Today I am proud to announce that a little over 24 hours ago I launched my first startup company, Giant Themes. It’s been a hell of a ride for sure, and I am excited to see the positive feedback that’s been given so far. I outlined the ups and downs of launching your first startup over on Guerrilla Freelancing, so if you get a minute to check that out, it’d be greatly appreciated. Continue Reading

Yes, I know it’s Feb. already and this post might seem a little better suited for, say, January 1st, but better late than never So, I want to run down my top three goals for 2010 as it relates to my business. It’s not going to be a long post (I promise), so take a second and check it out and see if you’re in a position to help me achieve my goals – and let me know yours in the comments and I’ll see if I can do anything to help you reach yours. Continue Reading

So, you’d think that being a web designer and having to rely on the countless psd files I create for designs, thousands of fonts I have download as well as the brushes, textures, stock images and other various files that help me run my business, I’d actually have a back up of them somewhere – I don’t.

Until today, that is.

I spent the evening last night (until about 6am) working and realized, what the fuck would I do if something bad happened and my computer crashed? I’ve got a few open client projects as well as my own personal projects that I don’t have any type of back up for, and would cost me a shitload of money if I were to lose the files. Continue Reading

As I write this article, I am listening to some ambient sounds, drowning out the chaos around me, writing in the focused air app and sipping my very first green tea. There’s something soothing about it all.

Wait, let me back track for a minute.

I’m walking through the grocery store and I come across the health food isle. Now, I normally do not spend much time there (if any) but tonight was a bit different. I took a stroll down the isle and started looking at all of the food and drinks they had. I came across the tea section and remembered reading somewhere that green tea was good for you. So, I grabbed a box. 48 tea bags in the box for $4.99 – if I was going to do something healthy, it might as well be cheap too.

But how did I end up here, writing this post and telling you all about my evening at the grocery store? Continue Reading

This past week or so I’ve been trying to put together a new setup on my computer that allows me to track expenses, run my payments from clients into an accounting program, track my to do items and keep track of where I’m at in each respective client project. Today I want to talk a bit about the To Do app I’ve actually picked up – and fell in love with.

The simplicity of this web based to do app is what draws me to it the most, I think. It’s also free (they’ve got a paid plan for “extras” in the future, but what you use now is always going to be free) which is a plus for me as I’m always looking to keep my business bootstrapped where I can. Continue Reading

I’ve been working on a new version of my Tennessee Web Design site here over the last few weeks inbetween client projects and also building my first start up site, GIANT Themes. The design itself is about 70% complete and should be done within the next few weeks. I’m hoping to have the site built some time in Feb.

The best part about the new site is that it features the gorilla every had grown to love (ok, maybe it was just me – but a guy can dream, right?). It’s getting a dominant spot in the design and that is what I’m showing you the sneak peek of here. Let me know what you think and if you’re as excited as I am (if not, it’s ok – I love you anyways). Continue Reading

This is just a temporary message to let you know the site is being put together right now and I just don’t feel like testing it out offline before I put it here. So, watch as I whip the site into shape, add all of the info to it I want and get the site “Live”. I’ll edit this post once the site’s finished and I start putting new posts up.

This article was originally a free e-book for my readers to download if they subscribed to the newsletter list. I have since thrown the newsletter out the window and decided to just give the book away for free here on iamMikeSmith. If you previously signed up to the email newsletter – thank you, and please know you’ll never receive an email from me through that newsletter. If this is your first visit, enjoy

Why Should You Network?

Your goal is to get ahead in your industry right? To make a substantial living and be able to provide for yourself and your family with your skill-set. To brush shoulders with the heavy hitters in your industry and become one yourself. To be remembered as someone remarkable that everyone should model themselves after. If any of these sound familiar, you’re reading the right e-book.

Following in the footsteps of the greats before you is one thing, but carving your own path can be hard to start when you don’t have a foothold in your industry to begin with. In this guide I hope to explain the importance of networking, how you can target the right niche and what you need to do in order to brush shoulders with the influential people in your industry. Continue Reading