issue 26 ::
August 2008

CURRENT PLACEMENTS

If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact Jo for the full details indicating clearly which you are interested in:

• ** STOP PRESS** Mid/snr designer with DTP skills (1-2 month contract from 1 Sept, Lonehill) - contact Jo for details
• ** STOP PRESS** M/w web designer (3 month contract from 1 Sept, Sandton) - contact Jo for details
• Production assistant/runner for conference (CT, 1 week) - contact Jo for details
• Adobe CS3 super-users who want to become trainers (CT, part time)
• Finished artist (JHB, 1 week) ** PLACED **
• Digital project manager (CT, 3 month contract) ** PLACED **

The more we know about our freelancers, the more likely we are to call you when we get a brief in. So, if you are available for placements, please sign up for a portfolio ASAP. Upgrading to a Lite portfolio is quick and easy.

GET THE LATEST SENT TO YOU

Want the latest news, new member listings and placement ads sent to you as they are uploaded to Freelancentral? Simply sign up for our RSS feed - click on the link on our home page. If you don't already use a feed reader, we recommend Google Reader as an easy way of aggregating the latest posts from all the sites you read regularly.

FEATURED RESOURCE:
www.thedieline.com

Sucker for anything that's beautifully packaged? Don't miss this site. Great for design inspiration too.

Got a resource you'd like to recommend to the Freelancentral community? Send your favourite blog or website links, book titles or software recommendations to info@freelancentral.co.za.

SITE STATS FOR JULY

From Google Analytics:

• 3,072 visits
• 16,170 page views
• 5.26 pages per visit
• 38% bounce rate
• 07:37 average time on site
• 52.6% new visitors

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Read how Freelancentral is helping South African freelancers
on our new Testimonials page - and do send us your success stories too.
If Freelancentral has connected you successfully,
whether you're a client or freelancer, we'd love to hear from you.

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IS YOU'RE ENGLISH CREATING THE RIGHT IMPRESSION?

Did you spot the typo in the heading above? There are several common mistakes that people make regularly in English. Are you sure you know where the apostrophe goes? Why is it wrong 'to boldly go' somewhere? Did you know that your accent might be tripping up your writing? And did you know that there's a group on Facebook called "I judge you when you use poor grammar"? Yes, clients will be judging you if your English is sloppy.

Check out our fun copy test and see how you do. And think about coming to our next fun "CopyRIGHT: Common English Mistakes" half-day workshop in Cape Town on Saturday 27 September for a refresher.

FLYING SOLO SA IN GAUTENG

The Flying Solo SA one-day 'unconference' in Gauteng on 20 September promises to be an inspiring day where solo entrepreneurs and freelancers can meet and participate in a facilitated forum. Share experiences and tips, ask questions, get answers and generally improve your business smarts! Plus network with other soloists and explore potential collaborations.

Read what the delegates at the Cape Town event had to say about it.

We're thrilled to have Adobe on board as our headline sponsor for this event. They are also sending two great speakers to talk to us: Alastair de Wet will discuss how to leverage intellectual property to forge better partnerships and Mohammed Jogie will be talking about the state of design in South Africa, and globally. Jogie is a high-profile speaker at conferences around the world as well as a Board Director of Think (the SA Design Council) and Adobe's Design Evangelist for the Middle East and Africa. He has also previously started his own design company.

The rest of the agenda for Flying Solo will be entirely driven by YOU, the delegates. So sign up now on the Flying Solo SA Unconference wiki - add your name to the list and tell us what burning issues you want to see covered. You are also invited to sign up on the social networking site for Flying Solo to continue the discussion and engage with the soloist community.

CHRISTINE ONLINE: ENTER THE BLOGOSPHERE

Welcome back to Christine da Silva, our regular columnist who has had a break for a few months. This month she's talking about blogging:

There has been a flurry of debate in recent weeks in the South African blogosphere about, perversely, blogs. Who are the country's top bloggers? How do we rate a blog? Who are the biggest influencers? And do they use this influence as effectively as they could?

Undoubtedly, there are plenty of movers and shakers who stand out from the crowd - but what makes a blog a blog? And more importantly, what elements make a good blog? More from Christine here...

FROM THE COALFACE: Don't fiddle while Rome burns

Hullo, procrastinating surfer of the post-digital revolution era. I bet this is the eight or ninth web page you've been on during the last hour. At least this is a useful one... but that 32 minutes you spent on the website with the hedgehogs singing Nirvana songs? Tut, tut. That's why, mouse marathoner, we're going to talk about time management today. Right, time fleets - let's crack on: Read more from Pike here.

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