While weather in Vancouver flips flops between winter and spring and the stock markets continue to flip flop daily, we've just flipped over to 2009, and I'm a week late in welcoming you all to the new year. So, without further commentary...
I stumbled across a beautiful re-brand by Moving Brands of Norton & Sons, a bespoke tailor on Savile Row yesterday. I mean literally stumbled the old fashion way, by clicking from one site to the other. It's truly inspiring so check it out. Speaking of StumbleUpon, apparently this site has been blocked because I "stumbled" my own blog entries a few times? Would I write this stuff if I didn't think it was interesting?
In other news, I recently bought Outpost (an iPhone app for Basecamp) for $12.99, thinking the price was a bit steep for the app store, but when I fired it up I realized how worth the money it is. Maybe it's the combination of Apple's iPhone GUI with Basecamp functionality, but in my opinion, Outpost is almost easier to use than Basecamp itself. To celebrate, I've confirmed an upcoming interview with developer David Kaneda from Morfunk, so check back here for that soon. Have you tried Outpost yet? If not, get on it.
A Few Tips From Uncle Shawn
Now, since it's a New Year, I've been working on getting my finances in order, something all of you freelancers should be doing (or have done already).
- Keep track of your invoices this year, I use Blinksale and it's quite simple.
- Don't be afraid to pay for services that will keep you organized like Basecamp, Blinksale, Freshbooks, or whatever is your fancy this year. Just work them into your business expenses.
- For my personal spending, I like to use Wesabe to categorize / tag my transactions, it's a miracle worker.
It's 2009 & You're Still Flipping Pancakes?
Yea, me too. When doing project after project and getting paid for each, I call this flipping pancakes. It's just one after the other, and if I stop flipping I'll go under. I have a few ideas this year that I'm going to launch, so look out ;)
Why not come up with your own idea to create residual income this year? Subscription based web services are a great place to start. Think of a gap in your own productivity toolset and fill it. Chances are someone else will want to use it too, maybe they'll even be willing to pay for it.
Here's to a fantastic 2009 for everyone.
