Any kind of a template can be called a cheat sheet, and the beauty of them is that you only have to create them once.  You might have a template for press releases or grants, for a website design, or for CSS style sheets to help get you started. There’s no point in rewriting the same code a hundred times for a hundred different projects, so use a cheat sheet template as your basis then make the necessary changes.  Just be sure you use your template only as a starting point to avoid having to redo the basics.  Then make each project unique.

Cheat sheets for infrequent tasks can be a life saver, too. You won’t have to struggle with trying to remember how to do something, make false starts that waste your time, and in a worst case scenario can cause you to mess up your work.  If you have a cheat sheet on how to do something, you’ll only spend the time it takes to glance at the instructions and you’re ready to go.

You can find cheat sheets online for a variety of projects, from email templates to bits of handy code, and even ready-to-print instructions for certain pieces of software and certain tools within them, so take advantage of these web freebies.  Also, making your own cheat sheets is a great idea.  When you come across a task that you’re unfamiliar with, as soon as you’ve successfully used a software tool or found that shorthand you needed, write it down.  Write down the step by step tasks and store it in a “cheat sheet” folder or print it out for easy access, so next time you need to do the same thing, you’ll only need to glance at your cheat sheet instead of figuring the process out all over again.

The problem with these freebies is that so many people trying to break into freelancing are so willing to do them, that it tends to undermine their entire field.  If a client has 20 freelancers willing to do a project for free or for unbelievably low rates because someone wants the experience, and your rates are $50 an hour, your rate is going to look extremely bloated comparatively.  Even $20 an hour might seem high if almost everyone else is offering to do the same work for $5.  The more freelancers who are willing to do work for slave wages, the less everyone makes as a whole. 

If you worked an hourly or salaried job, no boss would come to you and ask you to to spend a couple hours out of your day working for free.  And the clients that you’re considering doing free or cheap work for, they get paid for their time, too.  While you might not consider it working for nothing because you are getting a reference for your resume, consider how hard it might be to bet a decent rate out of that client once you’ve done work for a pittance.

If you’re not convinced, then only do a very small project this way when you have the promise of more work at regular rates if the client is happy.  Better yet, contact a charitable organization and rather than working for nothing, consider your portfolio-building work with them as a donation.  Many charities actively look for writers, graphic designers, project managers and website designers to volunteer their services.  Choose a charity for your freebie work and you’re helping them and yourself.

First, take immediate action.  If you know your client is upset about something, anything, face it immediately.  You’ll look proactive and concerned about your client’s needs.  You might be tempted to wait to contact the client after a cooling-down period.  But don’t assume that everyone feels anger the same way.  The longer you wait to deal with the situation might end up being just a longer amount of time for your client’s blood pressure to rise.  Wait too long, and you might find you’ve lost the client completely.

Second, listen to the problem and acknowledge it.  The worst thing you can do when the client is trying to tell you what’s wrong is to interrupt or even try to explain that the client’s anger is unjustified. 

Third, start discussing solutions.  Explain that you’ve heard what they’ve said, you understand their frustration, and you’ll do whatever you can to make it right.   The client should be able to point out specific things that made them angry or dissatisfied.  If the client is very vague about just what the problem is, you’ll have a hard time fixing it, and chances are they’re just being unreasonable. Explain that you can’t fix a problem if you’re not sure exactly what the problem is.

Finally, be realistic about the solutions you offer.  If the client wants the project revised in 3 days, and that’s what would make them the happiest, don’t agree to that just to appease them if you know there’s no way you can make that timetable.  It won’t be worth the 3 days of peace you’ll have with your relieved client to have them twice as angry on day 4 when you don’t deliver.

Isolation is a freelance pitfall that takes many new freelancers by surprise.  Happy to be away from the drudge of the office and working independently, many freelancers find out right away that being alone for most of the day is hard to get used to.  Gone are the the co-workers heading out to lunch together, the water-cooler chatter, and all the social aspects of the workplace.  Now you have only yourself to talk to all day.  To avoid this freelancing loneliness, network with other freelancers online.  But don’t limit yourself to Internet relationships. Go out to lunch with friends occasionally and intersperse more social things like returning phone calls or calling a friend between your more concentrated tasks.

