There’s been a LOT of buzz lately over Itty Biz’s latest product, Online Business School.

If you don’t know Naomi Dunford, she runs Itty Biz, which offers consulting to small and home business owners. It’s through the Itty Biz blog that I started gaining more knowledge as to how to run my own web design business full time - especially in terms of marketing and self-promotion.

My Own Personal Experience With Itty Biz

It wasn’t long before I hired Naomi myself - you can read more on my Taking the Freelance Plunge post, as well as on this home business success story over on Itty Biz.

Long story short, I knew that I wanted to leave my day job to run my own business full time. I had the talent as a web designer, but not necessarily the sales or marketing skills to make it a viable option.

I knew I needed some expert advice, so I hired Itty Biz back in January. We had an amazing consultation that set so many things in motion! I can’t even begin to express how motivational my consultations with Naomi were!

She offered me amazing advice and support, and I credit her with being a big part of the reason I was able to take the “plunge” a full 6 months earlier than planned. Of course determination and talent played the largest role, but Naomi’s helpful advice helped steer me in the right direction.

More Than Just Consulting

Itty Biz has since released several information products - including SEO School: How to Become an SEO Ninja. Last week, after an enormous amount of work Naomi and her husband Jamie have launched their next big  project:

• Online Business School

On The Fence

I admit, I was on the fence about buying this product for some time. As a client of Naomi’s, I know how great her advice is. This chick knows what she’s talking about - no doubt there!

But, I’ll be honest - Online Business School is not cheap. It’s currently $197 which for some people - myself included - is a bit of money. If you are thinking of buying, though - don’t wait too long, as this is just a limited price!

There are a LOT of big name bloggers who are marketing this product. Once the first 2,000 orders have been made, Online Business School will be going up to full price - $397.

Pretty good marketing technique I must say. More proof that Itty Biz knows their stuff, LOL. It worked on me, anyway, because I knew I wanted to get it, and wanted to get it at half price, so I made a purchase of my own over the weekend - and am so glad I did!

What Exactly Is Online Business School?

To get straight to the point, here’s what’s covered in the program…

The course consists of 6 modules - each consisting of an mp3 audio file, pdf ebook and mov video screencast. The modules focus on each of the 6 income streams to diversify your income:

• Affiliate Marketing
• Coaching and Consulting
• Ebooks and Downloads
• Niche Sites
• Physical Products
• Service Business

The pdf and audio files essentially cover the same material (the pdfs are transcripts of the audio). I find it helpful that they include both formats for several reasons:

• you can listen to the audio and follow along in the pdf at the same time (double reinforcement so to speak)
• if you learn better through reading, you can just read the pdf
• if you learn better by having someone talk to you, or if you want to pop this on your iPod while driving to work or running errands, you can listen along

The video is an added component from Naomi’s husband, Jamie. Different than the audio, these basically serve as companion pieces as they go further into some of the topics that Naomi covers in the audio portions. The videos consist of screencasts with examples of some of the site referenced in the audio, etc.

• the PDF files each run 9-10 pages long
• the audio files each run 35-40 minutes long
• the video files each run 20-30 minutes long

With 6 modules, it’s clear that they do not skimp on content!

Yeah, But What’s The Point?

The point of Online Business School is to teach you of the 6 different methods of earning income. With today’s economy being as down in the dumps as it is, it’s important not to rely on JUST one source of income alone.

Naomi wrote a post for the sales page titled “Why We’re Broke and How To Fix It” - the point to bring home here is that your family is depending on you. If you are depending on only one source of income - and something happens to that source - well, then what?

Say Goodbye to the Feast or Famine Cycle

As a freelancer or small business owner, you are probably all too familiar with the term “Feast vs Famine.” I touched upon this in the Get Clients Now series, which I want to start up again next year.

The goal of any small business owner - especially in a service business - is to sell your services and get a steady range of work. The operative word here being STEADY. Going solo or being self-employed, you no longer have that steady paycheck coming in once every two weeks. Nope. It’s now all up to you to secure your next client.

For most of us, there is an endless cycle of either having too much work, or not enough. In a service based industry, you typically start off by marketing your butt off to get some clients… when your marketing efforts pay off, you end up being slammed with work. That’s GREAT!

But the problem here is that you’re so busy doing work for your own clients that you end up not having any free time to continue marketing yourself. So a month or two go buy where you feverishly complete work for your new clients and get PAID!

