The cost of mobile technology is going down almost every week and month. Cell phone technologies which we couldn’t even dream to own just a decade ago are today available in the basic handsets. In such a situation, most would not think before buying a mobile phone with all the bells and whistles just because it is available and within budget – well, maybe just a bit stretched one. But of course, there are some amongst us who would still follow the ‘want not, waste not’ ideology and not buy a cell phone with all the bells and whistles – a ‘smart’ phone, not to be confused with the actual smartphone or a PDA – just because its available. Unfortunately, if you are not buying the phone with some of the very useful technology, you are sorely missing something. Here are three reasons why buying a phone with features helps the freelancer.
GPRS is God:
Ever thought about how cruel life is when you are in front of the desktop and nothing happens and you miss an important, time bound mail because you decided to have that one solitary outing in the whole year? Well, if you pray to a God called GPRS, they will ensure that this does not happen. With GPRS, you can connect to the Internet with your mobile device to check emails, browse the Internet on a push come to shove basis. Of course, you will not have the comfort of the huge 29 inches flat screen to view your email, but what you have will generally work.
These Phones End Up Longer with You:
Come to think of it, most of these phones have so many features that we take about two to three months to understand and begin to use all of them, and another three to find out which features they do not. And once you use a phone full of features, you get used to the phone. So, very soon you will end up using the phone as a email reader, a document reader, a causal game player – and several other things, which make it more useful for to you.
At any given time, if one takes out a survey about five software and services that brought the Internet back to the lay person, WordPress will definitely make it within the first three. Quite frankly, anyone who knows how to use a keyboard and has basic Internet and word processing skills can make a website using WordPress. Make no mistake about it, some of the most professional looking websites have been made using WordPress, which is essentially considered to be a blog software. As everyone knows, WordPress offers two services – a free blog at http://www.wordpress.com and their free software that can be installed via the cPanel of your domain and hosting server – known as self hosted blogs and of course both have their advantages and disadvantages. If you are wondering whether you should have a blog at WordPress.com or go in for self hosting, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Are You Going to Monetize It?
With the Internet becoming a great way to make money working from home, most people are itching to monetize their websites or blogs to make some residual income or whatever term the affiliate marketer will come up with next. So, if you are one of those who would like to monetize your WordPress blog, remember this:
WordPress.com does not allow JavaScript.
So, out goes your Google Adsense, your Adbrite and almost any ad network that offers only JavaScript. While many web developers and programmers are of the opinion that JavaScript slows down the website and should not be used – unless they come up with an alternative that is feasible, we need JavaScript enabled CMS to monetize your sites - which WordPress is not. Technically, WordPress allows JavaScript, but only if your site/blog has more than 50,000 or something visitors. For those who would like to wait for that day, I’d say WordPress.com is great for them. My site gets 40 visits per day since the past six months, by the way.
- Do You Like Themes?
CMS like WordPress and Blogspot have made it possible for a webmaster to change the look and feel of their website with a simple installation or a copy paste job. There are hundreds, thousands and millions of free themes that are available for both WordPress as well as Blogspot. Of course, there is one hitch while using themes with WordPress.com
WordPress.com Does Not Allow Uploading of Themes.
When I was fiddling around with WordPress.com, Blogspot.com and WordPress.org, the moment I decided to go with self hosting blogs was that WordPress.com does not allow uploading of themes. Think about this site with one of those cookie cutter themes that are available default with WordPress. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with those, but then, a site is quite a personal thing for me, something that carries my personal touch. So, if you are as sensitive as me about WordPress themes, you could check out the free wordpress themes available at a click here and find out what you would miss if you go ahead with free hosting at WordPress.com.
