Sunday, May 20, 2012

Has it Been Almost a Month?

I know it’s time to put something down here when I get a call from someone asking why I haven’t put anything down here in nearly a month.

I have busy with business (appropriately). One thing I’ve learned in the last month is that you can never tell where the work will be coming from. I had related signing up for AdWords on Google, and I did get some calls from people because of the ad, but none of those projects ever panned out. The real work simply came out of the blue (or actually came to me by reputation and networking).

That “simple uploading of a website” that I reported in my last blog entry turned into a complete site redesign, since the site had been hosted by a company that placed its own proprietary coding into the pages, so there was no way to just upload the site. As with most people, Grace (the woman I was working with on the project) didn't understand the complexity of web design or how radically it differs from print design. The result of our efforts together is the new website for World Musics Initiative, a nonprofit group that not only gets music programs into the schools, but helps teach musical diversity, as well. The group had gone dormant over the past few years, so hopefully the new website will help to reinvigorate their program.

The salon in Arcadia, which I also wrote about last entry, was a very interesting experience, and I got a pretty good haircut. The man I’m dealing with called the next week to say his sister had died and he had to fly out to attend her funeral, so I've allowed for some grieving time before I jump back in with a website proposal (I’ll be calling him tomorrow about that). He’s in his 70s or 80s and isn’t very tech savvy. Part of my job will be getting some sort of e-mail connectivity into his shop, because he has no computer there now (though he does have one at home).

Networking breakfast with chambers of commerce.
I’ve also been busy going to the monthly breakfasts and lunches hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, and have gotten some contacts there, though nothing that's panned out into work. Still, it’s good to be seen, and it’s good to become recognized by business owners who are involved in the community. The more people who know about me, the likely referrals are to come my way.

But the big news is, about two weeks ago I got an e-mail from Deeann, the woman who was Art Director at The Hollywood Reporter while I worked there. She’s working free-lance now, as well, and she wanted to know if I would like to work on a project she had going. BUT OF COURSE!

It turned out she’s doing a redesign of the American Society of Cinematographer's handbooks for their publisher, and she wanted to have me do the charts and tables that accompanied the text. There are 161 of them in total, and some of them are real bears. Add to this the fact that they are currently in Quark and I am converting them into InDesign, and things get really interesting. This will keep me busy for a couple of weeks, I'm sure, and put a significant amount into the coffers of the business. It’s just the income boost I needed, and having the ASC on my client list isn’t too shabby, either. (Now all I have to do is build a client list and put it up on my website).

I’m also consulting with a woman here in town, an acupuncturist who's expanding her clinical practice to include a holistic approach to wellness. She’s planning on renaming her business, developing a new logo and website, the whole nine yards. No contract signed yet, but I’m hoping this will be my first really big local job.

Steve is still at Pearce Plastics, still counting the days before he can officially retire and get some part-time work instead of working a 40-hour week. That won’t be for at least a year, but hopefully my business will be strong enough by then that he can take it easy…and maybe do some of my marketing for me!

So that’s about it for now. I really should be getting back to those charts, and getting ready for work tomorrow. Hope this finds everyone well and happy.