Since the Internet has grown so much, so has the number of web designers and web developers, so sometimes it can be hard to get attention. It’s better not to focus on all the competition and rather, place your focus on your portfolio and what you can do to get more attention. One really great way to get the attention you deserve is to showcase your portfolio on web design or art sites.Below is a list of 12 websites that are awesome for showcasing your portfolio.1. 50up.net50up is more for the design student or new designers. They have an attractive layout and there isn’t a lot of advertisement clutter. The site is easy to use and very easy to navigate, plus it’s free. They have also made available a “fresh list” so that all the best works are featured.2. CargoCollective.comCargo showcases those who are creative at heart. The site is complete ad free, simple and has easy templates to use. They also have a feature for fans and clients to “follow” the works that they best like.3. PimpArtworks.comPimpArtWorks keeps the urban style alive which is a great place for both photographers and street artists to showcase their work. The site is free, easy to use and offers tools to share on social networking sites. You may also choose to sell your work through the site.4. Coroflot.comCoroflot showcases all different types of design works from the web to print. It is said that it’s the largest and oldest site for showcasing design portfolios. This site is also easy to use, free and offers tools for sharing your works. Your account will allow unlimited uploads for you work.5. FigDig.comFigDig uses HD quality showcasing for designers. Figdig uses a 1223c792 HD resolution which can really make your work jump off the page. Another neat feature they offer is that viewers can download your work in a PDF format as a sample. If your portfolio is well received on their site, they may also induct you into their “Hall of Fame.” This recognition is by far incomparable to other design sites.6. DeviantArt.ComIf your designs encompass fantasy or 3D art, deviantart is one of the best showcasing sites available. When you create an account, you get a personal URL and can collaborate and critique with other users. It’s also free to use.7. Vimeo.comVimeo is specific to motion graphic designers. The site has original content and it is simple to use. Each week you will receive 500MB of upload space. They also offer several tools for showcasing your work.8. Flickr.comFlickr is operated and owned by Yahoo.com so you’ll have to sign up for a yahoo email account. Flickr is a really great place for photographers to showcase works, but also is equally well received amongst graphic designers. They offer editing online and tagging features. Flickr operates similarly to search engine sites, but with the results being users. They also encourage connecting with others and they offer embedding features.9. Behance.netBehance is a very clean and popular social networking platform for many designers. It also encourages feedback and collaborations with other designers and visitors.10. Society6.comSociety6 is a place for designers to showcase their illustration design portfolios and is completely free to use. It’s somewhat similar to Flickr except there are no advertisements. It’s is very community-oriented and works hard to focus on the promotion of those who join their site.11. NOTCOT.orgNotcot is more of a site to market your portfolio vs. showcasing it. You are able to upload one image from your portfolio and then add a link to your entire portfolio. It actually tends to be a really great site for networking and gaining new client interest.12. Flavors.meFlavors is actually a really cool site and takes your accounts from other sites and incorporates them into one. Sites they include are Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Tumblr, and Netflix. They offer several customization features so that creating a portfolio is fun and easy to do.Now that you have an awesome list of designer portfolio sites, there should be no reason not to give them a try. Get out there and start showcasing your web design portfolio.
Project Management – The Risks
No project is ever without risks, but it is the nature and complexity of the project that are likely to determine the impact of the risks on the overall success of the project. But whether the project is small or large, simple or complex, an effective risk management strategy will minimise the impact if, and when, the risks occur. In order to manage the risks it is necessary to identify and analyse them both before the project starts and throughout the lifecycle of the project.The main tasks involved in Risk Management are:
Creating a Risk Management Plan which will assist in identifying and analysing the risks, monitoring the risks and responding to them.
Establishing and maintaining a Risk Log listing the risks and their severity. This is a useful document not only for monitoring the risks but also for communicating the risks to all the stakeholders.
Analysing the probability of each risk occurring and its impact at task level and on the overall project in terms of deliverables and scheduling
Developing a strategy for responding to risks that occur
Including contingency funds and building time contingency into the Project ScheduleRisk Management is not only the responsibility of the Project Manager but also of the stakeholders as they have a vested interest in the project being successfully completed. So the stakeholders should also be aware of all the risks identified and the plan that is put in place to manage and mitigate them.There are common causes of risk that are easily identifiable in many projects, such as:
Skilled members of the project team leave during the project
Equipment Failure
Business decisions and agreements not reached in good time
Poorly managed customer expectations
A lack of clarity in the business requirements document
Inaccurate estimates
Technology limitations such as performance or capacity issues
Poor communication between customer and providerBut the Risk Management Plan must also be flexible enough to deal with those risks that could not have been predicted and so were not identified before they occurred. It is very often the strategy that is used to deal with these unexpected risks that determines the ultimate success of a project.For all the risks that have been identified either prior to the project starting or during the project the project manager would typically have determined a solution. These risks can potentially cause delays to the schedule and prevent the delivery of a task but are relatively easily managed by an experienced project manager with good management and communication skills.There are various ways to respond to a risk that has occurred but the most common ways are:Accept- the risk can be accepted, in which case the project manager will have to persuade the customer that the schedule, budget or deliverables will not be met. The customer will have to accept such deviations if the project is to be deemed a success.Transfer- if the risk that has occurred is such that a particular task, feature or function cannot be delivered then it could be transferred to a future project thereby deferring the need to deal with it in the present. This response would require handling through a formal change management process.Mitigate- it may be possible to provide an acceptable workaround that will minimise or eliminate the issue.It is worth noting that risks can occasionally have a positive effect and can actually lead to improvements or enhancements to the project that had not been considered at the outset.The Risk Management Plan will also include prioritisation of the project risks and ranking them in relation to the budget, the project schedule and the deliverables. The ranking will recognise that some project risks could be acceptable while some are unacceptable and would require a feasible solution.Risks will never be eliminated from a project but it is possible to lessen the impact of risks by learning from the experiences of both your own projects and others. It is extremely valuable to document the lessons learned from a project to improve the process of risk management on future projects.Managing risks within a project is necessary to keep the project on track and these are essential skills for a project manager. The ability to accurately identify and measure risks in a project and how to respond to predicted and unknown risks can be learnt on professional project management courses in recognised methodologies such as APMP, PRINCE2 and PMP.
