I have been searching for some time to find a photoshop plugin to handle image cut outs as opposed to doing it manually and I think I have found one. I have recently been trialing Fluid Mask. A plugin for Photoshop that is designed specifically for photo editors such as myself and makes cutting out images extremely easy. It doesn’t just make it easy, it makes the selections and cut outs a lot cleaner, much more so than doing a perfect selection using the pen tool etc. The blending around the edges of the cut out image is absolutely fantastic, even on complex cut outs such as trees or hair. They all look perfectly natural when overlayed onto the new background. It is worth checking out Fluid Mask even if you are not a photo editor, purely to experience the full capabilities of Photoshop.

You will often find that web designers who gear their service towards local clients will often be more than willing to meet face to face to discuss your needs as opposed to a large, faceless, Internet only operation who will literally send you a specification questionnaire and expect you to know exactly what you want.

You will find lots of options out there, many of which are offering out of this world designs at extremely competitive prices, especially in the web and graphic design sector but there is no substitute for finding a company that you can sit down with face to face and hammer out the spec.

Special Requirement(s):

A link back in the footer

Live Demo | Download

I look forward to hearing what you guys think about the theme and if you feel there can be any improvements made, please do not hesitate to let me know!

My main question is, why can’t both sides just take a cue from their love with social networks and commenting / daily internet speech and follow the acronym of STFU. For two professional companies to do so much bitching in the public eye is really beyond me. Let’s argue about who has better features, which side is “changing the internet”, how much we can harass the other side, and how many fans we have to support our cause.

Both Wordpress and Sixapart have their own pages on Facebook, where you can become a fan and show off your pride to your favorite blogging system. But wait a minute, that’s all it is - a blogging system! If I want to be a fan, I’ll use the system, maybe write some articles on how to use it, recommend it to clients, and etc. I’m not going to embrace it like we’re married or something like that. I’m not going to enlist for the Wordpress or Movable Type army and join in with the other (idiots) who try to defend one side and the other.

Both Wordpress and Sixapart are ego hungry companies. Rather than arguing who is better, why not focus on making new features and improving current ones. While you’re at it, forget about making comparisons, because neither side knows how to do it right.

“You see to most potential buyers when a seller tries to unload a revenue based site that doesn’t seem to require all that much work, a smell hits them right in the face - the smell of bullshit.”

Revenue Based

For the most part when you attempt to sell a site that makes very little or no revenue, it is not all too difficult so long as you provide enough information to entice the buyer. On the other hand when it comes time to sell your first established, revenue based site, it can be extremely difficult. You see to most potential buyers when a seller tries to unload a revenue based site that doesn’t seem to require all that much work, a smell hits them right in the face - the smell of bullshit.

Buyers will literally spend hours looking in to what you - the seller - might know that you’re not letting anyone else on to. To the buyers, it just doesn’t make sense that anyone would consider selling a site that is earning them money. Regardless of what you list for reasons for are selling, it will take a whole lot more to get people to believe you. I’ve found with the Market Theme sale that even people who have contacted me with deep interest in the site have been very skeptical as to why I’m selling. It is up to you to convince the buyer that you’re not here to play games with them, you’re here to make a fair, accurate, and professional sale.

Making the Sale

Tip 1: Write a very detailed for sale post
When you’re selling a site with revenue, the longer and more detailed the for sale post is, the better results you will have. This isn’t like selling a little one page design. Simply saying “Site for sale, looking for $1K OBO” isn’t going to cut it here. I like to break down my for sale posts into a couple main categories. I usually start off with an introduction paragraph or two explaining the site for sale, how it got started, and etc. Next I go into the key to producing the sale - explaining why you want to sell. From there I go onto what the buyer would be getting, the revenue details (where the money comes from, proof of revenue, etc), and finally traffic details. Don’t worry so much about how wordy your post is becoming - any serious buyer is going to take the time to read the whole thing, regardless of how long it might take them.

