Random Non Sequitur

Hey. You there. Yes, I’m talking to you, Guy Who Hasn’t Written HTML Since 1998. And you, Software Engineer Who Can’t Be Bothered By UI. And even you, Stubborn But Secretly Insecure Old-School Web Designer. You know what CSS is. Chances are good you’ve heard a lot of people bragging talking about it. There’s a reason they do, and a reason you want to learn about it. Effective use of CSS greatly reduces code bulk and makes your design brilliantly maintainable, all without you ever having to think. Well, much.

I think the problem many people experience when trying to learn CSS is that they jump straight into the hard stuff (layouts, box model, browser compatibility) without learning the basic structure and behavior of the language. Here I’m just going to present you with a simple document and show you how to style the text on the page using CSS. You’ll learn about the different kinds of selectors and how inheritance behavior works, and it will hopefully provide you with a framework for learning the more advanced stuff.

It’s easier than you think. So leave your mental blocks at the door and come on in.
Read the rest of this post…

For those readers who might not know me well, I am a webmaster at Google. Over the past six months I’ve been serving as the consumer web lead, which means I oversee a small group of webmasters who work on the consumer-facing products. We do design, production and maintenance of things like landing pages and help centers.

It was almost two years ago that I joined the company. In that two years I learned more than I ever could have thought possible, met some truly exceptional people, and discovered something exceptional within myself. I can’t do justice to the experiences that I had there in words, so I’m not going to try. It is a truly unique place.

And today I filed my notice.

You may think I’m crazy. I even think I’m crazy sometimes. But this is about a lot more than the work, the company or even whether or not I was happy there. One of the things they ask you to do when you become a manager is to define and write down your “core values” so they can inform the decisions you make. Six months ago I didn’t have any core values. I couldn’t have picked out a core value in a lineup.

It was in thinking about what’s important to me that I realized my situation at Google was unsustainable. I may have been comfortable there, but I’m idealistic and ambitious and I needed to move on. I often wonder how long I can hang on to this particular brand of naïveté, but it’s one of the things I treasure about myself and I will keep it as long as I can.

These are the things I stand for.

1. Nothing is impossible. Even unbreakable rules can bend.
2. It makes no difference if it’s magic or sleight-of-hand as long as you can still perform the trick.
3. You owe it to yourself to believe in what you do.
4. Aspire to be bigger than you are. You can’t do it without honesty and courage.
5. Love the people, not the brand. Even large organizations have a soul, you just have to find it.

I want to have a reason to try something new. I want to work with people who might not have much more than heart and good ideas. I want to help independents and small businesses and open source projects. I want to follow what inspires me. These are just a few of the reasons I’ve decided to leave and strike out on my own.

I am as much scared as exhilarated. I don’t know what’s waiting for me out there. But I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try. Which brings me to my final “core value.”

6. You can’t fly if you don’t jump.

It’s that time again. I’ve been putting it off for months, but it doesn’t go away, and only gets more urgent with each passing day. It will probably be the most miserable thing I’ve had to do all year. No, I’m not talking about holiday shopping. I’m talking about updating my portfolio.

I hate design portfolios because they are a symptom of a myth that helps no one. The myth is that a designer’s portfolio somehow gives you insight into how well that person does their job. This is about as true for a portfolio as it is for a resumé. Neither tells you the important information about a person, and if you are thinking about hiring a designer you should be aware of what you’re not seeing.

Myth: The portfolio showcases the designer’s sense of style.

If the designer is at all experienced in their field, their portfolios will represent their clients’ tastes more than their own. Any creative professional who imposes their own style onto their clients isn’t doing their job very well. Every client needs something different, and portfolios do the injustice of removing the work from the context of the project or brand identity it was meant to be a part of. The designer used their judgment to create something that suited the needs of their client. They may not even like it very much, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t do their job well.

Myth: Great designers will make a great portfolio for themselves.

The slicker the portfolio, the more time the designer has on their hands. Think about that for a moment. A talented designer in high demand is using their creative energies on their clients, not themselves. This is why you see spectacular portfolios on people coming right out of school. College gives you the time to fritter away tweaking your personal site, but the real world doesn’t. Most top designers don’t even maintain one (Jeff Veen, Amy Hoy, and Jesse James Garrett, among others).

Myth: An attractive portfolio indicates a good designer.

Have you ever worked hands-on with a designer? If so, you probably understand that the final work is a product of their ability to work with you and to extract the essence of what you need from your head. A portfolio is a bunch of static images on a page. It doesn’t tell you one whit about their ability to work with you. This is why people test drive a car before buying it. It’s not enough for the car to be beautiful; it has to work the way you want it to or you’re just going to be unhappy with it.

Myth: The portfolio shows you what a designer has worked on.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The portfolio shows you what a designer has worked on, and is allowed to post publicly, and has actually shipped, and is visual in nature. This is likely a small portion of what they have actually done in the course of their career. Sometimes a designer sells all rights to a work and can’t use it for self-promotion in any way. Sometimes (often) the project they worked on never saw the light of day. And let’s not forget the important fact that most of what a designer does is research. They talk to their clients, they analyze competitors, they draw diagrams and sketch and make flowcharts. None of this critical planning makes it to the portfolio, but could easily represent six months of work.