Procrastination is another problem that can go hand in hand with newfound freedom.  Now that you don’t have to clock in and out but can set your own hours, you might find yourself mulling about the house, doing laundry, going out to shop or eat or even watching those talk shows, because you tell yourself that if you have to stay up a little later at night to work, that’s okay, you have the freedom to do  so.  While freedom is part of the beauty of freelancing, discipline is one of its necessities.  Don’t let yourself slip into the trap of playing during the day and pulling all-nighters to get work in on time.

The worst freelance pitfall is lack of organization.   If you ever get up, sit at your desk, think over your list of projects and wonder which you’ll work on first, you’re in grave danger of falling into this particular pit.  Take the time to make short-term and long-term goals so that each day, you can look at a list of tasks and know exactly what you’ll be doing from hour to hour. You’ll know whether you can take on a new client or project at a glance, and you’ll get the most from your workday.

Which one works best?

Are you a newbie in the PHP language? If you are, for sure you have encountered two kinds of PHP approaches programmers use nowadays: the procedural and the object oriented (OO). Different experienced programmers have already used both approaches, and most probably they would recommend only one kind of PHP approach to you. There are some who would say that it’s best to stick with the traditional procedural, while others would say that OO is much better to use. It can be quite confusing as to which approach to follow, but in order to make a choice, you must first know the pros and cons of using procedural and OO PHP.

For novice programmers, procedural PHP is probably the first PHP practice you will be exposed to. It’s because it’s the approach almost every programmer knows how to use, and its traditional tenets have already been established and easy to learn. Most web pages operate in a procedural manner, i.e. this tag, then this tag, then this tag, and so on. Using procedural PHP code with HTML is rather straightforward unlike OO, and programmers are given more space and freedom to create their own styles using the procedural approach.

Procedural PHP works heavily on the performance behind the code, thus programmers tend to come up with codes only they can understand. This is one of the major disadvantages of procedural PHP; in the effort to make things faster and more efficient, you create codes that cannot be used by anyone else, unless they get to figure what the codes are. Procedural PHP is also quite difficult to maintain, extend and distribute, unlike OO.

On the other hand, object oriented PHP or OO, are more inclined to work on the front lines of the programming world. In OO, you do not really have to think about the performance behind your creation, since you’re doing it for the sake of eye candy. Moreover, OO PHP is easier to distribute and maintain, since its main goal is to be placed anywhere and everywhere in the web. If you plan more on taking a career on web design and documentation, then OO PHP is for you.

OO also showcases productivity. Unlike the repetitive process of procedural PHP, you can actually skip this process due the creation of class files are more organized and reusable. Thus, you do save time and have more space to customize the codes you have created. OO PHP works best when you have to use complex functions in your project, when you plan to use the same code in future projects, as well as when you can’t run certain functions more than once on a page without logical errors.

You can find a lot of skins, and other fancy designs that operate behind OO PHP, mainly because the said approach focuses more on the look and feel of the object, rather than its performance. Packages such as Smarty and FPDF use object oriented PHP, so if you’re about to use these programs, then OO is the approach you should follow.

Meanwhile, for fast-working programmers who divulge more on the functionality and performance of the codes, then procedural programming is the one for them. You can actually find them using programs such as osCommerce and phpMyAdmin.

Choosing between procedural and object oriented PHP depends on your needs and tasks as a programmer. If your work inclines you to do more on performance, effectiveness and functionality of codes when it comes to programming, then procedural programming could cater to your needs. If you on the other hand would want to explore more on the abstract and creative side of programming, then you may as well work on object oriented programming.

