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Cameron Moll Go to the source

Google Checkout Nightmare and the $126,000 Phone Call : “prbuckley”, whose profile mentions being the owner of DODOcase (see my review ), explains he’s due $126,000 from payments via Google Checkout. But Google isn’t handing over the money, and their customer service is just as reserved. The discussion that follows in the comments is worth reading for business owners in a similar scenario, that of having far more orders than you can fulfill in a timely manner. I’ve run into the same issue with my letterpress posters before, and resolving customer service issues can be trying. Thankfully, I’ve had fantastic customers, and by now I’m much better at preventing delays from happening. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Why I Dislike “Freelance” : Brian Hoff: Make no mistake about it; running an independent business, no matter what field you are in, is extremely time consuming, exhausting and requires a lot of motivation and dedication. It’s not for everyone…. If you are an in-house designer, responding to emails, answering phone calls, and marketing, among other things, are payable because you are on the clock. You get paid for the time you are under the roof of your office. … Read the rest here

Eric Meyer Go to the source

While I agree with Neven Mrgan’s Walled Gardens , I feel like the whole imagery of walled gardens is a bit of a metaphorical stretch—not because it’s inaccurate, but because it’s fundamentally unnecessary. We don’t need metaphors here. That’s because the iTunes App Store is just what its name states: it is a store. That has a fairly specific and intentional meaning in the world of commerce. It means that the stock is not infinite and that someone has screened it. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Fanboi’s Lament: Falling Out of Love With the iPad : Rik Myslewski, writing for The Register : I’ve taken it on business trips for note-taking and email, have had no problems with its much-maligned keyboard, and even play the occasional game. But I’m spending less and less time with it. As a fanboi, I’d like to say that the jury is still out, but I’m afraid that the most important evidence—that I’m less frequently using the li’l guy for either business or pleasure—is in. My iPad is clearly moving into Newtonian territory. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Yesterday’s post was decidedly about companies vying for talented individuals. What about individuals vying for work opportunities? Check out this job hunt success story , as Gizmodo explains it: Alec Brownstein wanted a job in advertising, so he made pages that showed up as the first result when several big New York creative directors Googled themselves. He got interviews with nearly all of them. Yeah, it’s pretty brilliant. Bryan Veloso , a “guy who doesn’t do much client work anymore, but is willing to,” admits spending money before the check even arrives… Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

This year Authentic Jobs has seen some of its strongest months ever in its nearly five-year existence. Things are definitely trending upward in the creative industries, and we’ve seen our competitors also showing positive gains. Many of you reading this are gainfully employed or have no troubled finding your next freelance project. But the increase in companies hiring means more of these companies are vying for you, the talent star, to keep their products and services competitive. Because of this, it’s not surprising to see companies like Red Gate handing out a free iPad to anyone who qualifies to be interviewed for their engineer positions… Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

When is it Time to Ditch Your Home Office? : Pamela Slim: Thirteen years of ‘living the dream’ as a self-employed work-at-home-office dweller who rolled out of bed in my pajamas to shoot off emails to clients around the world suddenly didn’t work. As my business grew, the glamour of being able to do a load of laundry while coaching a client in China over Skype started being outweighed by my inability to concentrate for more than eight minutes at a time. So I moved into a quiet, bright, and peaceful office ten minutes from home. My entire life has changed… Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

The $0.69 iPad Stand : Fashioned from an Office Depot business card holder. Hard to beat that. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

TrackThePack Commercial Tracking : It helps that they’ve got a nice iPhone app for tracking packages from just about any shipping service, but what I find really appealing is their Commercial Tracking service for small business sales. For a low monthly fee, add tracking info and progress maps to your site/store with a few lines of JavaScript. Of course, this competes with the convenience of automated tracking emails sent from PayPal or your fulfillment software, which may be a tough sell. … Read the rest here

