SpicyWebDesigners.com by Luc Arnold

I recently caught up with Rebecca Bollwitt who runs a blog called Miss604, a guide to Vancouver, Canada and one half of the team heading up Sixty4Media along with her husband and business partner John Bollwitt.

Rebecca has been producing website since 1997 when her first website was launched and since then she’s had a hand in web development.  She was able to take some time and answer some questions about the blog she currently runs (Miss604), what people should do if they are thinking of starting a blog and what live blogs are exactly.  So sit back, relax, drink a coffee and read on…

Luc asks: For those people out there who may not have visited your “Miss 604 Blog” can you tell me what the focus of the blog was when you started and how has it changed since you first started.

Rebecca says: When I started Miss604 in 2004 it was simply a hobby and I would write every week or so about the mundane details of my life. I realized one day that I really loved writing and sharing information about my hometown – being an independent voice and resource for locals. It evolved into something I love to do every day; mixing writing about local news and events along with my passion for technology. In 2006 I started taking it more seriously and in 2008 I went full time with my blogging career.

Luc asks: You also run a media company called “Sixty4media” with your husband, John.  Why did you choose to focus on consulting on WordPress projects and what other types of projects do you work on?

Rebecca says: I have been in the online media realm for the last ten years and it’s always been a dream to run my own company. My husband and I had been using WordPress since 2006 and really got into the technology and the wonderful worldwide community. Things lined up just right for me in the summer of 2008 and I was not only able to take my blogging full time, but also jump in head first into business ownership.

Luc asks: What tools do you use to market Sixty4Media with on an ongoing basis?

Rebecca says: We organize all of our projects using an internal wiki system. That way when both of us are working on a client site we don’t need to run through old emails to dig up mockup images and passwords. With a wiki we have every project sorted by date and all elements (images, passwords, to-do lists etc.) are available to both of us anytime.

I also run the administration side of things using Freshbooks; an online accounting system. It’s really been a lifesaver in terms of doing estimates, tracking expenses and invoicing.

I promote Miss604 mostly through Twitter and Flickr photos and also by posting daily using relevant keywords (Google is my #1 referrer). As for sixty4media, I promote it as my business and in all of my biographies. The company has a Twitter account and my husband and I are both active in promoting our work and showcasing our clients online through our personal sites and accounts.

Luc asks: What tips do you give people looking to start a blog of their own?

Rebecca says: The number one thing about blogging is loving your subject matter. When you are passionate about your topics then you a) won’t have to struggle to come up with post ideas b) your voice will be genuine in the articles and c) it will be fun and not a chore for you.

Find something you love to talk about or something you’re passionate about learning or sharing and go from there.

Luc asks: How much money do all your online businesses bring in currently a year?

Rebecca says: I don’t usually like talking about income but sixty4media is 80% of my current income and Miss604.com projects bring in the rest. Miss604.com has limited advertising however it is responsible for my speaking engagements, consulting, and overall marketing of sixty4media. People know Miss604.com better than they know sixty4media so it’s always nice when they find out that I’ll share blogging and social media tips with them through my actual business. Through Miss604.com I have also been able to get a book deal and “Blogging to Drive Business” will be on store shelves (and in e-book form) in early 2010. (Shameless plug, sorry!)

Luc asks: I wanted to ask you about your book deal.  Can you tell us more about what you cover in the book and how and where people can get it?

Rebecca says: The book is “Blogging to Drive Business” and I co-wrote it along with Eric Butow of California. We cover the basics of blogging for business, how to get started, and some best-practices/common sense when it comes to having a corporate online presence. The Kindle version is on Amazon.com right now but the hard copy will be published and available online (and in stores) at the end of January.

Luc asks: I see that you produce “Live Blogs” and i wanted to ask what are they and what types of clients usually benefit from a live like these?

Rebecca says: Live Blogs are real-time posts that are most beneficial for events. I go to a conference or special event for a client and write a blog post about my experience, in real time — meaning I’m writing and uploading photos as its happening. I’ll toss in quotes from speakers, video, images, and by the time the event is over, my post is fully published.