Case Study: From Red to Black, Generate Double-Digit Sales Increases Through Strategic Marketing
Conventional wisdom states that when times are bad and sales are down, management should cut all expenses except sales and marketing. And when things get really bad, management must cut everything but sales because selling is the fastest way to increase revenues.This business-to-business case study illustrates how, if executed properly, strategic marketing can sometimes be a quicker, more efficient and more effective way to grow sales.The Situation A manufacturing firm’s brand enjoyed high name recognition, and the longstanding business had survived and often thrived through multiple business cycles during its storied history. A competent management team had been assembled and was balancing operational needs with cash-flow requirements.However, sales of the manufacturer’s primary division were declining and the market for its products was in a severe depression. The lack of volume meant the company was not covering its overhead. Escalating energy and raw material costs were eroding profit margins.Product and Distribution ChannelsMarket perceptions of its products were mixed. The company had a strong reputation as a manufacturer of “green” building products, but it was not well regarded for solving end-user problems. The firm was not in a position to compete on price.Although the company’s products were esteemed by specifiers and designers for being sustainable and other specific performance attributes, many end-users were put off by the high cost of the products, and sometimes found these products to be difficult to work with and of questionable quality.Low sales volume and slow inventory turns decreased the company’s value to channel members and kept new distributors from taking on the line. To cut costs, existing distributors reduced their inventories of the company’s products, and dropped slower-moving niche items manufactured by the firm entirely.In response, management hired a full-service marketing firm and undertook a full-blown marketing and advertising campaign. The marketing message trumpeted the environmental friendliness of the firm’s products but failed to communicate their other performance values.Choosing Strategic PrioritiesRather than simply initiating a typical marketing campaign, the company needed to find:· A high-volume application…· In which it could be cost-competitive…· In which it had a different story to tell…· In an expanding market, enabling growth without having to take market share…· And reestablish its value to distributors.Internal AssessmentThe company’s primary product is a fiber board used for various purposes by construction trades. Reducing sound transmission in buildings appeared to be the company’s best opportunity to generate volume. Multi-family projects that required sound reduction could require multiple truckloads of product. The firm already marketed this application but was not emphasizing it.The company’s sound-reduction product performed well and was cost-competitive in flooring applications. It was installed very differently than the products dominating the market. Competing products were sold directly to specialty contractors, bypassing traditional distributors and contractors.The housing market had collapsed with no recovery in sight. The lack of money for down payments, overly strict mortgage requirements, and fear of declining home values crippled demand.Still, people needed places to live. Apartment construction, while also down, remained viable, and increased demand was forecast for the foreseeable future. Demographic changes predicted surging demand for student housing and assisted living. Changing consumer tastes were boosting the desire for urban living. The Federal government’s spending on affordable housing, often in the form of apartments, was increasing in an effort spur economic growth.Executing the Strategy A volume application had been identified that met the company’s strategic imperatives. The marketing group now needed to focus all its resources on implementing the initiative as quickly and inexpensively as possible against larger, better-capitalized competitors that dominated the market. Every problem perceived by customers that could hold back sales needed to be solved.HowThe marketing team implemented a wide array of tactics to support the new strategy:Brought It Inside. To reduce cost, the firm terminated its engagement with the full-service outside marketing agency and brought marketing in-house, with assistance from independent professionals.Aligned the Messaging. The marketing team developed a compelling tag line aligned with the new strategy. The message was simple and specific, yet universal to the company’s other product lines.Developed Aligned Materials. The team conveyed its solution and addressed all known obstacles through new marketing tools in a wide variety of mediums, including video, website, packaging, sales aides, installation graphics, product sheets, trade show booths and more.Accessed All Available Channels. The team tapped all available cost-effective channels to disseminate the message, including the company website, YouTube and industry related third-party websites.Quality Improvements. The marketing team communicated quality improvements needed to increase market acceptance to operations. The Operations Department innovated and made improvements. Third-party testing labs were engaged to refute end-user performance concerns and induce confidence.Bottom LineThe shift in marketing strategy contributed significantly to turning around declining revenues into consecutive year-over-year sales increases of 20% and beyond. Identifying and targeting an expanding market segment supported this growth in sales. Increased market share remained a goal but was not required for significant recurring revenue increases.Companies that follow conventional wisdom run the risk of leaving core problems undiagnosed and fail to turn sales around. The strategic marketing process avoids this pitfall. Strategic marketing effectively gives the sales force an improved product to sell and a better market to sell it into, thereby propelling increased sales at a rapid rate.The company could not have sold its way out of declining revenues without first changing its go-to-market strategies. It needed to find a market opportunity that met its strategic imperatives and provided a focus point for success. Compelling marketing messages provided efficient market penetration in a way that selling by individuals or teams could not.If done innovatively, with an eye on costs, strategic marketing can be the fastest way to spur sales growth.