Size Does Matter:
In an era when people want smaller and faster, would you like to go ahead with a web address that has something like .wordpress.com attached to it? Thought so. The Internet is all about quick words and faster names, and though having a blog at WordPress.com is a good idea, you need to remember this:
You Will Always Be a .WordPress.com Child
That is correct. Though making a blog at WordPress may take away your name deciding problems, for example www.danieldsilva.com may be taken, but danieldsilva.wordpress.com may or may not be taken, it still is a pain the wrist to type those long addresses – unless you are so awesome that people are bookmarking your site at first instance. So, remember these tips when you decide whether you want a blog a WordPress.com or whether you want to go the self hosted way.
For Indians all over the world and in India, August 15th is a very great day. Some of us would remember how we were herded out of our schools and homes by teachers and parents to pay homage to the Indian tricolor flag, while yet others will remember how the whole of India used to go crazy and euphoric during the Independence day celebrations, and a slightly older generation will remember how the whole of India listened to the President’s address with rapt attention.
Freedom is not just a physical state of mind, but also a psychological one. While we are free when we are born, we begin to understand our freedom as we grow up. Once we attain a certain age, we no longer have to ask the teacher permission to go to the washroom, once we attain a certain age, we can drive, we can drink, we can vote, we can marry, etc.
However, there are various issues in life that we have yet to get freedom from, and the realm of freelancing is nothing new. Here are the top three aspects that I think most of us would want independence from. Feel free to comment to add your point of view.
#5
Scammers:
I guess all of us have had enough of these people and something should seriously be done about the scammers and their brethren. The simple reason that there are so many scammers in the realm of freelancing is that freelancing is the best way to make some quick money – not that all of us are in this business for the quick money, but it is what it is. We still cringe to hear stories about how noobs get scammed not just from their money, but also their enthusiasm and verve of working from home and being ‘different’ from the system. How many of us know people who left freelancing because of the scammers? How many times have you thought of taking a nine to five after you got stiffed for a considerable amount of money? It’s high time someone did something about the scammers.
#4
Content Mills:
Let’s be frank about it, content mills are bad for business. These content mills hire people for less than what would they are worth and give the clients products of questionable content. These are bad for business because for one they create a unwanted crowd which submerges the real quality workers and brings down the value of work. If you wonder where that golden opportunity of earning $20 per 500 words has withered into, you can blame the content mills for acting as middle men and finally giving huge discounts to the client because they took work in bulk, and paying a pittance to the writers because they were novice noobs who were looking for some pocket money. Of course, the trend set up and it is not going to change anytime soon.
#3
Unsympathetic Bidding Sites:
Even though I would grudgingly point a newbie to the bidding sites where one can get consistent work, I understand how frustrating it is when a person is stiffed for money and the bidding website wrings their hands away from the situation. I remember one particular scenario where a work for hire website suspended a freelancer’s account for a good one month, only because they suspected that he was using the account for money transferring. It is high time that freelance bid for work websites should understand that it is the freelancers that make the website successful and not the clients. For all the clients that sign up on these sites, none of us would be making even a cent if a freelancer did not take the risk to work via the site – and what do we get? Pathetic replies, huge cuts on our payments and generally apathy. Change this, now!
#2
Indecisive Clients:
So, how many of us have gone through situations where you send up some work to a client only to find out that they want rework on it because that is not ‘how they wanted it’? Or that client who thinks that they have bought your day because they are paying $3 per article? All of us have had clients from hell – a breed that is quite different from the legendary scammers – but nonetheless dangerous. Someone should send them to eternity… now!
#1
Social Stigma:
I placed this at number one because the other entries in this post are something that we can still grin and bear, but this one is the real backbreaker. There are several countries which do not offer a person a credit card,bank loans etc if they work from home – even if the person actually earns more than a major percentage of the bank’s loan population, or even if the freelancer shows agreements and contracts that he has drawn out with the companies.
That said, even the Government and authorities of some countries are not sympathetic to freelancers. If you come across a situation where you need proof that you are working, you would be surprised how many departments would not allow the ‘self employed’ tag or look at it with a smirk.
