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What Documents Do You Use as Proof of Income?

On Freelance Switch, Thursday Bram posts about an issue freelancers commonly face: how do you prove your income?

This is especially useful if you’re applying for loan financing, for instance, buying a home, a car, or even leasing an apartment. If you work for a company, you can always secure a certificate of employment. Sometimes, if you work for a top corporation in your city, creditors will be quick in their approval. If you lack documents, though, you might have to go through hoops before you can convince them of your financial capability.

Most of the time, you can present your tax documents as proof of income. But for some of us who work freelance in the informal sector (meaning you don’t pay taxes), this could be a problem. In some places, you might be asked for business documents. In my city, for instance, banks and financing companies ask for business registration and a mayor’s permit. And that’s for a “self employed” classification!

Most freelance writers and bloggers bear the responsibility of taking care of their taxes and social security payments. No one else takes care of these for you automatically, unless you can afford to hire your own accountant. We don’t even have group health insurance, so those who buy insurance have to pay a non-discounted rate.

As for me, I usually use bank statements to back up my claims for income. Whether my revenue comes through PayPal or bank transfers, these all go through several bank accounts, which–I’m quite thankful–are all at least two to three years old. I also have some contracts with freelance clients. Sometimes it’s difficult to explain that clients can come from all over the world, and that contracts are transmitted by scanned or faxed documents. But so far I haven’t experienced any big hitches.

Have you experienced a situation wherein you need to prove financial capability, but you’re having difficulties giving documents because you work freelance? What documents have you used? Or what alternatives do you have?

4 Ways to Store your Blog Ideas

Ideas for blog posts can come anytime and anywhere- from when you’re driving home from work, to while you’re in the shower, to waking you in the middle of the night. The first thing to do? Write it down. Here are some methods to store your ideas, so you never forget a great one!

In a notebook

This is great for quickly scribbling down ideas that hit you at a busy time. Because I fancy myself a fiction writer, and I suffer from notebook addiction, I’ve been doing this for a long time, writing story ideas down in various blank books I leave around the house. Since I started professional blogging, I’ve been writing blog post ideas down as well. I have a particular fondness for Moleskine and Rhodia notebooks, but anything will do, really. Always keep a pen or two nearby.

In a PDA or mobile phone

When I’m out, I find having to fish out a pen and notebook too unwieldy- and that’s when noting ideas down in my (ancient Treo 680) PDA is perfect. Most mobile phones have “Notes” sections, but in a pinch I’ve been known to write a text message containing my idea, and saving it in Drafts or Saved Messages.

In your PC

Your options when it comes to software are many. If you use a PDA as above, you might want to use something that syncs automatically- or consider one of these applications:

  • Stickies is built-in to OSX on the Mac, and it doesn’t get much simpler than this. Its quick, its free, easy to use, and customizable. There are also lots of Windows versions, from free to paid, available for download (e.g. Notezilla or Neat Note.
  • For something a little more powerful, look for “virtual notebook”-esque applications, such as Mori for the Mac or Delphinus Notes for Windows.

Online

If you already use an online solution for documents (such as Google Docs or Zoho), this might be the best bet for you. Not only can you share your ideas with collaborators, you’ll be able to access them from anywhere with an internet connection.

The truth is, I use all of the above- notebooks, my PDA, my mobile phone, Stickies… and then collect them all in Google Docs.

How do you store your blog ideas?

The Case for Cloud Hosting

Clouds My internet connection had been crawling the past few days. I’ve checked with my DSL provider, and my account seems fine. And for some reason, it’s not with all websites that I’m having difficulties. Then I just recently learned that an earthquake has caused faults in undersea cables connecting my region to the rest of the world. This means that accessing certain websites running on servers on the other side of the globe will be slower. Being in the Asia Pacific, this supposedly meant most sites out there, with the popularity of inexpensive US-based datacenters.

Still, I can access my Gmail without much fuss. Google searches return results at the usual super-fast speeds. And then I remember that Google uses multiple datacenters spread around the world. When you run a Google search, chances are you get directed to the datacenter nearest you. This is advantageous in at least two ways. First, you get faster access time, since data packets travel through shorter distances. Second, you are assured of service even if communication through the the main line gets severed or disrupted.

Shouldn’t your blog be running on a similar setup?

I had recently moved some of my blogs into a new web host, and one of the things I had to think about was whether to go for traditional hosting or those cloud hosting services like Rackspace Cloud (previously Mosso). Cloud hosting essentially does what Google does with its datacenters–it distributes the load across servers in different locations.