But then what?

As you reach the end of these new client deadlines, you realize that you haven’t spent any time marketing yourself this last month or two. You’ve received your last payments for these jobs and think…

What the heck am I going to do NEXT month?

That’s where you’re potentially screwed. No new work other than the odd small job here or there. So what do you do? Market yourself like crazy again! You spend another month with hardly any income - instead you spend all of your time focusing on self-promotion.

That ends up being a financially difficult month as you scrape what money you had, possibly diving into savings - aka Famine. Until your promotional efforts pay off and you are once again slammed with work - aka Feast.

It’s an endless cycle - rinse and repeat.

Diversify Your Income

The theory to Online Business School is that you are playing with your family’s future and well being by putting all of your eggs in one basket. You go through the “Feast vs Famine” cycle, you get stressed on the slow months because ALL you have is your online service business, or your consulting business or product sales - whatever it is that you “do”

Enter the additional forms of income streams!

If you have several income streams going at once, you will always have SOMETHING coming in. Whether that be affiliate commissions, product sales, etc. you’ll have something to fall back on when your primary source of income slows down. And yes, it is inevitable that you will always have both busy and slow times regardless of what type of business you run.

One of the income streams covered in the course is ebooks and downloads. As a web designer - especially one who specializes in designing and developing custom WordPress Themes - I’ve toyed with the idea of releasing my own premium WordPress themes, but have yet to act on it.

Online Business School really hit home the point that I should have this in place already! For the slow months while I’m focusing my energies on self promotion, I could be making both affiliate and ebook/download sales as a backup. If I have a steady stream of 3-4 income sources going at the same time, I’ll never be completely stuck with NO income when one of the streams temporarily slows down.

I’ll be honest that I’m actually surprised by how much of a fire Online Business School has lit under me! There are ideas that I’ve tinkered with for months now, but haven’t taken any steps towards implementing.

But after listening to the program, I’ve actually started to schedule myself in - as though I were my own client - so that I can implement some of these new income streams. With the current economic crisis - for the well being of our own families - to safeguard our futures - how could we not?

It’s All Inter-Changeable

Another benefit of Online Business School? It’s not as transparent as it seems by looking at the list of what’s included.

When I first heard of the course, my first thought was…

Well I have a service based business. That’s all I need!

Why can’t she just sell them individually so I don’t have to shell out $200 for the whole thing?

Well first of all, that defeats the entire purpose of the course, as it’s goal is to teach you how to diversify your income. Yes, it’ll help give you techniques to make your existing method of income better. But, it’ll also teach you how to incorporate NEW income streams.

But better yet, in almost every case, EACH and EVERY module of the course has something you can incorporate to a different area.

For example…

• I’m primarily interested in the Service Business section. Upon listening to the Coaching and Consulting section - I realize that much of the advice still applies to my existing service based business.
• I figured the Physical Product section would be entirely pointless to me. Nope - this module touches on Search Engine Optimization and Ad Words (something I had not previously used and quite frankly didn’t know much about).
• The Coaching and Consulting module delves into issues of Pricing your service and Sales. Regardless of what kind of business you have - you do need to deal with pricing and sales.

I could go on, but long story short, I’m sure that you’ll find at least one item to take away from each and every one of the modules that can be applied to your business.

Working On My Own Income Streams

With the “How To” information from Online Business School, I’ve made it a priority to carve out some time to update my own site and service offerings. I learned some great ‘tricks’ from the Service Business module that I can use almost immediately to update on my own web site.

For the web designers reading - and I know a lot of you are web designers - there is a lot of good info for us in the course, especially in the Service Business module!

Still Not Convinced? Check Out the FREE Preview

If you’re still not sure if Online Business School is for you, go check out the (very long) sales page over on Itty Biz. There is a lot of FREE content on the site, including a few free video and audio pieces. Including an interview where Naomi mentions one of my own clients, Nicole from Pick Nick’s Brain as an example of a Consulting business!

There is also a video (pictured above) where Naomi explains how she made $176,000 in the first part of 2008. I can only hope to bring in that much income one day!

My Own Recommendation?

Yes, I do recommend Online Business School (and not just because I’m an affiliate - this is a completely honest and from-the-heart review!) Since I’ve worked directly with Naomi in the past, I know her, and I know first hand that she offers some kick ass advice.

