Freelancers Bring a Lot to the Table

For businesses, big or small, startup or well established, freelancers offer a wide range of benefits. With freelancers, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well! Because freelancers usually handle everything from bookkeeping, budgeting and billing to marketing, social media and branding for themselves; they have an understanding of the everyday tasks and challenges a business faces.

Freelancers offer a flexibility that full-time employees do not. Business demands can suddenly increase or decrease in ways a the business can not predict. Freelancers are an on-demand, work-ready, skilled resource that can help a business meet unexpected demands. Freelancers are also known for working odd hours and can often complete projects quicker than a regular employee. And because of their flexibility, they can often take care of tasks at times that do not disrupt other business follow. For example, updating your website late at night, when traffic is low or posting to social media in off hours when your target audience is more likely to see the post. With a freelancer, you just need to be clear about what you want done and in what time frame, and they will create time to do the work optimally.

Hiring a freelancer offers affordability and freedom that are not possible with a full-time employee. Rather than employing a full-time staff member, you can work with a skilled professional on a project-by-project basis, which will save on salaries, insurance costs, vacation pay, and other benefits. Hiring a specialized freelancer can help streamline your business and stretch limited resources.

A freelancer's income depends on being reliable and meeting or exceeding expectations. And their success is based on being efficient and effective. When dealing with a freelancer, you are dealing with a specialist in his/her field that is motivated to do a good job and get the job done.

Freelancers can also offer a savings over temp services or consulting agencies. Freelancers usually have little or no overhead costs, no vacation costs, no HR costs, etc. This means that you have the opportunity to get a very skilled professional at a much lower cost than you would through a service or agency.

But, you should also be careful when hiring a freelancer. The number of freelancers in the workforce is constantly increasing, especially with technology that allows more and more people to work from home. Research suggests that there are about 42 million freelancers in the U.S. workforce. Whether you are hiring a copywriter, graphic designer, CPA, or social media

strategist; you should be cautious. Ask for business references – people you can contact directly by phone or business email. If applicable, ask to see a verifiable portfolio of recent projects or clients. Check their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and business pages. And as with much of the rest of life – you get what you pay for. While cheap might fit nicely into your budget, the results may not be what you expected or needed.

When your business needs a skilled professional, consider a freelancer first.

2016 Trends in e-Commerce

As each year draws to an end, we look to the New Year for new chances, new opportunities, fresh starts. We hope that the New Year will bring us more then the closing year. And this is no different for business owners and entrepreneurs.

But, to increase your good fortune for the New Year, it's best to make plans. And to make the best, most accurate plans, it's good to know what trends are in store for the upcoming year.

After a little research, I've put together some trends in e-commerce that you should be aware of for 2016.

Start Off Right – Design Trends

A well designed site is essential to ensuring your visitors and customers enjoy shopping on

your site. Sites must:

• be modern and have a look and feel that is attractive – the 'flat design' is very common and even expected today.
• be easy to navigate – studies show visitors leave after only 12 seconds if they can't find what they are looking for!
• be trusted – if you are selling, you should have an SSL certificate or use a secure checkout portal (like PayPal).
• have a common pattern – this may be one reason WordPress sites are so common. While there are many different themes, their layout follows a typical pattern that users have become used to. Using common patterns may make 'all websites look the same.' But, studies show that they also increase customer comfort and comfortable customers are more likely to buy or follow through to requesting information or services. (I'm not saying WordPress is necessary. Any site can be made to follow the flat design that most WordPress themes use).

Pop-Up Ads – What?

Yes, pop-up ads are coming back. The once hated (well, still hated) marketing technique is making a resurgence. But wait, the pop-ups that are getting results are not the usual, annoying ads that are pushing products. Instead they are the offers of information, free downloads, discounts, and even free products when the user agrees to join a membership program or a rewards program, agrees to receive email offers, or agrees to like/share the company's social media pages/posts. Having the email address or membership information of potential buyers is a huge step towards more sales!

Mobile Will Soon be King

About 4.9 billion people worldwide own smartphones. And web browsing on mobile devices has already overtaken browsing on desktop computers. And mobile shopping is not far behind.

Nearly every kind of business-to-consumer company should have a mobile friendly (responsive) website!

Shoppers will continue to move toward the convenience of mobile shopping. Can you afford to miss out on this trend? If your competition has a mobile friendly site and you don't – you are missing out on sales! And if you are the only business in your market with a mobile friendly site, congratulations. You are winning business away from you competition!

Your Audience is Growing

Forrester Research has predicted that online consumers will spend $327 billion in 2016! And the trend for larger order size is also increasing. Trends are showing that December order size is increasing by about 10% each year ('larger order size' means dollars spent per order, not necessarily more products purchased).

Knowing that this trend for online sales is only going to increase, you really do need to make sure you are a part of it. A new, modern website is essential in converting visitors to customers. And a responsive mobile website will add to the conversion rate.

Finally, just a little about the numbers – the analytics. It is important to know how your online presence is working. Analytics can help you understand the trends for YOUR audience. With analytics you can track time spent on your site by visitors, how well your social media campaigns are doing, track the results of other marketing campaigns by tracking hits to special landing pages, and even figure out what time of the day, week or year your marketing is giving you the best ROI.

There are several analytic applications that are free, such as Google Analytics. And most have a pretty good tutorial and documentation. But, if you don't have the time, your web developer, host provider or third-party marketing expert can help you to understand just what all the acronyms and cryptic phrases mean when it comes to analytics. Believe me, it is worth looking into.

