tips

A few days ago Adobe not only officially unveiled the next version of its Creative Suite – Adobe CS6 – but also introduced its Creative Cloud offerings. According to Adobe, its new subscription service is “the digital hub that lets you download and install every Adobe Creative Suit 6 application; access online services for file sharing, collaboration, and publishing; and benefit from new apps and features as soon as they’re released…”

Although you can purchase CS products individually through online and retail stores, Adobe believes that Creative Cloud is a better way to get your desktop tools because you get access to the latest updates and features as soon as they’re available. In addition to providing maximum flexibility, members benefit from significantly lower upfront costs. Creative Cloud also includes new Internet-based services and enables the delivery of high-impact content experiences such as interactive websites and stunning digital magazines…

Writers from various disciplines have long been utilizing mainstream social media – Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and Quora, for example – to promote their work and interact with other writers and readers. However, here are ten platforms specifically geared towards the literary community.

Writers-Network: Created in 2004, Writers-Network is a large online community devoted to pointing creative writers toward success. There’s an emphasis on poetry, but apparently writers of all creative genres and forms are welcome and active on the site.

Inked-In: If the wordplay of this site’s title doesn’t draw you in, there are plenty of other pros. Part of The Burry Man Writers Center (a resource for freelance writers and researchers), Inked-In is a network for writers, artists and musicians.

Gather: With the tagline “Fresh Perspective,” Gather offers just that. According to the site, thousands of journalists post original content, and millions of users join in conversation about various subjects.

Book-in-a-week: Book-in-a-Week’s motto is “BIC HOK TAM:” butt in chair, hands on keyboard, typing away madly. The first full week of every month, you can use BIW’s learning management system to reach goals you’ve set for yourself. The site promotes a “let’s work together” approach.

Trigger Street Labs: If you’re writing for the screen, Trigger Street Labs might be the network for you. It’s a community for writers and filmmakers, and it’s open to scouts looking for talent.

Suite 101: Suite101 is the premier place for online journalists, freelancers and experts on various topics. Writers can get paid for posting original content, and the site offers a big peer network.

Writertopia: Writertopia is determined to create the ultimate resource for the writing community, and it starts with making sure every member is serious about perfecting his or her professional writing skills. The network also bridges the gap between the virtual world and the real by listing dates for events, readings and workshops.

We Like to Write: We Like to Write is a new social network for writers and bloggers. Professional and amateur writers are welcome to connect and debate, as well as collaborate with each other on projects.

WritersCafe.org: WritersCafe.org makes it easy to make friends with other writers and enter writing contests. It also has topic forums that range from inspiration to publicity to marketing.

Zoetrope Virtual Studio: Francis Ford Coppola launched a version of this website in 1998 to encourage short story submissions for his magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story. The Virtual Studio was created when a large writing community formed around the original website. Virtual Studio not only accepts various genre submissions for the magazine, but also allows workshops and critiques.

The ability to work from home, a fexible timetable and moving towards an independant career: Working as a freelance designer seems pretty appealing to a lot of people. But every deal of working as a freelancer should be considered well before a decision is made. For being successful the idea of the every day-work life should be brought down to a round figure.

Today we introduce 10 keys to work successfully as a freelance designer:

1. Diciplin and commitment

Working as a freelancer is quiet diffrent as working as an employee. Everything is up to you: no one sets you working hours or gives you tasks to work on. Your career is your own responsibility now, wich can be great but also difficult sometimes. You need to work disciplined and hit it up. That’s why the first years as a freelancer are probably the most exhausting ones. Hold the line!

2. Time management

This is a pretty large topic, but to put it in a nutshell: A to-do-list seems old fashioned but helps you to work efficiantly. What I mean is, that it is important to organize your working hours. Being well organized also helps to maximize your strenghts and minimize your distractions.

3. Communication

It is a keenly important skill to be able to communicate effectively with clients and customers. Therefore it will help you to understand their needs and wants as well as to understand their business. In addition to that you need to land your business in first place. Here it is helpful to build up a customer service. Give your customers and clients the feeling of being reliable and accessable.

1.    KISS
Keep it short and simple! This is what KISS means. It is a very basic rule in communication. Consumers do not like to read long texts. They must understand your message in 5 seconds.

2.    Do not sell the product, sell its benefits
Most ads are simply descriptive, they explain what the product or service is about.
Example: If you drink this water you won’t be thirsty any more. This is not very unique, because water can always satisfy your thirst. A benefit could be, if you drink this water your digestion will work better or you will feel fit.