And with this course, it is advice you have in video and audio files that you can replay whenever you want. Listen to them all now… or focus on just one aspect now, and come back to another in a month or two. It’s all there whenever you need.

Bonus Material

As if the course itself wasn’t enough, I received an email from Itty Biz the day after I purchased, saying that my bonus material was ready. Bonus material? Huh?

YES! Tons of great bonuses! I’m truly amazed at the support Naomi has received for Online Business School - many of the big bloggers out there have contributed their own products to be part of the bonus material.

Just for starters…

• Emergency Money Plan - Naomi Dunford from Itty Biz
  (a shorter, bonus audio for the course, which gives suggestions on how to make quick money if you are in a pinch)
• 30 Hours a Day - Dave Navarro from Rock Your Day
  (the first THREE sections of the program - both audio and PDF’s included)
• SEO Nomicon: SEO Magic for WordPress - Michael Martine of Remarkablogger
  (this is an advance copy - it hasn’t even officially been launched yet! - both audio and PDF included)
• Writing for the Web - James Chartrand and Harrison McLeod at Men with Pens
  (PDF ebook)

Plus many more - all-in-all, there are 9 bonus downloads!

Money Back Guarantee

And the best part of the deal? Itty Biz is also also offering a money back guarantee in case you don’t find Online Business School to be helpful at all.

Even better than a refund, if you have questions and don’t understand some aspect of the program - Naomi will personally coach you. The value of personal coaching is much greater than a refund, so how could you possibly say no to that?

I understand that you might be reluctant, which is why I’m giving you the same 100% money back, zero pain in the ass factor guarantee that I give for all my IttyBiz stuff. Except it’s going to be even better.

Because income streams are scary and because you might think you can’t do it and because I know you’re probably worried and hopeful at the same time, here’s what we’re going to do.

If, having gone through Online Business School, you are not absolutely certain you can create a better living on this crazy thing we call the World Wide Web, you have two choices.

I’ll give you your money back without being a pain in the ass about it. OR I’ll personally coach you through it so that you have a plan of action that will work for you.

Don’t Miss Out - Get 50% OFF Now!

If you’ve been considering purchasing Online Business School, but have been on the fence like I was - I do recommend you get your hands on a copy as soon as possible, while it’s still available at the discounted rate of 50% OFF.

• Online Business School

There is an introductory rate of 50% OFF the first 2,000 copies sold. But with the “big” bloggers promoting the course on their own blogs, you can bet the the discounted rate of 50% OFF will NOT last long - and trust me, you do not want to miss out on this!

You owe it to yourself to help safeguard your own future income! Get Online Business School today!

Freelance Folder recently posted an open thread asking the question “How Do You Stay Sharp?” The post has some great discussion in the comments section, where many people said that it’s through web sites and blogs that they are able to keep up to date on developments in their particular fields.

Web Design / Development Blogs You Should Be Reading

I myself have a set of design and development related blogs that I read… whether for the latest xhtml/css and WordPress tricks, for design inspiration, etc.

I asked my designer friends on Twitter which sites they thought were the best design blogs to read. You know, the old question “if you were stuck on a desert island and could only have one…” LOL

Without a doubt, the number one answer was Smashing Magazine - for good reason! But there were many others, as well. So for all of the web designers and developers out there, below are 17 essential design blogs you should be reading!

• A List Apart
• Creattica Daily
• CSS Tricks
• David Airey
• Design Mag
• DevSnippets
• Dzineblog
• Function
• Net Tuts
• Noupe
• PSD Tuts
• Script & Style
• Six Revisions
• Smashing Magazine
• Vandelay Design
• Vector Tuts
• Web Designer Wall

More Design Blogs You May or May Not Know About
aka Some Twitter Friend Link Love

The blogs above are great and very popular, but we all know there are a LOT more than this. There are a ton of great blogs out there, many of which you might never have heard of. Or if you have, they don’t quite get the publicity they deserve.

I’m eternally grateful to my Twitter friends - we’re a great bunch helping each other out with questions, retweets, Diggs, Floats, you name it… Twitter has a fantastic community feel to it. I’ve received a ton of support and link love and I want to return the favor…

So without further ado, here is a bit of a Twitter link love of my own - 46 design / development blogs of some great Twitter friends!

