Archive for Essential Tools
Essential Tools of Web Designer Jenn Chamberlain
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Another Friday, another installment of Essential Tools!! Through my involvement with the Kellogg’s Snackpicks site, I met yet another incredibly talented web designer, Jenn Chamberlain. Jenn owns Pixel Pop Designs, an interactive design and social media company. She has been recognized as one of the best female web designers – and for good reason – her portfolio of work is just amazing, including brand names we are all very familiar with.
I asked Jenn what tools she considers to be essential for running her business online. Her favorites in her own words:
YouSendIt is a free service that allows you to send large files over email. It’s fantastic if you work remotely and handle large files. I used to pay $50/month for Basecamp account, but found clients thought it was difficult to use or burdensome. They just want their files sent to them directly without clogging up their email and without having to remember any extra passwords or usernames. That’s YouSendIt.com
This service is also a life saver for those of us who work remotely and sometimes collaborate with others. Instantly I can share large files with another designer – or access them myself from another computer.
Tweet deck is always open on my computer. Not only does it allow me real-time updates simultaneously from all my social media accounts (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter) but it allows me to stay up to the minute watching what’s happening with my social media clients as well. I can see who’s saying what about my client’s brand instantly.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is great free service that allows me to track how my blog, websites and client sites are doing. Each morning I can’t wait to see what content is hot… and well, what’s not so hot with my users. I’m constantly learning and evolving content based on user engagement.
If you have a Mac, you need a magic mouse. It now comes standard with new iMacs and it’s amazing. It’s wireless, with no buttons or scroll button. Instead, it has a smooth “multi-touch” surface and it supports momentum scrolling (similiar to iphone and itouch).
Recently I was lucky enough to have met Wendy Goldman Scherer of The Social Studies Group at the Blissdom Conference. She was one of the keynote speakers. I asked her what she read each day to stay current and she told me to sign up for my industry briefs at SmartBrief.com. It’s great! Every morning I receive the headlines for my clients’ industries. It’s impressed them numerous times.
Jenn’s not all business, though. Catch up with Jenn at her personal blog, JenericStories.com, too or follow her on Twitter at @pixelpopdesigns.
Don’t forget to stop back next week for more essential tools for success, featuring programmer turned super affiliate marketer, Eric Nagel . If you are interested in sharing your essential tools for business, drop me a line at cpolanosky [at] gmaildotcom.
Essential Tools of Headway Theme’s Grant Griffiths
Posted by: | CommentsThank goodness its Friday and that means it is time for another Essential Tools feature. This week we spotlight Grant Griffiths of G2WebMedia – better known as the voice at Blog for Profit and co-founder of Headway Themes – the oh-so-awesome premium WordPress theme framework. Headway has literally turned the WordPress community on its head by introducing a WSIWYG editor for creating custom layouts for your site without ever having to touch the CSS or PHP code that makes WordPress rock. (I used Headway to create the SOBCon conference site this year.)
And, now, over to Grant to let you know what his essential tools for online success are.
My business and office is rather unique. First, I spend all day online. Second, I have the pleasure of doing it all from my home office. Not only do I need tools that just work. I also need tools that are portable.
My list of must haves include both the hardware and the apps I use daily.
The hard stuff
MacBook Pro
At the center of my office is my computer. This is where the “just works” comes into play. I moved over to Mac computers over 6 years ago and I have not looked back since. The Mac and especially the MacBook Pro enables me to do what I need to do whenever and where ever I need to do it.
Yes, there might be one or two programs or apps I might need to use on a PC. However, I have yet to find there is anything I can’t do on my MacBook Pro that I can not do better and easier.
Time Capsule
The Apple Time Capsule Network Hard Drive is also a must for us. This handy little piece of hardware takes up very little space on my desk. Not only is it a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi station. It also has a huge amount of storage. We do daily backups to the Time Capsule. In fact, it is all automatic with Time Machine.
Flip Video
I use the UltraHD Flip and it is wonderful. It combines the Flip’s shoot-and-share simplicity with the power of vivid, vibrant HD video. The first time I used the UltraHD I was blown away by the quality of the picture. How can something this small capture and give you such great video? My only regret with the Flip is the fact it does not give you the ability to plug in an external mic. Which would be nice if you were doing interviews. If you are looking to get the Flip, I would recommend you look to Amazon to purchase. I was able to buy mine for a lot less than you can get it from Flip.
