My friend Micaiah’s first song came out today and I had to include a link here. It’s called “When I Dream of You.” She sounds so great - go check it out!

As part of the process of founding a start-up, I’m learning how to be more independent than ever before in my professional career. I have always favored working independently, but this experience has taken solo to a whole new level. In the past, even if I was working on a project alone, there would be other people who knew about my project and were in on the endeavor. Now, my only allies are a few contractors and a couple of friends who let me bounce ideas off of them. Primarily, though, I’m on my own.

As part of this process of becoming more solitary, I have had to figure out ways to combat the bad parts of spending so much time alone, in my house, staring at the walls, for hours on end. One thing that I have started doing is working from home office in the morning, and then going somewhere that has free wi-fi for the afternoon. My current favorite places are Panera Bread and the Beverly Public Library. Both are comfortable, friendly places to work and they are packed with people. There is something about having background noise that really helps me concentrate.

Also, I also have started reading books written about, by and for people who have started companies. I’m not reading these books so much for the information that they are giving me about how to start a company (although I’ll use any tips that I get), but more for the camaraderie that I feel with the authors. There is something very helpful about knowing that other people have gone through this before me, that they understand, that I am not insane or losing my mind or crazy for doing this. (OK, well may be a little, but I’m not totally over the edge - yet.)

Currently, I’m reading a book called Entrepreneur’s Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture, written by Steven K. Gold. This bit in Chapter 1 is something that I can totally relate to, something that I feel whenever I tell someone that I’m starting a company. And it’s for this encouragement, this feeling that someone else gets it, that I am reading this book and every one like it that I can get my hands on.

“…no matter what your age or experience, entrepreneurship involves such things as obsession, compulsion, creative surges, and a roller coster of emotional highs and lows. All of this can make you appear mad, whether or not it’s true.

The life of an entrepreneur does not resemble normal behavior by most people’s standards. This may explain why many of your friends give you a blank stare when you tell them you’re starting a company, or why you get the sense that family members are talking about you behind your back. Go easy on them. Few of us are fated to be entrepreneurs, or even to understand why anyone else would want to subject himself to all of the risks and hard work. It’s difficult for many people to appreciate the appeal of entrepreneurship versus the perception of stability and a regular paycheck that comes with a “real job.” The best suggestion is to swallow your pride and concentrate on building your new venture. Ultimately, there is nothing more convincing than success.”

This would have been huge news in my previous life working for Ziff Davis. It will be interesting to see how this changes the IT lead generation industry. With KnowledgeStorm and Bitpipe (TechTarget’s lead gen engine) teaming up, this leaves four major players: the Web Buyer’s Guide (Ziff Davis), IDG Connect, BNET (from CNET) and the KnowledgeStorm/Bitpipe combo.

Prior to this acquisition, KnowledgeStorm was really the only independent IT lead generation option - all the others are tied to a known IT publisher with a large audience. I’m not sure how TechTarget plans to combine the services, but each has something to offer - Bitpipe has the audience and reach, and KnowledgeStorm has an existing client base and superior technology. It will be interesting to see how this shapes up.

I have hired a lot of Web designers for various projects over the years. I am not a Web designer, nor a graphic designer, nor any kind of designer. But I know how to use eLance.

eLance is one of the best tools on the Internet for hiring contractors to do one-off tasks, such as creating a Web design, or a logo or content for a Web site. I love eLance. I use it all the time. In fact, I love eLance more than I love CustomInk, which is saying quite a bit.

eLance was founded in 1999, and when I started using the service - I posted my first project on 10/4/2002 - I was still an early user of the online marketplace. Since that time, millions of projects have been completed using eLance, and it now is used by many of the biggest companies around the world.

Here’s how eLance works if you are buying services. (If you are a freelancer and want to sign up to provide services via eLance, try the Find Work section of eLance for more information.)

Sign up for an account.
This process is easy and self-explanatory. You will need to have a credit card or a bank account from which your payments can be made. When you are picking your username, choose a name that can be associated with you and your business, as that name shows up everywhere when you are posting projects. For example, my username is PureIncubation, which is my company name, and works great.

