Posts about business
The conference speaking business, results from the survey
A few weeks ago I was writing content for my speaking information for conference organisers page and I wondered about other speakers’ ‘terms of business’ and how much—if anything—they charged. To get a feeling for how people approach the business of speaking, I set up a quick survey.
Errol, me, and the new Stuff & Nonsense
Looking back, I’ve redesigned this website roughly every three years. Today I’m proud to show you the new Stuff & Nonsense.
Getting good feedback, a guide for clients
Andrew Fairlie tweeted to tell me that he’d open sourced his company’s ‘Getting Good Feedback’ document.
Inspired by @Malarkey’s Contract Killer, I’ve started a “Good Design Feedback” open source project https://t.co/zVe6WPTCyX
Long overdue updates to my Contract Killer open-source contract
Today Microsoft announced that end of support is coming for older versions of Internet Explorer. This is great news for designers and developers who suffer from having to support legacy versions of that browser and it prompted me to update the public version of my Contract Killer, the popular open-source contract for web designers and developers.
David Ogilvy on how clients should choose an agency
In the 1960s, advertising legend David Ogilvy offered advice on how clients should choose an agency in his book Ogilvy On Advertising. In it, he wrote:
Hide sharp objects
Regular Unfinished Business co-host Laura Kalbag’s started to work with her partner Aral Balkan on their Indie Phone project. She wanted to hear about Sue and mine experiences of working together for sixteen years, so she emailed her some questions. I hadn’t heard her answers until Laura read them on the show, but I think that made for interesting listening.
We didn’t get through all the questions and answers on the show, so here are her complete answers. I think they offer some insight into what it’s like working together at Stuff and Nonsense for as long as we have.
Hardboiled Web Design has a new home at Smashing Magazine
The sudden closure of Five Simple Steps came as a shock to a lot of people, not least authors like me who are forced to decide on new homes for their books with no notice.
Looking back at Five Simple Steps
I’d been in Nottingham for the day, catching up with friends including Owen Gregory. Driving home, an idea started to develop. Owen and I worked together on client projects at the time and I trust him to give me an honest opinion, so I pulled the car over, called him and explained the idea. A book called ‘Hardboiled Web Design.’
Sharing our sales prospects spreadsheet
Although there seems to be plenty of choice, I haven’t found any CRM software that tickles my fancy yet. I need to get better at keeping on top of prospective business though, so the first step was to make a spreadsheet. If it’s useful to anyone, I’m happy to share it. There are Apple Numbers and Microsoft Excel versions in a ZIP file. I’m keen to hear your suggestions for improving it, as well as your recommendations for CRM software/services.
Pro-bono days for good causes
One of the things I was talking to Liz about this week on Unfinished Business—you know, the ‘Net Awards Podcast Of The Year’ nominated podcast— was how at Stuff and Nonsense, we devote twelve days every year to supporting good causes pro-bono.
Unfinished Business episode 28: You can’t keep a pistol in a Kinder egg
Finally, yes finally, Anna and I get around to the first of two, maybe three, episodes about contacts. We talk about the ‘Contract Killer,’ why we think it’s important to always use a contract and why some people think otherwise. We discuss the essential elements that should go into every contract and why, on top of any legal benefits, how a good contract says a lot about how you do business and why writing yours should be a creative challenge you should relish.
(Don’t miss the gag wheel and ice-cream banter after the show. It’s a scorcher.)
Keith Devon’s Freelance contract survey
Keith Devon wants to find out how freelance designers and developers handle contracts. So do I, so go spend a minute filling in his survey.
As it stands at the moment, 45% use something like my ‘Contract Killer’ (or the contract itself) and another 9% wrote their own based on it. Although responder numbers are small so far, that’s brilliant. I’m prouder of ‘Contract Killer’ than anything else I’ve ever done.
CodePen’s plain english Terms of Service
Don’t be a jerk.
That about sums it up.
Rachel Andrew: Credit and Risk - getting paid for your work
Would you offer a stranger a loan of £4,000 without any agreement in place? That is exactly what you are doing if you do £4,000 worth of work on the promise of payment.
Wise words.
Getting to your minimum hourly rate
Brian Suda’s post is the perfect compliment to episode two of Unfinished Business, out today. I may come back to add my take on Brian’s advice another day, time permitting
While you’re waiting
I know how hard it can be, waiting a whole week for a new episode of Unfinished Business. To make things easier, here are two more creative business related podcasts for you to try.
Killing Contracts: Veronica Picciafuoco interviews me for Smashing Magazine
A fun interview about contracts, client relationships, debt collection and men with big dogs. All topics we will be talking about over the coming weeks on Unfinished Business.
A List Apart: Designing Contracts for the XXI Century
Docracy’s Veronica Picciafuoco, a recovering lawyer, with a wide ranging article about contracts that very kindly mentions Contract Killer. Watch out for another of Veronica’s articles and an interview with me about Contract Killer and The Three Wise Monkeys NDA on Smashing Magazine, coming soon.
Thoughts on Cole Henley’s Freelance Rates Survey
For the second year running, Cole Henley has compiled the results from his survey of freelancer demographics, rates and working practices in the UK.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. The Three Wise Monkeys NDA
Even within a business culture of openness and transparency, some things are meant to be kept secret. NDAs, non-disclosure agreements, are meant to help with this, but most NDAs are the opposite of open and transparent because they’re written in the same jargon-laden legalese that I avoided in Contract Killer. So I’ve written ‘Three Wise Monkeys’, a plain speaking, easy to read, open source NDA.
Mike Monteiro on What Clients Don’t Know
Here’s Luke Wroblewski with notes from Mike Monteiro’s talk this week at the final An Event Apart of the year, in San Francisco. There’s so much wisdom here, so much to like. In particular:
Your process is a mystery. Show people what it’s like to work with you on a day to day basis. Let them the sequence of events, when you’ll connect and how often. If you don’t control the process for the start, clients will start telling you how it should go. They’ll fill in voids when they see them.
(And if you haven’t already bought Mike’s book, you really should.)
Contract Killer 3
It’s coming up on four years since I published my original Contract Killer over on 24ways. The reaction to it was astonishing and over the last four years the feedback I’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive. I feel very, very happy that so many people have found Contract Killer useful.
Getting paid by regular clients
I’m glad that people like my financial buffer business post the other day. I don’t think people write enough about the business side of what we do and from what I hear, not enough about it gets taught at universities either. I’m not a very good businessman, truth be told, but I have learned a few things over the years, so I thought I’d start sharing them.
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About Andy
Hello. I’m Andy Clarke, a well-known website designer and writer on art direction and design for products and websites. I help businesses to deliver engaging customer experiences and unique designs.