DAILY INSPIRATIONS FOR DYT #254
Enjoy this cool #254 Friday daily inspirations for all DYT readers :) with great photos and artworks.
Why a Blog that Generates Income is the Perfect Business
A little over three years ago, my wife and I sold out of our bricks and mortar business and cast around for a new source of income. Our requirements were simple – we wanted a business just the two of us could run from anywhere in the world, and we wanted to create a stable and secure income for ourselves that didn’t fluctuate wildly in the way our previous businesses had.
We live on a small tourist island in The Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Africa, and we decided to start a blog called Lanzarote Information, with the aim of growing it to provide the best information about the island for tourists and residents.
It was incredibly hard work initially, working long hours with little or no income, but after a year the site was generating one full time income, and after eighteen months enough to support us both quite well. We’ve recently had our third birthday and we have a fabulous business that generates a significant income, and which I imagine is a valuable asset for us.
Why do I think it’s the perfect business?
The income is spread across multiple sources
We don’t rely heavily on one source for our income. Our money comes from direct advertisers, affiliate promotions, Adsense advertising, a membership program and the sale of our own books. And within each category, there are multiple sources as well – for example we have 42 direct advertisers, and we sell products as affiliates for 17 companies.
All this means that if any one source finished tomorrow, for whatever reason, it isn’t business critical to us. That’s extremely comforting, and almost recession proof.
Most of the income is passive
It simply happens automatically. Advertisers and members pay each month (some annually), affiliate sales are automatic, and our own product sales are generated mainly by our email auto-responder series.
Our only real commitment now is to create content each day, and that’s something we enjoy doing. But I know that even if we had to take some months off, perhaps through illness, the income would continue, and only start to decline over several months.
We are truly mobile
We travel between UK, mainland Spain and the island pretty much whenever we want. We can work with our laptops wherever we want. And even when we’re on the island, we spend plenty of time on Wifi in cafés because it means we meet other people and get plenty of news and things to write about.
How to Choose the Right Graphic Design Agency
If you are looking for a design agency to create a new website for your company, assist with a new identity and branding or perhaps to design and supply some printed literature, you need to make sure you are choosing the right graphic design company for the job. With many agencies available it isn’t simple the lowest price you should be looking for; continue on as the areas you should be paying attention to are discussed.
Experience
It is always worth doing a bit of research into how long the design agency you are considering have been established for. A combination of tough economic times and a competitive industry means that those companies who have been around for years on end are likely to offer great quality and fantastic customer service. This is not to say that newer design agencies don’t have their advantages too; design is a fast moving industry, so new companies may have a better understanding of the latest trends in design, creating something really fresh and innovative for your company.
Recommendations
Any company will undoubtedly paint themselves in the best possible light, therefore to get a true overview of their quality and level of customer care it is best to get in touch with previous clients they have dealt with. A reputable design company will be happy to give you a few contact details of previous clients that you can have a chat with before making your final decision.
Top 5 Best Tools for Editing Photos
With cameras being fitted to nearly all electronic devices these days there has been a surge in popularity in image editing software. If it’s not touching up your snaps to give them that David Bailey look then it’s letting your creative juices boil through creating your own images, designs and graphics from scratch; image editing software offers you a wealth of possibilities. In this post we look at some of our favourite tools and what makes them so good.
Adobe Photoshop
It is pretty much industry standard these days, being used by photographers, web designers and graphic designers. Packed with a huge number of features to tweak, manipulate and bend images to your will as well as some excellent tools for making your own graphics, Photoshop is probably the most complete package, especially when used alongside its CS (Adobes Creative Suite package) comrades.
The most recently released version was CS5, with features like Content Aware are the digital equivalent of magic, being so advanced when used properly they will blow your socks of on your first use. Adobe has also given a sneak peak at Adobe Photoshop CS6, so we won’t have to wait long to see what more wizardry they have crammed into it.
