Posted by Doug on December 19, 2008
Photo: westernhorse
The ability to acquire new skills easily is not a universal trait, but it’s the sort of know-how that is extremely useful to the almost anyone who is self-employed at home–freelancers, consultants, Web or graphic designers, programmers–almost all of us find ourselves needing to learn something new from time to time. (For some of us, it’s nearly every week!) What follows is a set of suggestions for how to go about learning a new skill. You’re probably not going to become an expert quickly, but with some hard work and directed activities, you can that old dog (you) some new tricks.
1. Take small steps.
You may have a lofty goal–”learn PHP,” for example–but if your goal is big and broad like that, you will do well to break it up into a set of smaller steps.
There are two aspects to this suggestion: first, learning a new skill takes time, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t learn it all overnight. For example, you might desire to learn CSS or Rails, or perhaps you want to learn how to use JQuery or do something in Photoshop. Pick a reasonably long time frame as a deadline. It might be two weeks, or a month, or a year, depending on what you’re trying to learn. If you make that timeframe too small, you’ll end up frustrated; if you reach your objective faster, all the better.
Secondly, it’s a good idea to schedule your learning time. That’s not always easy, and the nature of your workload and workflow may be such that you have to take spare time as it comes, but if you schedule some time for learning something new each day or each week, put it in your calendar and treat it as a priority, soon you’ll be on your way to acquiring that new skill.
2. Collect the necessary tools.
If you’re learning a new software application, for example, you obviously need to have that application. If you’re learning a programming language, you may want to find a text editor that has some built-in features for that particular language. If you’re not sure which application you’re going to use, look around for a demo version that will at least give you a feel for how it works.
In the example of learning PHP, you’ll probably want to use something like MAMP, WAMP or LAMP to install Apache, MySQL and PHP locally on your laptop or workstation, so you can experiment and learn in an environment over which you have complete control, and where the consequences of “breaking” something aren’t great.
In your quest to learn a new skill, don’t forget books. I’ll admit that in recent years I’ve bought far fewer books on technology things than I once did, simply because of the preponderance of online technical information. But some of us like having a book that we can take with us and peruse whenever we like. If you’re looking for good books on stuff like Web development and programming, freelancing, starting a home-based business, and such, please check out the Underpants Office Bookstore–we’ve done some of the searching for you in these and other selected areas, and you might find just the right book to help you get moving on learning something new.
3. Take a class.
There are countless options for structured learning–you can probably find a local adult education or continuing education course through a nearby college or university or community college. There are also hundreds (perhaps thousands) of online courses that you can take. For example, if you’re trying to learn PHP programming, a simple Google search will turn up dozens of resources, many of which are free. The same is true for almost any Web development skill, but even if you’re looking for information about something a bit more obscure, such as lutherie (guitar-building), you’re probably going to find some resources online. If you’re reasonably self-motivated, the online option is great.
4. Set yourself some goals.
Without a defined goal, you might flounder for a long time, so take a little time to figure out some reasonable, measurable goals. To continue the PHP learning example, you might find discover the Killer PHP site, where you’ll find a bunch of instructional video screencasts–you could decide that a reasonable goal would be to set aside an hour each day for a month (there are enough of them to do that), and work through all of the examples yourself. You won’t necessarily be a PHP ace when the month is over, but you’ll be a few steps farther down the road. (See item #1 above.)
5. Pick a simple, real-world project to work on.
If you’re learning something like PHP (and by now you might have figured out that learning PHP is on my list of skills I’d like to aquire), you can write simple “Hello, World!” programs until the cows come home, but what will really help you is to pick a project that is interesting to you (and might actually be useful) and work on that. If it’s learning how to build a guitar, get an inexpensive kit and actually build one. It might not be your best work, but you have to start somewhere, and you might as well start with something useful.
I’m hoping to invest some time in 2009 in learning PHP (and a few other Web-development skills), and I’ll try to post along the way to let you know how I’m doing with that. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your experiences and goals and approaches. Leave a comment and let us know how it’s going! (And if this article has helped you get off dead-center and decide to learn a new skill, I’d appreciate any Diggs or Stumbles!)
Posted by Doug on December 2, 2008
Illustration: dh
Many people who work in home offices are freelancers of one sort or another, so I’ve been looking around for as many good resources for freelancers as I could find. If you’re trying to make a go of it as a freelance writer, Web developer, graphic designer, consultant, photographer or whatever, I’m guessing you’re going to find something here that will be useful to you. Here’s my list so far:
1. Freelance Switch
Freelance Switch not only sports a great line-up of articles and resources about freelancing, but they’ve also got a valuable (and inexpensive) job board. The concept is brilliant: you can advertise a freelance job for free, and freelancers pay only $7/month to apply for any of the jobs on the board–pretty much an “everyone wins” deal.
