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The new Twitter iPhone client announced Thursday is already live in the App Store, along with an updated Android client. Here’s a look at how the new Twitter for iPhone looks and works, and how it compares to the version it replaces. Read more »

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Hot on the heels of yesterday’s rumors that Facebook would be launching an HTML5 App Store competitor and Facebook’s response that doesn’t exactly deny those allegations, the New York Times reports that an official Facebook iPad app is in the works and should be coming soon. Read more »

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Until now, the state of Twitter on the iPad hasn’t been great. There were a few pretty good apps (I’ve been using Tweetdeck), but the field needed a champion. Enter the official Twitter for iPad app. Read more »

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What do you do when a client ruins something you’ve created? You can’t protect the assets you develop for a client from the client themselves. You can’t defend the work you did for them when it no longer resembles the actual work you did. Read more »

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A few months ago, I looked at email client Postbox. I found it an interesting enough app then, but a new release for the Mac brings even more feature additions. If you passed on Postbox earlier, now’s the time to give it a second look. Read more »

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Lots of clients like you to track your time and submit reports detailing your daily activities, so they know their money is being spent well. It’s good practice for them, and it’s good practice for you Read more »

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Facebook recently opened up its API to allow third-party developers more access to core features, which gives them a chance to rework the web app and deliver something a little easier on the eyes and potentially less frustrating. That’s exactly what Microsoft’s done with its new Silverlight Beta Client for Facebook. Read more »

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All clients are different, but there are some things you can count on every client needing from you as a freelance contractor. Some may be obvious, but others might not be so apparent, and having them in place could save you a lot of both embarrassment […] Read more »

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I’ve long been looking for a Windows-based Twitter client that can delight me as much as its native Mac counterparts. Too many clients for Windows depend on Adobe AIR, something which isn’t an ideal arrangement, in my opinion. TweetDeck and Seesmic are both powerful tools, but […] Read more »

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I’m very happy in my choice of Twitter clients at the moment. Tweetie is my weapon of choice for the Mac desktop, and it has served faithfully since its release. Doesn’t hurt that it’s free, either (though ad-supported). But I’m always glad to try out new […] Read more »

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You’d be more than forgiven for thinking there must be something better out there than either Microsoft’s Outlook or than Apple’s Mail.app for desktop email management. You’d be right, too, especially if you’re looking for something that plays nicely with most major webmail service providers. I’m […] Read more »

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At the start of their careers, most freelancers take on every new client that comes along. But as we mature and gain more experience, we become more discerning when we’re choosing who we work with. This usually happens because we’re starting to specialize, we want to […] Read more »

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It’s the weekend, people, so prime your downloading finger and get ready to make good use of it as I guide you through the latest picks from the App Store. Thanks to the release of OS 3.0 and the iPhone 3GS, there’s been a constant stream […] Read more »

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Every time I apply for a new job, I am always excited to start working. Despite this, some prospects don’t always seem to share my enthusiasm. They might seem uninterested and may stall negotiations or contract signing. How can you tell if a prospect isn’t serious about working with you and what should you do about it? Read more »

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Sometimes doing things via web apps is great. Everything is in one place: your browser. Even so, sometimes having everything in one place isn’t ideal. A browser crash could kill all of your work, not just one component, and it can be harder to keep your […] Read more »

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Recently, I was subcontracting for an ad agency when things went unexpectedly wrong. There had been points in the process when I felt things weren’t quite right, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. In retrospect, I can see that those moments were actually blatant warning signs that the project was going awry.

Now I keep these warning signs in mind. They’re indicators that I need to take immediate action to keep my project on track. If you’re working remotely, that can be much harder to do than if you have daily face-to-face contact with your colleagues, but hopefully these tips will help you avoid the trap I fell into. Read more »

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Today marks the highly-anticipated release of Tweetie for the Mac by atebits, developer of the iPhone version of the same app. Tweetie has enjoyed tremendous success on the iPhone, and for my money is far and away the best mobile client for my web workflow. Which is why I was first in line to download the new Mac client it this A.M. and see if it might be an improvement over Nambu, my current desktop Twitter solution. Olly Farshi over at our sister site TheAppleBlog has a full review, but I wanted to look at it specifically with web work in mind. Read more »

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It quickly became one of the most popular Twitter clients for the iPhone, owing to its impressive feature set and fast, efficient performance, and now it’s coming natively to the Mac, too. I’m talking about Tweetie, by atebits. Tweetie impressed with the ability to follow and […] Read more »

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Nambu is a free social messaging client for Mac OS X. It’s still in beta, but it has swiftly become my client of choice for professional tweeting, thanks to its easy switching between Twitter accounts and a great interface. At the end of last month, fellow […] Read more »

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I like to try to check in with the client once a day. Sure, checking in ticks all the boxes you’d expect: it helps me build a client relationships, ensures I don’t miss any project developments I need to know about, and can help with problem solving. But it achieves two other goals that are equally as important. Read more »

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“Just do your work and then I’ll pay you.” I couldn’t believe what I was reading. My client told me to “just do (my) work” and yet he didn’t want to discuss any of the things that I needed to know to get the work done in the first place.He wanted to do away with the needs analysis stage and just get me to write a 50-page e-book based on a vague one paragraph description. If there’s a web app for telepathy I haven’t seen it, so he shouldn’t expect that I know how to finish a project after the first two emails.

To avoid this problem in the future, I’m reevaluating the way I work with clients. How do I include them in my work process? Can I improve on my current methodology? Read more »

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Some years ago a web designer asked me if I thought it was right for him to design a site for a religious group whose values he completely disagreed with. “The site is actively promoting their beliefs,” he said, “and I’m not sure I want to be a part of that.”

I was reminded of his dilemma last week, when a potential client contacted me to ask if I could write sales copy for his multilevel marketing scheme — at twice my usual fee. After doing a bit of research on the company, however, it became apparent that this person was running a scam.

As freelancers, we sometimes get requests that we find shady. These can range from the above examples to creating promotional materials for companies whose ethics we don’t completely agree with. How do we deal with these requests? Read more »

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If you constantly find yourself flicking between clients and browser windows for the different social networking apps that you use, you might like to try skimmer, a new lifestreaming app that launched into public beta today that aims to streamline your consumption of social media. skimmer […] Read more »

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We were back in the saddle this past week following a couple of weeks of travel and found the tech world takes no time off to let us catch up.  There was the usual mish-mash of netbook news and other doings that you might have missed.  […] Read more »

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A number of different email clients are available for the Mac, but a new piece of software announced at MacWorld takes a new and different approach. Postbox is a new way to manage online communication, aiming to let you spend less time managing messages and more […] Read more »

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In professional services, you are only ever as good as your last engagement. Which is to say, if you have no one to vouch for the quality of your work, then you’ll probably have a hard time finding more. Traditionally, the best way to sell to […] Read more »

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With their latest lineup of products, Apple is pushing the new environmental features in an aggressive way. Rightly so, they are proud of their achievement — going from a heavily criticized Mac and iPod lineup a few years ago, to a set of very environmentally friendly […] Read more »

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