Website designers

Looking for a freelance website designer?  Here are the pros and cons of going with a freelancer…

Pros:

1. You may get lower rates by dealing directly with the designer
2. You may get more personalized service
3. You may find somebody who is more committed
4. You may be able to avoid paying for excess overhead
5. You may get exceptional design
6. You may be treated like a VIP client

Cons:

1. You may be vulnerable if she/she flakes out and disappears
2. The freelancer may be too busy to give you 100% attention
3. The freelancer may be great at some things, but not everything you need
4. The freelancer may lack corporate professionalism
5. The freelancer may be too much of a maverick to be controllable
6. The freelancer may take your design critique too personally

In short, hiring a sole freelancer may be a toss-up in terms of pros and cons.  On the other hand, working with a large company may not be an attractive option because instead of being a VIP client you may be treated like just another (of 1,000) customers.

Feelancer versus Small Business?

Perhaps, you should consider a small business instead of a freelance graphic web designer.  Here is why…

1. Multiple skill sets.  Typically, a small business will have a handful of specialists.  As opposed to a sole proprietor or freelancer who has a limited skillset, a small business may be able to provide a team of specialists who compliment each other.  For example, you may have a very creative 3d Flash animator but he or she lacks the technical Action Script skills necessary to make the Flash animation actually do something and have functionality.
2. Professionalism.  Often, freelancers are freelancers because they can’t deal with an office scenario.  Perhaps they can’t get themselves out of bed and get to work by 9 am. Maybe they have poor or inadequate social skills.  Could be, they never graduated from college.  Typically, a small business operates more like a business.  Usually, a small business will have customer service professional and project managers who can insulate clients from the natural temperments of an artist.
3. Stability.  Freelancers often live and work client to client, which means a couple things.  First, it could mean they live by feast and famine, hand-to-mouth, which creates instability.  Second, they could be completely overwhelmed by overlapping clients that they are stretched too thin.  So, while they may do great work, they cannot give you enough time to be great.  A small business, on the other hand, may have a little bit more stability because they can more easily weather the ups and downs between clients.  If one person leaves a small business then the business can still probably continue to operate normally.  If one person leaves a one-person entity then the entity is dead in the water.
4. Shared overhead.  You may think that going with a freelancer means paying less overhead.  It might be the opposite.  With a small business, five to ten people can split the cost of an office, divide the cost of a high-speed internet connection, share the cost of a fancy copier/printer/fax machine, shoulder the burden of an advertising campaign.  Through economy of scale, you may actually pay less actual overhead on your project.

I’m quite sure that you can make arguments either way, depending on your attitude and point of view.  However, in our experience, we believe that a small team of specialists is a far better scenario than trying to deal with either a freelancer or a big company.

Bilingual English/Spanish Web Designer/Developer

There is no denying our Latin Passion.  inQbation, a Washington DC based web designer, is proud of our hispanic heritage.  We have a perfect blend of fluent English and Spanish speaking web designers, developers, and customer service representatives.  We can also help you with your Spanish SEO.

Introducing the bi-lingual English/Spanish web designers:

Andrea, bilingual English/Spanish Charter member of inQbation	Margaret, bilingual English/Spanish Ruby on Rails expert developer	Tina, bilingual English/Spanish Quality assurance specialist

Pick up the phone and call us anytime.  Likely, Tina or Andrea will answer.  They can help you define your needs, inspire you with their own insight, translate your marketing message from English to Spanish or Spanish to English, and work hard to ensure that your calls to action in both languages are compelling.

Latin America is an emerging market with billions of dollars at stake.  The bi-lingual English/Spanish/English experts at inQbation are here to help you catapult your bi-lingual marketing campaign and ignite your sales performance.  Olé!

inQbation, formerly known as Artists Café, was founded on November 17th, 2007 by Blake Newman and Luis Cuellar. We started this business with a mission … to provide world-class web designs that were search engine optimized out of the box, at prices that small-business professionals and other budding entrepreneurs could well afford. We changed our company name from Artists Café to inQbation to reflect our focus and kindred spirit towards other entrepreneurs and startups.

