Business - Page 3

Business / 6 Jan 2020

14 Tips for Speeding Up Your Website in 2021

It’s not a trick question: is your website fast enough? Page load times can impact everything from how long users stay on your site (or if they see the content), to search rank and overall conversions.

Speed matters on two fronts – for desktop and mobile devices – with mobile speed mattering more than ever. Not only does your website have to load fast; it needs to load fast everywhere.

So how do you do it? Start by running a Google PageSpeed test to see where your site ranks (you’ll get a few suggestions for speeding up your site there as well). Then, start making these tweaks to make your website lightning fast this year.

Business / 23 Oct 2019

Passive Income for Designers: 5 Tips to Get Started

Passive income is money that you keep earning on a product or service with little or no maintenance. While it takes some work to get started, a plan for generating passive income can be a great supplement to a designer’s revenue stream.

There are plenty of things you can do – create an e-book or t-shirt design; sell UI kits, themes, or design elements; develop an online course; join an affiliate program, or provide hosting services for website clients.

But how do you get started? Here are five tips to help you turn your passive income idea into a revenue-generating reality.

PowerPoint Templates / 17 Oct 2019

10 Professional PowerPoint Templates (And How to Use Them)

Let’s face it, not everyone has the time or energy to design a pixel-perfect PowerPoint slideshow for every presentation they make. This is where professional PowerPoint templates can be a live-saver!

Whether you’re in charge of designing a slideshow for the weekly team meeting, or a freelancer pitching to clients, designing unique and attractive PowerPoint presentations for each meeting can be a painful task—even for a pro.

Well, let’s change that, shall we? In this post, we’re going to show you a very simple way you can make stunning presentations using professional PowerPoint templates that will knock your client’s socks off.

Business / 30 Sep 2019

Should Analytics + Stats Impact Web Design? Pros + Cons

Do you take an analytical approach to website design? Most designers understand the logic behind connecting an analytics tool such as Google Analytics to a website. It helps you better understand traffic patterns, user behavior, and what people are looking for on your website.

But analytics can also help shape the design. If a page isn’t converting users, analytics can help you understand why to change the way the page looks. If people aren’t buying a specific product, analytics could help show a usability flaw that you can fix.

But you can also get mired in the numbers and bring website development to a screeching halt.

Today, we’re looking at the pros and cons of using analytics to shape website design.

Business / 25 Sep 2019

What Is a Website Privacy Policy (And How to Write One)

Maybe you first noticed it in WordPress, when the admin started settings asking for a link to a privacy policy. Maybe you’ve been following news and the passing of GDPR. Or maybe you’ve just been talking it over with peers. Regardless, it’s probably time to include a privacy policy in website projects.

But with so much legalese, where do you start? What is a privacy policy? How do you write one?

Here, we have help! Since we aren’t lawyers, it’s always a good idea to have your counsel read over your policy, particularly if it gets complicated in any way.

The good news is that it doesn’t need to be earth-shatteringly complex to fairly quickly have a privacy policy on your site that covers off the most common issues.

PowerPoint Templates / 19 Sep 2019

Pitch Deck Design: 10 Tips to Stand Out

A good pitch deck is designed for specifically one thing – to help your startup get funding from investors. But how do you stand out from the crowd, and make a memorable impression?

There’s a delicate balance to creating a deck with just enough slides to entice potential funders, without providing so much information that they are overwhelmed.

Most pitch decks contain less than 20 slides. So how do you create a pitch deck design that stands out? Here are our ten tips to help you get started.

Business / 9 Sep 2019

How to Make a Personal Marketing Plan (With Examples)

You probably understand that everything you do online – and in-person – contributes to your personal brand. But did you know that having a personal marketing plan to establish, maintain, and promote that brand can be equally important?

Particularly for freelancers and anyone working in the gig economy, both full-time or part-part, having a distinct personal brand can impact your design work. Your brand will attract a certain type of potential client and work. Do you have a plan to draw in projects that are most appealing to you?

It can start with a personal marketing plan. Here’s how you do it.

Business / 3 Sep 2019

5 Tips for Building a Website for Friends or Family

How often does someone in your inner circle ask for a website? It happens quite often! Building a website for friends or family members can get tricky fast. These can sometimes your best (or worst) customers.

If you start projects with the right ground rules and a few tools, you can navigate these projects easier. And you can avoid any potential fall-out from setting the wrong expectations or committing yourself to a project that blows way past the time you have to spend on it.

Here are a few tips for approaching a family or friends project in the right way, and setting yourself up for success from the start.

Keynote Templates / 23 Aug 2019

How to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint

Apple Keynote is one of the most popular apps professionals use to create presentation slideshows. Although, there may come a time when you’ll want to edit a Keynote slideshow in PowerPoint because not everyone has access to the same app.

For example, you may run into problems when you’re collaborating on a team presentation or want to share your slideshow with someone else who’s using a Windows device because the Keynote app is exclusive to Apple devices. Thankfully, the Keynote app has a built-in solution to this problem. In such cases, you can convert your Keynote file to PowerPoint format quite easily.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to export a Keynote presentation to PowerPoint format, step by step.

Business / 24 Jul 2019

How to Find or Create Your Brand Personality

What is the personality of your brand? No, it’s not a trick question. Is your brand formal or spunky or socially conscious?

Identifying and defining the identity and personality of your brand is crucial.

Even if you don’t define it, some sort of personality (even of the multiple variety) will come through. So it’s best to think about it now. The last thing you want is anyone else getting any say in how exactly your brand is defined.

Who do you want your brand to be?

Business / 8 Jul 2019

7 Ways to Create a Website on a Budget

A great website doesn’t have to cost a fortune. You can get a professional-looking design with a few pages – that’s enough to get started – with a small budget. Here’s how.

The good news is that you can create and design a website yourself using a tool such as an online site builder, or work with a professional while maximizing your budget. The key is to be realistic. A website is not free. Even if you do it yourself, you’ll need a domain, hosting, and other tools (many site builders have a monthly fee) depending on how you plan to create the website.

The best practice is to start with a little research, then set a budget. That way you know what you can afford and how to have conversations about planning the website design. Here’s how you do it!

CV & Resume Templates / 19 Jun 2019

How Do You List Freelance Work on Your Resume? (We Have the Answer)

Congratulations, your freelance business is proving successful. But how do you handle talking about it or explaining freelance work to potential employers, or on your resume? It can be a hard subject to explain as a single entry on paper, and you don’t want freelance work to look like an employment gap.

There are some things you can do to on paper (and on LinkedIn) to help present freelance work in a way that is more understandable to others. The key for many freelancers – especially those working part-time – is remembering to include freelance work as part of your resume and design portfolio. Sometimes those jobs can be just the thing you need to help land the next big gig!