The benefit of this is to engage an audience that might not be in the room at the time. It helps your event be accessible across the internet and draws in more people through the blog posts and Twitter updates as well. It’s documentation that will last on Google and on social media networks for years to come.

Coming to us from the West coast of Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia to be a little more specific, S. Preston has been designing and developing for the web for over the past 8 years. He originally studied at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and graduated in 1997 from the video and new media production program where he learned that he had a passion for making things look nice and video. According to S. Preston, the day that the WordPress CMS came around was the day that he started to plot his exit strategy from corporate life. After getting a chance to ask S. Preston a few more questions about his business he revealed his preference of designing for a CMS, working with an agency and his particular vision and style of design.

Luc asks: How exactly did originally start designing websites and when did you turn professional?

Mike (S. Preston) Chuhon says: My first internet experience was in 1995 and I immediately knew that this was something that I want to be a part of.  But it took me a little while to figure out that web design was what I wanted to do.  Not to say all the experiences of web development, database design, and online video was a waste, in fact, I believe those experiences all play a role in SixSix8.  But I am an artist at heart, and creative web design is my passion.

Luc asks: I see that you studied at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and i wanted to ask you how did your education in video and new media production helped you in your career so far?

Mike (S. Preston) Chuhon says: My springboard into web design was creating video players for webcast and video applications.  In a room full of broadcast engineers and video editors, someone had to make things look nice.  I’m still pretty passionate about video, and many of my friends and colleagues are in the film industry.  So projects like Riese the Series and Time before the Light are great fun!

Luc asks: Do you prefer designing for a standard CMS platform like WordPress or do you like working on custom projects?  Also do you think it’s more beneficial to design for a well recognized CMS application?

Mike (S. Preston) Chuhon says: I think the day WordPress became a CMS, was the same day I started my exit strategy out of my corporate desk.  In my former-life as a ColdFusion programmer, I was well aware that websites need constant maintenance and frankly it’s a chore to upload a new PDF, or change 2 dates.  I might be preaching to the choir, but CMS software allows me to focus on the creative aspects of my business and provide better service to my clients.  It does help that I’ve got a programmers background so I’m quite able to make WordPress work for me.  And the second question, yes, I’d love to use more CMS software. ExpressionEngine and Drupal will be in my repertoire soon!

Luc asks: Do you prefer to work exclusively with design agencies like Sixty4Media when freelancing or do you develop your own contacts as well?

Mike (S. Preston) Chuhon says: You know, it’s arrogant to think that one person can do everything.  We all bring skill sets to the table.  I was told early on in business, you don’t need to eat the whole pie and I’ve incorporated that into my business values.  Let’s work together to provide the best service you can!  Sixty4Media and I have a great relationship and knowing Miss604 and her husband John (Mr604??) have been invaluable to me.

Luc asks: What should people know about you, your vision and design style when they hire you?  What services should they expect?

Mike (S. Preston) Chuhon says: I believe in websites that are clean and clear.  Especially on the internet, content is still king!  But what I do is make that content more appealing and engaging and helps bring an emotional connection to your communication or marketing.  Not to mention that there’s a lot of crap on the internet getting tossed around, so I like to think my designs help make you stand out from the crowd.

Luc asks: I see that you work in print design aside from your web design work and i wanted to ask you if this experience designing for print makes you a better web designer in your opinion?

Mike (S. Preston) Chuhon says: You know, experimenting in art mediums is part of being well rounded.  I won’t say I’m great at print media, but I do love to try to translate my skills on to paper.  To be completely honest, many clients have trouble differentiating between print and web, so it makes sense to provide both services whenever it fits.

Les Reynolds from Burlington, Ontario in Canada is web designer who currently runs, L Squared Design, a full service web design and development studio. Les received his first taste of web design while working for an electrical contracting company while learning to design an email newsletter. He credits his experiences before he got into web design as part of his success where he learned the ins and outs of operations, marketing, purchasing and business in general. Les has been designing professionally for the past 3 years and when I asked him about his experiences to date he had this to say…

Luc @ SWD: How did you originally get started designing websites?