Blake Newman, a veteran of multiple startups, brought experience, education, and 10 years of lessons learned from making multiple mistakes in team building and business development. “We learn the most from our mistakes,” says Blake, who is not ashamed to admit that he has made plenty of them.

Luis Cuellar, an outstanding project manager with a thick skin for Blake’s rampant tirades on efficiency, productivity, and customer service; wears many hats including chief of staff, project manager, backup developer, backup designer, and morale support.

As we approach both our first year anniversary as well as a global economic recession, we would like to share our philosophy and guidance towards surviving your first year in business.

Surviving the first year in business: Top 10 factors to survival

1. Cash is king. Cash flow is crucial. Keep an eye on your checking account balances and work hard to keep a healthy cushion in that account. You will need it. Pay only the minimum payment credit card payment plus maybe an extra $25 so that the credit company reports you as paying “more than the minimum”.
2. Credit is queen. In many cases, you can bootstrap a business on less than $100,000, which could be accomplished with four credit cards with $25,000 limits. This is a good use of credit. A poor use of credit is to buy a 50 inch plasma TV, especially if you do not need it for business.
3. Keep overhead to a minimum. Don’t blow a lot of money on fancy chairs, desks, decorations and sound systems. Instead of buying a new desk from Ikea for $500, go to Home Depot and buy a cheap door for $35, flip it on its side and place it over two two-drawer steel file cabinets. You’ll need the file cabinets anyway.
4. Hire selectively. You need great employees and it’s a lot easier to hire than to fire, so be very selective and careful about whom you hire. It’s also a good idea to test the employees before you hire. Perhaps, hire them as a temporary sub-contractor for a week or a month before you make a permanent hiring decision.
5. Communicate with your customers. Communication is crucial especially in the project management or development business. Often, we will get so focused and into our zone that we fail to inform the client of our progress. We may be doing stuff but if the client doesn’t know it then things relations will crash, especially if and when things start to bog down. It is very important to keep your clients updated and informed of progress and issues.
6. Inspire your employees. Make no mistake, starting a business is tough. Indeed, 95% of all small businesses fail during their first year, mostly due to a failure of cash flow and credit. But, you cannot let your worries foster and fester in the minds of your employees. You need to be transparent with your employees but more importantly, you need to inspire and encourage them. You need to step up and be a leader and a cheerleader. I refer to my employees as Spartans, like those from the movie, “300”.
7. Prepare for success. One of the worst things you can do is to be so busy with business that you allow customer service to erode. You need to design and engineer your business so that it is scalable. You need to be prepared for an industrial surge of success. This could mean developing relationships with sub-contractors, potential competitors, third party fulfillment sources, etc. If demand suddenly increases, you need to be able to handle it.
8. Prepare for battle. Of course, most people go into a business with inflated expectations of success. Few can foresee all of the obstacles and roadblocks to their success. Whatever your sales projections are and financial forecasts, you need to reduce them by about 80%. If you think you’ll sell $500,000 in the first year then expect $100,000. If you think it will take a week to produce something, adjust your expectations and plan on it taking 5 weeks instead.
9. Measure everything. You cannot manage what you do not measure. Especially in the beginning, you need to measure how long it takes to produce something. How much it costs to do something. How many visitors to your website? How much are you spending on office supplies? The sheer act of measuring raises your conscious level. This data will be very important in the future, when you look back to measure progress and efficiency.
10. Be organized. This applies to time, people, and paperwork. With regard to time, it’s important to avoid distractions; lump like activities together like paying all bills at the same time or answering all e-mails at the same time instead of whenever they come in. Focus people on the activities that are most important. Think to yourself, what is the most valuable or profitable thing that I or my people can be doing at any given time … and ensure they stick to these tasks or activities. Keep your important papers in one place. Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.

At inQbation, we wish you the best in your business. Here is another statistic for you, 95% of those who manage to survive the first year will go out of business over the next 4 years. The odds are certainly against us. So, we need to work that much harder on those 20% of things that will achieve 80% of our results.

One final thought … patience and conviction. If we have any chance of surviving, we need both patience and conviction. We need to believe in ourselves, in our cause, in our product, in our people, and in our company. But, we need to know that rarely do things happen as quickly as we would like. We need to continue to persevere but know in the back of our minds that some things simply take time. I am an impatient man, I want it now and my mantra to my employees is, “just do what I tell you do,” expletives intentionally deleted. But, I need to temper my drive and anxiousness with reality. Patience and conviction, patience and conviction.

