SJI Forms South Jersey Energy Solutions, LLC; New Company Becomes Umbrella Company for Non-Regulated Subsidiaries

"This new structure will allow our non-regulated companies to become more efficient operationally and to maximize their effectiveness in the marketplace by taking advantage of their natural synergies," said Graham.

Renna will lead a management team that includes:
Kenneth DePriest, vice president, South Jersey Resources Group;
Robert Fatzinger, vice president, South Jersey Energy Service Plus;
David Robbins, treasurer; and Jane Kelly, general counsel & secretary.

South Jersey Industries is an energy services holding company for South Jersey Gas, South Jersey Energy Solutions, LLC and SJI Services, LLC. Visit http://www.sjindustries.com for more information about SJI and its subsidiaries.

What should you be looking for from an umbrella company?

Umbrella companies cannot dictate what an individual can claim as expenses – only the Inland Revenue can do that. Some companies advertise a ‘special dispensation’ and imply that the expenses listed are those that you are entitled to claim, this is not the case. To claim a cost as an expense you must be able to prove that it is ‘wholly and exclusively incurred in carrying out the duties of the employment’. Basically, if you haven’t spent it you can’t claim it, if you can’t prove you spent it you can’t claim it and if you can’t prove that you incurred the cost because of the contract you can’t claim it.

A dispensation is purely a list of expenses that your umbrella company is not compelled to record on a P11D. Normally when expenses are paid to an employee a Company is required to complete a P11D. A dispensation means this is not necessary for umbrella companies for those expenses which it covers. All umbrella companies have dispensations.

Still within the thorny subject of expenses – you must therefore obtain a receipt for any and every expense that you claim. If you claim an expense and you cannot prove that you have incurred the cost an Inland Revenue investigation would result in you having to pay the underpaid tax; if the Inland Revenue considered that you were trying to avoid paying tax by falsifying expense claims you could also be fined. Any umbrella company that claims that you are protected from Inland Revenue investigation is lying – it is a simple as that!

All umbrella companies will advertise that they are IR35 compliant simply because the legislation becomes irrelevant as you have no option but to be paid via PAYE. However, the Inland Revenue will never ‘approve’ an umbrella company or their expenses policy and you should be wary of any company that makes such a claim.

Hypercolor T shirts, Members Only Jackets, and Logos?

A few weeks ago, Art Gallery of Ontario unveiled a new logo. The new AGO logo was designed by Bruce Mau of Done by Toronto . I’m not really sure what I think of it. Sometimes when I look at the logo it gives me a headache and other times I find myself wanting to tight roll my jeans and bust out my old Members Only jacket.

I never thought that logo design would be cyclical to the point that we went back to using colors and design like 2012 Olympics and AGO. I suppose that both are memorable for being different, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good logo.

Logo Design Podcast 17: S I M P L I F Y

In our 17th Podcast installation, Paul talks about simplifying your logo. Things such as tag lines, too many colors, awkward readability, too many words, trademark symbols etc., often are the single biggest detriment to a well designed logo/website etc.

By focusing on the essentials, you allow passers-by to quickly focus on them as well. Generally the 3 second rule is the standard to live by. If someone cannot visually ingest and comprehend your logo in 3 seconds or less, get out the scissors and start trimming!

Logo Design Podcast 16: How to Remake and Refresh an Existing Logo

Paul shows a very easy way to satisfy the customer in maintaining multiple aspects in a logo, if absolutely necessary. Good design starts with simplicity, but in cases where that is not possible…here ya go!

A Love Letter to Flash

Dearest Flash,

It's come to my attention that even in the past year, people have continued to be unkind to you, calling you useless, annoying, and the bane of a content-driven internet. I've heard that your reputation continues to be marred by certain miscreants who abuse you and say all manner of insult against you. It's not your fault that you've been mishandled and forced to do things that you were never meant to do. So I write this letter as a reaffirmation of my love to you, letting you know why I will continue to love and support you.

