I can’t believe it’s already August. This summer seems to have zipped right by. I have a couple of weeks before going on vacation and then when we come back, school will be starting again.
This week I have articles on freelancing, Twitter, Social Media and WordPress. I did not come across many videos that I thought were especially amusing. If you have any, please leave a link to it in the comments. Fortunately, Valerie sent one to me so I was able to add one at the last moment.
- 10 Tips to Stay Motivated Even When You Don’t Feel Like Working – I don’t have this problem too often because if I don’t work, I don’t eat, but sometimes I really feel like goofing off. My solution is to treat myself like a child – if you do this for two hours, then you can do this for 30 minutes. ;-)
- 10 Reasons to Politely Decline a Web Design Gig – This list is SO true. I’ve already heard #7 and #2 many times. I also steer clear of anyone who approaches me and says – it’s a simple job. The use of the word simple implies they have no respect for the work that I do.
- How Not to Suck on Twitter – I’m not overly fond of this title but the article contains some good and snarky advice – especially about the type of people to avoid.
- Lessons in Social Media from Super Mario – Danny Brown has written an awesome article about Super Mario and Social Media. Very clever and a great read.
- 25 High Quality WordPress Themes Released on June-July 2009 – 25 Newish WordPress Themes to check out.
- Donate Friday – If you use Twitter, you are probably aware of follow friday where you recommend people for others to follow. This idea is to start Donate Friday instead, in which you pick one of your can’t live without WordPress plugins and donate to the developer. I think it’s a great idea!
- Man vs. …
Nice links. The motivation post was worth checking out
.-= Madhur Kapoor´s last blog ..Backup and Synchronize Files with PureSync =-.
Hi Madhur – Thanks! Sometimes it’s very hard to stay motivated at home :-)
The list with the reasons to decline a job is sooo true. There are a lot of those out there. Especially those that “know how to do it themselves but simply don’t have the time”. How common… So where are you going on vacation?
.-= stratosg´s last blog ..Member Of The Month: July =-.
Hi Stratos – Oh you hear that one ALL the time. And I’m like, well I really don’t have the time to put up with you either ;-)
I’m going to visit my brothers at the end of the month – beginning of September. Alex usually has a week or so between the end of camp and the beginning of school so that’s when we go.
That’s really nice! I hope you have a great time. Believe me i will be having as much fun that time… ;)
.-= stratosg´s last blog ..Member Of The Month: July =-.
I really like the Mario article.
And of course the video of the musclehead being scared by the mouse. haha
Hi Jim – I had a hard time finding amusing videos this week – fortunately Valerie sent that one to me.
Great video, hahaha! I can’t stand mice, either. Why do we think chipmunks are cute, though? Good lists, and I always enjoy looking at the themes.
.-= Betsy Wuebker´s last blog ..PASSING THRU: A YEAR =-.
Hi Betsy – I think Chipmunks are cute but wouldn’t want on in the house :-)
That list of reasons for decline work: I think it depends on the context. If after asking for clarification it seems this potential client is just ignorant of the terms (especially “webmaster”), then you can give free pointers on how to better frame the questions he’s asking. This way you can give him enough assurance that you’ll let him be ignorant yet save face, as he learns to ask for what he needs. Yeah, these are 10 things that would get my red light blinking. But part of your service is education, and everybody’s got their own way of expressing their ignorance about what we do for a living.
Hi Rick – That’s a good point. There are number of people who aren’t familiar with the terminology and say they need one thing when they really need something else. They are usually fine to work with once you help them understand.
When someone says they need a webmaster, however, it usually means they are going to call you on the weekends with a crisis – with the crisis being something like the link color is the wrong shade of green.
I love videos like that. Big tough guy scared of a mouse. I have a uncle who’s like that but he’s terrified of spiders.
Thanks for the links.
.-= John Hoff – WpBlogHost´s last blog ..WordPress Management: Cleaning Up Your Root Folder =-.
Hi John – My Dad is like that about snakes. Fortunately, snakes don’t appear in the house that often ;-)
I cant believe its August too. Summer is for kids anyway!
I like the Ten Tips To Stay Motivated. I really need to save that link and refer to it when I’m having a “lazy day”.
.-= carla | green and chic´s last blog ..Thoughtless mistakes, huge impact =-.
Hi Carla – I think we all have memories of summer break, which makes us think it’s a time to relax even when we haven’t been in school for a long time :-) I know that as a parent summer break is a pain – you’ve got to find decent childcare (camp) and it’s usually super expensive.
Oh, Kim. That ten list about declining a web site gig is timeless. Wish I had that knowledge when I started this venture!
Off to check the others!
George
.-= Tumblemoose´s last blog ..A recession is good for a library =-.
Hi George – “my budget is small but I’ll have a lot more work for you in the future”.
Thanks for the list Kim
The Twitter link is very useful especially for me who is just starting to figure out how to use this tool to promote my travel blog
ZQ
.-= ZQ @ Best Travel Blog´s last blog ..Quirky Vienna – Opera Toilet, Flak Tower =-.
Hi – Great! I’m glad you find it useful.
I like the “10 reasons” article. I think that anyone who says it’s a simple job likes to think that they know everything, but like reason #2 says, doesn’t have enough time to apply their vast knowledge everywhere.
I typically send out a proposal to clients, with a comparison of their site to others that rank highly for their keywords. That way they can see that the people who are doing a good job with SERP don’t necessarily have 100 keywords in their list. Hopefully not, anyway.
~ Kristi
.-= Kikolani´s last blog ..StumbleUpon Etiquette Faux Pas, Tips & Resources =-.
Hi Kristi – I think I’m going to add someone who emails you and 7 hours later when you haven’t replied yet sends you messages through twitter and facebook. Umm …7 hours isn’t a long time.
Nice links. Thanks for nice set of links. I like 25 High Quality WordPress themes link
.-= Nihar´s last blog ..July 2009 Blog Traffic & Income statistics =-.
Hi Nihar – There are some good themes listed there. :-)