Why?  Because I think he will be better than McCain for small business development and proliferation of the internet.  Online marketing is my career.  Obama has clearly embraced social networking and online marketing.  He understands the value and the future of the internet.  This is only one of many reasons why I support Barack Obama for President of the United States.

See latest stories on Yahoo! News

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973…

Requires Federal agencies to develop, maintain, and use information technology that allows individuals with disabilities equivalent functionality and usability. Only when an undue burden would be imposed on the agency is the agency exempt from Section 508 compliance.

Organizations like the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), sponsored by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has produces Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) which assist both developers and agencies comply with and test websites for Section 508 compliance.

Web Accessibility in Mind (WebAIM) also provides web accessibility training and evaluation tools to assist both developers and agencies comply with Section 508 standards for web-based intranet and internet information and applications.

inQbation, a Washington DC-based web design company, is committed to Section 508 compliance and web accessibility. The good news for both federal agencies and businesses is that what is good for Section 508 compliance is great for natural, organic search engine optimization (SEO).  Indeed, SEO is great for business and so is Section 508 accessibility compliance. The more people, i.e., clients, customers, and consumers, who can successfully visit your website and patronize your business, the more successful your organization will be.

With that in mind, inQbation strives to make all websites that it delivers both search engine optimized and Section 508 compliant for web accessibility.

Businesses and agencies should know and understand however, that Section 508 compliance does have a cost. Just like with a building, it costs more money to provide both stairs and a ramp. Additional grip bars, wider doors and hallways, and other concessions all add more costs to building construction and maintenance. The good news is that if you plan ahead and incorporate accessibility into your designs before you start building then it will be significantly less expensive to retrofit or comply with accessibility standards in the future. In some cases, building for and validating Section 508 compliance for web sites and web applications could add as much as 50% to the cost of development.

Section 508…

Standards at is applies to information technology and web sites.

Section 508 § 1194.1 Purpose.
The purpose of this part is to implement section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d). Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.
Section 508 § 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems.
(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually.
(b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer.
(c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes.
(d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text.
(e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application’s performance.
(f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes.
(g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes.
(h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user.
(i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.
(j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided.
(k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
(l) When electronic forms are used, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.
Section 508 § 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.

(a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via “alt”, “longdesc”, or in element content).

(b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.
(c) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.
(d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.
(e) Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map.
(f) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.
(g) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.
(h) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.
(i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.
(j) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
(k) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.
(l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.
(m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l).
(n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.
(o) A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.
(p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.

1998 Amendment to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

(A) DEVELOPMENT, PROCUREMENT, MAINTENANCE, OR USE OF ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

–When developing, procuring, maintaining, or using electronic and information technology, each Federal department or agency, including the United States Postal Service, shall ensure, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the department or agency, that the electronic and information technology allows, regardless of the type of medium of the technology–

(i) individuals with disabilities who are Federal employees to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities; and
(ii) individuals with disabilities who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal department or agency to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by such members of the public who are not individuals with disabilities.

(B) ALTERNATIVE MEANS EFFORTS.–When development, procurement, maintenance, or use of electronic and information technology that meets the standards published by the Access Board under paragraph (2) would impose an undue burden, the Federal department or agency shall provide individuals with disabilities covered by paragraph (1) with the information and data involved by an alternative means of access that allows the individual to use the information and data.

Washington DC Section 508 Compliant Web Developer Graphic Designer

Forecast
Radar
Cameras
Photos

From time to time, I like to point out effective and infective company websites.  Recently, I had an unpleasant website experience with E-trade Financial.  I won’t even link to their website because they suck!

Last week, the Dow Jones Industrials and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index had it’s worst beating since the 1930s.  I once heard a very affluent man tell me that financially smart people buy low and sell high.  Well, seeing incredible bargains in the market and watching irrational selling of high quality stock, I decided that I wanted to get in NOW!