Tip 2 - Be honest and straightforward to interested buyers
When buyers contact you with inquiries, it means they are pretty damn interested. It’s in your best interest not to lose them and to get them to submit an offer. Many times the first thing they are going to ask about is for a better clarification as to why you’re selling your site. Don’t bullshit them. If they don’t believe your original explanation it means you’re going to need to go a lot further and do a lot more explaining to get them to see the light. Assure them that you are professional and you are not trying to dump faulty goods off with them. If you were in their position, you wouldn’t want to make a big investment only to see it tank because the seller wanted to play games with you. Honesty goes a long way, so be sure to explain to them as detailed as you can as to why you are selling the site. Answer any questions they may have, and be sure to continually ask if they have any other questions that still haven’t been resolved. Be as polite and helpful as possible and you’ll close in on that offer.

Tip 3 - Set a firm price and stick with it
Be sure to ask around and get a ballpark figure as to what your site would be worth. Everyone says something different when it comes to evaluating revenue based sites - some will multiple revenue by 2 times, some up to 5. There really is no perfect formula because everyone’s attitude is different. The key for you is to set that price, whether its on paper or in your mind, and stick to it. There are plenty of sellers out there aiming just to screw buyers over, and there are buyers out there who are out to screw the seller as well. Don’t accept the first offer you get if it isn’t in the range you were looking for. It’s unfair to yourself to sell yourself short like that. Figure out how much it would cost to build your site, add in the total revenue you’ve earned, and how long you’re site has been around for.

In other news, I’m welcoming a couple new authors into the site - Bryan Le and Sahil Lavingia. In an attempt to expand topics and posts, I’m currently still searching for a couple other authors. If you’re interested, I have a really easy going say-what-you-want attitude because DUI isn’t meant to be the most professional place in the world but the most honest. Apply here and we’ll see what happens.

Enjoy.

The Dying Art Form

A couple years ago I would never believe these statements I said above, but now I easily believe them. My work process used to be: 1) sketch out design concepts, 2) make a complete homepage mock / psd, 3) show it to the client and if accepted 4) make additional mockups / psds for subpages. Finally with step 5 I would get to code. If it seemed like an awfully long and draw out process - it was. You could end up doing all four steps only to get to the point where the client says, “You know what we decided not to go ahead with this”. You get stuck with just your down payment, a bunch of PSDs, and a whole lot of wasted time. Having a PSD does have one significant benefit in a situation like this though - the resell value.

But why is the community so stuck on the importance of PSD’s?

About a year ago my design process started changing drastically. After all the Devlounge redesigns when I must have had 10 different fully completed PSD’s along with subpages for each possible Devlounge version (I redesigned DL just about every other day it seemed) I decided I couldn’t do this anymore. I was at the point where I could code fast enough and well enough that I didn’t need a full out visual every time I wanted to go to the drawing board.

From that point on, the process was different.

All of a sudden I had a much shorter, more compact design process. I would still sketch out my initial concept on paper (it’s amazing what you can do with a pen and pencil), but from there I would go right into the code. I could get the entire layout structure of a single page done in an hour or two tops - meaning the skeleton was already done and all that was left was adding graphics and tweaking. Now I could spend minimal time in Photoshop churning out the necessary graphics. Before you knew it, the site was done. Not only had the client still be able to visualize exactly how the site was going to look, but the usually separate process of designing and coding was merged into one - saving time and energy for both you and the client.

My suggestion? If you have a client who can handle not getting a PSD (and really, why would they need it that badly since they obviously can’t do anything with it if they asked you to design a site in the first place?) then don’t give them one. PSD’s and layered documents still have their place, for example in logos (because it is a necessary for an element that will appear in advertisements, business cards, etc), but in the web world? They are just a dying art form that few realize yet.

Linkage

jQuery Slider
A neat article and code sample to download which provides you with a jQuery based slider, which can be used on any numerous amounts of projects and in various situations. Looks pretty cool if you ask me.

33 Free Email Templates
As the title implies, 33 free downloadable and usable email templates from Campaignmonitor. Compatible with Hotmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Gmail, etc, etc. If you’re one to send out newsletter and are looking for a time saver, these could be of help to you.

Charity

There are a few hours left (until 12PM EST tonight) for you to donate to the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon. For those of you unaware of what the Jimmy Fund is, they are a charitable organization aimed at helping those with cancer of all different types. This is the seventh annual radio telethon, and they have already surpassed this years 4 million dollar goal in roughly the past 48 hours. You have until 12PM tonight to donate, so please do so if you can. I gave $100, and every little bit counts.