First, I love how you continually keep yourself fresh, changing on almost a yearly basis. I know that most of the arguments against you are based on who you were 5 years ago, when you were still dressing in Actionscript 1.0 and using those silly shape tweens (I've finally forgiven you for those). Over the last few years, you have won over this programmer's heart with object-oriented modeling, unified event handling, and a new virtual machine. Even your graphical advances like blending effects and custom anti-aliasing have made the designer in me smile. Such versatility has great potential and I've even seen it at work in more complex websites like Road Runner's (to be honest, I couldn't believe it was you at first).

Furthermore, you have brought so much beauty and yes, even accessibility, to many industries. Who would ever use YouTube if it required Real Media Player? Or who would visit Kongregate only to find Java-based games? Where would I get my creative fix if not for TheFWA.com? You continue to make photography vibrant and education fun. You've even visited the business sector, providing clean visualizations for Google Analytics and Yahoo Finance.

10 Absolute "Nos!" for Freelancers

1) Can you show me a mock-up to help us choose a designer/developer? No.
I fell for this once when I was young and naive. I made no money and wasted lots of time. Don't do unpaid work for the chance to be paid -- this wouldn't fly in any other industry, so why web design? The best case scenario (though rare) is that you get a job with a client who knows that you'll work for free when necessary. The worst case scenario is that they don't pay you, and still use your stuff, knowing you don't have the legal resources to do anything about it. Most likely though, you’ll just waste time.

2) Can you give us a discount rate? No.
There are A LOT of companies out there that do not see web design as a service worth more than $20 an hour. These should never be your clients. In my early post-college years, I used to value "getting the job" so highly, I would take on an inordinate amount of work for the pay. Let me tell you that it's not worth it. Ever. Remember, you may be doing this company a favor, but on the flip side, you're hurting your own future, and your family's. Nowadays, I give my hourly rate immediately, and it weeds out many potential clients. It's simple math really -- if doubling your rate loses half your client work, then you're still making as much in half the time. If you do excellent work, get paid for it – there will always be comparable "firms" charging double what you are.

3) Will you register and host my site? No.
Sure it seems like a good idea -- free recurring revenue right? Well, maybe... if you can first get them to pay, and then if you can justify making $10 a month for the endless phone support you'll have to give at all hours of the night. You see, once the client thinks that you are responsible for their email and website functionality, you WILL get called all the time when their email shows the slightest wavering or their website 404s for any reason on their home computer. Believe it or not, I've even known someone who had a client call about his cell phone functionality just because my friend hosted his site. Don't do it...it's not worth it. Give them a registrar and hosting company and let them sign up themselves.

4) Can you copy this site? No.
Now you may think that I answer "No" strictly from a moral standpoint, and although that is true, there are other equally important reasons. First, if they're copying a site, they have shady ethics themselves and the chances of you getting paid on time and in the full amount are unlikely. Second, doing this type of work reduces you to a monkey, and although some of your work may be like this to pay the bills, why purposely pursue it? Third, if it's a true copy, the only benefit you may receive is payment - you really won't get to use it for a portfolio or example work, and furthermore, this type of client is one you do not want work from in the future.

5) Can I pay for my e-commerce site from my website sales? No.
I hate to be the pessimist, but when I am asked this, I want to tell them that they most likely won't make any money so they might as well ask me to do it for free. Yes, I know there are exceptions, so sometimes I will ask them about their business, marketing, and revenue plans, which 99% of them don't have. They just thought that selling t-shirts would be a novel idea for the internet. I usually go into a spiel about having to support me and my family, and I can't do it with speculative work -- I then recommend Yahoo! Shopping or CafePress, and 9 times out of 10, they never get their site up anyways.

6) I have a great idea. Do you want to...? No.
Not much different from #5, but could be a much larger time waster if you buy in. Again, not trying to be a jerk, but if the person adds little to the potential business outside of speaking an idea, then any work you proceed to do is mere charity (which may be okay with you). But to be honest, I'd rather be charitable with my family and friends and make them partners for free versus partnering with a stranger. Trust me, if someone really has a great idea, he will make you partners AND pay you as well.

