Paid of Smorty
Sm0rty is basically the middle man handling the transactions between bloggers and advertisers. Advertisers get links within posts and articles about their products or sites, and bloggers get paid to blog. Once a blogger selects an opportunity to post about they have up to three days to complete their task. Keep in mind though, that Sm0rty is in Australia and the time limit is posted in Australian time.
At this time Sm0rty is only accepting blogs on their own domain in the form domain.com rather than domain.com/blog. They are accepting blogs that are at least three months old, indexed in Google and that have a minimum of 2 posts per week. Bloggers are paid weekly for they tasks that they have completed. The prices that bloggers are paid for their blog advertising can vary but it’s based on the sites page rank, Alexa rank and it seems how quickly tasks are returned and if they are accepted once handed in. Bloggers with high ratings can apparently make up to $100 per paid post. The minimum price is supposed to be set at $6, but at this time I can see one opportunity that is valued at $3.00.
You will be paid weekly, which is very quick when compared to other paid to blog sites. Also you can post the same opportunity on different blogs which gives more money for the same content. Opportunities are directly sent to admin panel and as well as emails. Hence you dont need to check back frequently about the opportunities.
Also smorty gives you enough time i.e. 72 hours after you accept the opportunity. Hence you don’t need panic in writing the article. Also the review should be between 150 to 400 words.
If you’d like to get paid to blog why don’t you try signing up with Sm0rty and see if your site gets accepted.
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Revitalizing My Portfolio & Freelance Work
When I switched over to the current design, I consciously excluded my portfolio page from the site alltogether, because at that stage it was really outdated and I wasn’t looking for freelance work anyway (since I was employed full-time). Along with that, I needed to redesign my portfolio from the ground up, to showcase my work in a better, more efficient way. Since I’m back in the freelance business and finally redesigning this blog again (because I don’t like this design), my portfolio needs some urgent attention…
Only problem is that simply redesigning my portfolio / showcase, will not solve this problem completely, because the designs within my portfolio is really outdated. Since launching Premium News last year (beginning of November 07), most of my time has been committed to designing, developing, upgrading & supporting my premium themes, which didn’t leave a lot of time for custom client work. Throw into the mix, my 2 months’ of being a full-time employee, and time becomes even more criticial.
So the designs are outdated - so what!? Right? Nah… You see the problem is, I’m not happy with most of the stuff that’s in my portfolio and even though it represents my journey as a web designer, my skills are far more advanced today than they were 12 months ago. So even though I will retain some of my older work, it is my new stuff that I’d like to showcase instead.
Work in Progress
I’m currently working on custom designs for three clients: a redesign for Mike Stopforth’s blog, a complete overhaul of Christine Meintjes’ website & blog (switching her to WordPress) and also redesigning Skyrove’s WiFi Hotspot portal pages. I’m very excited about all three of these projects, as they are the first freelance projects I’m undertaking since getting back to freelancing. I’d obviously love to show you these design mockups at this stage (they’re mostly done already and ready for coding), but I’m sure the respective owners would rather show you themselves when they’re ready to launch their new designs…
One thing I am however sure of - and that is that I’m currently doing some of my best design work to date. I really feel inspired every single time I open Photoshop and I’m finding more and more inspiration from all over (online & offline). This all bodes very well for my journey as a freelancer, as well as my pending journey into starting a business (more about that very, very soon).
Freelance Availability
So considering all that I’ve said above, I’d love to take on some new custom client work… You can consider me to be available and to have the capacity to take on your projects! I’m reopening my contact form and I’d love to hear from you if you need a web designer… I’ll also provide you with examples of my latest work - so feel free to request them!
I really look forward to showcasing my latest work… I’m sure you’ll approve! 
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Revitalizing My Portfolio & Freelance Work
When I switched over to the current design, I consciously excluded my portfolio page from the site alltogether, because at that stage it was really outdated and I wasn’t looking for freelance work anyway (since I was employed full-time). Along with that, I needed to redesign my portfolio from the ground up, to showcase my work in a better, more efficient way. Since I’m back in the freelance business and finally redesigning this blog again (because I don’t like this design), my portfolio needs some urgent attention…
Only problem is that simply redesigning my portfolio / showcase, will not solve this problem completely, because the designs within my portfolio is really outdated. Since launching Premium News last year (beginning of November 07), most of my time has been committed to designing, developing, upgrading & supporting my premium themes, which didn’t leave a lot of time for custom client work. Throw into the mix, my 2 months’ of being a full-time employee, and time becomes even more criticial.