Les says: I was working for an electrical contracting company, and they wanted to send out an email newsletter. So I taught myself HTML using articles and tutorials I found on the web. Once the newsletter was done, I couldn’t stop, and the more I learned the more I realized that this is what I wanted to do as a career.

Luc @ SWD: What are some of the benefits of working with platforms like WordPress, Textpattern and others?

Les says: The biggest reason I use a CMS is so clients can update a site themselves. However, it makes updates easier for almost any type of site. Another bonus is being able to change repeating content like footer or navigation in only one place, similar to using PHP includes. I haven’t used WordPress, but I love the flexibility that Textpattern offers. With the built in features and rich suite of plug-ins, it is suitable for a very wide range of sites.

Luc @ SWD: Les, you’ve been designing website professionally for the past 3 years.  How have you continued to stay up to date since you first started?

Les says: The speed that things change in the world of web design/development means that if you stop paying attention, you’ll be passed by. RSS feeds from people like Jeffery Zeldman, Dan Cedarholm, Cameron Moll, Jon Hicks, Andy Rutledge, Dave Shea, Jonathan Snook, Jason Santa Maria and other has helped me to stay up to date, and learn so much. And recently Twitter has been a great way to keep in touch with changes as well.

Luc @ SWD: Where did you go to school and what did you study in college/university? How has it helped you with web design?

Les says: When I started getting into web design, I did some research and found that most college/university web design & development programs have trouble keeping up with the fast pace of the web world. I think that is beginning to change, but at the time I decided that I’d be better off going the self-taught route.

Books like Designing with Web Standards, CSS Mastery, Bulletproof Web Design, and Transcending CSS have served as my curriculum, as well as articles on A List Apart and the blogs listed above.

I’ve actually thought about taking some courses in graphic design at the local college. I think graphic design and marketing are both areas of education that would be useful.

The other things that I think has helped me are the jobs I had before web design. The experience in management, sales, operations, marketing, purchasing, accounting, etc has been very valuable.

Luc @ SWD: What are your favorite tools to use on a web design project?

Les says: I started using Photoshop, but a light went on once I opened up Fireworks. It has done a great job of merging vector and bitmap editing, in a way that works really well for the web. However, as I’ve looked at upgrading, tales of buggy, bloated software have made me think twice. There is lots of complaining about Adobe’s apps, and i think it’s time we moved on. I’m currently trying out Acorn and DrawIt. I actually wrote a post about it, and plan to follow up with some comparisons.

For coding, there is lots to love about Espresso, although there is still refining to be done. FTP is handled by the wonderful Transmit, debugging CSS with Safari’s web inspector.  I find small tools like Pipette, Free Ruler, Skitch, and Little Snapper quite helpful for various tasks. Somewhat unrelated, The Hit List for todos, Notational Velocity for notes, Dropbox for file access, SuperDuper for backup, and Tweetie for Twitter are all invaluable.

Victoria Mach is a web designer from Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. She first became interested when she was about 14 years old using “HomeSite” and eventually found herself studying at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Victoria studied their Digital and Interactive Media Design program majoring in Flash and Web Development. Since entering the working world after school she has been working for a design studio and learning the ropes as a web developer and learning more and more about coding as she goes.

1. How did you get started in web design?

There was this online social media for the city I live in called “Edmonton Online” aka. EO. On there, was users were able to create their own personal website. I saw some neat stuff aka. AWESOME FLAMING TEXT and I wondered how they made it. Little did I know, it was the start of my future career.

2. When did you start designing websites?

I think I was around 14 years old and started viewing sources on websites to see how the sites were created. Then I used this old school program called “Homesite” ring a bell anyone? haha I slowly progressed into Photoshop and started learning how to design web layouts.

