Mr. Speckyboy has a list of 53 steps for freelancers.

1. Set a realistic date for starting officially as a Freelance Designer.
(When I say realistic, I mean six months+, and not weeks). Stick to this date.

2. Write out a plan-of action for your new business.
(Always remember it is a business you are building).
Further Reading: Creating a Plan of Action.

3. Save as much money as you can in that six months.
(You’ll need money for stationery, lawyers, accountants, hardware, software…).

Read the other 50 here.

Here’s a Photoshop tutorial from Jim Hoerricks, the Senior Forensic Video Analyst for the Los Angeles Police Department. This tutorial shows how to remove digital noise from photos. Color noise … those red, blue, and green specks in our images. Noise is common in low light situations, but noise can happen in any image.

(Via The Photoshop Blog.)

James over at The Graphic Mac has written an article that you might like. There’s a lot in the blogosphere saying ‘content is king’ but James has a slightly different look at the topic that will interest web design students.

The reason I bring this topic up is simple. If your clients are looking for spectacular design, but really have nothing to say, the site is ultimately going to fail. And if the site fails, you as the designer will ultimately pay the price.

Read it here.

Some time ago I saw a video demonstration where Super Man, Zeus, call him what you will, was sizing pictures in real time. But the pictures weren’t just scaling, they where keeping subject matter while removing non critical content. I forgot all about the video- because I see amazing, ground shaking stuff everyday, it’s easy to forget. Then, just the other day I was showing a class how to create variable width page designs and someone thought out loud that they’d like to do the same with images. I commented, sort of off handedly, “Of course you can.” It was then, with a classroom of people sitting silent with eyes wide open, that I remembered this video. I also remembered to check my fly… Read more…

Looks like the guys at Wake Up Later haven’t been sleeping because they have another good post. This one is about networking. I try to make my classrooms a friendly environment in hopes that you guys might get to know each other and hence, start to build a network of contacts and friends. Ya know, I can’t think of any job I’ve gotten via the ‘traditional’ methods. By that I mean, I’ve never found a job looking in the want ads of the paper or searching a jobs database. Every job I’ve ever had came via my personal network. Take a moment and do yourself a favor: read the article.

1. You’re Making Friends
2. Help Their Goal, Not Yours
3. Expect Nothing
4. Follow the Flow
5. Nice Guys Finish First

(Via Wake Up Later: Freelance + Passive Income.)

Here’s an interview I look forward to reading when I get a chance. Our friends at Wake Up Later had a sit down with Christine O’Kelly. I’ve never heard of her but she sounds like an interesting person.

When Christine O’Kelly was 17, she spent a summer traveling around in a VW bus with the Grateful Dead. Having nowhere to go “home” to and only owning some handmade apparel to sell, the experience taught her that (a) something always “works out,” and (b) you can never be too far “down and out.” Years later, after having a steady job and family, she found herself in the corporate world, working long hours for a small startup. Then one day, with no real planning, Christine decided to take another risk: quit her job and start her own online business, thus becoming the Self Made Chick

(Via Wake Up Later: Freelance + Passive Income.)