• Anidan Design | @josieg182
• Arbenting | @Arbenting
• Athena Emily | @athenaemily
• Bitt Box | @bittbox
• Blog Design Blog | @blogdesignblog
• Boxed CSS | @accurateweb
• Brian Yerkes | @brianyerkes
• Colorburned | @colorburned
• Crazy Leaf Design Blog | @crazyleaf
• CSS Tricks | @chriscoyier
• Design Cubicle | @behoff
• Design For Users | @KrisColvin
• Design O’ Blog | @nebrow
• Design Shard | @designshard
• Designer Daily | @mirkohumbert
• Doug Cloud | @dcloud
• Ebb and Flo | @Jacen_Xhan
• Elite by Design | @EliteByDesign
• Essential Keystrokes | @charpolanosky
• Gabe Diaz | @gabediaz
• Fudge Graphics | @fudgegraphics
• Fuel Your Creativity | @adellecharles
• I Am Mike Smith | @blogdesigner
• iDesign Studios | @idesignstudios that’s me!
• Im Just Creative | @imjustcreative
• Joshua Clanton | @joshuacc
• Just Creative Design | @justcreative
• Keylime Creative | @keylimecreative
• Komodo Media | @rogieking
• Lee Munroe | @leemunroe
• Mayhem Studios | @mayhemstudios
• Naldz Graphics | @naldzgraphics
• Organized Chaos | @arronlock
• Penflare | @penflare
• Phire Design | @phiredesign
• Pro Blog Design | @problogdesign
• Productive Dreams | @gopalraju
• R27 Creative Lab | @r27
• Sean Neill | @seaneill
• Sharebrain | @sharebrain
• Spyre Mag | @jophillips
• Styl.eti.me | @styletime
• Tanya Nichols | @cre8tn
• Think Design Blog | @thinkdesign
• Web Design Fanboy | @webdesignfanboy
• WPMU Tutorials | @andrea_r

To all of the people above, I say Thank You!

What’s In Your Feed Reader?

If you could only read 1 design related blog, what would it be?
Please share your inspiration in the comments below!

More Essential Feeds

• 25 Essential Feeds for Small Business Bloggers

Continuing on the theme of guest blogging, my second article on Freelance Folder has just been published…

10 SEO Techniques All Top Web Sites Should Use

Here’s a brief introduction to the post below:
read the full article here

We recently discussed the 15 Key Elements All Top Web Sites Should Have. This post focused on elements relating to design, content and development. This time, we’ll move onto the important issue of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

SEO is such a hot topic these days. How do you get your web site within the first page or two of the search engines? How do you increase your Google page rank?

There are companies who dedicate themselves full time to doing SEO at a pretty penny. Something a lot of people can’t necessarily afford to pay for or spend the time on.

However, there are some simple things you can do when building your site that will help increase your chances of having good results. In no particular order, below are 10 of these items…

The Inside Story

A bit of a secret for my readers (and Twitter followers) is that both of these posts originated as one obscenely long article. There was enough of a break in the overall topic to split it into two entirely separate articles.

So, I hope you’ll head over to Freelance Folder to read the full post and share your thoughts!

The Power of Social Media

I was incredibly overwhelmed with the great success of the last post - it actually hit the front page of Digg! Something I have never experienced, nor would have expected - so far it has received well over 1,500 diggs!

I think my Twitter friends played a very large part in this, so if you’re reading - Thank You for your incredible support! And if you want to try for it again, I’d be incredibly greatful

“They” say you are not supposed to voice political views on a business blog. They are probably right, but last night was a moment in history that I experienced first hand.

A Moment I Don’t Want To Forget

Last night, history was made as Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America.

Watching the votes come in - connected to the news channels on tv, connected to the news networks online, connected to Twitter users throughout the world, watching the events unfold before us…

This was a moment in history that I will never forget.

I awake today with an amazing feeling - a feeling of change, hope and unity. I witnessed history in the making last night, and am estatic about the possibilities for our nation. Hopeful for the direction our country can now work towards.

Yes, We Can

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope.

And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes, we can.

President (Elect) Barack Obama
November 4, 2008

Image Credit: jdebner

For those of us in the United States of America - today is a historic day. Every four years in November, Americans are given the opportunity to make their voice be heard.

This year’s Presidential Election is particularly crucial.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter have no doubt which of the candidates I support. I’m among one of thousands who participated in early voting this year. Many of you also voted early.

