just a quick word to highlight a free wordpress theme i came across today called "grass roots". it is by the designer andrew lindstrom over at the blog called well medicated. andrew is a freelance designer like myself.

i like to point out good design when i see it and andrew has a winner design here. be sure and also take a look at the preview of his almost finished magazine style design theme he calls zinepress. it looks like it will be a very nice design.

i think that web site navigation is one of those personal things that you either like or you hate.

Click image for larger view

when i design a web site, i like to create navigation that is user friendly first. after all, no matter how creative or cutesy it is, if a user cannot find things, the designer has failed with the navigation.

the article 25 examples of creative naviagtion on vandelaydesign.com shows 25 very creative uses in navigation.

my favorite of the 25 sites is ben hulse design for the clean, simple, user friendly navigation. i love how he has integrated the simple design element of the arbitrary colors on the painted tile floor to the navigation links. simple yet brilliant at the same time and it does not take away from the simple usability either.

take a look at the article and shout at me your comments.

recently i came across this new site for freelancers (all types of creatives) that is called anthillz reputation network.

i'm not sure where the funky name came from, but i like it.

it's a brilliant idea. for employers looking for freelancers, be they in web design or development, graphics, programming, database or other related fields, they can come to the anthillz site and search for a freelancer by keyword or name.

it can be used also by other freelancers to see what the competition has to offer, plus if they are looking to hire another freelancer to fill part of an assignment with a skill they might not have themselves. most of these people will have no problem doing work remotely, so location should not be an issue.

there is a search and the results will give them a list of individuals and when you go to an individuals page, you can see what they do, plus see reviews by past clients. only clients can submit reviews so the site does not get a lot of fluff that you have to weed through.

it's a nice site and a good resource for both employers and freelance professionals. the look is real clean and organized and the idea is great.

i created a profile for myself and have a few reviews already from past clients. it was a quick easy process to add yourself to the profiles on the site.

check it out and let me know what you think.

it's been a while since i blogged about the "out of work, looking for work" deal, so here's a little update.

about 6 weeks have passed since i was laid off and i have been actively searching for web design and related opportunities/positions.

i have come across some really diverse things. i have landed a freelance gig helping a small company ramp up to the opening of an e-commerce furniture store and am working a bit on that now.

i have been spending some time working on developing some phpBay pro based sites to earn eBay affiliate income. they are wordpress blogs/sites that point to items on sale currently on eBay. if a visitor comes to your site, clicks on an auction or one of the other eBay pointer links, then a 7-day cookie is set on that computer - if an eBay auction win occurs from that computer within the 7-days, then i get a split on the fees that eBay collects for the auction.

it all works through the phpBay pro wordpress plugin i purchased that calls in all the auctions based on keywords/parameters you set in the software. pretty neat. it was only $49 and can be used on an unlimited number of sites.

as of today i have yet to earn any income from that, but i am willing to sit it out and try to build up traffic to the sites (a list of these sites are in the sidebar under "other buford sites").

i am currently participating in a new online blogging contest/course called the thirty day challenge. it has videos that teach you how to learn how to do sites for profit the correct way to not spin your wheels. i just started this and will post more after i get more into the course. the course is free, run by aussie's named ed and dan.

you can sign up for the thirty day challenge (30dc) yourself and try it out.

i'm also looking into various opportunities making partnerships with business owners selling items for them on eBay. it's amazing how many of those are out there.

today i went to a company that had boxes of computer products (new, but pretty old), plus 23 new violins (go figure) to sell. i took home a box full of them (1 of each item) to research the products to see if they will sell.

i have answered a ton of online ads for web site design, graphic design, html, css, web optimization, seo and more. there seems to be a lot out there, but nothing has fallen into place yet.

no prob. i'll just continue doing what i am doing and something will happen. more later.

if any of you got an email from the ebay partner network about the changes coming in payouts related to acru's (active confirmed registered user) and said "huh" after reading it then go read this article by j. frank carr at the blog optempo.

epn acru changes and you

he explains the whole thing pretty well.