Topics: Process: Business
Surviving and thriving as a freelancer, employee, or small web business owner. Laws affecting web content and web business. Business basics and growth strategies. Working with clients and consumers. Web marketing and search engines. (46 articles)
The Survey, 2008
by ALA Staff
Issue 264July 29, 2008
It is time once again to pool our information so as to begin sketching a true picture of the way our profession is practiced worldwide.
How Do You Walk the Line Between Work and Home? Share Your Best Practices With ALA
by ALA Staff
Issue 263July 15, 2008
Share your best practices on working from home so we can present them in an upcoming issue of A List Apart.
Walking the Line When You Work from Home
by Natalie Jost
Issue 263July 15, 2008
Every work environment offers distractions, but those who work from home with their families face a unique set of issues—and need equally unique ways of dealing with them.
Collaborate and Connect with Subversion
by Ryan Irelan
Issue 262July 01, 2008
Subversion keeps everyone on your team involved in the project. if you have someone new it allows you to catch any misunderstandings, project issues, and coding mistakes before it’s time for them to deliver the work.
Why Did You Hire Me?
by Keith LaFerriere
Issue 259May 20, 2008
Money has a way of becoming an immediate barrier to your success. You need to address this and, to use gaudy corporate language, mitigate the risk. For freelancers, agency team members, and other hired guns, here are five tips. For full-time folks, slight variations apply.
The Cure for Content-Delay Syndrome
by Pepi Ronalds
Issue 259May 20, 2008
It is perhaps the market forces driving web development projects that find us aligning ourselves with the lexicons of marketing and advertising rather than publishing. As a result, we have lots of “brand identity guidelines,” but not so many “style guides” (for content, at least). We have “strategists,” but no “commissioning editors,” and we more often “go live” than “publish.” Hence, we tend to first think “copywriter” when trying to get our content sorted, whereas very often an editor is the person we should be engaging.
The Rules of Digital Engagement
by Jonathan Follett
Issue 252February 05, 2008
We are, as William Gibson puts it in his novel Pattern Recognition, “post-geographic‗operating beyond physical boundaries.
Findings From the Web Design Survey
by ALA Staff
Issue 247October 16, 2007
In April 2007, A List Apart and An Event Apart conducted a survey of people who make websites. The results represent the first data ever collected on the business of web design and development as practiced in the U.S. and worldwide.
Get Out from Behind the Curtain
by Sarah B. Nelson
Issue 245September 11, 2007
“When used at critical points in the design process, these sessions build strong, respectful relationships. Since clients directly experience the design work, you don’t need to sell clients on an idea—they were with you the whole time.”
Design by Metaphor
by Jack Zeal
Issue 243August 14, 2007
If a client says he wants his new auction site to be “like eBay,†what does that mean? An artist hears “It has a tacky color scheme.†A developer hears “It’s scalable to 20 million users.†A user hears “It has feedback ratings on all sellers.â€
Educate Your Stakeholders!
by Shane Diffily
Issue 237May 08, 2007
If you spend the time to educate your clients or managers at the beginning of the project, it will be repaid many times over by better decisions later on.
Stand and Deliver
by David Sleight
Issue 237May 08, 2007
“The good news is that designers already have what it takes to deliver gracefully under fire. It’s baked right into the job.”
The Web Design Survey, 2007
by ALA Staff
Issue 236April 24, 2007
People who make websites have been at it for more than a dozen years, yet almost nothing is known, statistically, about our profession. Take the survey and change all that.
The Long Hallway
by Jonathan Follett
Issue 236April 24, 2007
If a virtual design firm is to be successful, it must develop an adaptive culture that fosters and strengthens connections between far-flung collaborators.
Where Our Standards Went Wrong
by Ethan Marcotte
Issue 233February 26, 2007
To validate or not to validate; that is the question. A List Apart’s Ethan Marcotte helps us re-examine our approach to standards advocacy and how we can better educate our clients on the benefits of web standards.