Kindle
This is without a doubt one of the all time best inventions in the last 20 years. Other than the personal computer, the Kindle is amazing. Seriously, if you don’t have one and you are a reader, get it. Yes, it cost over $200. But, I have actually found I am reading more for pleasure since I received it last Christmas from my 4 sons. And talk about portable. I take it every where.
Since I have been doing more traveling this year to conferences, it also makes those 2 or 3 hour flights go a lot quicker too. Just whip it out and start reading.
Moleskine
I love my Moleskines. This is another one of those tools I take every where and use daily. It is even surprising to myself that I still find it more useful to take pen and paper to start writing down ideas for a project I am working on or to jot down blog post ideas. There is just something about the feel of a pen in your hand and the actual act of writing something down to get the creative juices flowing.
Applications and the soft side of my tool box
Wordpress
Not only do I blog myself for a living and to promote and market our businesses, we also build blog and web sites for clients. I would not want to do this on any other platform than WordPress. WordPress is without a doubt the best solution for any business when it comes to a Content Management System. It is also the best blogging software too.
When it comes to making WordPress work for you in a way you want it to, there are just a ton of plugins you can get. And, the WordPress developer community is awesome too. The only limitations you have with WordPress is really your own imagination. If you can think it up, either you or someone can do it with WordPress.
Headway
I almost wasn’t going to list Headway as one of my essential tools. Especially since I am one of the co-founders. But, I could not make a list of my own essential tools without a mention.
Headway is more than a theme. It is a framework which gives the DIY’er and the developer the ability to build a blog, blogsite or a website with or without custom CSS. It is so easy to use, even I can use it. When we started to build Headway last year I told my son and business partner Clay it had to be more than dummy proof. It had to be Dad proof. And it is. Seriously, if I can use Headway to build a site, anyone can.
Chrome
Chrome has become my browser of choice. I still use Firefox for a few things. But Chrome is quickly becoming my only browser. I was thrilled when Google released the extensions for Chrome last month. With that feature added, there is really no reason not to use Chrome.
Chrome also works with all of the other tools I use daily. From Evernote to Dropbox. I have it all in my toolbar now and it saves me time too.
Gmail + MailPlane
My email service of choice is Gmail. I run all of my accounts through Gmail even if they are not a Gmail account. The spam filter, labels and filters in Gmail are something I would not want to be without. I get a large volume of email daily and Gmail gives me the ability to organize and control it the best I can.
MailPlane is the app I use to run my Gmail. It is a desktop application that looks and feels just like Gmail. Best of all, it does not tie up a browser window and uses very little memory too.
Google Calendar
I could not do what I do without Google calendar. I run at least 3 different calendars. One for business related items. One for my editorial calendar where I schedule my own post, but also the post of our contributing editors for Blog For Profit. I also have a calendar for Home.
And it all sync’s with my Droid so I can take my calendar with me where ever I go.
Twitter + Seesmic
Social media tools like twitter are a huge part of my daily activities. Not only is it a way I stay in touch with those I know. Twitter has a huge part in our daily marketing of Blog For Profit, but also Headway.
Twitter is a great way to network and connect with people all over the world. I could spend an entire series of post discussing twitter, which I have done. The key to twitter is to don’t over think it and just use it. The other key to twitter is to get the right tools to manage it for you.
I use Seesmic which is a desktop client for twitter. It gives you the ability to set up columns so you can manage those you follow in some type of an orderly fashion. Right now, it is free. Free is good.
Other essential blogging tools
I really could go on and on. There are a number of small apps I use which I would not want to be without. However, I did not want to bore you with too many.
Thanks Grant for such excellent insight into your tools for online success! Make sure you leave comments to this post so we can keep the conversation going. Share what you are using in your own blogging tool box and in your home office. I have found I get some of the best ideas of things I can use by reading what others are using.
Next week will spotlight another amazing web design talent, Jenn Chamberlain of Pixel Pop Designs.