Okay, so how the hell do you hire a designer then, if the portfolio is so useless?

The same way you hire anyone. Treat their portfolio like you do a resumé. It’s a good start for screening, but it doesn’t give you enough information to decide between qualified candidates. Try conventional hiring approaches to get a better sense of who they are.

1. Have a quick interview with the designer. They should be willing to answer some questions over email or the phone. It almost doesn’t matter what you ask them; what matters is how well you can establish a comfortable conversation and mutual understanding.

2. Google their name and look for blog entries or articles they have written. You can learn a lot about a person this way, as well as gain a sense for how they approach their work. Are they active in communities related to their field?

3. If hiring for a long-term position, try a trial project or contract-to-hire situation. (Thanks Daniel Jalkut for this idea.) There’s no substitute for actual hands-on experience working with someone. But be aware that not everyone is willing and able to do this sort of thing, and it shouldn’t be a strike against them if they aren’t. It’s a more situational evaluation tool.

4. Ask for references, and actually contact them. You can afford a few minutes to fire off some emails, and this feedback can be critical to your decision.

A word to designers

Ya know, I hate to say it, but portfolios are still a necessary evil, at least until you are famous enough that your clients are willing to take it on faith that you’ll do a good job. But responsible clients will want to see more than that.

Don’t sink all your time into it. Don’t redesign it constantly. Start simple and keep it simple. Make sure you have a traditional resumé and keep it linked in plain sight. When you can, give a few words of context about the project. And then let it go. Focus on your work, not your image.

And on that note, I should get back to it. I promise I won’t work too hard on it. After all, I’ve got better things to do.

Going independent is a scary thing. You have to convince yourself to leave your job, be your own boss and be responsible for your own fate. There seems to be a dearth of good, specific documentation about how to take this step, so I’ve tried here to compile the best of what I’ve learned over the years. This advice is specific to design, but much of it also applies to consulting in any field.

Chapter One: Rates and Finances

Rule #1: You have to budget.

The first thing you should do (nay, must do) is to sit down with your favorite spreadsheet application and write up a budget. Figure out what your monthly expenses are, how much spending money you’d like to have, how much you want to save, and the cost of your health care (either estimated expenses or private insurance if you’re buying it). Add them all up and divide by 0.6 to account for taxes. Voila! That number is about how much you should aim to earn per month.

Remember this number. Cherish it. It’s your new best friend. Look at it when you get anxious about money – it will comfort you.

And I hope you caught that bit about taxes. You don’t have a company withholding money for you anymore, so you’ll have to be responsible in order to be ready when April comes around. Don’t worry though, I’ll explain how to prepare for that in a little bit.

Rule #2: Don’t work forty hours a week.

Now, what I mean is that you shouldn’t work forty billable hours a week, especially if you maintain multiple clients at the same time. There are a few reasons for this. First, people are simply not productive for that much time. It’s required in an office because of the inevitable inefficiency that happens in any company of reasonable size, but you are independent now and you can be a lot tighter about when you work and when you don’t. Work when you’re productive, rest when you’re not. What a novel idea!

Second, you should plan to spend about 5-10 hours a week doing off-the-clock work. This includes finding potential clients, writing estimates and contracts, and networking with your peers. This is absolutely essential to your success and if you don’t give yourself time to do these housekeeping tasks it won’t be long before you’re burned out and signing up to flip burgers at the local In-N-Out.

Rule #3: Be pragmatic about your rates.

Many people struggle with setting rates, especially as it can be difficult to figure out what others in your field are charging. A good starting point is to take your current salary, convert it to an hourly number, and multiply by 2. (Note: a commenter below points out this should be closer to 2.5 or 3. This is more in line with what your company pays for you and is necessary if you have overhead to cover. When in doubt, take the higher multiplier. It is far better to start high and adjust down than to start too low and have to scramble to make up the difference.)

Divide it into your magic number from Rule #1, and then divide by four to find out how many hours a week you’d have to work to make your target. You should be aiming for 20-25 hours a week, so adjust accordingly. If you want to work less, you have to charge more. If you want to (or have to) charge less, you have to work more. Work out an ideal balance that you’re comfortable with.

Now get out there and find some clients. The only way to find the sweet spot with rates is to do some actual work and collect data. Note the kinds of companies that you’re working for — you will probably find that smaller companies have less money in their budgets but more work to offer. Bigger companies often come with good rates but a lot of overhead. Many consultants have a sliding scale depending on the size and visibility of the company. Over time you’ll naturally develop a small range that gives you some wiggle room for negotiation.

Rule #4: Don’t be afraid to negotiate.

When quoting rates, always start high and negotiate down. I’m going to teach you a trick of sorts that can be used when a client is gunshy about your rates. Read the interaction below for an example of this trick in action.

