Category : Discussions

in Discussions

Discussion: Will you be making time for personal projects this year?

I’m not sure what it is about us web types but it seems like all of us, and I do mean ALL OF US, have some sort of idea for website, blog, app, etc. However, most of us never take the time to get those ideas off the ground. Be it money, time, or lack of skill; there is always a reason these ideas don’t ever evolve.

Something about a new year always seems to inspire people to make things happen. So will you be making things happen this year? If so, what do you have in the works?

I mentioned last week about my new plans for Outlaw Design Blog already. My big project for the new year though is to launch Outlaw Themes. As the name suggests, it’s a theme shop. Yes, I know there are a ton out there already, but is it really so bad to have another quality one to browse?

The theme shop should be launching in the next few weeks with at least three WordPress themes. If you want a sneak peak at the design for Outlaw Themes, check out our Facebook page and browse the photo galleries. http://www.facebook.com/OutlawDesignBlog

in Discussions

What Design Gear Would You Buy if You Were Given $1,000?

shutterstock_33588094What design gear would you buy if given $1000?

We all have a few things on our personal wish list that we want, but can’t buy for whatever reason. Since it is depressing to think about things we can’t have, lets lighten the mood a little by doing a littler pretending.

Lets, for a moment, pretend that one of our clients was so pleased with the job we had just done for them, that they bought us a $1000 Amazon gift card to show their appreciation. The only catch is that it has to be some sort of design related gear that will help you run your business smoother or help make you better at what you do.

You are free to buy as many things as you want, you just have to keep it under $1000. After all, you aren’t made of money.

For the sake of this experimentation in imagination, lets use the Amazon Computer Category as our baseline for setting the price. Don’t get to caught up in the specifics of each item. I’m just more interested in what tickles your fancy.

Image was purchased from Shutterstock Images

in Discussions

Poll: Are you interested in Outlaw Webinars on freelancing?

I have been getting A LOT of questions about the business of freelancing and working abroad. it is these questions that have prompted me to start working on a new site called Freelancing Abroad. That site will be in construction for a while. So, in the meantime I decided to start doing some live webinars here on Outlaw Design Blog if you guys are interested. Further down in this post I have enclosed a link to a short 5 question poll to get a better idea of what kind of information you guys are after.

First let me tell you just a little about what I had in mind.



The webinars would be about an hour long and completely interactive, as most good webinars are. During the course of the webinar, I would talk and teach the group about the desired topic. Towards the end of the lesson, I would open the floor for question on the topic. After the webinar was over, I would create a MP3 file of the lesson and PDF of the lesson and have it emailed to you shortly after the webinar.

What do you think?

Do you have any ideas or suggestions?

Please take the short 5 question survey to let me know what topics you are interested in. If you include your email address in the poll, I will send you a discount code for the first webinar.


in Business, Discussions, Freelancing

Discussion: How do you set your prices?

set-pricesA while back I did a discussion post asking people to share their rates for what they charged for specific services and products. While that turned out to be a pretty helpful discussion for those new to the freelancing world, I wanted to start a similar discussion for those who are more advanced in the freelancer world.

What I would like to talk about today is how you set your prices.

When it comes to tangible products its pretty easy to figure out a price. You just take the cost of the product and increase it based on supply and demand. An old rule of thumb is a 75% increase based on what you pay. Obviously this isn’t always the case as supply and demand can play a major role in pricing.

With digital products and design services though it isn’t that easy. There are a lot more factors to consider and usually a lot less costs involved. Some people set their hourly rate based on skill level, while others come up with their hourly rate based on how much money they need to survive.

I know there are a number of tools out there to help you get that magic number, but I am more interested in hearing how established designers, developers, and freelancers have come up with their rates for hourly and per project charges.

in Business, Discussions, Marketing

Discussion: Public Relations for Freelance Designers

952875_canicolaI notice from time to time that some of the designers and developers that I follow get asked to do things like write articles industry magazines, speak at events, give comments for the media about our industry, and a variety of other PR type things. From my experience and what I read on others blogs is that typically this sort of press finds you. Thats all fine and dandy if you don’t mind waiting around for them to find you.

But what if you don’t feel like waiting?

What I want to know is what sort of PR work do you do as a freelance designer? Have you ever done any magazine articles, been on tv/radio, quoted in books, etc? If so, how did you do such a thing? Did you find them or they find you?

If you have never been featured on a public forum, what is stopping you from approaching any of these media outlets? Have you ever considered using a PR firm to help you out?

Has anyone ever used a PR firm to help get their name out there?

in Business, Discussions

Discussion: Health Insurance, Retirement, and Taxes

Its been a while since I had a chance to post a discussion here on Outlaw Design Blog. Hell, it’s been a while since I have had a chance to post period. I apologize for that. I just got married and am trying to buy a house. So, as you can imagine, things have been pretty hectic around here. The whole buying a house thing is proving out to be a lot harder than I would have thought.

istock_000003381132xsmallThe problems in buying a house, especially in this day in age, is that my finances aren’t what they should be. Or at least thats what the bank thinks.

Like many other freelancers I’m sure, I’m guilty of not keeping up my books or tracking all my expenses. So, this got me thinking…how do all the other freelancers out there keep up with the “adult” side of life? What steps do you make to ensure you have a rainy day fund? How do you go about making sure your taxes get paid and you write off as much as you can? Do you have any sort of retirement account setup?

I’m sure many freelancers are either in the dark about how to take care of this sort of stuff or don’t think its worth while. As a result, I think it would be beneficial for everyone to share their thoughts and experiences on this matter.