Many of you are standing in line right now…

Get Out And VOTE

For those of you who haven’t voted yet, my message today is a simple one. If you do only one thing today - please VOTE!

Regardless of WHO you support, it is so important that you voice your opinion. The 2004 election was decided by only a handful of votes - proof that every vote DOES make a difference.

Making History

This is a historical election in more ways than one. There’s no doubt that almost every American will be glued to the TV tonight as the polls close and results start coming in. I think it’s safe to say that in many parts of the world, their eyes will be on us as well.

So I urge you all to help make history today!

Decision ‘08 - Live Results

Thanks to MSNBC for providing their live results widget, below.

This post is part of the “Just Three Things” series…

As freelancers and small business owners, we all have an endless to do list. Whether it’s written down, or is running around in the back of our minds and keeping us up at night - there are things we want and need to do to take our businesses to the next level.

Learn more about the concept, and join in! And without further ado, here are my three things for November 2008.

1. Write A Guest Post

I’ve recently started contributing posts for other blogs - my first ever guest post was published on Freelance Folder last week, with my second post on the way (it’s currently pending approval).

I’ve got a third guest post in mind for another blog - I just need to flesh out the concept some more and start writing!

2. Finish The “Essential WordPress Plugins” Post

I’ve had in mind to publish another “Essential” post for the longest time - it’s been sitting in my draft folder literally for MONTHS now. I’ve been promising this post to clients and prospects alike. But you guessed it - “something” always gets in the way, whether it be client work or new proposals, etc.

This month the procrastination ends!

I’ll finally finish and publish this post - a list of the WordPress plugins and tweaks that I consider to be essential to any WordPress setup - the ones that I recommend to my own clients when setting up their site for the first time.

3. Contact Management System for Existing Clients

This is something I should have kept organized right from the start, but now is as good a time as any. I need to setup an entire contact management system for ALL of my contacts, but you have to start somewhere with baby steps!

I recently had new business cards printed, so my goal this month is to gather contact information of all my existing clients, and send them each a letter with three of my cards.

“They” say it is easier to get new work from existing clients, as well as the fact that referrals and word of mouth are one of the best ways to bring in new business. I’ve personally found this to be very true. I’ve got 1,000 business cards sitting in my office, so time to start putting them to good use!

Next month this will extend to potential clients…

What Are YOUR Three Things?

What three things do you want to accomplish this month to help your business grow? Help create some accountability for yourself either by posting on your blog and linking back here, or by leaving a comment below.

Let’s see how much we can accomplish this November!

There is something to be said for setting goals and holding yourself accountable for reaching those goals.

I’m just about five months in after having reached my dream of taking the freelance plunge in June 2008. There was an incredible set of steps I had to take in order to reach this goal. But just because I’m here now, doesn’t mean the journey is over.

The ultimate goal now is to improve upon my business and make it as successful as possible. With this comes an an endless to do list that often gets pushed aside by client work, writing proposals, and all the other administrative aspects of running your own company.

Early Beginnings

A few of you might remember my early introduction to blogging, with the anonymous identity of WAH(web)Mommy. That blog served as an amazing starting point towards reaching my dreams - one of the primary focuses of that blog was to post a monthly list of goals… baby steps necessary to reach full time freelance status.

I soon realized, however, that an anonymous blog could only take me so far. Being anonymous, I could not link to my own portfolio. And a web designer without a portfolio has no credibility whatsoever.

Enter the re-launch of this blog in March 2008. The current blog has taken me much further than I could have hoped for! However in re-claiming my identity, I had to loose the backbone of the old blog - which was the regular posting of goals and accomplishments. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t have my employer finding out what I was up to before I was ready to take the plunge!

Well, I’m here today to take that back, and I hope you’ll join me!

Bringing Back An Old Tradition

This post marks the beginning of the “Just Three Things” series.

As freelancers and small business owners, I’m certain we all have an endless to do list. Whether it’s written down, or is running around in the back of our minds and keeping us up at night - there are things we want and need to do to take our businesses to the next level.

I’m a believer in baby steps, though - and have always held a fondness for the number three. So each month, I’ll be publishing a post outlining three things that I want to accomplish. The idea is to make a dent in my own to do list by accomplishing a number of items - without being completely overwhelmed, in the process.

Most likely these will relate to marketing of some sort - self promotion, updating my own web site, blogging, etc. Aspects necessary to propel my business further, but things that always get set on the back burner.