Essential Tools of Web Design Pro Selene Bowlby
Posted by: | CommentsYou are in for a treat this week! As part of the Essential Tools series, we are featuring the ultra talented web designer, Selene Bowlby of iDesign Studios this week. Selene’s name regularly appears on lists of the top female web designers in a variety of categories and her educational articles, like 15 Key Elements All Top Web Sites Should Have, are always “must reads”.
So, in her own words, these are Selene’s absolute essential tools for online success:
As a web designer, one of the first things I need is a killer graphics program. There are some things you just can’t skimp on, and in my opinion, a high end / industry standard graphics program is one of them. Photoshop is the best of the best when it comes to this, and I use it almost every day.
Another program from the Adobe suite that I use on a daily basis is Dreamweaver. Possibly overkill, since I hand code all of my sites, and stay in the code view 99% of the time, but it does it’s job well, and I like it more than any of the other editors I’ve tried in the past. For the record, it is significantly better than Notepad, which is what I started out with when I first started playing with HTML back in 1994, LOL.
When it comes to developing web sites, both for myself and my clients, I can’t rave enough about WordPress. While I initially started out creating static HTML (and occasionally Flash) web sites, I now focus almost entirely on designing and developing custom WordPress themes.
In my opinion, WordPress is the best CMS (Content Management System) and blogging software out there. The fact that it is open source, and has such a vast community of developers behind it, means that the software is constantly being improved upon. As we speak, I’m anxiously awaiting the release of WordPress 3.0 later this year. My favorite part of developing custom WordPress themes is the constant learning. I’m not over-exaggerating when I say that I learn at least one (or five) new techniques with each site that I create. And with WordPress 3.0 on it’s way out soon, that number is sure to increase.
Equally as important, are all of the WordPress plugins. Almost anything my clients have ever needed their web site to do… if it wasn’t a feature already built into WordPress, you can almost always count on there already being a plugin out there that can do it for you.
Mozilla Firefox / Thunderbird + Gmail
Yes, I am a web designer/developer, and like many of my breed, I am pro-Mozilla and anti-Microsoft – especially Internet Explorer 6. (Ironically enough, I have always owned PC’s – although I plan on finally buying a Mac the next time around).
At any rate, I started off using Netscape and Netscape Messenger years ago as my web browser and email client of choice. As Mozilla evolved, I transitioned over to Firefox and Thunderbird as soon as they became available. I have years worth of email archives in Thunderbird – nicely arranged into folders for each client, prospect, etc. And Firefox’s support of web standards (especially over the lack of support from Internet Explorer) make it my number one choice in web browser.
As far as web based email clients, I am partial to Gmail. Although I don’t usually send mail from Gmail, I have a backup copy of all of my messages going to that account. It’s especially helpful if I am out of town and want to check my email on something larger than my BlackBerry.
The primary reason I use Gmail, however, is for it’s incredible filtering system. While I have all of my email routed to Thunderbird on my desktop, I filter out everything but the essentials in Gmail, which are then sent to my BlackBerry. Take newsletters, for example… while I’m subscribed to them for a reason, I only need to get them on my computer. If I’m on the go, I want to limit the spam, and non-essentials so all I get on my phone are important emails from friends and family, clients, new business inquiries, etc. While I still want to receive the less urgent messages, they can wait until I’m in front of my computer.
Onebox + Google Voice
If you are running your business from a home office, like so many people do, it’s important to have a professional presence when it comes to communicating via telephone. I’ve been using Onebox for a few years now. It’s a great service that gives you a toll free number, forwards calls to any number you specify, lets you setup a comprehensive calling schedule, lets you send/receive faxes, and sends you voicemails and faxes via email. Their rates are reasonable for the amount of options they give you, too.
Enter Google Voice, which is my new love! It’s not quite as robust as Onebox, so I’m not willing to give that service up just yet. I primarily use Google Voice for outgoing calls. Working from a home office, I always used call blocking to mask my phone number when calling clients and prospects. With Voice, I can now call out with that number appearing as my caller ID, and I’m not giving clients 24/7 access to my home or cell phones. With both Onebox and Google Voice, I have a Monday-Friday / 9-5 schedule setup for incoming calls… after all, everyone needs their boundaries, and a healthy work-life balance is one of them! (As an added bonus, there is a Google Voice app for the BlackBerry, which makes it that much easier to use.)