So assuming your website is in a cloud hosting setup, you are more or less assured of service, even if there are traffic spikes and server outages. If you’ve been fortunate to have been frontpaged on popular social bookmarking sites like Digg and Delicious, you’ve probably experienced some server downtime either due to the sheer number of visits, or a bandwidth exceeded error on your account. And even if it’s not your site that experiences this slowdown, if another site hosted on the same shared server gets massive traffic, then chances are your site will also slow down.

Is cloud hosting for everyone?

Considering the scenarios above, I can say that cloud hosting is not necessarily ideal for everyone. For one, there are cost considerations. Cloud hosting companies don’t usually charge a flat rate per month. Rather, they charge based on usage: bandwidth, space and even CPU cycles used. If you have a small audience, you might be better off in a less-expensive shared hosting environment. And if a good majority of your audience is located in one place, then you may not have to worry about undersea cables failing.

However, if you are planning to run a web application in which uptime is an absolute must, you should consider cloud hosting. This would also be the case if you run a really popular blog with a decent-sized audience. Or perhaps you are planning to start small, but you foresee the need to scale in the near future–then in this case cloud hosting might be right for you.

From what I’ve read, some hosting companies are moving to cloud-based setups, but some are still holding out, focusing on improving their traditional hosting business. What’s important for me is that consumers have a choice, based on need, budget and opportunities for growth.

image credit: flickr/eschlwc

5 Point Checklist to Running Blog Contests

Have you ever ran a contest on your blog before? Here is a quick and dirty checklist which you may want to follow.

1. Internally identify the goal of the contest

If you work for a blog network, you may have had performance reviews with your editor. The usual topic of review is strategy to building traffic. Net of discussion, you need to build community and this usually can be defined through links, more unique visits, and comments more often than not. As giving away stuff usually works to bringing in the bacon, you need to tailor your call to action to the goal.

You can do it the Kevin Rose way by putting serial numbers to software up for grabs, but this won’t always guarantee community.

2. Be specific with contest deadline

If you have an international audience, make sure that when you say “contest ends at midnight on November 19” make sure you specify what part of the world you are referring to. Tailor fit the end time to the respective time zone of your audience. It’s a simple thing, but yeah, sometimes people miss out.

3. Make sure your raffle qualification entries are well understood.

If you’re asking for comments, make sure that they include their email, at the very least. State how you are going to draw the raffle. Most draws are usually done with a randomizer application such as Luck of the Draw for the Mac. There are also web apps available such as Random.org.

4. Be clear about the prize and conditions for delivery

Especially when giving out software, make sure that you disclose the system requirements, even with a simple link. Don’t make the mistake of giving out an application that only runs on the Mac, for instance, and forgetting to tell your participants. Don’t assume your readers are the smartest people on the Internet.

When giving out hardware, specify if you are answering for shipping charges. Usually, sponsors do so, and a good number ship internationally as well. Again, be very detailed.

Also, disclose the net value of the prize.

5. Provide a post event report to your sponsor

Never forget to thank your sponsors. Provide them links to the contest you held after it ends. Provide a summary if you must — number of comments, number of link backs even. If the winner is a blogger, try to ask for confirmation of the prize — maybe a “money shot” with the physical product at hand.

Introducing Performancing Legal with Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan BaileyPerformancing is happy to announce a new Performancing Service, Performancing Legal. Performancing legal is a new series hosted by Jonathan Bailey from Plagiarism Today.

Jonathan will weekly answer a question from one of our readers and help you with his advice based on many years of experience. Every Wednesday we will announce next week’s episode and open the question round. Jonathan will answer one question every following Tuesday. [Read more…] about Introducing Performancing Legal with Jonathan Bailey

How to choose the right web hosting for your blog

Getting the right web host for your blog is vital — get it wrong and your blog could be incapacitated, offlined or shut down, or you could end up paying far too much for the service.

Everyone has an opinion on the best web host to use, but here are some of the things you should be looking out for when it comes to choosing your host.

Features

apache-logoOperating System / Web Server

What operating system and web server your web host runs is very important when it comes to easily installing your blog.

Some blog platforms can be installed on a variety of platforms, though some may need some expert coaxing, but if you’re planning on running WordPress you’re far better off using a host running a full version of the Apache web server (or lighttpd, before you complain I’d missed it out).