Andy Budd Go to the source

The recent passing of the UK Digital Economy Act has generated outrage amongst the web community. Large media business have effectively lobbied government under the spurious claim that without protection the future of the digital economy in the UK is at threat. However the future of digital isn’t locked inside a few big content companies distributing their goods electronically. The future of the digital economy is in empowering a creative class to produce new and as yet unheard of business opportunities on the web. So rather than protecting the digital economy, the Digital Economy Act will have the effect of protecting outdated business models and harming innovation in the UK and handing over initiative to more liberal and less restrictive countries. One potentially damaging aspect facing UK start-ups and freelancers is the one makes the owners of open wifi networks responsible for the traffic that passes over the network… Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Sweetie’s Bakeshop Letterpress Business Cards : These are undeniably delicious. Well done, Adrienne . … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Edward Tufte Goes to Washington : The New York Times: [Tufte] was appointed by President Obama to a panel to advise the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which monitors the way the $787 billion in the stimulus package is being spent…. Ever the statistician, Mr. Tufte, whose first official meeting in the capital will be in mid-April, quantified his optimism: “Chances are 7 in 10 that I can significantly improve the presentation on accountability and transparency of stimulus money. Three in 10 that there would be a broader change in transparency in Washington.” … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Beast Pieces: Squarespace Poster and Business Cards : I follow Beast Pieces regularly. I’m a fan of Squarespace. And Tyler and I have chatted on more than one occasion. It was a pleasant surprise to see the three come together in this post. … Read the rest here

SimpleBits Go to the source

A few weeks ago, we moved the studio (affectionately dubbed the BitCave) across the street to newer, slightly larger digs. It’s more comfortable, the windows open, we have our own temperature controls–you know, real lavish stuff. Yesterday, we relaunched the SimpleBits Shop , bringing the fulfillment back in house. Our slightly larger space is able to accomodate the stock, and now each order will be lovingly hand-packed by resident Commerce Director, Meagan Fisher . … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

Business Cards Made From Discarded Letterpress Posters : In addition to hauling tees around at SXSW, I’ll be carrying some of these business cards made from copies of my letterpress poster ( first one ) that weren’t fit for sale for one reason or another. Please ask for one, I’ll be happy to hand them out until they’re gone. … Read the rest here

Cameron Moll Go to the source

This year’s HOW Design Conference resumes in Denver, Colorado beginning June 9. Some of the brightest minds in the design industry, including Debbie Millman , Armin Vit , and Von Glitschka , will speak on topics that cover design inspiration, making the leap from print to web, copywriting, business plans, Photoshop tips, and much more. I’ll be giving a reprise of Good vs. Great Design. … Read the rest here

Andy Budd Go to the source

A few nights ago I attended a UX-Bri session where one of the speakers floated the idea of doing free usability testing in order to win projects. I asked about the moral implications of this and was surprised by the response. While the audience largely disagreed with the idea of speculative design work, it seemed that speculative UX work was somehow more acceptable. The speaker later cc’d me into an email question from one of the audience members querying my negative reaction to speculative pitching so here was my response… “Dear XXXX, There has been a debate over the subject of speculative work running within the design community for some time now, so I thought it was worth raising the issue. One side of the argument states that helping a client solve their problems for free, before being awarded a contact is bad practice… Read the rest here

Andy Budd Go to the source

The concept of ‘Pull Marketing’ is all the rage at the moment. In the age of the Mad Men, selling a new product was easy. You’d be handed a commodity product like toothpaste or washing powder and set about building a brand to set it apart from the competition. You would then buy advertising space on a small number of influential marketing channels and wait for the sales to roll in. … Read the rest here

Andy Budd Go to the source

One of the problems of working in the knowledge economy is the constant need to keep abreast of current trends and thinking. This would be fine if you worked in a mature industry or one with a limited number of books, papers and conferences appearing each year. However in the knowledge economy of the web, more information is being published every day than could be consumed in a year. What’s more, that pace is increasing. The problem is exacerbated by a number of things… Read the rest here

Mezzoblue Go to the source

For no particular reason, I present to you a list of things that were true on August 27, 2001 : The iPod, XBox, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, Ubuntu, and Blu-Ray did not exist. IBM was still in the PC business, Handspring was still around, and Blackberries were data-only devices with no telephone capabilities. The Euro had not yet entered circulation, currencies like the Franc, Mark and Lira were still legal tender. George Harrison, The Queen Mother, Gregory Peck, Barry White, Johnny Cash, Ronald Reagan, Ray Charles, Julia Child, Pope John Paul II, Johnny Carson, Steve Irwin, Gerald Ford and Michael Jackson were still alive. SARS, Avian Flu, H1N1 were not in the common vernacular. Enron and WorldCom were still in business. … Read the rest here