Gimp
Responsible for many awkward conversations, the catchy named GNU Image Manipulation Program, or Gimp for short, is an open source image editing program which offers a stripped back Photoshop-style experience. The free software allows you to achieve impressive results on even low power machines such as netbooks, however if you are looking for more functionality then you can bulk up the program with a wide array of plug-ins offering a host of new functionality and toys to play with.
Kult House Relaunched
Check out the new version of Kult House, the selected works of director/designer Josh Rhode.
More on Kult House.
Solar Powered Charger by Solar Joos Orange
This bulletproof device is 350% faster than anything even close to its price, and captures up to 20 times more energy. What this means for you is two hours of talk time on your smartphone with just one hour in the sun. Check out more photos of the Solar Joos Orange here!
Check out more photos of the Solar Joos Orange here!
World’s First Mexican Supercar by Mastretta
This supercar is built to not only perform like a track car, but be utilized as a daily driver. The 2 seater weighs in at an impressive 2,050 pounds, and is equipped with a turbocharged 2.0 liter Duratec four cylinder motor that pumps out 250 horsepower. Check out more photos of the Mastretta MXT Supercar here!
Check out more photos of the Mastretta MXT Supercar here!
G2 Folding Electric Bicycle by Gocycle
This bike is sporting a beautifully crafted injection-molded magnesium frame that hides a Lithium battery inside of it. This battery allows the bike to travel nearly 20 miles on just over 3 hours of charging, and folds up for easy transporting. Check out more images of the G2 Folding Bicycle here!
Daily Inspirations no. 357
For all the ladies, we’ve got something cute to start with. Take a look at MiaZaara#3 by Yaman Ibrahim … from diapers to modelling, as easy as that :). Ok, now guys … I didn’t forget about our gender … just two photos below there is one you could include into your future fantasies :) introducing … gotta capitalize … the GIRL from Water Color artwork by Lagel Cyril. Ok, now everyone should be happy; let’s move to our illustrations. Actually, there are several I like a lot. My fav is probably the The Sacred Mountain by Jezabel Rodrigo Yusta and Wish by Jason Chan. But seriously, pretty much any of today’s additions are quite powerful. Art and digital art brought us two masterpieces. One of them is Glitterfly by Alex Young and the other Thought Collector by Telthona. This is my subjective opinion though. Hmm, what about ads? If you’re asking if there are some worth checking out .. the answer is clearly, yes. For example Tuxedo Confessions: Get noticed by Jandl Looks. Yesterday I didn’t recommend any freebie … won’t happen again, promise! Today, you guys should take a close look at the free html css template from Themeforest. Guys, I would love to see few comments! Tell us which one is your fav …
CampStove USB Charger by BioLite
BioLite solves both problems of being “connected” and keeping you fed during your camping excursion, all the while remaining off the grid with their newly designed BioLite Campstove and USB Charger. This ingenious device can charge your iPhone while cooking you a hot meal simultaneously running directly off sticks gather from the floor. Check out more photos and info on the BioLite CampStove here!
Check out more photos and info on the BioLite CampStove here!
Street Legal Tron Legacy Lightcycle
Tron fans can finally get their hands on a real life Tron Legacy Lightcycle as the motorcycle has just begun to hit the streets in production form. View more photos and video of Tron Lightcycle here!
To Build or Not To Build A Website [INFOGRAPHIC]
Building a website can be a long, time consuming and often expensive task. Publishing a Facebook page on the other hand is quick, free and can generally be done by the work experience kid (they’re on Facebook all day anyway right!). Its no surprise then that more people are using Facebook pages or other social media tools in lieu of developing their own standalone site. This infographic takes a look at whether you really need to build a website from scratch or whether some other easier or cheaper options will work just as well.
Note: Click the infographic for full size.
![live77891 do i need a website top11 750x680 To Build or Not To Build A Website [INFOGRAPHIC]](http://designyoutrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/live77891_do_i_need_a_website_top11-750x680.jpg "live77891 do i need a website top11 750x680 pic on Design You Trust")
Check out the full image here!
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