3.    Communicate to peoples basic needs
Nowadays a lot of advertisers count on the famous slogan “sex sells”. Here you’ll find Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and see why this is:

a) Physiological Needs
Food, water, air, shelter, sex

b) Safety and Security Needs
Protection, order, stability

c) social needs
affection, friendships, belonging

d) ego needs
prestige, status, self-esteem

e) self-actualization
self-fulfillment

Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks give companies various opportunities. But the marketing with social media platforms also bears some risks. As internetworld.de reports, the study “Next Corporate Communication” from the University of St. Gallen put out some concerns of businesses in using social media. To prove this, more than hundred interviews with company representatives, service providers and researchers were conducted.

Based on that result the three greatest sins in using social networks has been analyzed:

1. Feedback stays unused
The information from social media applications are not processed adequately. That’s because marketing departments are not manned sufficient. Thus the work of the employees is for nothing.

2. Distorted public image
Only through social media guidelines employees know what information they should spread to the outside world. Otherwise there could be a scenario in which the statements of the employees contradict the ones of the corporate communication – and that leads to counterproductive effects.

3. Losing control
Social Media is subject to certain momentum. Therefore, companies are concerned that communication content can hardly be controlled. So information can spread quickly and damage the image of the company. Companies should therefore install control mechanisms.

Business cards should have a special character, to be effective. If you don’t have any idea, how to design your business cards, here are some highly creative examples:

found on: http://www.designzzz.com/

1. Are you a morning person?
If so, you probably know the advantages of getting up early and to have finished  a good part of the work in time. However, if you are not a morning person – like me – you probably resist to get up early. There is still the evening. I discovered that the late starters can be productive in the morning as well. In the beginning it may be an obstacle, but the feeling of having done so much before lunch as usual in the late evening, is worth it. Not to mention all the free evenings too …

2. Structure your day
If you work in a company, there are small breaks almost automatically. You go into the kitchen, make yourself a coffee – for some smoking breaks are mandatory anyway – and relax a bit. Your eyes may thank you when they are allowed to rest on something other than the monitor for sometime. As a freelancer, it is sometimes difficult to make breaks. Therefore, plan your working day as much detailed as possible – including the pauses. You will get used to it, to keep your own guidelines.

3. No interruptions
A new notice at Facebook, mails are coming in, the cell phone rings – and you lose your track. If you want to concentrate on your work, it is important that all these small disturbances are off. So you don’t have a excuse to be distracted. Plan fixed times for mails, social networks and the phone (the phone especially if you don’t have a separate business cell phone) and stick to it – just like the breaks.

4. Avoid loneliness
Spend the lunch break for example with friends or a business lunch appointment. A new trend are coworking spaces. You can find a detailed list about coworking spaces here.

On computerwoche.de you can find 8 tips which help to make your work more efficient.

1. To-Do list
As basis for organized work create To-do lists. Important here is not to have more than one list in order to avoid confusion.

2. Schedule
Provide sufficient time for upcoming tasks and enter them in a daily or weekly schedule. Prefer three hours instead of two. If time left over, you can use them for storage or other tasks.

3. The “holy area”
The “holy area” is a 60 x 60 cm area on the workplace, which keeps only the documents that concern the actual work. This area ensures that we can concentrate fully on the very important activities.

4. E-mail
Schedule fixed times for answering e-mails. Unimportant e-mails should be deleted immediately; arranged are moved into folders, so that the inbox is always clear.

5. Interaction with colleagues
As regards to colleague, who simply pop up with new tasks or questions, a friendly but definite action is recommended. A firm timesheet for talking time-consuming peers could help.

6. Tools
Simple but effective is to have all necessary tools such as punch, tacker, paper and pen nearby and easy to reach, so the desktop remains clearly arranged.

7. Deposit station
Handle all the collected documents in unused time slots. It is important to sort all of the completed documents, which do not need to be repealed, out to the trash or other place, where they don’t get in you way.

8. Leisure time
Before closing the desk, it should be cleared and all the unfinished tasks transferred in the schedule for the next few days. Only with cleared and empty desk, the new working day can start unstressed.

Apple iPad has already been sold three million times 80 days after launch. And there are more and more Apps for the iPad – with the result that it becomes increasingly confusing and nobody really knows, which apps are good and which are not.Computerwoche.de has compiled the ten most popular apps iPad:

Remote Desktop
Numbers
IM +
Good Reader for iPad
AirVideo
Atomic Web Browser
sipgate
Citrix Receiver
Keynote
Dropbox

You can find more information aboute the apps here!