One of the problems with freelance design is finding good graphics. Of course there are many sites that offer free images, but some of those ‘free images’ are free to use only until you get caught. The best graphic sites are those that provide Royalty Free images at an affordable price. Until lately, iStock has been my favorite site to locate graphics. However, recently they’ve made some price increases, and while moderate, they are still more than I’m ready to pay.

Another option is Fotolia. Although Fotolia doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, you’ll find many of the same graphics and photos there as you will at iStock and over the last few months, Fotolia has made great improvements in site organization.

As well as photograhs, Fotolia has an excellent selection of graphic art in both rastor and vector formats. The submission system is very simple for designers and photographers who want to submit their work for either pay or credits.

Prices at Fotolia remain at $1.00, $2.00, and $3.00 per item depending on size. I first found out about Fotolia through my Web Host, 1 & 1 Internet. Clients of 1 & 1 receive 25% more from Fotolia, so when you purchase 12 credits, you receive 15, making each item even less expensive. That’s just one of the perks in hosting with 1 & 1… but that’s another review!

Popularity: 21% [?]

One of the questions new freelancers often ask is, “Who owns the copyright when the work is done?”

Keeping in mind that I am not a lawyer, here is my view on copyright ownership and transfers.

With a few exceptions, any intellectual property that can be put into a tangible form is copyrighted from the time of its completion, with or without notice, by its author or creator.

A common copyright misunderstanding is that when you contract to write or design for a client, it’s a work-for-hire and your client automatically owns the copyright. In most case, that simply isn’t true. According to the US Copyright Office ‘work for hire’ applies to independent contractors (such as freelancers) only “if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.”

Yet, when clients commission and pay for work, they expect to own the rights to the work when it’s completed. Commonly the freelancer transfers his copyright to his client. The transfer of all rights to a work is “exclusive copyright”, but keep this in mind: Copyright isn’t just one thing. It’s a set of intellectual property rights that can be transferred in whole by tendering exclusive copyright or transferred in part with specific licenses and permissions.

Some issues you should consider and address before you transfer your copyright include:

• Will the rights be transferred for both electronic and print publication?
• Will I retain the right to show the work in my portfolio?
• Will my client receive the right to resell the work?
• Will my client receive the right to alter the work?

The transfer should also contain warrants of originality and a disclaimer that protects both parties in the transaction.

For instance here is an example similar to the warrants I use in transferring copyright.

(Your Client) warrants that all material furnished to (Your Name) for the completion of (the described work) is the sole intellectual property of (Your Client) and does not infringe on any copyright, violate any property rights or contain any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter.

(Your Name) warrants that the completed Work is original and that to the best of (his/her) knowledge, the Work does not infringe on any copyright, violate any property rights, or contain any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter. As such, (Your Name) additionally warrants that (she/he) has complete authority to transfer any and all intellectual property rights associated with this Work to (Your Client).

Again, please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and the validity of the paragraphs above has not been tested in a court of law (thankfully!) However, a contract written on a napkin may be considered valid by a court, as long as you and your client both agree to the terms. The hard part of do-it-yourself contracts of any kind is making sure your agreement has all the bases covered and that both parties have a mutual understanding of the terms.

Popularity: 29% [?]

Start right and you won’t need to worry about competition… they’ll be worrying about you!

1. Find something you do well that you enjoy doing.
2. Research ways to make money from that ’something’.
3. Plan your work and work your plan

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

That’s a sentence that bears repeating. The best advice I ever received, this advice is never more relevant than for those who freelance and/or work from home.

You may need to schedule free time, but you’ll find that it gives you something to work towards and additionally helps you to be sure to not fritter away your free hours… instead you’ll find that you are doing the things that add true enjoyment to your life. In fact, I think you could substitute the first occurrence of “work” with “life”.

Yet, the definitive word here is ‘work’. Working online is no different than working offline. There are no magic get rich quick schemes here, whether full-time or part-time, just as there is no magic to making money in the brick and mortar world.

What is your experience in sales or establishing a business?

E-Commerce is very competitive. Instead of a few home-town players, you will join a global community of retailers and marketing professionals. If that is your intent, then research your options well and be prepared to spend a substantial sum of money before you make any.

Define Your Target Market

If you do a search for just about any job, you’re going to find millions of results. How can you compete with them all? You can’t and the good news is that you don’t have to!

Your competitor is anyone who bids on the same project as you. Narrow down your competition by narrowing down your target market. Are you bidding to Fortune 500 companies or just Mom & Pop Shops?

Determine who your competition is by defining your target market and zeroing in on your market niche.

A big element of any successful business is its “unique selling proposition”.

• What can you offer your potential clients that other businesses can’t?
• What can you do better than other providers they may contact?

Define your market niche.

• Wholesalers only? Retailers? Service businesses or product businesses? Those who need e-commerce sites or those who just need some static web content and a contact page?
• Define the geographical area your business will serve. What distance from your office are you willing to travel to a meeting?
• Define the range of services you provide. Put together a strategic business plan so that you know where your business is going and what steps you need to take to get there.

Popularity: 28% [?]

One of my pet peeves is the misuse of words and one of the biggest ones is the title ‘tag’. The phrase “title tag” is such a misnomer. There is no such thing as a title tag. There is the title element that goes in the head section of your page and the title attribute that is meant to describe where a link will take your visitor.

Use title attributes to tell your visitors where contextual links lead them. I really hate clicking on an external link when I don’t mean to just as much as I hate the wikipedia text links that take me to information that is neither need to know or nice to know.

Keep your titles short and to the point. If you create a title that’s relative to your content, it will naturally contain a keyword or two.

To stuff either the title element or the title attribute with keywords is poor form. First of all, when users bookmark your page, it’s the title element that appears in their bookmarks folder. I bookmark a lot of pages and its really annoying when I have to weed through keyword garbage to find what interested me in the page enough to bookmark it.

Moreover, I think you get more clicks on your contextual links if your users don’t have to worry they will end up lost in a cyberspace black hole.

So, keep your title elements and attributes short and to the point — pointing your visitors in the right direction… and please, don’t call either of them “title tags“.

Popularity: 18% [?]

When your web content isn’t being read, the problem may not be your writing; it could be your colors. Although your web color palette may be pleasing, some color combinations not only make reading difficult and unpleasant for your readers, they may also make your text completely illegible for the color blind and of course, for other readers who have limited vision. Continue reading… Product Review: The Colour Contrast Analyser

Popularity: 25% [?]