3. What are the biggest challenges that you face in web design currently?

Probably having to work at a design studio as the only web developer. When I have problems with some code, I can’t really ask my colleagues for help. Good thing I have great web friends on Msn for help! Also Google is my best friend

4. Do you code any of the web sites that you design currently? If so, what language(s) do you code in?

I mostly do front-end programming so the typical XHTML and CSS. Currently I’m learning ExpressionEngine so probably down the road I’ll be programming some of that.

5. I wanted to ask if and where you studied at college or university, what you studied and ask how has your education helped you become a better web design professional?  What other skills has it helped you to gain and what else has it taught you about design in general?

I went to Northern Alberta Institute of Technology for two years and took Digital and Interactive Media Design. There I majored in Web development and Flash. The classes did help me in a general sense of web, but after graduating and working in the “real world” I’ve learned a lot more on how to improve on my web layouts with the help of my fellow colleagues and web friends.

6. What are your favorite tools to use when designing a web project? Why are they your favorite tools?

My favorite tools are Photoshop, Flash, and Dreamweaver. The typical web applications I’ve been using for a long time. Photoshop is my number one tool to design sites (I’ll occasionally open up Fireworks too). Flash… what can I say… I’ve got some powerful tweening skills and for Dreamweaver is my favorite tool to use to code sites.

7. I see that you use a lot of JavaScript effects on your portfolio.  Are you pretty comfortable with JavaScripting in general?

I’m alright with JavaScript, I do a bunch of tutorials until I find something I feel comfortable using and that is compatible on all the browsers.

Ryan McMaster is a web designer from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. He originally got started in web design back in 2004 when the local print design market was drying up and he was getting more requests for web design. Ryan is currently freelancing full-time in web design since he left his position as a lead designer in 2006. He currently runs three different sites specific to web design, logo design and web strategy.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I got started in web design professionally when I saw the local print design market dry up. That was in 2004 and I started getting more requests for websites than I did for brochures and signage. The budgets were larger and people were a bit more open to interesting ideas with web design than in print assignments.

2. When did you start designing websites?

I started designing websites in high school and then more in college. The program I went to made sure to cover the bases about Multimedia and even though at that point I was more passionate about print design (particularly publication and identity work) I was able to get started in standards based web design.

3. What are the biggest challenges that you face in web design currently?

The biggest challenges that I face in web design would have to involve balance. Finding the right balance between too busy and too slow, between lucrative projects and ones that build the portfolio. Especially when you’re freelancing, working at web design can feel like a juggling act.

4. Do you code any of the web sites that you design currently? If so, what language(s) do you code in?

I hand code a quite a few of the sites that I design. I got the web standards bug when it was a fresh new way of creating websites and I stuck with it. I currently use XHTML/CSS, JavaScript and WordPress for blogs and as a CMS.

5. I wanted to ask if and where you studied at college or university, what you studied and ask how has your education helped you become a better web design professional?  What other skills has it helped you to gain and what else has it taught you about design in general?

I studied at a college. The program was enough to teach a bit about the basics but I felt that I could learn more on my own. There seems to be a real shortage of courses that teach practical solutions to coding, design and business problems. If you’re motivated, just start making sites for everybody that you know. Family members that own businesses or friends that have bands are good starting places. There are so many well written, thorough tutorials online that can teach you everything you need to know.

The thing that college did more than anything else was giving me drive and determination. The school I went to had impossible deadlines for projects that you didn’t know how to complete. That and a friendly competitive attitude among the students pushed me to get projects done on time that scored high marks. That’s about the most practical thing a course can do for someone in the design industry. If you’re freelancing, you need to be prepared to pull all-nighters or work your whole weekend to meet a deadline. If you miss a deadline for a client, you can kiss that income stream goodbye.

6. What are your favorite tools to use when designing a web project? Why are they your favorite tools?

My favorite tools for design are Photoshop and Firebug. I don’t believe in a lot of extra apps or add-ons. But when I’m designing a site, I need to work in Photoshop and when I’m coding, it doesn’t matter if I’m programming in TextEdit. I just need to be able to test quickly and make changes. That’s why I love Firebug.