Alternatives To Bidding Sites: Client Hunting Grounds For Freelancers

If you’re a freelancer, it goes without mentioning that it’s a field of its own, with its own unique challenges: working remotely, managing time and keeping clients satisfied. And it’s not for everybody.  However, the market is gradually becoming more and more saturated with people leaving their full-time jobs to start freelancing.  This has made business quite difficult for veteran freelancers, who are beginning to find it extremely hard to find clients that will pay them according to their respective skills and expertise.

For example, the average rate for a freelance professional content writer is around $10 to $30 (USD) per hour and there was a time when it was easy to find work that paid this much on bidding sites such as Odesk and Elance.

Now because of this recent influx, clients have gotten used to taking advantage of newbie freelancers who are willing to work for $1 an hour, or worse $1 for 500 words of content or even eviler for free just to build a portfolio for themselves in the hope that in the future they can secure bigger deals that pay better.  And since they’re new, impressing the client is their primary objective, which usually means somewhat satisfying results that keep cheapskate clients coming back for more.

Due to the competitive nature of this business, it’s in every veteran freelancer’s best interest to stay one step ahead of the rest.  And I have decided to share some of my methods of finding work that is interesting, pays more and adds more long-term clients to my list.

New freelancers usually hang around bidding sites and marketplaces such as Odesk.com, Elance.com and Guru.com, but do not delve deep enough to find clients that value quality over quantity and are not willing to lower their expectations or risk their deadlines by hiring an inexperienced person.

While there’s no one way to achieve success with freelancing, speaking from experience: I’ve found that the best way to find work and acquire clients is through a combination of job boards, social apps, bidding sites and online freelance marketplaces.

In addition to all my other techniques, I still use Odesk and it’s still quite profitable if you know how to sum-up clients and choose the right ones to work with.

Here are some of the other places I find some pretty high-profile work from:

TWITTER.COM
Twitter is considered by some, a breeding ground for babbling, time squandering people who have nothing better to do then tell people about how boring they’re day was, or how they made a huge mistake at work etcetera… etcetera.  But if you use twitter, you’ve probably already discovered some really intelligent people who actually make every one of those 140 words count, whether it’s by giving good advice, a link to an interesting article, a case study, or their perspective on business, current events or particular situations.

Due to the fact that a lot of these sensible people are actually entrepreneurs, CEOs and small business owners that are always looking for someone or something that can help them in one way or another; advertising your skills and services there can be quite rewarding.  I have personally secured a number of long term clients using twitter and I recommended it to any freelancer that is actually looking for some solid work.

LINKEDIN.COM

A social media app, quite similar to Facebook but geared towards career professionals; LinkedIn lets you add connections and build an online profile quite the same as an online resume.  LinkedIn has helped millions of students and professionals find full-time, part-time and freelance jobs. And is one of the best ways to meet new clients and find freelance work.  The quickest way to get started is to search for and join LinkedIn groups that provide job listings and help clients meet freelancers and vice versa.

JOB BOARDS

The first place that most people looking to hire new employees, whether full-time, part-time or freelance is to visit classifieds sites and forums.  They’ll usually Google for job boards and places where they can post details of vacancies and requirements etc.  Over the past couple of years a number of freelance job boards have been launched with freelancers in mind and prospective clients have found success with these sites, since they offer a place where they can communicate with and find professional freelancers.

Here’s a list of some of the most popular freelance job boards (in no particular order), some of which have helped me find long-term work and build rapport with some great clients:

• KROP.

• FRESH WEB JOBS.

• COROFLOT.

• AUTHENTIC JOBS.

• FREELANCE SWITCH.

• GO FREELANCE.

• SOLOGIG.

• PROGRAMMER MEET DESIGNER.

FREELANCE JOB AGGREGATORS AND SEARCH ENGINES

Created for the very purpose of helping freelancers find jobs posted all over the web, these sites allow you to search for and browse through job listings posted by clients all over the world.  The most practical way to get started is to simply visit one of these sites and search for jobs that require a skill you possess:

• DONANZA.

• GET APPS DONE.

• ALL FREELANCE.

If you have some relevant advice or sites to share, please leave me a comment and I’ll add them here.

Freelancing, The Odesk Way!

Apart from all the other advice I can give you.  The most important thing to remember is to be determined and you’ll get what you want in life.

When I started out as a freelancer, I couldn’t take a risk and leave my fulltime job (40+ hours a week), I was always tired.  And I found it hard to find clients, when I did; I was either underpaid or stuck with job that really didn’t interest me.   But I stuck with my plan, I was determined and today I’m a lot better off than I was back then.

