website:

guest running a blog is a two-means street. In addition to posting content to other blogs, invite folks for your niche to web publication to your possess website online. They’re likely to share and link to their guest article, which would convey new readers to your website. Simply be certain that you just simplest post high-excellent, fashioned content material without spammy hyperlinks, given that Google is cracking approach down on low-fine visitor blogging.

Submit content material to LinkedIn:

LinkedIn has emerge as far more than a method of discovering a further job. The arena’s largest official social network is now a priceless publishing platform in its own proper, which means that you should be posting content to LinkedIn on a commonplace foundation. Doing so can raise traffic to your website online, as good as increase your profile inside your industry – above all you probably have a moderate to significant following.

Put in force or Implement Schema Micro data:

Imposing schema (or a further micro data layout) received’t always develop visitors to your website on its possess, however it’ll make it less difficult for search engine bots to search out and index your pages. One more advantage of making use of schema for search engine optimization is that it could actually outcomes in better wealthy website snippets, which is able to support click on-through charges.

Link Internally:

The force of your hyperlink profile isn’t exclusively determined by using how many sites link again to you – it can be affected by your inner linking constitution. When creating and publishing content material, be certain to preserve an eye out for possibilities for internal hyperlinks. This now not only helps with search engine optimization, but also outcome in a greater, extra useful expertise for the user – the cornerstone of increasing traffic to your website.

Be certain Your website online is speedy:

Ever located yourself waiting thirty seconds for a webpage to load? Me neither. In case your site takes eternally to load, your bounce cost will be sky excessive. Make certain that your pages are as technically optimized as feasible, including image file sizes, page constitution and the performance of third-occasion plugins. The rapid your web page loads, the better.

Make Yourself Heard in Comment Sections:

You most commonly discuss with as a minimum a couple of websites which are primary to your small business on a regular foundation, so why now not join the conversation? Commenting doesn’t necessarily provide an immediate improve to referral visitors correct away, however making a name for yourself by way of supplying insightful, concept-scary comments on industry blogs and websites is a best strategy to get your identify in the market – which is able to due to this fact outcomes in driving extra traffic to your possess website online. Just don’t forget that, as with visitor posting, exceptional and relevance are key – you will have to be attractive with different men and women in your area of interest, no longer shedding junk mail hyperlinks on unrelated web sites.

https://socialprachar.com/how-to-increases-web-site-traffic/?ref=blogtraffic/nym