So, I went to E-trade Financial whose website claimed that, “It’s fast and easy to get started,” in big bold red letters:

When I clicked on the Apply > button, I saw another claim, “Opening your account should only take 10-12 minutes.”

I could have gone with other firms, or simply called up my broker and made the trade.  But, seeing that I was in the web design business, I wanted to support my industry.  Besides, I do everything else online from paying my bills to finding my next girlfriend (just kidding) to getting my entertainment.

However, after I opened my account and moved all of my cash into the account I realized that it was NOT fast and easy and it does not take 10-12 minutes.  In fact, it actually takes 10-12 days in order to make a trade.  What you don’t see, that is buried in fine print in one of those scrollable boxes where the only way you would catch the fine print is if you scrolled that little box all the way down to the bottom is that E*Trade Financial sits on your money for about 10-12 calendar days before you can do any trading.

Given that cash is king nowadays, they are using my money for their liquidity and depriving me of a once in a lifetime opportunity to capitalize on irrational market fears.  Indeed, last week we saw the worst decline in the markets since about 1930.  On Monday of last week, I pulled everything I had out of cash and savings and moved it into E-Trade.  I waited and waited.  On Friday, when the markets were rock bottom I made my move.  But guess what, I couldn’t do anything because of their 10-12 day hold that was buried in fine print, in a tiny scrollable window, that few people see.

The opportunity cost was huge.

Today I am reading headlines about the biggest gains since the 1930s.  Indeed, after a week of seeing the biggest crash since the 1930’s we saw the biggest rebound.  Friday afternoon was a once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunity and I couldn’t take advantage of it because of E*Trade’s BS policy.

Had they not proclaimed their system was, fast and easy to get started, in big bold red letters and that you could, “Open your account in 10-12 minutes,” I would have gone somewhere else.  Their false and misleading website claims cost me significant opportunites.  The worst thing about it was that I couldn’t even close my account and get the money back out for the same 10-12 days.  Once my money was there, I couldn’t touch it for 10-12 days.  I couldn’t trade and I couldn’t get it out.  I couldn’t take my money to my other, more traditional broker, Northwestern Mutual.  Bastards!

Check out Google, one of my investing targets:

Last year, Google was trading at close to 700.  Last week, it was a bargain in the low 300’s.  I was ready to buy on Thursday and ready to buy on Friday.  But, E*Trade denied me service and overnight I watched it go up 15%.

So, here is my recommendation.  If you’ve got serious money to invest, don’t trust it with E*Trade Financial.  Put it with a company that will respect you and give you real customer service.  Put it with a company like Northwestern Mutual.

As I tighten my belt to weather the economic storm, I am looking for ways to be more resourceful in all aspects of my life. Recently, I moved from Los Angeles to Washington DC. As part of the move I was faced with decisions regarding my cell phone, home telephone, long distance, international long distance, internet connection, cable TV, etc.

Back in Los Angeles, my telecommunications expenses were significant:

• $250 per month for Verizon wireless
• $100 for cable TV and internet
• $75 per the home telephone
• $30 for Wi-Fi hotspots
• $30 for VOIP with Vonage to speak with my international partners

In total, I was paying close to $500 per month on my telecommunications expenses.When I moved to Washington DC, I took the opportunity to re-evaluate my telecommunications budget. Given the sensationalism in the media over the financial crisis and recession, this seemed like a very timely exercise.

• I switched from Verizon to AT&T with unlimited calling and data plan. This saved me about $100 in fees for both my regular calling as well as the paid Wi-Fi hotspots.
• I purchased a MagicJack (a VOIP solution) at an annual rate of $39.95.  I can buy additional years of service in advance for $19.95.
• I discovered that I can watch full episodes of TV shows like Lost and Saturday Night Live (SNL) online for free. Soon, I will be able to watch NFL (National Football League) games online for free as well. So, instead of paying for premium cable, I  just pay for high-speed internet access.
• At the same time, I opted for electronic bill-pay for all of my bills so that I can spend less time and money on stamps and running to my post office to make urgent payments.

In short, I was able to effectively reduce my telecommunications budget from about $500/month to about $200/month. In addition, I find that I am more efficient in paying bills, entertaining myself, and getting work done. To me, the internet has increased my quality of life with regard to work, live, and play.