I tried every which way to find work, online sites, domestic clients, word-of-mouth marketing. But only one avenue was truly a payoff, ODESK.

To put it simply: Odesk is an online human resource contractor.  They provide small businesses, corporations and even individuals with a platform to outsource work.  And freelancers and even businesses with the means to find work and get paid.

This article is aimed at amateur freelancers who need help getting started, here’s why I selected Odesk and not any of the other, similar sites out there (Elance, Freelancer.com, Guru etc.):

Guaranteed payment for the time you work. 
Odesk guarantees payment on hourly-jobs, so you never have to worry about your hard work going in vein.  And even protects employers from unscrupulous freelancers.

Leave the accounting to them.
No accounting experience is required to ensure that your freelance finances are in check.  Odesk takes care of invoicing, timesheets and lets you pull up the records when you want them.

Work where you want, when you want and on jobs that really interest you.
All you need is the expertise, a computer and the internet.

Get paid what you deserve with an hourly rate.
Odesk offers thousands of jobs from employers that are will to pay you on an hourly basis.  And even provides you with the latest market trends based on your skillset, so you know you're being paid accordingly.

Access jobs from around the world.
From the United States of America, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Japan, China to Australia and the rest of the world.

No membership or upfront fees.
Odesk doesn’t charge you, until you’ve found a job.  Odesk keeps 10% of the your earnings once you have been paid.  It’s a fair deal, since they’re helping you find work and establish yourself..

Build your own business online.
If you’ve intentionally or unintentionally bitten off more than you can chew and found enough work, you can hire freelancers, negotiate a rate and have them work for you.
  
Here are some tips to help get you started:

Getting started.
Whether you’re an individual freelancer or a business looking for work: It’s simple; to start offering your services to employers you need to sign-up for an account, which doesn’t take too long.

Build a killer profile.
Writing a great profile is the first step towards success.  Your profile should emphasize on your expertise, experience and achievements and should be capable of drawing prospective clients instead of being a bore.  Here are some great tips.

Maintain an updated portfolio.
Odesk allows contractors (freelancers) to create and maintain an online portfolio, you can upload images, include descriptions and links to jobs you’ve done in the past.

Passing tests.
Odesk includes numerous online skill tests, which allow you to prove your capabilities.  The more tests you complete the more chances of scoring interviews with employers.

Applying to jobs.
Odesk allows employers to categorize jobs into sections according to the skills required.  For instance if you’re looking for web design jobs, simply visit that section and start applying to the jobs there.  When applying to jobs you are required to submit a cover letter for the employer to review.  Here’s a great article on writing a killer cover letter.

Start working.
Once an employer invites you to an interview, it’s up to you to seal the deal. Once the employer is satisfied and hires you, you can start working,

Odesk Team.
Odesk team allows you to log the hours you work and maintain an online work diary, so that your employers know you are working and can pay you accordingly.  Read more about Odesk team here.

Remember to read the Odesk Blog for informative articles from successful freelancers and employers.

Become A Freelancer

Why Freelancing is Taking Over:

The recent economic recession has seen jobless rates sky rocket and for many of the lucky people who still have jobs has resulted in wage cuts and revoked employment benefits.  

But even in these troubling times, people are finding new ways to earn.

With employers hesitant to hire full-time employees, many business owners are opting to hire freelancers.

Business owners need their work done and for that they require employees. Hiring means committing to a monthly salary and possibly providing benefits to employees that are potential liabilities. Considering that these employees may not even have enough work to keep them busy 40 hours a week and justify their salaries. 

That’s where freelancers come in; a freelancer does the work as and when it arises and is paid once it’s complete.  Long-term freelancers are usually grateful and will keep in contact with the hope of acquiring more work.  And businesses have a lot more options, considering that these freelancers work from different parts of the world, possibly even third word countries where the economies are not stable and because of this are quite inexpensive.  They belong to and have mastered their own respective fields.  And can be hired according to requirements: for instance, some of the world’s most proficient software engineers, call center agents and graphics designers come from Pakistan, India and the Philippines (not necessarily in that particular order).  

Finding Work:

If you’re an aspiring freelancer trying to find work relative to your career field and capabilities, the fastest way to do so is to visit online sites such as Odesk, Elance and Freelancer.com to name a few.  These sites serve the same purpose as a real-world human resource contractor,   i.e. providing businesses and individuals, referred to as ‘prospective clients or clients’ from here on, with a platform for hiring qualified man-power.