In order to be successful as a freelancer you must be organized.  Your success depends on it!  You have to know how to quickly transition from one project to the next while keeping your life manageable.
First thing – clean it up!  If your desk, your closet, your car, or your life is messy and mismanaged, chances are your projects will be the same way.  Throw away old paper and notes you don’t need and shred your old documents. Have you ever paid attention to how you get that unsettled feeling whenever things are messy, dirty, and cluttered around you?  Think about it.  You sleep better on clean sheets, you feel good (and save 5 minutes) when you can walk into your closet and see everything organized and the list goes on.

Second – make sure you have a superior filing system. Every item and piece of paper should have a designated nook or drawer.  There should never be a time when you (or anyone else in your house) should have to “find it”.  This will save you loads of time when you need to pay bills, keep up with clients, or keep track of tools to fix that leaky faucet.  Even have a place in your wallet where you can keep your ATM receipts, purchase receipts, (and in even those parking tickets) so you can log them into an expenditure tracking system like Quickbooks.  This way, you can keep better track of what is going in and what is coming out of your pocket.  Make sure you have designated pouches for each set of receipts so you don’t get them confused, and when you get home, file the ATM in the banking stuff, and that Taco Bell receipt under food purchase.   Make copies as needed and include them in your Quickbooks – just in case you’re ever audited.  Yes, structure is needed when you are in business for yourself, and the first order of business is just that: order.

Time budgeting – Just like setting up a designated place for things, set up a designated time to take care of your things.  Have a time to update your calendar, pay your bills, send our invoices, and take the dog to the vet.  Try using time-management software for deadlines. These will come in handy when you are getting ready for taxes and audits.  Set aside specific times when you check email or return phone calls.  A lesson I learned from a coworker is perhaps checking email once in the morning, afternoon, and evening.  Unless you are expecting an important email, avoid IM-ing your friends and chatting it up online.  Only do the necessary email corresponding during those specified times and then set aside some time during the day for leisurely chatting and surfing the net.  You can also save time (and money) by having a plan for your day.  Get an agenda!  Know where you are going, what to do, and who to do it with every morning before starting your day.  Try to get all of your errands done in the same part of town on the same day to save on gas.  Making lists can keep you from lingering too long on a task, errand or in a place, especially in grocery and retail stores where we have the tendency to spend much more than we really want to.

Communication is key – Make sure you have all your phone lines (fax, LAN, cell, etc.) all working and be sure they are listed on your business cards.  You do have those don’t you?  If not, what are you waiting for?

Set some Goals – So, now that you’ve gotten your email, phones, and have some structure to your chaotic life, it is time to start promoting your business.  Set some goals.  Have a plan (especially a business plan).  Make sure you have a business plan.  Time consuming? Yes.  Lengthy? Sure is.  HOWEVER, it can be the difference between you getting that coveted and much needed business loan and not.  Besides, it always helps to see things in black and white.  A business plan will help you do that and will allow you more insight into who you are as a business person and how much growing you need to do to be where you hope to be.  Although, there are many companies and professionals who will compose and create a plan for you, I suggest you do it yourself for a number of reasons, but mainly because no one knows you’re your vision, your life’s ambition more than you do and no one will ever be able to articulate that like you would (but if you need some help in the editing department, you can always pay a college student or VA to proof and edit it for you). Be sure to include your goals – where you want to be in 1, 5, 10 years…as time goes on, be sure to measure your progress.  I find it helpful to also keep a journal.  You may be surprised how keeping one can help you track your success and keep you humble when you reflect on the long way you’ve come.

Appeal to your Masses – Set up a website that consumers can access, appealing to their senses and their needs.  Do your homework!  Research your audience and demographics so you can know who to target and how to reach them and sell them your product or service.  Read some books, watch some clips on youtube.com about your business and join a forum of kindred spirits who do what you do!

Building up – Open a business account to keep you abreast of any business purchases and transactions.  Some banks have free business accounts if you already have another type of account, so check your local banks for more details.  If you need investors, now is the time to pull out that business plan.