Hold Yourself Accountable for YOUR Three Things

I tweeted the concept a little while ago and received positive feedback on the idea - so I’m hoping that you will join me each month by sharing a list of three things that YOU need to accomplish to help push your business to the next level.

It doesn’t end there, though - it’s not just about posting your goals, but also about following up with your progress. We’ll be able to congratulate each other on our successes, as well as cheer each other on when we need an extra push.

Letting It All Hang Out

There is nothing like putting your goals “out there” for others to see. It brings your intentions to a whole new level. After all, you don’t really want to announce to the world that you’re going to do something, and then fall through on it!

So, if you have your own blog and it would be relevant to your readers, I hope you’ll publish your own goals and accomplishments for the month - then link back here so we know to check on your progress. If not, please feel free to leave a comment on the posts here so we can cheer you on!

Next up… Just Three Things - November 2008 Small Business Goals

There’s a current trend in the blogging world of guest posting and contributing articles to other blogs. As of today, I am very happy to announce that I’ve just dipped my toe into this trend!

I was recently approached by Freelance Folder about contributing design related articles to their blog. I’ve been a big fan of the site, especially in reaching my goal of taking the freelance plunge a few months ago - so it was an honor to say the least.

As Freelance Folder debuts it’s new design today, I am making my debut as a guest writer, too! If all goes well, this could become a regular thing, with a second post already in the works.

15 Primary Elements All Top Web Sites Should Have

Here’s a brief introduction to the post below:
read the full article here

There are a lot of details to consider when designing and developing a web site. In reality, it can seem like an endless list — but if you look carefully you’ll see that there are certain elements that are more important than others, elements that are used consistently among the most successful sites.

Once you’ve completed the Planning Stage of your website, the rest of the elements fall into broad categories ranging from User Interface Design to Content Creation to actual Development. Of course, there are also the issues surrounding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — but we’ll save that for another day…

With that in mind, here are the 15 elements that should always be included on any top web site.

So What Are You Waiting For?

I hope you’ll head on over to Freelance Folder to read the full article and share your comments. While you’re there, you’re in for a treat with the new design and great new features, including all new forums!

Of course, if you like what you see, I hope you’ll also share the love…  (aka shameless request for some social bookmarks etc.) Thanks in advance!

Welcome Freelance Folder Readers!

If you are here because of the post on Freelance Folder - Welcome!

Thank you for reading the article and coming to check out my own web site and blog. Below are some of the more popular articles that I’ve written that you might find of interest!

Web Design / Development

• How To Use WordPress as a CMS
• 6 Phases of the Web Development Process
• Essential Web Developer Tools
• Save the Developers Upgrade Your Browser

Small Business / Freelancing / Marketing

• Get Clients Now! 28 Day Marketing Program
• 20+ Essential Feeds for Small Business
• What’s Your Small Business?
• Let’s Get Social! (And Some Link Love)

Work/Life Balance

• Taking the Freelance Plunge… I Am FREE!
• Lessons from Paradise in the USVI

If you’re curious to just who is behind this blog, you can learn more about me here or through the links on the sidebar. I hope you’ll also check out my web design portfolio.

Thanks again for stopping by - I hope to see you again soon! And if you like what you see, please subscribe to the feed for updates!

As October 15th rolls around, it’s hard to be out and about on the internet and not run into topics relating to Blog Action Day’s second annual event. Last year’s topic focused on The Environment… this year - Poverty.

Today thousands of bloggers will unite to discuss a single issue - poverty. We aim to raise awareness, initiate action and to shake the web!

An Overwhelming Issue

I knew that I wanted to participate in Blog Action Day again this year, but I admit I wasn’t quite sure how I could best contribute.

Poverty - both here in the United States as well as worldwide - is such a big issue. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a bigger surge of this in the US with the current economic crisis. Wordwide the problem is staggering.

According to Wikipedia, in 2005 there were over 100 million homeless people worldwide. 100 MILLION! In the United States alone in 2007 the number was just over 670 thousand homeless. I’m sure the numbers are even higher as we speak.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

As I struggled with what to write for my own post - I ran across a post from Michael Martin (@problogdesign on Twitter) of Pro Blog Design.