These sites let prospective clients post details of the jobs they need done and allow freelancers to submit bids for the jobs.  Once the client has found a freelancer that meets his/her requirements (usually judged by the cover letter submitted with the bid and the freelancers profile), can proceed to hire the freelancer or negotiate on the terms.

The Cons of Being a Freelancer:

The benefits of being a freelancer are endless, but there are draw-backs as well.  For example: most reliable full-time employees have a boss to report to, hence they stick to deadlines, maintain quality of work and are professional.   Whereas freelancers usually work remotely (from home) and have to report to their clients only at certain times of the day/week and staying professional and adhering to deadlines can be daunting when you’re not at an office desk and don’t have to face a boss. And by face I mean literally stare them in the eyes.

Full-time employees also retain the benefit of being spoon-fed, bosses will tell them exactly what they want, show them examples and will regularly check-up on the work being done and sometimes even guide them.  Freelancers on-the-other-hand are in most cases expected, by the client, to understand the requirements and complexities of the task over the phone or in written, which makes envisioning what the finished job would look like quite difficult.

Unlike freelancers, most full-time employees know that they will be paid at the end of the month.  Whereas freelancers run the risk of being duped by unscrupulous clients.  Many freelance contractor sites mentioned earlier in this article have enforced methods to prevent this from happening; however it is still something to be taken very seriously and can happen.  In the end, it’s all up to the freelancer to judge whether the client is capable of fraud and to build long-term rapport with reliable clients and vice versa.

Full-time employers usually provide employees with benefits such as basic health and life insurance, however most freelancers are left to fend for themselves.  Odesk recently introduced their own health benefit plans (at a rather affordable per month rate) to help freelancers based in the United States deal with this problem.

Being a freelancer myself, I have reaped the rewards of hard work, but along the way have been faced with some of these problems.

Please All Types of Clients: Guide to Choosing Color Combinations

A must read article for web and graphic designers:

Please All Types of Clients: Guide to Choosing Color Combinations

DIY surface mount soldering iron for under $20

Recently had a motherboard go bust: one of the surface mount resistors fell off the board because of incorrect heat redirection from the processor and a DIY water cooler.

  I did manage to find a component identical to the one originally installed on the motherboard. But what I didn't realize, is that its practically impossible to solder such a tiny component (the size of a red ant) to the board, without an SMD rework station , which costs anywhere from $200 - $800 depending on the make and model.

Luckily, I came this tutorial which converts a standard soldering iron into a surface mount soldering iron for under $20. And after completing my own, I was able to get my old server board chugging along again.

A must read for DIY geeks:
How-To: Make a surface mount soldering iron -- Engadget

Pure CSS folded-corner effect – Nicolas Gallagher – Blog & Ephemera

Pure CSS folded-corner effect – Nicolas Gallagher – Blog & Ephemera

SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday – Link Diversity from Scott Willoughby

SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday - Link Diversity from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.

http://www.seomoz.org/

URL Redirects and Forwarding from an SEO Perspective

There are many reasons for redirecting URLs: Web pages may have moved but their old URLs may still be bookmarked by visitors, indexed by search engines and back or reciprocally linked by other websites.

Without a redirect this traffic would be lost to a 404 Server Error, the website will not only lose visitors but search engine reputation (links, page-rank and possibly even its listing) as well.

There are several ways to redirect domains; however, some of them are not search engine friendly. The best way to redirect URLs is to use a 301 redirect, since major search engines like Google and Yahoo endorse 301 redirects. 

This article sums up URL redirection methods, along with pro's and con's.

THE ULTIMATE FIREFOX OPTIMIZATION GUIDE

Firefox may well be almost everyone’s favorite browser and while it’s not absolutely perfect, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be. I’ve compiled a list of the best tips, tricks, tweaks and fixes from the world of geeks.
This guide primarily applies to Firefox 3.5 but most of the fixes should work with older versions.

First WGA Now OGA! OMG!!!

As if Windows Genuine Advantage Validation wasn’t enough trouble.  For the past six months or so, I had been hearing reports of Microsoft Office users, receiving a message after opening Office applications such as Word, Excel and Outlook.  The message says that the copy of Office is not genuine and after 15 to 20 days renders the software inaccessible.  Sure! Microsoft wants to protect their software from piracy, but what really surprised me is that this message is, in some cases, affecting genuine Office users.