NETWORK, Baby – attend as many networking workshops, conferences, etc. as you can.  Bring lots of business cards and brochures for people to have.  Make sure you get business cards of others present in the group.  Log them and begin a contact list so you can send post cards or email blasts to let them know about new services or specials.

Marketing – take the time to learn how to market your business.  Learn about the most effective ways to reach the demographic you wish to target.  Learn about how to create newsletters and brochures and how to sell yourself.  Learn to speak, read, and write well.  I know, pretty elementary, huh?  Well, you may be surprised to find that you can lose a client’s business and respect if you cannot communicate well.

It is already well known that that content plays a truly vital role in the development of a website, at least as far as search engine optimization and appealing to website visitors are concerned. However, as websites grow around their constantly expanding content bases, it can be difficult to come up with a website style or template that is accommodating. Here are some basic tips for learning how to style heavy content websites for better visibility, better maneuverability and user friendliness.

The first thing to know is that both visual appeal and functionality are absolutely vital when it comes to styling a website. If you have a constantly growing collection of website content and are looking to style your website accordingly, you need to find a healthy balance between visual appeal and style, and functionality and maneuverability.

If you have a large amount of content on your website, then it is vital that you provide a site map to your visitors. This will benefit you in two different ways: First, it will make sure that search engine spiders can more readily find all of the content on your website. Second, it will help to make sure that human visitors can find the content pages that they are looking for, even when the navigation on your website prevents them from finding the pages that they seek.

Pay particular attention to how you style the navigation on your content heavy website. When you are putting together a content heavy website, or a portal style website, you are going to want the navigation to be readily accessible so that visitors can find what they need. The best places for the navigation in situations like these are either along the top of the website or along the left of the website. These are the first places where visitors to the site will look for the links and information that they need.

When your website is rich in content, choosing a clean and almost sparse layout is usually best. Because there is already so much on each of your web pages, adding an overwhelming collection of images, tables, borders, colors and other details is usually too much for the design of your website. Clean lines and consistent design elements utilized for the entire website will give the website a cleaner and more put together image, which is something that visitors tend to prefer when reading through websites with a large amount of content.

Outsourcing is the process of subcontracting with a third-party agency or company that provides a specific service using minimal time and costs.   Organizations (clients) and suppliers enter into a legally binding contractual agreement for a specified amount of time.  The contract defines the transferred services and both parties agree to use whatever people, assets, and other resources are available to fulfill the contract within that particular timeframe. The entire process first begins with the client identifying what is to be outsourced and searching for and choosing an outsourcing supplier.  A proposal is suggested and a supplier is chosen based on location and the lowest possible cost to the client.

There are many organizations that are already utilizing outsourcing.  Call centers, customer service centers, web developers, marketers, writers, and designers (and now lawyers) are only a few already tapping into this business.

But, is it worth it?

Well, let’s talk benefits: There is a great deal of benefits, but for the sake of time, we will focus on the three more prominent benefits: cost, convenience, and service.

The cost savings from outsourcing can be phenomenal.  It lowers the overall expenditure of services to the client and reduces the scope of overhead that comes with staffing a group of people in a facility.  There is also access to lower costs generated by the wage gaps between foreign and non-foreign countries.  Additionally, outsourcing restructures expenditures so that the cost is fixed.  This eliminates variable costs or at best, keeps them predictable and to a minimum.

Outsourcing allows clients the convenience of searching for suitable service and products without much energy or effort.  One can access a wide range of businesses that provide services that were previously privy to only large corporations.  Outsourcing with suppliers can also mitigate risk management by allowing suppliers to manage their own agents or workers with minimal client interference.

The third great benefit of outsourcing is the service.  Companies can control the quality of service received.  When hiring a person using traditional methods of employment, the selections are less diverse; availability is limited either locally or nationally.  When outsourcing globally, the possibilities of finding a suitable supplier is limitless and across national boundaries.  The overall quality of candidates is improved because of the access to larger talent pools and vast skill sets.  Most often services are guaranteed because of the legally binding contract that upholds financial penalties. The time specifications also accelerate services so that production is achieved within that specified span of time.