I first got acquainted with Studiometry through my old full-time job. It’s a great tool for keeping track of all your clients and open projects, and is primarily used for time tracking – essential if you are running your own business and need to know how to bill your clients.
While the majority of the work I do is on a flat / per-project basis, I devise those rates based on the average amount of time certain job phases take. For example X number of hours for a site design vs X number of hours to develop as a WordPress theme, etc. I take those averages to come up with my project rates. I also have several clients that hire me for repeated site maintenance and updates – the type of thing that must be billed hourly, as it doesn’t quite fall into a cookie cutter project.
Enter Studiometry! It’s fantastic for time tracking, but is actually much more robust than this. It lets you track client contact details, create and send invoices right from the program, setup project schedules and milestones as gantt charts, etc. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t use this program to it’s full potential. I still only use it for time tracking (and use much more archaic methods for sending invoices… can you say Excel invoices saved and emailed as PDF files, LOL).
This one is a bit pricey (though not nearly as high as Adobe products), but well worth it for the time tracking alone. I know there are other online services that do the same thing, but there are some things that I prefer to purchase outright (aka software), rather than pay monthly usage for – and this is one of those things.
Whiteboard + Google Calendar
Call me old fashioned, but as far as scheduling goes, I like to see it written out in front of me. I’ve got a huge whiteboard in my office with several sections marked off that let me see my week ahead with a quick glance. I’ve got a section for income (with monthly and annual totals, as well as a list of outstanding invoices) / there is a section that lists all of my open projects with milestone phases and due dates / there is a section for my weekly work schedule, marked off in 1 hour increments that I use to block off time for each of the projects I’m working on, or scheduled phone calls, etc.
I also can’t do without my Google Calendar. I love the ability to create individual calendars within my main account – I’m a sucker for the color coding, LOL. I have ALL of my time blocked out… family time, “me” time, work time geared towards in-house projects, work time geared towards client projects, etc. And of course scheduling of actual appointments where I get email notifications 1 week, 1 day and 1 hour ahead of time. Better yet – it syncs with my BlackBerry!
Twitter / TweetDeck + Facebook
As far as social networking goes, Twitter and Facebook are my guilty pleasures. I primarily reserve Facebook for personal networking with family and friends. (I do have a fan page for the business, but I’m not nearly as active on it as I am on my personal profile or on Twitter.)
Twitter is fantastic for networking – especially among my field, because it is FULL of amazing designers and developers. It’s a great way to network with your peers and find great links… I read more posts linked on Twitter than I do from my feed reader (which, for the record, happens to be Google Reader). It’s great to see what other people are working on and just chit chat a bit when you need a break. Equally as great is if I ever run into a problem developing a site, I can always count on getting great feedback or suggestions from Twitter.
As far as how I tweet… with TweetDeck, of course! It’s been my favorite desktop Twitter app for some time now. I have as many columns as it’ll let me have, which makes it easy to scan for tweets based on topic (integrated very nicely with my Twitter lists). It even has a Facebook column… if only they’d hurry up and come out with a version for BlackBerry!
BlackBerry
Hello, my name is Selene and I’m addicted to my BlackBerry. 
Although I am not a huge fan of talking on the phone, you will rarely find me without my BlackBerry in hand (or very close nearby). It’s connected to my Gmail account, I use Google Sync to sync up my contacts and calendar, and it even has a Google Voice app. And apparently this section should be titled BlackBerry + Google, LOL.
As for other favorite BlackBerry apps, I have the Facebook, Twitter (Seesmic) and WeatherBug apps on my home screen, alongside the default Mail, Contact and To Do List applications. My BlackBerry is my handheld everything, and I would quite honestly be lost without it!
I told you, you were in for a treat! Thanks again to Selene for sharing all her insight on her essential tools for online success!
Don’t forget to stop back next week for more essential tools for success, featuring Grant Griffiths of Headway Themes fame . If you are interested in sharing your essential tools for business, drop me a line at cpolanosky [at] gmaildotcom.