7) Do you have an IM account? No.
I might give it out if it's to a person I can trust during an intensive project, but as a general policy, I tell clients that it's my general policy not to. The reason here is obvious -- you have a life and other clients beyond them. Many clients see you as an on-call employee, and this is bad. This is why you quit your day job...

8) Can I just pay the whole amount when it's done? No.
I require 50% up front (unless it's a huge job -- then maybe 33%). I need that assurance that they have "bought in" on this project, and that I can plan on the income, pay bills, and eat. People who want to pay at the end are much more likely to back out after you've done tons of work.

9) Is there any way you could get this done tonight or this weekend? No.
Once they know that you helped them out one time, they will expect it in the future. Now you might choose to get extra done at night (I do all the time), but don't start making promises about getting things done at night or on the weekends/vacation. I know a lot of freelancers that charge night/weekend hours as well, so that might be a possible route to take. Because the reason you freelance is for the freedom, right? Right?

10) Can I be sure you won't use this work in anything else? No.
This is a very sensitive subject because most clients misunderstand it (intellectual property is a tricky subject anyways). In my Terms and Conditions that I require all new clients to sign, I make sure they know that (1) their code has utilized code from other projects which I haven't charged them for, and (2) I will probably use code from their project on other projects, and (3) they own the code and implementation of the project (finished website), but not the actual code pieces (login system, image uploader, etc.). I pride myself in productivity and speed, and I need to use other code all the time to accomplish this. Not to mention that I sell stock Flash which I may need old code to help build. They're not paying you to create code that they in turn will sell, so make sure they know that it's the implementation and not the coding that's theirs.

There are others I'm sure. Feel free to add your own and remember, it's the opportunities you avoid that will define your success just as much as the ones you take...

Note: I've gotten a good deal of traffic and comments on this post the last few days. Now that you've finished, keep this in mind: this post is by no means a systematic, all-inclusive look at the relationship of freelancers and clients. In fact, I am much more likely to work all night for a client just because I love the client and/or project; however, such observations are moot in a post that is defining the negatives of freelancing. So don't think that this list is a holistic philosophy, but merely a guide that has helped me avoid some pitfalls I myself have fallen into.

8 Web Design Mistakes That Developers Make

Now I understand that a programmer may never need to know anything about design (or for that matter, a designer doesn't ever need to program). But the truth is, every programmer has personal projects, frugal clients, or management roles that require design. Furthermore, I can say that often, a freelancer's greatest asset in pitching potential clients is their keen understanding of the entire website building process. So coming from someone who studied as a developer but now also does design (or at least attempts to), here are 8 mistakes I've either heard or made myself.


"I Know What Looks Good (and I Have Photoshop)"
It's one thing to be a bad designer. It's a far worse matter to be a bad designer and think that you're good. Every good designer has a well-calibrated "design compass" that comes from constantly looking at good designs. You need to spend time looking at great designs from sites like TheFWA, FaveUp, Design is Kinky, and my personal favorite, the Behance Network. You might also want to pick up the occasional design magazine like HOW or print (note that both are U.S. magazines and may be more expensive internationally). Just as good programmers enjoy looking at (and usually critiquing) other people's code, a good designer is always scanning other people's work, whether it be a website or billboard or menu. Without a good "design compass," no amount of Photoshop filters will save you.

8 Reasons to Redesign Your Blog

1. Things Have Gotten Messy
Blogs evolve over time and although your layout and navigation seem intuitive to you, you've also been looking at it every day. Furthermore, you've probably added new sections and ideas along the way, finding ways to fit the content in a design that might not support it. Since a blog's core is its content, sometimes you need to clean up your existing design to make access to this content easier.

2. Your Brand Needs Refocusing
As noted, blogs tend to evolve with new ideas all the time. Furthermore, the goals you originally had for your site have either been reached or have drastically changed. Consider what your new goals are and change your site accordingly. Just make sure you plan for the next year, not just the next month.