But, is this too good to be true?  Let’s review cons:

One of the primary criticisms from consumers about outsourcing is the language barrier.  With increasing globalization of outsourcing companies, the presence of Indian outsourcing in the United States is becoming unprecedented.  The globalizing outsourcing has resulted in foreigners vying for business with unemployed Americans and having access to and handling personal information.  Clients will select the best and final offer; however, when developing countries offer services and products at less-than-competitive (i.e. dirt cheap) prices, it really leaves little to no negotiating room for American suppliers. Recently, it was discovered that a growing number of legal firms outsourced some costly legal work to India.  This raises questions about ethics.  Some paralegals cite concerns about confidentiality, unauthorized practice of the law, and also language barriers.

Consumers believe that outsourcing damages local labor and that it affects jobs and individuals who face unemployment or job displacement.  Competition between the U.S. and other nationalities create public controversies and foster an atmosphere that may not adhere to the laws, more specifically labor laws.  And, if laws are considered, do not specify which nationality sets the guidelines when client-supplier relationship crosses national boundaries.

Outsourcing – particularly online – can also diminish human contact and promote stoic personalities and undemonstrative relationships.  We see this especially with call centers and customer service centers.  Agents can be aloof and uneducated about services and products, making the customer experience of low quality. This only exasperates consumers particularly when service is outsourced from nationalities where the language is different. The quality is also questionable when call centers service the public in countries other than their own.  Language, accents, jargon, and colloquialisms are different depending on where one lives; therefore, communication between agents and the public proposes a challenge.  The genuineness that is often seen from human interaction is missing and does frequently lead to misunderstandings and miscommunications.

Other disadvantages of outsourcing can include, staff turnover, fraud, and dealing with security issues.  Turnover is higher under an outsourced business and company skills are lost because of retention. Fraud is also a specific security issue more likely a possibility when outsourcers are involved.  Consider for example credit card theft by credit card cloning. In April 2005, four Citibank customers were victimized by theft when call center workers acquired the passwords to their and transferred money into to their own accounts opened under pseudonyms. Citibank did not find out about the problem until after the customers noticed discrepancies with their accounts and notified the bank.  In 2004, outsourcing became a popular political issue in the United States during the U.S. presidential election. The political debate centered on outsourcing consequences for the domestic U.S. workforce and how this affected paying taxes.  Outsourcing was portrayed as the killer of good-paying American jobs and deemed companies who used outsourcing the “Benedict Arnold CEOs”.

So, what about the future of outsourcing?

According to outsourceworld.com, as time goes on and challenges continue to present themselves, there will be an upward trend in outsourcing on a global scale.  However, we can also expect an upward trend for the U.S. economy as countries such as China and India are creating offices that will generate jobs and capital back into the U.S. economy.  Clients and companies must continue transforming their business and creating better jobs for everyone.  In the meantime, integrity and honesty must come to the forefront to protect the interests of both the client and supplier.  As a people, Americans must not continue wearing myopic blinders, but rather see the broader picture and recognize quality local talent and be more willing to utilize the skills from that talent.

While many others think that Web 2.0 is a new version of a certain internet application, it is actually term coined to describing the changing trends in internet technology through enhanced web design, collaboration and functionality and secure information sharing. Web 2.0 served as the evolution of the internet from being mainly an information superhighway into web-based communities via hosted services such as blogs, social networking sites, video sharing, wikis and folksonomies. The term Web 2.0 suggests a new version of the World Wide Web itself, and not to a specific technical specification.

In Web 2.0, the internet has become more interactive and endowed with a more human technology. The main target of Web 2.0 is to strengthen global communities via live communication, and as well improve software developments via continuous updates to accommodate the changing styles of people and societies worldwide. People can therefore build communities out of the interactive facilities and run software-applications through a browser. Examples of these include rich media such as OpenLaszlo, Flex and Ajax.

