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September 21, 2010 10:31 AM Subscribe
Currently I am a marketing writer in Massachusetts and I would like to develop some new skills for Web page Usability Best Practices and also content and design generation.
What are some inexpensive ways to accomplish this? I'd like to learn HTML and Adobe Photoshop for sure and have been searching for some resources. I know there are all sorts of online tutorials so if anyone has done this before where did you go for the best experience.
I also checked out some local night classes in my area however the prices are a bit steep for me right now, although in the future I'll probably try and save up some money to continue my education with some supplemental classes.
I know I'm hungry and motivated, now I just need a little guidance for any of you that may have some experience with these topics. I do some web posting and writing for the web right now but it's only using Frontpage Express which is obviously not the leading edge of technology, or so I hear.
In addition, I just took a seminar on Writing for the Web that incorporated Web page usability and best practices and I'm extremely interested in learning more about this as well.
Thanks for any suggestions!
posted by modoriculous to computers & internet (5 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
If night classes are steep, talk to somebody at the college or school you're looking at. Many of them have a way to get in cheaper if not for free. (Source: I used to teach Photoshop and CG classes at my local college)
I happen to work with web writers a lot (I'm a freelance web designer), so looking at what they're doing, here's what I'd do in your shoes:
1. Tutorials and classes are good, but please find some local web people and at the very least do informational interviews with them. This means you promise not to ask for work during the interview, but what you can learn from them (ask what they'd do in your shoes) can be really valuable.
2. Ask those same people if there are networking or mingling groups that get together that you could attend.
3. If you struggle to find people like that, go to your local college, find the head of the department that teaches PS (usually Art) and ask them. They've almost certainly spent a lot of time talking to local web and graphic designers, trying to get them to come teach.
4. There's a lot of good SEO/Usability writing material to be found in books. There's one called "Letting Go of the Words" that is *loaded* with information. Jakob Nielsen's Web Usability books are great too, even if they're a little old.
5. You can't learn creative writing through books alone, but they can point you in the right direction.
6. You might like this article if you haven't already seen it: Why I Stopped Throwing Out Junk Mail. Cheap, effective stuff.
7. One of the most effective things you can start doing as a web writer is working with Content Management Systems (CMS). If you can learn how to work your way around Wordpress' control panel, learn how to make hyperlinks in the text editor, insert images and videos, etc., that makes you valuable to web designers. Their clients are going to be asking them to recommend people who can edit web copy. That's where you come in. Photoshop skills are handy here too.
8. Once you start working with this kind of stuff, just make sure you save your money so you can start doing it full-time sooner.
9. Be reliable, keep your clients updated more often than you'd think appropriate, make a short introductory website of your own (just use a default template for Wordpress if you like), make sure you have an email address that's not weird (fantasyguy39@hotmail.com) or annoying to remember (b_g3@internet.cc).
10. Just give it time. You'll get where you want to go.
Good luck!
posted by circular at 11:02 AM on September 21, 2010 [2 favorites]