Birnam Designs Blog -- sharing tips, resources, ideas, and more on web development and design

I just found this short and to-the-point flowchart over at The Google Cache that helps you (or your clients) to decide whether or not to use an all-flash website.

Ok, so it’s overly simplified. Personally, I think some pages can benefit from being all-flash, like a virtual tour that is part of a bigger site, but I do try to discourage my clients from having a flash-only site. If you’re unaware of the downsides to flash, the biggest reason is because search engines are completely blind to content in a flash movie. Completely. And even if you’re not overly concerned about being available to search engines, that doesn’t mean your business or organization wouldn’t benefit from that availability.

If you're not convinced this is a problem, read on...

In the last eight years, I have made lots of advances with my web development. I am always learning new methods, new tools, and new strategies on the path to intelligent web development. These are tips I’ve learned from my progress so far.

(Inspired by the Graphic Push article “The Path to Intelligent HTML“)

Business

(This are tips I’ve learned as a home office-located, solo-operating, contract-based worker. These may or may not apply to your own unique situation.)

Hourly Tracking - NO

I hate keeping track of my hours, so I might be slightly biased on this one. But, biased perception aside, I believe using a fixed estimate is much better alternative than tracking my hours. Granted, you need plenty of experience before you can build an accurate fixed estimate. It also takes more up-front, unpaid time to generate your estimates, which aren’t guaranteed to turn into a paying project. But I find it is almost always worth it in the long run.

Most importantly, you’re getting everything out up front. No surprise costs for your clients! I make my estimates extremely detailed. This way, they serve as scope documentation, pricelist, and checklist. Focusing on so much detail at the start of the project means that both parties are aware of exactly what they’re getting themselves into, cost-wise and time-wise. A detailed list with individual costs for each task allows a client to see which items cost the most, allowing them to refocus their project to fit their budget. In the development phase, the estimate becomes a detailed todo list!

In most projects, a request or two will surface after the initial esimate is approved and the project gets going. This is 100% normal - developers shouldn’t be surprised, and client’s shouldn’t be reluctant to ask! But armed with a detailed estimate, both parties can easily see what was or wasn’t in the original scope, and can determine if the new request will be an additional cost or not. Again, the goal is to eliminate surprise costs. Clients are more comfortable working with you if they know the exact cost of the project from the beginning, and your cash flow is more reliable because you know exactly how much a particular project is going to bring in! (Note: there are certain projects where getting paid hourly is the better alternative, but I use fixed estimates by default.)

Time Awareness - YES

I’ve talked a little about this already in the Tools section, but let me repeat a piece of advice you’ve heard before: time is money. Especially if you’re a freelance or contract worker and work by yourself. There’s no one to distribute the work to! Good time management doesn’t just keep you organized, it also a free way to increase the value of your time. Being able to squeeze more billable hours into your day means that your days are worth more.

There are also ways to increase the value of your time that aren’t free. Another phrase you’ve heard before is: it takes money to make money. Sometimes it takes an investment to save some time down the road. For instance, if you know that a new tool will save you time, consider buying it. If part of a project is outside your comfort zone, and you don’t think learning to do it is worth the time it would take, consider outsourcing that part of the project. Sometimes learning new tricks and techniques will save you time down the road, which would mean the time spent learning it would be paid off later.

Predict Updates - YES

If you’re like me, the single most important assest to your business is your time. The more time you spend making in-scope tweaks and modifications to a fixed-estimate project, the less you are effectively getting paid for your time, and the less time you’ll have to work on other projects. You can’t eliminate the tweaks - they’re an important step towards the goal of developing something your client is ecstatic with - but you can make the tweaking process smoother for both of you. Smoother tweaking not only means spending less time on updates, but it also means being more responsive to your client and being more flexible with their needs. Sometimes this means doing extra work in the initial development.

It takes experience to recognize the most likely targets for modification - sometimes it takes experience with a particular client to know their unique trends. But once you know what to look out for, you can start simplifying those adjustments. For instance, take the XML-based link definitions I referred to in the Methods and Techniques section. I adopted that method when I noticed a tendency of my clients to edit the external links embedded in a flash movie towards the end of the project. By moving the link definitions into an XML file, I not only helped make these edits smoother for myself and my client, but I also opened up the possibility of my client being able to edit these links themselves after I had completed the project, using just a text editor!

I’m one of those people that are (still) unwaveringly faithful to Google. I love that company. I (half) joke with my client that the only two reasons I would ever just pick up and leave my business are if 1) Google offers me a job, or 2) Pixar offers me a job.

Now, rumor has it that Google is readying a rollout of an online payment service, not too dissimilar from PayPal. They call it GBuy.

WHAT!?

Please, please tell me that they’re not going to really call it GBuy. Surely somebody has pointed out that GBuy could be pronounced as an abbreviated form of “Goodbye”, as in “Kiss your money g’bye!” Seems obvious to me….

Please, please, please. Especially if you are just starting a business. Have lots of people look at your name. Sometimes they’ll notice something obvious that, due to familiarity, you have missed.

Interested in finding your new domain name? Unfortunately, you might find that the first several domains you try are already taken — either by legitimate businesses or by domain squatters. This means you might have to get a little creative, and perhaps spend more time than you were expecting looking up domain name possibilities.

This is where Instant Domain Search comes in. Start typing into the box, and domain names are displayed in a Google Suggest-like instant-feedback method. Playing around with your domain name search is as easy as typing a few new keys.

One of my favorite online authors, Paul Graham, has a new essay titled How To Do What You Love. He starts off by looking into the paradoxical combination of work and enjoyment. As children, he says, we learn that work is something we have to do, and play is something we want to do. School is something we have to do, and is basically a diluted version of work. Our parents tell us — directly or by implication — that we should enjoy school while we can, because work is much worse.

Graham points out that what our parents should be telling us at this point, is that we need to work our way through the things that we don’t enjoy in order to be able to do the things that we do enjoy. Maybe then we would start to see work as an opportunity or as a path, instead of as a dead end. This is advice I plan on heeding well while my kids are growing up.

Continue reading about 'How to Do What You Love'

Note: this post has been imported and re-editing from a personal blog. Time-sensitive material may no longer be relevant.

Apparently “solopreneur” is the new buzzword for a one-person business. I love it! Granted, I’m not technically a one person business, since it literally wouldn’t be a business without Jen’s help. But, I still think we have the essence of a one-person business.

But I do think the term solopreneur is more accurate than entrepreneur. I might branch out one day. Would outsourcing freelancers (that aren’t employees!) count against being a solopreneurship? I don’t know, I just know I’m quite happy staying pretty small for now. I like — no, love — getting my hands dirty on all aspects of a project. And I think it’s an enormous benefit to my clients, who don’t have to pay for the time it would take to juggle tasks and manage multiple people. And the best reason of all: if I can handle all of the design and development aspects, why shouldn’t I?

Here’s somebody with 13 pieces of excellent advice on the matter.