Technological Evolution

In Web 2.0, it is evident the technological infrastructures in the Web have changed, as the internet now provides its users with server-software, messaging protocols, content syndication, browsers with plugins and extensions, and a lot more client-applications. To sum it all up, Andrew McAfee has coined the acronym SLATES to completely describe the features of Web 2.0:

Search: easier information retrieval through the use of keywords

Links: serve as guides to pertinent information.

Authoring: the ability to create and update content have it published over the web (e.g. blogs)

Tags: categorizing of content through simple one-word descriptions

Extensions: automation of the work and pattern matching through the use of algorithms.

Signals: using technology to notify users with updates and changes of content through email.

Internet Applications

Web 2.0 showcases the use of rich-internet application techniques such as Java, Flex, Adobe Flash, AJAX and Silverlight, among others, to enhance the user-experience in browser-based applications. Thus, as a user you can update, alter and make other relevant changes to the content of your webpage without refreshing it every time.

Web 2.0 applications now rely more on back-end software; they require more workflow and database support, as well as dynamic content management. Moreover, Web 2.0 also depends on the user’s creativity in working with data stored on servers, through scripts such as Ajax or Javascript, as well as Flash and Curl Applets. This reduces the server’s workload, and at the same time increases the responsiveness between the client and the application.

RSS and XML

Another prominent feature of Web 2.0 is site syndication, which allows end-users to use a site’s data in another context. Among these protocols include RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, RDF, and Atom, which are all in XML format.

Socio-Economic Impact of Web 2.0

Web 2.0 has not only become an evolution of the World Wide Web itself; it has also made a big impact on the economy and the global society. Through social networking, blogs, wikis, open source, file sharing, open content, and peer production, commercial interests have been opened to a new ground for business and trade. Advertising has as well evolved though the use of these techniques, and hence gave birth to affiliate marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing. New business models based on outsourcing have also become rampant today, thus providing companies with reduced labour costs because of Internet-based jobs. Moreover, Web 2.0 has also provided new avenues for employment without the need of going to offices, creating a big increase of freelance workers who opt to do their jobs in the comforts of their own homes.

1. You own your time. In a freelance job, you own your time and space when it comes to work. You can do your projects within a more lenient deadline and not go after a boss or superior. Thus, you can allot more time to spend on yourself or your family, and do your tasks whenever you feel like doing so.
2. You are your own boss. A freelance job is like a business; you don’t have bosses, only clients. Thus you deal with the clients yourself and get to know exactly what they want and what they need. Unlike an office job, you have the power to decide more on the projects given to you and consult only your client to come up with satisfying output. You then get to know yourself more as a creative worker, and as a business person.
3. You are saved from the tortures of office politics. If you are sick and tired of office politics, then to be a freelancer is the way to go. In a freelance job you don’t have to conform with a company’s rules or the office environment. You get to work at your own pace without being nice to co-workers-only your client.
4. You regulate the workload. In a freelance job, you can accept as many project as you want, or reject those which you don’t want to do. You have greater power to say “no” and not submit to the wishes of a superior. Thus this would be less stress on your part, and not space for your to think creatively on your projects.
5. Bigger pay. While you are stuck in a regular salary in your office job, with freelancing you can get bigger pay. This depends on your quote on the projects you do and how tedious they are. If you get to finish a big project easier and on a faster time frame, then you have more time for more tasks and earn bigger pay at the end of the day.
6. More avenues for success. In freelancing, you don’t get stuck in using your basic skills; there’s always room to grow. You can then start being a freelance writer, then learn more about the tips and tricks of SEO (search engine optimization), and become an affiliate marketer at the same time. You can also take online classes about web design and programming during your spare time, which you can use on your future projects in the long run. Imagine undergoing this transition at the comforts of your own home!

So why stay on a job that’s keeping you bored and sleepy everyday? If this is how you feel, then a freelance job is the way to go.