3. The Community Needs Improving
Although the camaraderie among bloggers is strong, blogs in and of themselves aren't really "communities" since only a tiny percentage of visitors ever participate in the comments. However, there is still great value amongst those who do choose to participate, so it's always good to promote that. One method of promoting community started here are group advice posts. Another is adding robustness to your comment section, using features like avatars (we're now using gravatars), comment threading, and email notification.

4. You've Ignored Your Own Advice
We bloggers can be quite didactic at times, listing out rules and reasons for various activities, including blogging. So depending on your topic, just make sure your blog is in line with the advice you dispense. If you're a blogger who covers websites, you should probably have decent standards of XHTML and CSS. (Yes, that means we finally replaced the tables in the sidebar with CSS [although there are still other tasks that need attention]).

5. It Makes Business Sense
No need to beat around the bush...if you need a better layout for advertising or sales, then do it. Blogging can be quite the timely exercise, so if you can cover some time and expense, you should plan for it. Just do it in a tasteful way, remembering that you always need content and visitors first. There's nothing shameful with making money (says this author who's currently reading Atlas Shrugged).

6. The People Demand It
You should always file away suggestions the you've received from others. Chances are, your visitors are a bit more objective about your site than you are. So if people say that your navigation is confusing, then that means that your navigation is confusing. Your blog's success is directly proportional to your visitors' perception of it. Take their advice.

7. The Analytics Demand It
I would also suggest that occasionally, you check your visitor analytics and have a pretty good idea of where your traffic comes from, what they click on, and what pages they leave from. Although such data can be misinterpreted a hundred different ways, if there are obvious flags (like a high bounce rate or a low average visit time), you should try to address them with a new design.

8. You Really, Really Want To
It's your blog, and if you really want to redesign it, then go for it. Although the objective reasons above should play a part in the decision, if you're passionate about a redesign (or anything else for that matter), excellence often follows. Just don't get carried away to the point that your content creation becomes secondary to your design creation.

6 Places that Flash Does Not Belong

1. Website Intros
Let's get the obvious out of the way. Websites exist for their visitors, not the other way around. I see almost no use ever for a Flash intro (or really, any website intro), unless your website strategy includes annoying visitors and wasting other people's time. This isn't to say that you shouldn't have a decent preloader or a smooth transition into your site, but anything more than a second or two of Flash before the actual site is a bad idea.

2. Sites with SEO Objectives
Although it's possible to get semi-decent SEO rankings in certain situations for a Flash site, you're just not going to achieve the kind of SEO success for a Flash site that you can for an HTML equivalent. Granted, SEO isn't an easy game to play even if you don't use Flash (see our SEO tutorial), but if your website strategy has any SEO expectations, stay away from it.

3. Menus/Navigation on an HTML Site
Menus have a singular and key function on every website -- to get visitors quickly to the content they want. The words "pretty," "cool," or "smooth" should never be in the same league as "accessible" when it comes to navigation. A Flash menu runs the risk of leaving many users stranded (not everyone has Flash, including an increasing user base that surfs with mobile devices). Furthermore, search engines won't get around too well on a website that lacks true links for its menus. And if you really can't live without the "cool" menus, there are more than enough DHTML/Javascript based menus that can transform simple list tags into great looking navigation systems.

4. Informational/Content Sites
A couple years ago, I did a website for a large church organization that had dozens of menu items and many pages of content per menu item. They insisted on a Flash site where you never had to use the browser scroll, and at the same time, it should look just like an HTML site (which of course, begs the question, "Why are we using Flash?"). Needless to say, they ended up with a very cumbersome website that costs much more than an HTML site, both to build and maintain. Furthermore, visitors complained about the site usability, preferring even a simple text-only site where they could actually get the information they wanted. In general, you'd be surprised how often a visitor will take information accessibility over a great-looking Flash one. If your website's primary purpose is delivering informational content, avoid Flash.

