Linkswitch #52: Collaboration, Data Safety

Collaborate on Your Designs With Draftboard

Design is more of a collaborative process than we often realize. In the process of designing a new site, logo, promotional flyer, and more, you’ll often end up emailing dozens of files back and forth with your coworkers and clients to see what they think about the changes. Adding to that, you’ll usually end up emailing copies of PSD or AI files, links to similar designs that inspired you, or reminders for when parts of the project are due.

How To Identify Good Clients (and Avoid Bad Ones)

Peter Drucker is one of the most influential business writers of the last century. His ideas have shaped the ways we conduct business today. One of Drucker’s main ideas was the notion that without a customer, there is no business. Furthermore, customer satisfaction is the key to the success of any business, or in his words: “The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that there are no results inside its walls. The result of a business is a satisfied customer.”

How to Keep Your Data Safe While Traveling

Thanks to the Internet, work doesn’t mean being confined to the office. Laptops and phones have become powerful enough to allow us to complete tasks while traveling. This means freelancers and entrepreneurs can turn just about any location into a work station. Even if you work for someone else, you have a lot of flexibility in where you work. It also means a major productivity boon if you’re traveling on business. At just about any point in your travels, you can get work done — just as long as you’re not driving.

10 Things Your Mom Said That Were Actually Right

Mom might not have known everything, but there were several areas where her advice was spot on.

It’s natural for young people to go through a period of doubting what their parents say and to lack the perspective to see the truth in the things they told us. But as we mature and grow older, we can look back on what our mothers (and other elders) told us and appreciate how right they were.

8 Ways to Use Social Share Buttons on Your Blog

Are you looking to maximize your social media exposure on your blog? Then be sure to watch this edition of Social Media Examiner TV with your host Mari Smith.

In this episode, Mari gives you some useful tips on how to increase your blog traffic with social media share buttons.

The Freelancer Workout

Know what my goal is for 2011? To not buy a gym membership.

I’m one of those people who pay high sums to keep the equipment at my gym clean and untouched. As a freelance writer, you’d think I’d be able to find a few hours a week to hit the gym (I must think so too since I keep renewing my membership), but seeing that most of my work is currently sandwiched in between naptimes and play dates, spending an hour of precious writing time at the gym seems awfully extravagant. In 2011, I am determined to recognize the situation for what it is and not squander my hard-earned money on club fees.

7 Ways to Kill Your Freelance Career Before it Starts

Moving into a career as a full-time freelance designer presents a lot of changes regardless of whether you are coming from a full-time job as an employed designer, completion of education for design, or a change in career paths.

There is a lot more to freelancing success than just being able to design. Some very significant factors should be considered ahead of time, otherwise you may be dooming yourself to a rough road as a freelancer.

How to Upgrade Your Freelancing Business in 2011

Is your freelancing biz ready to upgrade to version 2.0?

When it comes to software, we expect an “upgrade” to be a newer, more enhanced version, with better features, improved performance and faster results.

And most importantly, an upgrade means the bugs have been fixed.

There is no ‘I’ in Team: The Basics of Teamwork

In the expansive and dynamic field of web design and development, there are often times when we find ourselves working as part of a team, rather than on a more isolated, lone wolf kind of project. So when we find ourselves playing under these circumstances, then we need to be at our best to ensure that we are in fact being a good team player.