2. Freelance Folder
Oriented towards freelancers and Web-workers, Freelance Folder is another source for helpful articles on a wide variety of topics–productivity, creativity, marketing, and the freelance life in general. There’s a lot of good stuff here.
3. JD’s Blog
If you’ve got entrepreneurship coursing through your veins, you’ll probably profit greatly from hanging out at JD’s Blog. You’ll find many articles about how to build better businesses, from virtually every conceivable angle–marketing, tips and tools for entrepreneurs, finances and investing, and a lot more. (As of this writing, the last post to JD’s Blog was in October, so I’m hopeful they’re just on a brief hiatus–but there is still a ton of useful content there.)
The rest of the resources below are individual articles from a variety of blogs (including those mentioned above), but when you go to look at them, be sure to spend some time on these sites, because you’ll likely find other stuff that you can use.
4. 101 Essential Freelancing Resources
This Freelance Switch article is a very long list of all kinds of resources–tools and Web sites for things like time tracking, invoicing, project management, business tools, job boards, Web site and blogging tools, and advertising and marketing tools and resources. “Essential” is the right word for this piece.
5. Freelancer’s Toolbox–30+ Online Freelance Resources
This article from Mashable.com is another great list of useful online resources for the freelancer. Lots of great stuff to browse here.
6. 20 Resources for Freelancers
This article is from Tutorial Blog–there’s some duplication with the lists above, but you’ll find some other stuff here, too, and this site is definitely worth a look.
7. The Freelance Writing FAQ
Writing for newspapers and magazines is the bread and butter of many freelancers, and this article at Creating Marketing Solutions is a very helpful set of answers. If you’re just starting out, do yourself a favor and get up to speed with this FAQ.
8. Tools for Freelancers
This Society of Professional Journalists article is a great source of information for the freelance journalist, and the resources referenced span a wide range of topics, from tax guidelines to professional organizations to writer’s conferences and such. Put that j-school degree to work.
9. Ebook Writing and Marketing Secrets
Ebooks are all over the place, and people are buying them. If you have what it takes to write them, you could stay pretty busy and do pretty well. This site explains how.
10. Resources for Freelance Web Designers
Here’s a list of resources with a practical, nuts-and-bolts feel. There’s stuff here about dealing with clients, protecting your work, online portfolios, social networking sites for designers, and more.
11. 53 Steps to follow if you want to become a freelance Web designer/developer
No-nonsense introduction to the process involved in becoming a good Web designer or developer–good stuff, and most of the steps link to resources for further reading.
12. The Ultimate list of Freelancing Resources (1-25)
The Ultimate list of Freelancing Resources (26-50)
These articles comprise a list of 50 articles about freelancing–a lot of helpful content here.
13. 25 tips by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs
This article contains a set of valuable tips–practical stuff–but be sure to check out the collection of articles on entrepreneurship at the end of the article.
If you know of other great freelancing resources out there that I’ve missed, please post a comment and a link.
Posted by Doug on October 27, 2008
(If you missed the first part of this two-part article, go read it now–it contains a wealth of links that you don’t want to miss! –Doug)
Photo: takomabibelot
In the first part of this article, we asked the question: are the most sought-after Web development skills really within reach for the average Web developer who may not have a deep programming background? The answer to that question is probably “yes,” if you know your way around HTML and CSS, and if you know enough Javascript and PHP to make minor changes to an existing script. You also need to be willing to take your time, study and experiment. It is also a good idea not to underestimate how long it may take you to learn something new.
The purpose of these articles is to assist you with the remaining piece of the puzzle–finding the online resources that can provide you with tutorials, references, sample code and tips to help you learn this stuff. One thing we haven’t really mentioned thus far is that there are also many great books out there about most of these topics. That’s great if you can afford $30 to $50 a pop; I can’t. But I’ll include a brief bibliography at the end in case you can.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Doug on October 24, 2008
Photo: batega
There was a great article recently over on NetTuts called “10 Most Sought-after Skills in Web Development”–very helpful information for those of us who are trying to make it as freelance Web developers. But are those skills really within reach for someone who may not necessarily have a programming background? The answer is a qualified “yes,” if:
- you have a working knowledge of HTML and CSS
- you know your way around PHP enough to make simple modifications to a script
- you’re willing to take some time to study and experiment
- you’ve got patience, determination and a desire to learn something new
- you know where to find tutorials, references and examples to learn from
And although you’re more or less on your own for the first four of those bullet points, this article is intended to help you with the last one. This is Part One of a two-part article on where to find the information and resources you need to acquire some of the Web development skills that can make you a better developer and equip you to keep working in challenging economic times.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