5. E-Commerce
Anyone who has followed the development of the Flash platform will concede that it has come a long way in terms of functionality and programmatic flexibility. With the advent of Flex, Flash is more equipped for application-type usage than ever before. There are even some really great-looking examples of stores built on Flex. However, I think Flash for e-commerce should still be avoided for two primary reasons:

a) Flash stores can still be pretty complex. Your typical HTML e-commerce site is straight-forward with a catalogue, account, and checkout system, all of which can be edited and modified independently with relative ease. Although a Flash store will have the same basic components, you're still dealing with a platform with more integrative complexity and less room for error. In the last few months, I've come across two websites that have attempted to implement a Flash e-commerce solution. On both, I managed to somehow find a weird functionality bug, and having lost confidence in the site, went elsewhere for my purchase. So unless you have a great Flash developer and a solid understanding of consumer UI, stick to non-Flash e-commerce for now.

b) E-commerce conventions are very powerful. For the last decade, online shoppers have become accustomed to how e-commerce sites work. Any great derivation from what they're used to will often result in lower ROI. Although some Flash carts look really snazzy and have more functionality than their HTML counterparts, the proof is always in the customer conversion rate. And having worked on and seen sites that have attempted both types of carts, even "ugly" HTML e-commerce sites will often outperform Flash carts. Online consumers are used to clicking on items, not dragging items to a "cart section." They want to click "Add to Cart" and "Checkout" and go from page to page. Sure, this may change in the coming years, and yes, innovation is a good thing, but e-commerce conventions still hold too strong a sway to go with Flash e-commerce just yet.

6. Sites Requiring Heavy Management
Although Flash has a few solid options for content management, if you or your client will be constantly editing a website, Flash can easily become more of a hurdle in keeping it updated. This is mainly because clients always end up wanting to edit more than you tell them is possible. And there are few things worse in a freelancing business than maintaining parts a Flash site for years. If you know a client has high maintenance needs, make sure you address such future issues before even starting the site.

Of course, there are some websites where Flash can be a good choice or at least a "possible" choice. Some such sites include portfolios, promotional sites (movies, product "exploration" sites, etc.), sites with videos or games, and small boutique sites for creative agencies or possibly high-end design products (and even then, it's never a bad idea to have either an intermediary HTML portion or a full-fledged HTML version). Just don't ever forget that every website has a primary purpose, and if Flash doesn't contribute to that, it's probably a detriment and a liability.

Wake Up Later, Advertising, and Projects-a-Plenty

Blog Advertising
Today, I finally added an advertising section, figuring it'd be nice to cover the dedicated server, broadband, giveaways, and the occasional website conference trip. Until now, I've used the occasional affiliate link and a direct ad sale or two when requested (just enough to cover the server and fuel my beef jerky habit). As for many of the other monetization methods, I usually find them too "unnatural" for my taste.

Online Projects
These are the projects for which I budget most of my caffeine. I'm an evangelist of the fact that if you have decent design/development/writing skills and experience, you should either get involved in someone's startup project or start your own. So I have a couple projects of my own that I'm always working on. If you're mildly interested, you can check out Sola Interactive for the latest (lack of) news.

The Long and Short
Although the above are enjoyable, it's still freelancing that pays the bills (although sometimes, I think that I only freelance so I can do the other stuff). Currently, I'm mostly working with Flash, .Net, and the occasional CSS design/buildout.

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Top uk design companies

I didn’t think I was going to get here this month what with serious hosting problems (I know this is going to have a kick-back at some time) and my sheer impatience in waiting in phone queues (just over an hour to get answered and that was at the quiet time).

But hey, here they are… the latest stats on those UK companies that KNOW how to rank their site properly. Getting high positions in Google is one thing, knowing how to get your site listed highly across the major three engines is something else and that’s why these companies below deserve their special mention month after month.

Top 10 Things to See at the London Design Festival

It’s the official launch of the London Design Festival tomorrow, which will precipitate thousands of people to leave their own little corner of the city or the world and start zig-zagging across town in order to take in the latest and greatest innovations in design. As the Festival gets larger and longer every year, the variety of talent on show grows as well and the zig-zagging becomes more frenzied. Fortunately CH is here to point you in the right direction. The big shows such as 100% Design, Tent London and Designers Block are easy to identify, so below you’ll find 10 recommendations for some smaller gems in alphabetical order. We hope it saves you some time and some foot-ache.