So the designs are outdated - so what!? Right? Nah… You see the problem is, I’m not happy with most of the stuff that’s in my portfolio and even though it represents my journey as a web designer, my skills are far more advanced today than they were 12 months ago. So even though I will retain some of my older work, it is my new stuff that I’d like to showcase instead.
Work in Progress
I’m currently working on custom designs for three clients: a redesign for Mike Stopforth’s blog, a complete overhaul of Christine Meintjes’ website & blog (switching her to WordPress) and also redesigning Skyrove’s WiFi Hotspot portal pages. I’m very excited about all three of these projects, as they are the first freelance projects I’m undertaking since getting back to freelancing. I’d obviously love to show you these design mockups at this stage (they’re mostly done already and ready for coding), but I’m sure the respective owners would rather show you themselves when they’re ready to launch their new designs…
One thing I am however sure of - and that is that I’m currently doing some of my best design work to date. I really feel inspired every single time I open Photoshop and I’m finding more and more inspiration from all over (online & offline). This all bodes very well for my journey as a freelancer, as well as my pending journey into starting a business (more about that very, very soon).
Freelance Availability
So considering all that I’ve said above, I’d love to take on some new custom client work… You can consider me to be available and to have the capacity to take on your projects! I’m reopening my contact form and I’d love to hear from you if you need a web designer… I’ll also provide you with examples of my latest work - so feel free to request them!
I really look forward to showcasing my latest work… I’m sure you’ll approve!
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Getting Un(Stuck)
After feeling a bit down yesterday, I really feel so much better today… I know that might sound a bit temperamental of me, but there’s a pretty good reason for the change in my general mood within only 24 hours. See - I went back to the starting point and spent some time today, just doing what I like most: creating and designing.
Late last night, I set out about mocking up a brand new design (with the idea of using it for a premium theme), but I got so carried away with the design, that I decided not to worry about all the complexities involved with creating and selling a premium theme; and instead I decided to release it as a free theme.
The one thing that I did to, was to limit the time I spent on the theme, as it is not directly profitable and obviously client work needed to get priority. The second thing I did was to make sure that all my other work and e-mails were up to date (I really zipped through the urgent workload this morning!), to allow me the time to work on something fun for a bit. After finishing the theme, I actually remembered Carsonified doing something along the same principle with HugMyMac earlier this year…
Fact is, I just realized yesterday that 90% of what I was doing online, was contributing to my business and earnings in some way; thus not all0wing for much fun or freedom. So this theme was an attempt to get back to what I really enjoy and inject some much-needed fun into my daily operations. I’ve found that it is really easy to get stuck in this rat race of earning a living, growing a business etc. - even when you’re a freelancer (think it’s even harder that way, as you have no guarantees in terms of your monthly income) - but also, that it is extremely easy to get out and come unstuck again…
Work should be fun. And if it’s not, make it fun again!
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Getting Stuck
It’s been a month since I quit my job to go back to freelancing and working for myself; and even though it has been great to get back to doing my own thing, it has not been without a few stumbling blocks along the way… I guess my situation is hardly unique (in comparison to other freelancers around the globe), but I still think it’s worthy of a blog post…
One of my main gripes at this stage, is that I haven’t been able to really grow my business; instead I have just managed to sustain a certain level of work and income. And I’ve been rather privileged from the perspective that my premium themes provides me with a passive income every month - so I have more time to focus on other client projects. Now, even though the themes has been selling well and I’ve been earning good money, I still haven’t managed to grow my business as I would’ve hoped.
I’m realistic about the kind of growth that I expected, considering that I had to recover from the two months that I spent working at a corporate. But again, I still expected some growth at least…
So I’ve spent some time thinking about what exactly is holding me back and one of the main things is definitely e-mail. I spend so much of my time every day, just responding to a variety of e-mails (most of which don’t create or contribute to revenue), that I’m really getting to that point where I just want to start deleting e-mails… My problem is further compounded by my commitment to respond to any e-mail within 24 hours of receiving it and also responding in a personal, non-robotic manner.
Another major factor that has contributed to my current situation, has been my inexperience in selling digital products (premium themes again). I can openly admit that every day is still a learning curve with regards to providing support, releasing upgrades for our themes and continuously coming up with new product ideas. So it’s a question of spending time every day to learn about the most efficient & effective way of handling digital product processes.
Ultimately, I’m really happy about where I’m at, at this stage of my life. I’m enjoying my “job” and I’m enjoying blogging about my journey in this regard. If I wasn’t frustrated by my so-called lack of growth, I couldn’t claim to be ambitious in anyway; as it comes down to being and doing better every single day.
Every business decision, you’ll make in life, will present its own, unique stumbling blocks; the challenge however is to not get tied down and not get stuck in a hole which you can’t dig yourself out of…
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