Of all the articles I’ve read today, I was particularly moved by this one:

• Poverty in Pictures
  

A picture truly is worth a thousand words. One thing to speak of poverty but to actually visualize it - especially in poor innocent children - brings the thought to a whole other level.

The photos Michael features from Flickr pull at your heartstrings, and are actually the reason I felt the need to participate this year.

No Gesture Is Too Small

A designer himself, Michael seemed to be having the same problem I did… how to portray the topic in a meaningful way. As he expresses:

There are far better writers than me out there
who will write better posts than I could.
But this is a design blog. And design talks.

These are my sentiments exactly. I wanted to honor the day, but almost didn’t participate because I didn’t feel that what I could write on the topic would do the issue any true justice.

Of course, this line of thinking couldn’t be any further from the truth. ANY acknowledgement of the huge issue of poverty - both here in the US and throughout the world - helps raise awareness.

If one person comes across this post and becomes more aware of the problem, donates to the cause, writes their own post, etc. well that in itself will help, even if just a little.

Kind of like “pass it on” or “pay it forward” - each action that we take, as small as it may be, will help.

Tweeting Out Poverty

Without a true post of my own, I wanted to show how powerful social media can be. On the Blog Action Day web site, at this very moment there have been well over 12,000 web sites to break their normal posting schedule to write about Poverty.

I’m one of many people addicted to Twitter and you can’t help but notice the outpouring of posts referencing Blog Action Day or #BAD08.

Blog Action Day Link Love via Twitter

I’d like to share with you a few of the great posts written by my own Twitter friends. Please take some time to read the posts, leave your comments and if you are feeling inspired maybe even publish a post of your own!

Of course, I have to say thank you to everyone below for participating in my little social media experiment!

• Blog Action Day - @blogactionday
  Blog Action Day (official web site)
• Cory O’Brien - @CoryOBrien
  It’s Blog Action Day: Poverty
• Doug Cloud - @dcloud
  Poverty of the Heart
• Janet Fouts - @jfouts
  Take Action Against Poverty
• Jennae Petersen - @greenyourdecor
  Blog Action Day - Fight Poverty with Your Wallet
• Katja Presnal - @KatjaPresnal
  One Voice One Dollar - Fight Against Poverty
• Kim Woodbridge - @kwbridge
  Support Train for Humanity - Blog Action Day 08 - Poverty
• Michael Martine - @remarkablogger
  Blog Action Day: Fight Poverty by Registering for the Blog Traffic Seminar and I’ll Donate up to $800
• Money Matters - @moneymatters
  Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty

Keep Sharing The Love

If you’ve participated in Blog Action Day 2008, I hope you’ll share in the Link Love by linking to your own post in the comments below.

Even better yet - if there was an article you read or photo you saw today that particularly moved you, please share with everyone below.

You can also help spread the love by participating in social bookmarking through sites like Delicious, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc. - sharing social votes for the articles you’ve read today on Poverty make it that much more likely for that post to be read by someone else.

So please share the love and support the cause - together we can make a mark on Poverty.

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

A few months ago, Jon Phillips of Freelance Folder posted a review of Uprinting.com’s printing services. I was impressed with what I saw and left a positive comment on the post.

Not long after, I was approached by a representative of Uprinting.com asking if I’d be willing to accept a similar offer - free printing of 1,000 business cards in exchange for a sponsored review.

How could anyone say no to an offer like that?

As I was in the process of changing my business address, I knew that I would be needing new cards fairly soon - so I immediately said Yes!

The (Not-So) Fine Print

So, first the disclaimer - yes, this is admittedly a sponsored review. But, as with Freelance Folder, and also with Jeremy of Papertree Design who was given the same opportunity - I will say that it is a truthful review.

I’m quite happy with my new business cards!

Oh My God, It Even Has A Watermark!

Of course, with new business cards comes the opportunity for a re-design. There were a few changes I wanted to make to my old card, so this was the perfect chance to do so.

My first step was getting some design inspiration, which was quite easy thanks to Flickr. In addition to doing a simple search for “Business Card” I also stumbled upon Daily Poetics Business Cards Set which has some amazingly beautiful and unique business card designs.

I also found great inspiration on UCreative, Faveup and OMG It Even Has a Watermark which got it’s name from a scene in the movie American Psycho.

I’d call this scene a classic that I’m sure any designer can smile at.

So, thanks to great feedback that I received on Twitter and Flickr, I finalized my design and started the process with Uprinting.com.