Luckily a crack has been released (Microsoft Genuine Advantage Crack).

This crack can fix Windows installations affected by WGA notifications, as well as Office applications affected by Office Genuine Validation.  Simply download the application and follow the onscreen instructions.  The crack is compatible with all versions of Windows and works fine with Windows Vista and 7 (run as admin).

Download

From Depositfiles (Password: www.technize.com)

From Mediafire (Password: www.technize.com)

Download from File Sharing Sites like Rapid Share, Hotfile and EasyShare, Minus the Hassle.

Downloading from file sharing sites like Rapid Share, Hotfile and EasyShare can be extremely annoying, due to the 30 second to 2 minute wait-time before the download begins and the lack of support for download managers.  CryptLoad solves these problems!!

Just copy the download links and CryptLoad takes care of the rest.
The built in Octal Character Recognition even takes care of Captcha’s, and you can queue files for download.


CryptLoad Features:

• Downloading from One-Click-Hosters.
• Decrypt Services.
• Many plug-ins.
• Intelligent download management.
• Parallel downloads.
• Part downloading.
• Automatic router-reconnect.
• Files are ordered in packages.
• Supporting CCF, DLC and RSDF container files.
• Captcha recognition.
• Integrated Update-System.
• Clipboard monitoring for fast link adding.
• Possibility to shutdown the computer after downloads are finished.
• Automatic extraction of downloaded archives.

Download CryptLoad Now

117 Social Network Icon Sets To Spice Up Your Websites

BACKUP OUTLOOK 2007 EMAILS, ACCOUNTS, RULES AND SETTINGS

Outlook users all over the world fear migrating to another computer or simply reinstalling Outlook, primarily because backing up accounts, emails, rules and settings can be a nightmare sometimes.

One of the biggest problems I faced when I started using outlook some years back was that, although I was able to Import/Export emails, I was unable to restore account settings and rules etc.

Now that I have successfully faced my worst fears and migrated Outlook profiles, almost a few hundred times, I created this guide to save others the hassle.

EXPORT YOUR EMAILS FROM AN EXISTING OUTLOOK INSTALLATION:
1. Go to Main Menu of Outlook 2007, Click File and select Data File Management and Account setting window will pop up. The other way is to click on Tools menu and select Account settings from the drop down menu.
2. Click on the Data Files tab. You may have a single data file or multiple data files. These are the Data Files, wherein you store your email messages, tasks, calendar, tasks and other items.
3. Click on the Open Folder icon. Windows Explorer will be opened automatically and will take you to the location where this data file is stored. Now select the outlook.pst and archive.pst file you want to backup.
4. Now you can copy this file to any backup storage device. Make sure that your Outlook is closed before you backup these files.

RESTORE YOUR EMAIL DATA:
Restoring is as simple as to backup your data. All you have to do is copy the backup PST files into the folder that you located when you backed up your work initially.

BACKUP/EXPORT ACCOUNT SETTINGS:
1. Start > Run > type ‘regedit’
2. Locate the following path in your ‘Registry Editor’
3. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Outlook

Now right click on the key outlook and select option: Export and save .reg files to your desired location. You can run the same file while restoring your outlook. This will restore your old outlook profile with all your email accounts settings and rules. You will need to enter your password as Password is not stored into .reg file.

It is difficult to locate the Personal folder files in the previous versions of Outlook; however it’s much simpler in Outlook 2007. Backing up and restoring data is easier, faster with the new Outlook 2007.

THE ULTIMATE FIREFOX OPTIMIZATION GUIDE

Firefox is almost everyone’s favorite browser and while it’s not absolutely perfect, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be. I’ve compiled a list of the best tips, tricks, tweaks and fixes from the world of geeks.
This guide primarily applies to Firefox 3.5 but most of the fixes should work with older versions.


1. Speed up browsing and tweak Firefox:

Use a Blank Homepage, Default Theme and Minimal Extensions for best performance:
Set your homepage to about:blank. Use only must-have extensions with the default theme. Use Adblock Plus and Flashblock to block unwanted ads and Flash.

Optimize Download Options:
a) In Options>Main, choose a folder for your downloads and save all downloads to it automatically. Tick "close the download window automatically when all downloads are finished".
b) Turn off download history from Options>Privacy, Custom settings for history.

c) In Options>Advanced>General>Accessibility:
• Tick Search for text when I start typing
• Untick Use smooth scrolling
• Turn off the spell checker if you don't need it.
• Untick the "Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on startup" option.
• Remove Unused Search Engines from the Drop-down list In the search box, select "Manage Search Engines", and remove any search engines that you don't use. Also turn off the "Show search suggestions" option, if you dont need it.