Post your project.
After you have registered, you will be able to post projects to get bids. This involves filling out a form with the details of the project, including:

• Posting Title: Make sure to use the keyword for the project in the title - such as “One-page Web design of a technology site.” The providers are alerted to new projects based on keywords, so you want to include the type of project that you are hiring for (Web design) somewhere in the title.
• Category: For a Web design project, select “Website development”
• Subcategory: Select “Web Design”
• Work Description: Include a description of the project. Concentrate on making this as descriptive as possible without overwhelming the providers who are bidding. This will not be your last time to talk to the people you will consider hiring, but you need to be descriptive enough to interest them in the project and to get an accurate bid. I typically include a short description of what the project is (how many pages, what I want designed, if I have a logo or need one, if I know the general layout of the site, etc.), and I ask for a timeline and samples of relevant work. I also try to throw in something specific in the bid that the providers will need to respond to, just so that I can be sure they are reading the description of my project and aren’t just bidding indiscriminately. For example, I’ll write “Please include a link to another technology site that you have designed in your bid.”
• Work Type: For a Web design project, I pick “Fixed fee” because I do not want to go over the budget that I have set.
• Budget Range: This depends. If I know the budget, I sometimes pick a range from the list. But most often I select “prefer not to disclose” because I don’t want to influence the provider higher with their bid. Many times I have gotten a project completed at a lower cost than I anticipated because of the competitive nature of the eLance bidding system, and I don’t want to foil that process.
• Response Deadline: This depends on how much of a hurry you are in. Most of your bids will come in during the first three days, but the longer your bidding is open, the more bids you’ll get. You can always extend this deadline later if need-be, as well.
• Sealed Bidding: This allows you to be the only one to see the bids. Since this feature was instituted, I have found a much greater range in the bids that I receive because providers are independently bidding. I usually leave this checked but I’m honestly not sure if it makes a difference.
• Work Location: I always select “work can be done anywhere”
• Escrow: This just depends on how you want to pay. If you choose this option, you will use the eLance Escrow service and pay for everything up front - only releasing the funds when you approve various phases of the project. I personally don’t select this feature, but I am happy to use it if a provider requests this type of payment option.

Review the bids.
This part of the process is the key to making sure that you have a successful experience with eLance. You’ll likely receive quite a few bids (I typically get from 15-20 per project) and you need to review each bid from each provider to find the one that will be best for you. This is how I manage the process:

• Read the bids: By reading the bids that are made, you’ll be able to see if the eLancer is a good communicator, if they have answered your specific questions and if they posted any relevant information for your project. It is a red flag at this point if the provider either does not answer the questions that you posed in the description of the project or has spotty communication skills - you will want to proceed very carefully with hiring anyone who fits into either of those categories. Eliminate any providers that you don’t think will work.
• View all the portfolios: This is the most important part of the process. I look at every single portfolio, specifically, I am looking for sites the provider has designed in the past that are similar to the one that they will do for me. Sometimes providers are excellent at designing a Web site for an ecommerce company, for example, but terrible at designing a site for an elegant restaurant, or vice versa. I also look for overall style and if I “like” the designs that the provider has produced in the past. This is subjective, but design is subjective, and this site will represent you and your business, so it’s important to be picky. Eliminate any provider who doesn’t fit your requirements.
• Review the bid amounts: At this stage, I look at all the providers who are left and see how much money they bid. You may be able to narrow your shortlist down further.
• Look at history: eLance allows you to review the feedback and earnings history for all their eLance providers. You’ll quickly see that some providers have been using eLance for years and make gobs of money using the site, and others only occassionally dabble with projects that they find via the marketplace. What I am looking for at this point is any red flags - providers that score low or have consistantly bad comments. It is not unusual for a provider to occassionally have some negative feedback. If this happens, look to see if the provider had responded to that feedback, how they handled the complaint, and if the buyer has a history of dissatisfaction with providers. There are a lot of bad clients out there and a random bad comment should not elimate a provider from your selection process. But if you find any pattern of bad feedback, beware!
• Ask some questions: You are likely down to a shortlist of vendors, and at this point I always ask each provider on that list a question via the Private Message Board (PMB). I don’t always have a question, but I always come up with something to ask because at this point I’m trying to assess if the provider is quick to respond and if they have good communication skills. If a provider doesn’t respond, or doesn’t respond well, do not hire them even if you love their designs. It will not be worth it in the long run.