A Mini Business Card Design Tutorial

There are several things that are important to keep in mind when designing your business cards and preparing your file(s) to send to the printer.

I started my design career with print / graphic design, so these were all second nature to me… like riding a bike - you just don’t forget this stuff!

But for someone new at design, or who is strictly a web designer, it’s important to take note of these steps.

• Be Sure to Work in CMYK
  This is the standard for print work, as it uses standard ink colors of Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black, as opposed to designing for the web which utilizes RGB - the colors of Red Green and Blue which make up your monitor display.
• ALWAYS Work In High Resolution
  When designing for the web, low resolution - 72dpi - is the standard. However for print, you ideally want to create files at 300dpi. Slightly lower resolutions are sometimes acceptable - I’ve seen 150dpi and 266dpi used on occasion. However the higher the better, so try to stick with 300dpi. This ensures the best possible quality of the final product.
• Don’t Forget About Trim and Bleed
  The final size of a business card - the Trim Size - is 3.5″ x 2″. However if you have a background image or color that extends to the edge of the card, the file you create needs to be bigger than this to accommodate Bleed. This is an additional 0.125″ added to all four sides of your card - making the final document size 3.75″ x 2.25″. This is to ensure that when the card is cut (or trimmed) any slight shifting won’t leave a white border around the outside of your card.
• White Space or the Safe Margin Is Important, too
  As with possible shifting on the trimming on the outside bleed area of your card, you want to be sure no crucial information on the inside of your card gets cut off, either. That’s why it’s equally important to take into consideration the Safe Margin, which is 0.125″ all around the inside of the Trim area. This is the equivalent of the Print Margin if you were using a word-processing program such as Microsoft Word. I personally like to be sure I’ve got a lot of white space, so I doubled this for my own business cards.

Free Proofing and File Review

Luckily Uprinting.com is great about providing all of the file specifications, as well as letting you download templates for various file formats. Very helpful to say the least!

Even better - if you have any questions while creating your cards, you can also speak with their Pre-Press Specialists for help.

Once you’ve designed your cards and ready to send the final files to be printed, you are able to take advantage of Uprinting.com’s free proofing services. With this, you are able to select the size, card stock, and quantity of your cards - then upload your files and select the option to get a free online proof.

I went with the standard 3.5″ x 2″ cards on a 14 point matte card stock - the thicker the better, as it gives your card a good sturdy feel. Options range from 14 point matte, 14 point glossy and even 13 point  recycled. If you have no idea what these mean or look like, you can order a free sample booklet which shows you sample card stocks and finishes for business cards, postcards, brochures, etc. I ordered a sample myself, and received it in less than a week.

As for the proof, it wasn’t more than four hours after submitting my files, that I received an email from another Uprinting.com representative, letting me know that my files had been received, and that a proof was available for me to approve of online.

The proof itself was a high resolution PDF file that showed all of the crop marks. As you can see from the image above, it also showed the location of the trim - including the rounded edges that I had requested via email.

Through their online proofing area, I was able to approve of the proof so they could begin the printing process. All the while, I was able to log in whenever I wanted to check the status of my order.

1000 Cards - All Shiny, Bright and New

With my cards being provided for free (in exchange for this review), I selected their longest turnaround time. I didn’t want to take advantage and request a 2 day turnaround time, since I wasn’t actually paying to have these cards printed.

So I opted for the longest time - 6 business days - but much to my pleasant surprise, my cards were shipped only 4 business days later via UPS ground. A few days later I was opening a box of 1,000 fresh new business cards!

I must say that I was very pleased with the entire experience with Uprinting.com. Everyone that I was in contact with at the company was very nice and helpful.

They delivered ahead of schedule, and the print quality is good. What more could I ask for!

Are You A Blogger? Get Your Card Featured!

While we’re on the topic of business cards, I wanted to let you know about a feature that Brian Yerkes is running on his blog, called Business Cards of Bloggers.

If you are a blogger with a business card, head over to Brian’s web site and check out the business cards of other bloggers like yourself. At the least, it’s another good source of inspiration. But if you have your own card, you can also get a bit of exposure and link juice by adding your card to the bunch, too.

All you have to do is mention the feature on your own blog, and of course leave a comment on the original post, too. Then send in a picture of your card, and it will be added to the mix, as well.

I’m headed over to send in my card right now!