Business & Tech articles

So yeah, what the title said. Microsoft is buying GitHub for 7.5 BILLION with a “B” US dollars. This is officially this week’s Big DealTM, and everyone’s going to be talking about it. It would not be quite accurate to say that GitHub powers software development as a whole, but it powers a lot of it. GitHub’s friendliness to — and free repositories for — open source software have made it nigh on indispensable for many developers around...

Freelancers go by many names these days. They can be “non-traditional workers” in Canada or “autónomo” in Spain. They can be “self-employed” and “independent contractors” in the US and UK. But, statistically, the trend is consistent. Freelancers now make up 30 percent of the world’s workforce, and the number is projected to grow to 50 percent by 2020. This nuclear growth has been fanned primarily by technology, as an...

Let’s face it: The web design industry is very competitive. The barriers of entry are low, the technology (platforms, coding languages and DIY services) are always ever changing and with search engine optimization always keeping us on our toes, the ability to offer exceptional web design at competitive prices is a becoming an increasing challenge. Our company recently “decentralized” our office location and made all our employees...

It wasn’t all that long ago that web and product designers were presented with a choice: Fireworks, Illustrator, or Photoshop. All owned by Adobe, they represented an industry that was dominated by one company. You either spent the large sum of money to buy the individual software or entire creative package, or used a lesser-known, less extensive (and expensive) software. For a while, Adobe continued to innovate with this software, before...

Much has been said about the skills and capabilities of a full stack developer: On one hand, there are people who believe that a full stack developer is a “jack of all trades, master of none.” The range of skills that a full stack developer is expected to have means that those skills do not reach a level of proficiency required for one to be called an “expert.” On the other hand, there are those who argue that even if full stack developers are...

It’s every business owner’s goal to provide a fantastic experience for every client or customer and ensure that each of them walks away happy. But when you work in a service-based capacity, these aren’t just clients you deal with once. As a web designer, you have to develop a relationship with them as projects could last anywhere from a couple weeks to months, and you need that positive rapport and trust to carry you through the end of the...

It’s going to happen — a design project or website launch will go poorly. What you do in the first hours, days, and weeks after that mistake can shape your future career path. Every designer makes a mistake, which is almost always a disaster to the client. No matter how big or small you think the error is, it is important to handle it with grace and make things right for the client. (This can help salvage the relationship and your reputation.)...

Starting any new business venture is exciting. You’re free from the shackles of corporate life and you’re finally able to control your own schedule, rates, client base, and workflow. Life as a freelance web design professional rocks, doesn’t it? But what happens when you rock it too hard? In other words, you have too much work coming in and not enough time or energy to throw at it without compromising on quality. You want to be a successful...

If you are a web designer/developer who currently bills per hour, I hope I can persuade you to change your pricing method to value-based pricing. In this article, I will discuss both methods in detail and without the fluff so you can get to the nuggets and make an informed decision from there. If you apply the value-based pricing method correctly, you really can earn more, work less, and be a happier freelancer. Billing by the Hour Billing by the...

For years now, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to go about investing in myself. As an individual focused and working professionally in the tech industry, up-skilling is part of the territory. In fact, it’s so essential to our careers that it’s very much a “survive or die” scenario. Everyday there are new frameworks, syntax, libraries and methodologies being introduced. This very fact requires you to be disciplined,...

In 2016, 34% of the US workforce worked as freelancers, and by 2020, it’s estimated that number will rise to 43%. Freelance opportunities aren’t going anywhere, and more professionals are swapping in their office key cards for a home office. While the idea of sitting around in sweatpants or relaxing on a beach while working sounds like perfection, freelancing isn’t always a walk in the park. From juggling business responsibilities...

An online shop’s shipping methods or rates have a significant impact on decreasing cart abandonment rates and driving up additional sales. Customers are just as attracted by low shipping rates, fast shipping options, and good packaging, as they are enticed by competitive market rates of products. Ecommerce sites that have not yet mastered the complexities of shipping are unable to reach their full sales potential. Many new business...

If you’re like most talented designers, you have an eye for aesthetics. You understand beauty, design, and symmetry at an almost fundamental level. It’s not just a nice-to-have, it’s an essential component that shapes how you see the world. That’s the problem. Most of the people around you, the people you work with, don’t get it. They don’t have an eye for design. They don’t understand the principles of design. Designers Are...

It’s one of the worst parts about being a designer: Being forced to create work you feel is subpar. Work that’s absolutely doomed to fail. Designers go through this every day. This isn’t exclusive to designers, but it’s especially destructive because our work is often devalued by the rest of the team. They devalue our work because they don’t understand what we do. If You’re a Designer You Have a Big Problem Designers are expected...