Talk about Budgets in Order of Magnitude
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Budgets are something that most beginning consultants/freelancers have a hard time talking about. When you’re first starting you just need work so you don’t want to scare any client away. I totally get that, priority #1 is feeding your family (or your dog) and there is no shame in doing a good job of that…
Run Away Estimate Costs
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One of the biggest time sucks in consulting is estimating. One way to combat this would be to bill weekly, but as I said I don’t have a decent answer to some of the questions surrounding that. When Estimates Get Away Doing one estimate, and a single revision for a client isn’t an issue, that’s…
Your Workspace Can Make you a Better Programmer
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Came across a great article on what factors make someone a great programmer. It’s not salary or years of experience. The best predictor of writing good code is having control of your work area and having a relatively private work area. I know that days my wife interrupts me often (and she is awesome at…
What Does Apple and the US Military Have in Common?
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Probably the best thing I’ve read concerning the executive shake up at Apple, has nothing to do with technology companies at all. In fact, it doesn’t talk about tech at all. It’s an article about the failings of the US military in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The short version is that US Generals aren’t…
Decision Paralysis
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With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the Eastern US, we got a bunch of solid rain and wind in Southern Ontario. My family was on vacation and our planned flight back to BC out of Kitchener got cancelled, but WestJet made the scene so unclear we were paralyzed with indecision. See on one hand we…
Credit Cards and Cigarettes
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I came across a very interesting article on the US financial crash of 2008. It speaks to the confusing dealings of the major banks in the world. It tells a story of influence peddling on the back of the middle class. The middle class and poor of the world have continued to have less disposable…
Determining ebook Pricing
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So I’m writing a short ebook on writing better WordPress code. Something like 10 Tips to Write Btter WordPress Code Next Month. The thing I’m wondering about is ebook pricing. Does Length = Price I know I want to charge $10 for the book but I keep coming back to how the user determines if…
Getting Set Up for Selling Downloadable Products
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I’ve got a post coming next week (maybe a bit longer) about my goals around selling products, but this couldn’t wait. I’ll be powering the downloads with Easy Digital Downloads and there is a sale on Easy Digital Downloads. I’m not an affiliate at all, just letting you know so you can get set up…
Out of all New Bikes – This is the One
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I’m in the market for a new bike in the coming year. I’ve looked at the SuperSix from Cannondale, Team Machine and GranFondo from BMC, but the one that really gets my heart racing is the Domane from Trek. I want to get a test ride on one still and a solid ride on the…
No More Hourly Pricing
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Like many consultants I bill hourly for my time, and it certainly seemed to work fine for the last few years. I’ve been thinking a lot about my pricing lately though and I’m no longer convinced that pricing hourly is really a great idea. Ron lays out a compelling argument as to why cost plus…
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