Let’s go over what has just happened. First, Joe now has a data point about his rates. XYZZY was a little nervous about $75/hour. That doesn’t mean he should lower his rates for all clients, of course. But it does help inform his decisions about XYZZY or companies similar to it in the future.

Second, let’s discuss why Joe got a good deal even though he lowered his rates. Notice that he negotiated from an hourly rate to a flat rate – $1,600 for the whole job (up to 25 hours). In some ways this is a false discount for the company. It’s only $65/hour if he takes the full 25 hours to do the work, and if Joe is smart about how he uses his time there is a good chance it won’t actually take that long. He was also careful to quote the upper bound to the client. If you think a project will take 20-25 hours, always quote them 25. It’s good “potentially saving your ass” practice.

So let’s say he really boogies and it takes him 20 hours to finish the job. Doing the math, we find out Joe got $80/hour for that work, even higher than his original estimate. And the client is happy because they got it done on their budget. Everyone wins.

Now let’s say it really does take him 25 hours or more and ends up being $65/hour. It’s not such a good deal anymore, right? You might be surprised. Keep in mind that every client you have brings some amount of unbillable overhead in the form of communication, estimates, and contract writing. This means there is an advantage to taking fewer, longer projects. The fact that Joe now knows he will get at least $1,600 for his time is worth something.

Let’s take a detour and quantify what a longer-term contract is worth. I usually estimate about 5 hours of overhead for a new client. That includes the work I do to get that project rolling as well as the work I have to do to find them. At Joe’s rates this is about $375 worth of his time. He’s essentially saving himself this money in taking a steady project, so it is still worth it to him even if he has to lower his rates a little.

Of course, this isn’t quite as cut-and-dry as I’m making it out to be here. There are many factors that go into what you charge for a job. Here are just a few possible scenarios:

1. Web design for John’s startup. John is a friend of Joe’s and his company doesn’t have a lot of cash. Joe decides to discount to $60/hour.

2. Building a CMS template in PHP for a local school. Joe really hates PHP and quotes $120/hour, because that’s what it would take for him to actually do it.

3. Design contracting for BigCorp, Inc. Joe raises his rates a little to $85/hour, because he knows the large company can afford it and he has to deal with their annoying marketing team.

The more work you do, the more you’ll know how far you can push different kinds of clients, and how much you believe your time is worth. Use your monthly magic number (see Rule #1) as a guide, and remember that you’re free now to make your own choices about what you earn. No more begging for raises – you just have to earn them yourself.

Rule #5: If you’re not turning away clients, you’re not charging enough.

This is related to Rule #4. Negotiation is good and can improve your relationship with the client. However, if you find that you’re negotiating a lot and not often getting jobs at or above your target rate, you probably need to toughen up a bit and push harder for the higher rates. Some clients won’t be able to afford you and will go elsewhere. However, assuming your rates are fair and appropriate for your experience and work, some will stay and pay it. You never want to be in the situation that you are known for your low rates. Competing on price is the kiss of death.

Think of it as a form of supply and demand. The more you work and the more experience you have, the more your time will be worth. Your rates will go up over time to match the increased demand for your services. Think of it as a promotion, indie-style.

Rule #6: Give yourself a salary out of the “company” bankroll.

One final rule that will help keep you prepared for tax season. You probably want to set aside about 40% of everything you earn for taxes. One way to make sure that you do this diligently is to deposit your checks into a “company” bank account. (You did set up a fictitious business name, right? Of course you did!) Give yourself a “paycheck” out of this bank account once or twice a month, making sure to leave at least 40% of what you earned. If you find that you need to take out more than that to cover your expenses, you need to go back to Rule #1 and revisit your budget. Maybe you need to work more hours or ask a higher rate in order to make your target.

If you’re feeling saucy, you can use the company bank account for business-related expenses as well. Come up with a fair wage for yourself and leave everything else to reinvest into the company — purchasing advertising or office supplies, for example. Working for yourself takes discipline, especially financial discipline. Keeping your accounts separate is a good way to establish a mental boundary between what you earn and what you actually get to spend.

And as a corollary, doing your taxes as an independent is extremely complicated. You will probably want help in the form of a small business accountant. They can help you plan, deal with expenses and invoices and keep your taxes under control.

***

Well, that was a hefty chapter! But finance is a hefty topic when it comes to being your own business. The next chapter will cover writing contracts, details of invoicing and payment, and making sure your butt is covered legally. Feel free to leave any comments or questions you might have and I’ll try to answer them here. Angry tirades also accepted. Everyone is welcome!

That’s all for now. See you next time for Chapter Two: LeChuck’s Revenge.

Used jackets and tie from the Salvation Army store: $25.

Hair gel and bobby pins: $7.

Package of corn starch: $3.

Dressing up as your favorite liberal pundits: Priceless.

Colin doing his “Keith face.” If only one picture could capture the act of wadding up a piece of paper…

My “Rachel face.” Things I have that Rachel does not: a billion bobby pins in my hair. Things Rachel has that I do not: jackets that fit, and a TV show.

The news better run!