Clean up your bookmarks and avoid Live Bookmarks:
you probably have a lot of bookmarks in Firefox, you might also have a few dead links, or even duplicate bookmarks. Clean them up using the CheckPlaces Firefox extension, and uninstall it after you’re done.
Firefox checks Live Bookmarks for updates, every hour. Use a dedicated RSS Reader like Google Reader instead. Delete the preset Latest Headlines Live Bookmark.


2. Advanced About:Config Tweaks:


The following two sections are advanced Firefox configuration changes that are simple to make. Enter about:config in the Firefox address bar in an empty tab. Click ‘I’ll be careful, I promise!’.

You can use Firefox’s Safe Mode and select ‘Reset all user preferences to Firefox defaults’ to undo any changes you make. Also, entries you change are displayed in bold, and can be reset using the right-click context-menu.

If an entry does not exist, create it by right-clicking on an empty space, selecting New, and choosing the type of entry as listed.

Advanced Browser Settings:
You can use these recommended values or tweak them as per your system, preference, and browsing habits.
• accessibility.typeaheadfind.enablesound [Boolean]: Change to False to avoid a sound alert if no match is found when you search for text.
• alerts.totalOpenTime [Integer]: Reduce time to show Download Complete alerts to 2000 (2 seconds).
• browser.bookmarks.max_backups [Integer]: Reduce number of bookmark backups to speed up shutdown from 5 to 2.
• browser.cache.disk.parent_directory [String]: Move your Firefox cache to a disk or partition different from your Windows drive by specifying the folder path here.
• browser.download.manager.openDelay [Integer]: Don’t open Downloads window for very short downloads. Set to 2000 (2 second delay).
• browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo [Integer]: Reduce number of closed tabs you can undo from 10 to 4.
• browser.sessionstore.max_windows_undo [Integer]: Reduce number of closed windows you can undo from 3 to 1.
• browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab [Boolean]: Change to False, so that Firefox doesn’t accidentally shut down when you close the last tab.
• browser.urlbar.maxRichResults [Integer]: Reduce maximum number of results in Awesome Bar from 12 to 6.
• dom.popup_maximum [Integer]: Reduce maximum number of simultaneous popups from 20 to 3 or 5.
• security.dialog_enable_delay [Integer]: Reduce delay to wait before installing a new extension to 1000 (1 second). Setting to zero is not recommended because of security risks.

Advanced Network Settings:
These changes are recommended for broadband users with at least a 256 kB/s connection.
• network.dnsCacheEntries [Integer]: Increase number of DNS entries cached from default 20 to 512.
• network.dnsCacheExpiration [Integer]: Increase number of seconds DNS entries are cached from default 60 to 3600.
• network.dns.disableIPv6 [Boolean]: Disable IPv6 if your ISP doesn’t support it (most don’t).
• network.http.max-connections [Integer]: Increase maximum number of simultaneous connections to 48 or 96.
• network.http.max-connections-per-server [Integer]: Increase maximum connections per server from default 15 to 24.
• network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server [Integer]: Increase maximum persistent connections per server from default 6 to 12.
• network.http.pipelining [Boolean]: Change to True to enable HTTP Pipelining.
• network.http.pipelining.maxrequests [Integer]: Increase from default 4 to 8.
• network.prefetch-next [Boolean]: This specifies whether Firefox pre-fetches web pages (and associated cookies) even before you visit them. It is most frequently used to pre-load the first result of a Google search. If you want to improve security and don’t want Firefox to load pages you never actually visit, change this to False. See the FAQ for more information.


3. Stop annoying static and flash ads, save bandwidth and speed up the time it takes to load pages:
Install the Adblock Plus Extension and block unnecessary advertisements.


4. Optimize flash video playback:
a) Upgrade to Flash Player 10
b) Increase the cache size, right click on a flash video while its playing, click "settings" then click the folder icon and increase the local storage volume to unlimited (drag the slider to the right).

5. Speed Up Firefox Load (start-up) Times

Firefox can be noticeably slower to load up the first time in each computing session compared with Internet Explorer. This is because Internet Explorer's core files are already loaded up with Windows at bootup. For the most part not much can be done about Firefox's load up time, aside from perhaps reducing the number of Add-ons you have installed. I don't consider it a big deal, but if you find it annoying, you might want to try Firefox Preloader, a program which attempts to preload portions of Firefox into memory at Windows startup so that Firefox is quicker to launch. Microsoft's own Windows Prefetch feature in XP, or Windows SuperFetch feature in Vista also tries to do this to some extent for all applications, but experiment to see if FFPreloader further improves Firefox load times on your machine.