How to Plan Manpower on a Web Team
by Shane Diffily
Issue 218June 20, 2006
“The reason website scale is so useful is that it provides a practical means for estimating the number of people needed to carry out the activities of site maintenance.”
The Four-Day Week Challenge
by Ryan Carson
Issue 216May 09, 2006
“And then it hit me: there will always be more to do.”
Web 3.0
by Jeffrey Zeldman
Issue 210January 16, 2006
Web 2.0 is a fresh-faced starlet on the intertwingled longtail to the disruptive experience of tomorrow. Web 3.0 thinks you are so 2005.
Design Choices Can Cripple a Website
by Nick Usborne
Issue 207November 08, 2005
”...just pause for a moment and think of all the design choices you have made over the last year, and the reasons why you made them. And think about the huge impact those choices might have had on the performance of the sites you worked on.”
High Accessibility Is Effective Search Engine Optimization
by Andy Hagans
Issue 207November 08, 2005
“I have been a search engine optimizer for several years, but only recently have become infatuated with web accessibility. After reading for weeks until my eyes became sore, and painstakingly editing my personal website to comply with most W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, I have come to a startling revelation: high accessibility overlaps heavily with effective white hat SEO.”
Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason)
by Greg Storey
Issue 205October 10, 2005
“Throughout all these projects, one thing has remained a constant: those with clear, well-written, strategies ran smoother than those without—and ended up pleasing everyone, including the client.”
When You Are Your Own Client, Who Are You Going To Make Fun Of At The Bar?
by Jim Coudal
Issue 201August 22, 2005
Should your blog have a business? Jim Coudal shares insights into the adventure of transitioning from client services to product creation.
Use Cases Part II: Taming Scope
by Norm Carr, Tim Meehan
Issue 196March 02, 2005
The use-case model can be a powerful tool for controlling scope throughout a project’s life cycle. Because a simplified use-case model can be understood by all project participants, it can also serve as a framework for ongoing collaboration and a visual map of all agreed-upon functionality. Use it to plan, to negotiate, and to prevent scope creep.
Better Invoices for Better Business
by Kevin Potts
Issue 186August 10, 2004
Invoices that obfuscate information, incorrectly state terms or arrive incomplete can be a massive headache for all parties. Strategic timing and attractive presentation are also important, as they can help “soften the blow” by making your invoice seem less like a stale demand for money and more like a friendly letter.
The Problem, the Balloon, and the Four Bedroom House
by Joe Di Stefano
Issue 177April 16, 2004
Without a problem, there is no project. Where there is a problem, however, there is a stakeholder who is desperate for a solution and who has a delivery deadline — which is normally sometime yesterday. Find out how a good process can tame even the most unruly project.
A Fairy, a Low-Fat Bagel, and a Sack of Hammers
by Nick Usborne
Issue 162November 07, 2003
Never underestimate the importance of words on the web.
Starting a Business: Advice from the Trenches
by Kevin Potts
Issue 161October 30, 2003
Did that last “fire your boss” spam push you over the edge? Do your wish-fulfillment dreams revolve around letterhead, legal entities, and avoiding arrest for tax evasion? If you’re crazy enough to start your own business, Kevin Potts wants you to learn from his mistakes.
Using XHTML/CSS for an Effective SEO Campaign
by Brandon Olejniczak
Issue 159September 01, 2003
Improve your search engine ranking by harnessing the benefits of well-authored XHTML and using CSS to boost your code-to-content ratio.
This Web Business IV: Business Entity Options
by Scott Kramer
Issue 152October 13, 2002
You’ve mastered Photoshop, Flash, CSS, PHP, ASP, XHTML and JavaScript; studied usability, accessibility, and information architecture; and can fake your way through XML. But there’s more to running a web business than that. Part Four of a continuing series.
Getting Paid
by Jeffrey Zeldman
Issue 134January 18, 2002
As businesses struggle to stay in business, many are short–changing vendors or woefully delaying payment. Zeldman laments the difficulties of getting paid.
