All professions must continually expand and refresh their skillsets.  And if you are hanging the tag of “professional” on to your web design business, then you have to continually upgrade your skills. It is not going to come to you auto-magically, and if you are not reading up on things, how the hell can you call yourself a professional? You’ll be the first to be crying on mailing lists and in groups about the “slow economy”. Wah wah wah.

There is no excuse anymore to NOT be up on the latest.  I am giving you a ready made blogroll. Subscribe using a simple feed reader. I use Bloglines.

Here is a list, some of these are in the site blogroll over to the right. Read on!

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/

http://freelanceswitch.com/

http://abduzeedo.com/

http://psdtuts.com/

http://sixrevisions.com/

http://www.thinkvitamin.com/

http://www.noupe.com/

http://www.boxesandarrows.com/

http://www.456bereastreet.com/

http://alistapart.com/

http://css-tricks.com/

http://web-graphics.com/

http://www.simplebits.com/

http://www.bittbox.com/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

http://webjackalope.com/

http://www.webreference.com/

http://veerle.duoh.com/

If you have more to add to these, please let me know in comments. I need more food. They need to have a good sized readership.

This has already been a godsend for me. It is cross platform, and just so damed easy to use. Try it.

A project of Chris Coyier (whose name you might remember from my enthusiastic mention of his CSS-Tricks.com site) and David Walsh — if I’m remembering correctly, this is the same pair that put together the Band Website Template as well: Chris with the visuals and David with the programming.

Back to Script & Style — you might expect it to be a bit sparse, being a newer site, but it looks like the fellas have raided their stash because I’m back 25 pages into the archives and still going strong.

Each of their articles is not simply a headline link but describes what they found useful about the article to which they link. And you run the gamut here: MooTools, free icon sets, and someone’s best tutorials on converting PSD to XHTML is what’s in my browser’s page view right now, if that gives you an idea.

Based in WordPress, the site itself, with it’s pleasing half-and-half design, is a good way to kick start your design and development engine. So put it on your frequent visit list or RSS feed today.

another very timely and insightful blog post. In particular:

8. How to Deal With Scope Creep. Scope creep — when uncontrolled changes affect the scope of a project – can be the bane of a freelancer’s existence. If you don’t address it with a client, you easily could squander all your profit on a job.

Scope creep sets in when a project is not well-defined, well-planned or well-managed, or when there is a change in direction. If this happens early in a project, it may be a sign that you didn’t ask enough questions at the outset, or that you underestimated the project.

When this happens, above all, don’t procrastinate. The most important aspect of managing scope creep is communication. As soon as you see that a project is veering off course and that you will be spending more time or more money, you must advise your client immediately and decide together how to handle it.

If, for example, in a status meeting or phone call, it becomes obvious that what you are being asked to do is outside the scope of the project, say so right away: “That is outside the scope of the project as we outlined it in the proposal, so we’ll need to review that and possibly revise the pricing. Are you aware of that?” Then, initiate a “change order” to document the changes.

It’s also a good idea to include a reference to scope creep in your contract so there are no surprises. A simple paragraph that outlines the process if scope creep starts to happen will plant the necessary seed so that you can bring it up much more easily later.

I have been finding that the first one listed here, has been working well for me. Every creative no matter what skill level, comes upon the dreaded “not an inkling, not a speck of an idea” span. For some it comes seldom, for others, it is a constant battle. Having plans, tactics, processes to go thru when this happens is essential for your survival as a creative business. Trying tips like these can break you out of the “fog”. Bookmark for reference.

An interesting post on blogging. If you run a web design business, you really should have a blog on your site, not a personal one, but a business one. What to write it on? Well, you are a creative person, so create that space!

A good read for all of you web designers/entrepreneurs.

Ahhh yes, a very good list of posts. read in small doses though.

While the focus is on Miva Merchant (Susan is a very experienced Miva designer) it offers articles on many aspects of an e-commerce web site. It is geared to those that did/do their own site and have a bit of knowledge on the inner workings of the backend code. And of course, designers who take on all aspects of their client’s e-commerce sites. Some very well written articles, and a nice clean design. Using the Revolution magazine theme. You can see more of this theme, and others like it by heading over to the Revolution Theme site here…

Congrats to Susan on the launch of a very good resource and nicely designed site! Wordpress RULES!

Wow, could this have come at the right time for YOU? We have talked alot recently about productivity, to-do lists, goals, getting things done. Now for some concrete words on the actual “how”. Good timing for me in particular. I have a project that if I finish it, I can get paid, and I desparately need the money. But for the past week, it has moved from each day’s to-do list to the next. So… tonight a chunk of it, a small chunk, but still a bite.

How about you?