Essential Tools

One of the cool things about working on the web is being able to connect with others in your profession anywhere in the world. This week’s Essential Tools feature goes to London to take a look at the tools web & print designer, Rob Cubbon relies on for all aspects of his business. Rob and I have been following each others’ blogs, twitter streams and such for years but this is the first real conversation back and forth we have had.

School’s out for the summer (at least where we are), but as any good internet professional knows, everyday is an opportunity to learn something new! This week’s Essential Tools series features affiliate marketer, designer and entrepreneur, Logan Thompson and his essential tools for online success.

Fourteen years ago I was pregnant with my first (of three) child and the thought of putting him in daycare once he was born was just something I could not fathom. I took a leap of faith, quit my job and actually convinced both my current employer and a previous employer to be my first clients. I started out doing desktop publishing for the daycare center chain (irony?) and writing/editing technical user manuals for the government defense contractor.

Are you ready for the long weekend? I know I am! But, before I sign off for the weekend (ok, who am I trying to fool, I will be online at least a little bit), I want to introduce you to another super talented WordPress designer, Rebecca Diamond of StudioPress and Rebwebdesign.com. Rebecca became such a fan of Brian Gardner’s StudioPress themes, she actually works full time for StudioPress these days.

This week’s Essential Tools series features Dr. Tammy Lenski, conflict management specialist, author and consultant who also happens to be a very successful blogger (at Conflict Zen). Tammy is also the co-founder of the Mediation Business Summit virtual conference, where I will be speaking in September on the topic of website essentials for small businesses.

It’s Friday and that means it is time for another installment of Essential Tools. In this week’s spotlight we have WordPress and Facebook consultant, Kim Woodbridge from (Anti) Social Development. Kim entered the world of freelancing about a year ago and primarily does WordPress customizations, maintenance, site transfers and training. She also designs custom Facebook fan pages. Her primary blog is (Anti) Social Development and also has a very old site about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein that she recently converted to WordPress.

In December 2006, a conversation with Liz Strauss inspired me to start a series on the Essential Tools of web professionals. Liz Strauss is the co-founder of the blogging conference SOBCon which is coming up the first weekend in May. I went to the conference last year and I am still reaping the benefits of the relationships established and formed. Today’s Essential Tools feature will spotlight Terry Starbucker, another co-founder of SOBCon. Terry Starbucker is a service company executive with nearly 28 years in the business world.