CSS Talking Points: Selling Clients on Web Standards
by Greg Kise
Issue 116July 06, 2001
Selling your clients on standards-compliant design doesn’t have to hurt. Kise’s four-point CSS Selling Plan helps the medicine go down.
Nipping Client Silliness in the Bud
by Robin (roblimo) Miller
Issue 116July 06, 2001
Slashdot’s Robin (Roblimo) Miller could write a book about web clients’ mistakes. In fact, he’s writing it now – but he needs your help.
The Client Did It: A WWW Whodunit
by Robbie Shepherd
Issue 114July 15, 2001
Shepherd on the fine art of telling bad clients to buzz off.
Cheaper Over Better: Why Web Clients Settle for Less
by Adam Schumacher
Issue 114July 15, 2001
Adam Schumacher investigates why clients hire bad web designers—and what good web designers can do about it.
The Road to Dystopia
by Chris Kaminski
Issue 105April 13, 2001
Now that greed, pride, and stupidity have wrecked the web economy, how’s a semi-idealistic web developer supposed to make a living? Chris Kaminski hitches a ride down the road to dystopia.
This Web Business III: Selecting Professionals
by Scott Kramer
Issue 102March 23, 2001
In part Three of his series on running your own web agency, Scott Kramer shares tips on hiring the right accountants, attorneys, and other consultants and institutions.
Web Designer and Proud of It
by Chris MacGregor
Issue 100April 02, 2001
Professional web designers do not “do†web page design, we practice it. We must continually work at improving our skills and techniques, learning how to use new tools and mastering the old ones. To elevate our profession from the perception it has now to the esteem that it deserves, the gap between the professional and the amateur should be evident to the casual viewer.
Breaking out of the Cubicle: How a Small, Swiss Company Got its Groove On
by Makiko Itoh
Issue 97February 03, 2001
In the mid-1990s, Makiko Itoh and her partner left New York’s cubicle land for a web shop of their own in the suburbs of Zurich. Learn from her tips on running your own web agency.
This Web Business II: Getting a Loan
by Scott Kramer
Issue 97February 03, 2001
In Part 2 of his series on running a web agency, Scott Kramer discusses the ins and outs of securing a business loan.
Survivor! (How Your Peers are Coping With the Dotcom Crisis)
by Jeffrey Zeldman
Issue 95January 19, 2001
It’s ugly out there, but how bad is it, really? We asked 40 colleagues to share how they were coping (or not) with the layoffs and business failures plaguing our industry.
One Boy’s Life: Surviving the Dotcom Blitz
by Nick Finck
Issue 95January 19, 2001
A boy, a job, and a floundering economy. Nick Finck tells his personal story of hirings and firings on the cusp of the dotcom crunch.
Rolling the Start-up Dice (A Survival Guide)
by Marlene Bruce
Issue 92December 10, 2000
So you want to work for an Internet start-up company. Bruce and Moyer show you the ropes.
This Web Business
by Scott Kramer
Issue 85October 20, 2000
Web designers do not live by GIFs alone. In this new series, Kramer explains how to set up your business, prepare for projects, maintain profitability, and grow your firm. It all starts with a solid business plan.
Time to Close the Web?
by Alan Herrell
Issue 61April 28, 2000
Focusing on presentation at the expense of content, and invasive money-making schemes at the expense of everything else, designers must take some of the blame for the trashing of the web. Herrell wonders if it’s time to call it a day and close up shop.
Clickthru Is Evil II
by Alan Herrell
Issue 55February 25, 2000
Ten years ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the web. Five years ago, advertisers started discovering it. Now they are poised to wreck it. Double-Click’s poison cookie has Alan Herrell foaming at the mouth as he explains why Clickthru is Evil.
The Money Page
by Alan Herrell
Issue 40November 05, 1999
Low tech, high yield: A funny thing happened on the way to the shopping cart. One Web designer found a simpler way to make e-commerce pay. Alan Herrell shows you The Money Page.
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