Creativity

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from new clients is: Why are you estimating/billing so many hours? The client will then go on to say that it's a "quick project" that should only take a few hours. This is a perfectly reasonable question for a new client to ask, and each client deserves a clear answer.

Since my focus is copywriting, I'll give you a writer's perspective on the process I go through when writing copy for a client. Writing copy, even for a simple website, is not as easy as sitting down and starting to write (although I wish it was that easy).

Copywriting is much more than sitting at a computer and pounding out a few pithy lines of advertising material. Any copywriter will probably tell you that research is an integral part of his/her job.

No two companies are alike. Writing copy for a small pizza parlor is quite different than writing copy for a large industrial manufacturing company. Yet freelance copywriters take on such diverse jobs all the time. So what's the key to writing quality copy that is personalized to your specific needs?

The answer is research.

I hear this a lot: "We need to be more like Apple." This is understandable since the computer maker has been wildly successful with their products and their brand. Everything from Apple's easy-to-use computers, iPhone, and iPods to their packaging of their products is very simple and clean - yet it evokes Apple's own style and unique identity.

A big part of Apple's branding success comes from their being different. Imagine how Apple might be today if they had tried to imitate Microsoft. A big marketing disaster.

More and more people are becoming a "hobbypreneurs" - taking their hobby (product and idea based) and making it into their career. This can be done with crafts, blogging, cooking and just about any other hobby people pursue. An advantage for hobbypreneurs is making money doing something you love, and not working at some corporate job you hate just to bring home a paycheck.

A bill filed in the French National Assembly is proposing a requirement to add disclaimers to photos where a person's physical appearance has been altered. UMP member Valeria Boyer filed the bill in order to help combat anorexia and other eating disorders by noting when a body has been photoshopped. The bill reads (translated into English):

Letterpress printing has experienced a resurgence in popularity over the last few years, as artisans have turned to it as an expressive way to make small runs of printed materials. Letterpress printing is fairly flexible, and allows for a wide range of designs and colors which makes for some truly beautiful printed art.