Build a Powerful PC Repair Suite, For Free (Windows)

With most PC repair/tune-up software’s, such as tune-up utilities and system mechanic, costing almost $40+, most PC users prefer to put up with a slow, buggy, and ‘weighed down’ computer rather than shell out hard earned money. But there is a way to get most of the features offered by costly repair software for free. The software’s below will repair and optimize your computer, in much the same way.

Piriform’s CCleaner is a very effective tool in removing unnecessary files from your hard drive to free up disk space. simply select the categories you want cleaned, such as certain browser files, the temp directory, and log files for various applications, and it's done. CCleaner also contains a registry cleaner, which is fairly effective in removing unneeded registry entries which could potentially slow down your system. CCleaner also has a start-up manager and program uninstaller.

Piriform’s Defraggler differs from other defrag tools, by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive, unless you want to. Simply launch Defraggler, select the file, folder or the entire disk and defragment it in just a few seconds. No more struggling with the lack luster Windows defragmentation tool.

Piriform’s Recuva is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses. This application is simple to use, with a wizard that guides users along the recovery process, and a fast engine that can scan drives at an amazing speed compared to other programs of the kind. Recuva offers two scan options: first, a rapid scan, which can be helpful with recently deleted files; and a complete deep scan that may take some more time, depending on the drive size. After searching and detecting the deleted files, Recuva offers a comfortable way to select the ones you want to rescue. These files may be pictures, music, video, documents, compressed files (.zip and .rar), and other file types.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware: There are loads of malware removers available nowadays and most of them are lightweight applications, which usually means they’re fast and don’t have many features. One such lightweight application is Malwarebytes’ Anti-malware.

Like all these similar pieces of software, Malwarebytes is fast and doesn’t use a lot of resources, but unlike most, Malwarebytes’ Anti-malware provides live protection and full scans for all drives. Another great thing about this program is that its database is updated on a regular basis – at least every two days, which is already very often for such a program, but sometimes they update even more frequently.

Malwarebytes’ Anti-malware is somewhat customizable and has several extra utilities for manual malware removal. The program is available in many languages and works just fine with other anti-viral and anti-spyware software.

GFI backup 2009 Home Edition: is a free, easy-to-use and complete solution, designed for secure backups of all your important documents, pictures, and more. Suitable for beginners and experienced users alike, this tool allows you to back up all your documents, photos, music, emails and programs, via a simple but smart wizard-driven interface.

Using GFI Backup, you can back up your data to virtually any storage device, including local and external disk drives, LAN, CD/DVD, removable devices, remote FTP servers, etc. Restoring your data can be done in minutes, using the common ZIP format, allowing you also to split and span the archive over multiple hard-drives.

This freeware backup solution includes the Sync Task feature, which enables you to synchronize folders from different media. GFI Backup can also be configured to send error or warning notification emails and summary reports for each finished backup task.

Free Online Classified Ad's and Inbound Links

Here is a list of over 80 free, press release sites where you can post free classifieds. Most of these sites are great for SEO, link building and Reputation Management. While most of them have been tested, I was unable to test every single one.

Finding Royalty Free Stock Images

At one point or another, graphics designers find themselves looking for high quality royalty-free stock imagery and vector graphics. And while it is possible to find both using search engines, it can be an extremely lengthy and repetitive process.

Cyclo.ps allows you to search and compare stock images from multiple sites simultaneously, namely Flickr, Shutterstock, BigStockPhoto, Fotolia, stock.xchng, Cutcaster, Photos.com, and stockvault.

You can also sign up for a free account with Cyclo.ps and save images from your search results to your Cyclo.ps account for future use. An account also enables tagging and thumbnail printing.  For vector graphics, there’s always the good old Deviant Art.

XP Performance Tweaks

Do you want to make the very best use of your computer's RAM? There are thousands of websites offering performance tweaks and you could spend the next week or more researching the ones you might like to perform, or you can save yourself a lot of bother and read this article. There are hundreds of XP tweaks, but you only need the handful listed here to obtain a significant performance boost. The rest of the tweaks you might find will only give you minor and often indiscernible performance benefits.
Read More.........