Select your provider.
Once you have made your choice, select the provider with the “choose bid” button. You’ll then go through a process of reviewing the business terms. Some providers require you to pay a percentage of the work upfront, this doesn’t bother me, but if you don’t want to work that way, you may want to choose the escrow option, or negotiate the terms.

Fill out the requirements document.
Once you have selected your provider, it is likely that they will ask you to fill out a requirements document to help direct the project. These are usually guides to the design process and help you and the provider figure out exactly what you want so that the designer can better fulfill your needs. Fill out these forms! Take as long on them as you need and be thorough- they will greatly help with getting you to the finished project that you want.

Communicate effectively.
At this point in the project, the only thing left is for you to communicate effectively throughout the process. Respond promptly to questions from the provider and ask them any questions that you have. Keep an open line of communication.

Pay and provide feedback.
After the project is complete, make sure to pay the providers promptly and give your feedback about their work on the project. When you are leaving comments remember that future providers will be reading what you say and will bid on projects that you post to a large degree based on what kind of a buyer you are. At the same time, make sure that you are providing accurate feedback to help other buyers in the future.

That’s it! If you go through all the steps, you will likely have a great, completed design. Of course, once you have the design you’ll need to have your Web developer implement it (or hire someone from eLance to do it for you) but that’s for another post.

Just a couple of other points to mention:

Negotiation - It is possible to negotiate with the providers on eLance. However, keep in mind that many of them are making the lowest bids possible already because the marketplace keeps prices down. But if you find a provider that you really want to use, and their fee is just slightly above what you are willing to spend, you may be able to ask them if they will drop their bid. Sometimes they will not - so be prepared for them to say no. Also, this typically works better if you are working on a second or third project with a provider that you have worked with in the past.

International outsourcing - If you have been wanting to jump into the international outsourcing market, this might be the best place to get your feet wet. Many of the eLance providers are not U.S.-based, and by using eLance you will have the opportunity to work with various people from around the world. Also remember that English is a second language for many of the people who use this service, so keep that in mind when you are conversing and negotiating. Err on the side of politeness.

If you have any problems - I have never had a single problem with an eLance provider, but I know that it happens. If you run into any issues, eLance offers assistance, including mediation and the ability to report any violations.

If you don’t find a provider - It is possible that you will go through the selection process and not find the provider that you are looking for. This has happened to me in the past. Never pick a vendor just for the sake of picking a vendor. Usually, this is a case of a project being posted incorrectly. You may need to change the category or subcategory under which the project is posted. Or you may need to change the description or scope of the project. Sometimes you may have an unrealistic budget that needs to be amended. Typically if you re-post the project again with some changes, you will find a provider. There is also the option with eLance to search through the providers that are part of the site and specifically invite select ones to bid on your project - this is another great way to get excellent providers bidding on your projects.

So if you need to be in the market for a new Web design, consider eLance as an option.

No, seriously, is it? I honestly can’t tell if the www.cia.gov site is for real. I first went there following a link from The Big Noob to look at one of the worst logo designs I have ever seen. Then I poked around the site a bit to see if it was a serious thing (I mean, the domain name is cia.gov - it sounds real!) and I found the following gems:

• The Kids’ Page - equipped with an animated “spy” with a ringing shoephone.
• The Iraqi Rewards Program - I tried to read about it, but it seems like the CIA is trying to keep this program a secret.
• The CIA movie - Click “play movie” on the home page to see this warm and fuzzy video about “clandestine services.”
• On the contact us page - you’ll find this bit: “Solicitations to transfer large sums of money to your bank account: If you receive a solicitation to transfer a large amount of money from an African nation to your bank account in exchange for a payment of millions of dollars, go to the US Secret Service Web site for information about the Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud or “4-1-9″ Fraud scheme.”

This site is the warmer, kinder U.S. spy service. Or else it’s a hoax.

Last week, I started a series of blog articles about Web design with the post A bad Web design could kill your business, and then I never finished the series. Shame on me. I am back to the topic again this week, and there will be more posts. And with the Future of Web Design conference coming up (Nov. 7-8)  in NYC, it probably makes more sense for the series to happen now, anyway, so I’ll chalk my delays up to kizmet or good timing or at least convenient procrastination.