Happy New Year!

We Now Offer WordPress Packages!

Freelance I.T. Solutions is now offering customized WordPress sites. As an introduction to this service, get a 25% discount off the regular price.

More info here: http://freelanceitsolutions.com/pages/wordpress_landingPg.php

We've worked on many WordPress sites with other designers - creating custom child themes, plugins, and widgets.  Now we are doing it all in-house!

Use the link above to see the packages we offer or to get more information on a completely custom WordPress site.

Screenshots - UCLArts and Healing

This is a site we are currently working on with Kraupp, Inc.  It is a heavily modified WordPress site based on the Brio theme by QueryLoop.

Above is a shot of the 'home' page for the site.  We began by creating a child theme for the client, as a proof-of-concept and then continued modifications - including modifications to plugins such as WooCommerce and UberMenu.  We also created plugins and templates from scratch to meet the needs of the client.

This is the original Brio theme by QueryLoop (home page).  Compare this to the last image and you can see just how much the child theme we created has been customized.

Outside designers created the designs and layout for the site.  They provided us with images and PSD files which we used to create site graphics and customize code to get the desired 'final' product. *This site is still in progress... this might not be the final product!

The client required that each section use a different header.  This posed a challenge since all of the pages for the original theme are based on just two PHP files.  But, we were able to manipulate and add to the code and provide the client with what they wanted. (Also see next image).

The UberMenu plugin was used for the main navigation menu at the top of each page.  Text, background and rollover colors where all customized beyond the original capabilities of the plugin.

Drop down menu colors also match the color of their section's header.

The store, cart and checkout pages are very customized versions of WooCommerce for WordPress.  We were able to customize the code so that these pages match the rest of the site.

For this site we created custom templates, a plugin, and widgets - including a widget to add a custom sidebar and a widget to calculate shipping charges based on the client's requirements.

If you are an end business, an ad agency or a design company that needs code work to customize your WordPress site, please visit our website and feel free to contact us with any questions or for an estimate for your project.

Website: http://www.freelanceitsolutions.com

19 "Hard Things" We Should All Do Everyday

19 "Hard Things" that we should all do everyday:

•You have to make the call you're afraid to make.
•You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
•You have to give more than you initially get in return.
•You have to care more about others than they care about you.
•You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
•You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing it safe seems smarter.
•You have to lead when no one is following you yet.
•You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
•You have to look like a fool while you're looking for answers you don't have.
•You have to grind out the details when it's easier to shrug them off.
•You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
•You have to search for your own explanations even when you're told to accept the "facts".
•You have to be willing to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
•You have to try, fail and try again.
•You have to run faster even though you're out of breath.
•You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
•You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
•You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
•You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what's in front of you.

mCommerce – Why You Should Have a Mobile Site

Click for larger view.

mCommerce – sales that take place over mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, is steadily increasing. In June of this year, 55% of all online sales originated on smartphones and tablets. And 71% of those polled said that their purchases, both online and brick and mortar began on a mobile device; this includes research of products and pricing, research of businesses that sell the products, location searches and on-site product price comparisons. What does all this mean? If you do not have a mobile presence, you are missing out on sales!

There is good news... getting a mobile presence does not have to be expensive and there is still time to get something set up before the holiday season!

Yes, developing a dedicated phone or tablet app can be expensive. But, in a recent survey, responders said that they prefer shopping on mobile websites rather than dedicated apps. And developing a mobile website does not have to be expensive because you have options.

• Redesign your current site using the 'responsive web design' model. The responsive web design model uses techniques that allow you to create one site that works on many screen sizes. In the long term, this is probably the best idea for most businesses. But, it's the most expensive option and requires the most time.
• Create a dedicated site for 'small screens' – those of smartphones, tablets, and phablets. (Phablets? A phablet is a device that has a screen larger than 5 inches but less than 6.9 inches – smaller than this is a smartphone and larger is considered a tablet. A popular example of a phablet is Samsung's Note III smartphone). If you want a site ready for the holiday season, this is your best bet. It is also less expensive than a complete redesign of your website.
• Your final option is to do nothing and hope your site looks good on the plethora of connected mobile devices out there. But, unlike the early days of mobile websites, users are not willing to put up with sites that don't render well on mobile devices. Is this really a good option?

What does all this and the numbers in the accompanying infographic really mean? It means if you have a business that targets public consumers, you need a mobile presence. Mobile devices are getting more and more popular – they are currently outselling both desktop and laptop/notebook computers. Can you afford not to be in front of the customer's eyes when they want your product? The answer to that has always been NO.

Please contact us if you want/need a mobile friendly web presence: http://www.freelanceitsolutions.com

Please see infographic for sources.

Recently Completed Project for Disney

We recently completed a project for Disney. The project requirements:

• Paper forms had to be reproduced as on-line forms. Every effort had to be made to make the on-line forms look like the paper forms, so that they would look familiar to the applicants.
• Potential applicants would be required to pass an eligibility test to access the forms.
• The system had to save form data so that applicants could come back to the forms as often as needed.
• Once all forms are completed, applicant submit the forms, Disney personnel receives an email notification and applicants receive an email with instructions on how to continue the application process.
• After the forms are submitted, PDF versions are generated. The PDFs must be available for Disney personnel and the applicant to view, download, and print.
• The entire application had to be secure.

Slide show with screen shots here: http://www.freelanceitsolutions.com/pages/portfolio_disney2014.php