This conference looks like it is going to be a really good one, with sessions on topics including finding inspiration, designing for moble devices, using illustration on the Web, and AJAX and design, along with a group of speakers who really know their stuff. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the Web sites of some of the experts who are speaking at the event to see if it might be possible to glean some insight into the future of Web design by examining their Web designs. Here’s what I found:

Jina Bolton - Her site is a blog (as were many of the designers’ sites), and the design looks more like a Web site design than a traditional blog. Advances in blog design will definitely be a continuing trend as blog tools are getting better, and more and more people are catching on to the fact that blog platforms, such as WordPress and Moveable Type, are the new content management systems, making publishing to the Web easier than ever.

Jeffrey Kalmikoff- Kalmikoff works for skinnyCorp, the company that founded Threadless, a t-shirt design community that is now a multi-million dollar business that sells more than 90,000 t-shirts per month. The site has a unique design that matches up with the company’s fun and off-beat brand. You’ll see that there are sections on the site for both podcasts and videos, and this is a Web design trend for the future, as firms move toward including audio and video content on their sites as part of their overall designs.

Ryan Sims- Sims is the lead designer for Virb Inc., and as is evident from the site’s design, his company is clearly focused on community. Web designs that foster community are a trend that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, as social networking grows and grows and grows.

Josh Williams- When landing on the Firewheel Design site, you’ll be greated with a message: “Firewheel Design has bolted the studio doors. We have taken an oath of secrecy. We are working on something new. If you want the skinny on our top secret project, we simply ask for your email address.” If this doesn’t make you want to submit your email address immediately, nothing will. This practice of designing a site in order to optimize audience building is a Web design and online marketing trend that will continue to gain in popularity.

This weekend, Chris surprised me and took me out for a day of adventures that included a stop at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass. Even if I didn’t enjoy the art (which I did) the drive to this museum would have been worth the entire trip for me, as the DeCordova is located in a residential area of Lincoln where the houses are all historic and beautifully maintained. Along with the fall leaves and the rainy day that we had on Saturday, it was a gorgeous trip.

A bit of history from the museum’s Web site:

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park is located on the former estate of Julian de Cordova (1851-1945). The self-educated son of a Jamaican merchant, de Cordova became a successful tea broker, wholesale merchant, investor, and president of a glass company in Somerville, Massachusetts. Travel and art were his passions, and de Cordova once wrote that he collected “everything that took [his] fancy in every country of the world.” In an era before airplanes and automobiles, Julian and his wife Elizabeth were hardy tourists who transversed the globe several times. Inspired by his trips to Spain and his own Spanish heritage, Julian remodeled his summer home in Lincoln, Massachusetts in 1910 to resemble a European castle.

When de Cordova died, he left his collection and estate to the town of Lincoln with the stipulation that it would become a museum of art after his death. Ironically, independent appraisers found that his collection was not worth much (and was of little general interest) so the trustees turned the estate into what was at the time one of the region’s only museums of contemporary art. Today, the museum is dedicated to regional modern art. My favorite part of the museum was definitely the sculptures, which are scattered throughout the grounds.

This museum is much more impressive in person than over the Internet, but the museum’s Web site has some cool features, including a video of their current exhibit “Trainscape: Installation Art for Modern Railroads,” which includes commissioned exhibits from 12 New England artists who put together worlds for a traditional modern railroad.

I occassionally blog for SelfEmployed.com, and in writing a post for that site today I came across a search engine for the Small Business market - AskJim.biz. It’s a vertical search engine that has a database of articles about small business issues behind it. The site was conceived of by Jim Blasingame, and the articles are written by a group of experts (Jim’s “Brain Trust”). I didn’t use the site indepth, but I ran a couple of sample queries and compared the results from AskJim vs. Google. AskJim was better.

 This is an interesting business model for vertical search - a niche search engine that really isn’t a search engine at all, but has a giant database of trusted articles behind it, powering it and providing relevant results. This could be a helpful solution to folks in the small business market who are suffering from search engine fatigue. It will be interesting to see if this model will work in other markets.