Get it wrong and you may find that the blog software can’t be installed or doesn’t work as expected, meaning that you’ll have to move hosts, wasting time and money in the process.

disc-spaceDisc Space

How much hard disc / storage space are you allocated? I’m always wary of web hosts that offer unlimited storage for ridiculously low monthly price, because there’s bound to be a catch or “fair use” policy in there somewhere, even if it’s not immediately obvious.

Ensure that the amount of disc space you have is enough to install all the software and databases you’ll need, as well as have room for your content.

A basic installation of WordPress may only require around 1.5MB, but bear in mind that you’ll probably be adding plugins.

The best hosts will let you start small and upgrade disc space as and when you need it. Obviously, if you’re going to host multiple blogs on a single account (and server) your space requirements will increase.

Memory

If you’re used to shared web accounts (where the resources you use are shared with other subscribers) you may not know much about memory usage, but just as your own PC has a physical memory limit, which in turn limits how many programs can be run at once, and how fast, so does a web server.

It’s worth bearing in mind that some unmodified blog platforms (WordPress particularly) are quite memory intensive. This will become apparent the more popular your blog becomes (or if you run multiple single-install blogs on the same server), and as several users try to access your sites at the same time.

The more memory you have, the better the Apache web server will be able to handle requests from each user and quickly serve web page content.

Lower memory can lead to “thrashing” problems, where the server tries to use hard disc space as virtual memory. Your visitors may find accessing your blog is very slow or even impossible.

Memory requirements are a real movable feast, but it’s definitely worth knowing what limits a web host has, and how easy it is to upgrade.

Some hosts, particularly those offering “unlimited” services, may well hide this vital machine information, and you’ll only find out there’s a problem when your site becomes unresponsive or inaccessible.

bandwithexceededBandwidth

Bandwidth dictates how much of your content can be downloaded in any given month, and therefore will be determined by how many visitors you have, how many pages they viewed, and what type of content was served up.

It stands to reason that if you’re hosting video or other large files, you’ll chomp through bandwidth far faster than running a primarily text-based blog.

As per disc space, be a little wary of hosts offering unlimited bandwidth, because in my experience there’s usually a catch.

Find out what happens if you exceed your monthly bandwidth. Will you be billed for the additional usage or will your site become unavailable for the rest of that month?

The best hosts will offer you some grace and easily allow you to upgrade your hosting to a more appropriate level.

There’s no point paying for bandwidth you won’t use, but at the same time you don’t want to be left without a web site, particularly if your blog is your business.

top-commandShell Access

Even if you have no intention of getting your hands dirty “under the hood”, you may well want to enlist the help of someone else to perform hacks and tweaks to your blog, and that’s so much easier when you have shell access — the ability to access the command line and quickly accomplish tasks such as setting permissions, tweaking code, observing system resource usage and so on.

Some web hosts don’t allow shell access, or severely limit the command set, because it’s considered a security risk. Yes, it can be, but the decent web host will be set up so you’re not treated like a child, and that any damage you do only affects your site, and can be easily undone.

Databases

Ensure that your web host offers the right database support. This includes allowing databases to be updated by the blog software after installation.

I’ve used some large web hosts who locked down the main WordPress database after installation, making it impossible for certain plugins to create new tables. (It also showed up an appalling level of customer service).

Find out what sort of database your blog software needs (most likely MySQL) and what features are likely to be required, then ensure your host can handle that.

htaccesshtaccess

On an Apache web server, you absolutely must have full control over the htaccess file.

Web hosts who disable certain key functionality such as redirects make it difficult or impossible to implement certain features on your blog, such as proper permalinks.

Scalability

You’ll be hoping that your blogs grow over time. As you add more content and more visitors come, the need for more resources increases.

You may start with shared hosting and need to move onto a dedicated server. Believe me, it’s a LOT easier to handle this if your web host can handle the transition for you. It will generally save you time and money.

So, unless you think you’ll never outgrow shared hosting, my advice is to look for a web host that offers a range of plans and types of hosting and makes it easy to upgrade (or downgrade) as required.

Backups

Does the web host enforce a rigourous backup policy? While this doesn’t absolve your own responsibility to backup your blog, it does mean that you have an extra safety net should data loss occur.

History and reputation

Consider how long has the web host been operating, if they have any prominent companies hosting with them, and what their overall reputation is.

Reputation can be a difficult one to gauge because, particularly online, negative reviews tend to outweigh good reviews. However, it’s not impossible to see who the better companies are.

Beware of reviews which are obviously linked to some kind of affiliate program. I’m not saying they’re inherently untrustworthy, but you have to wonder how impartial someone who’ll be paid for recommending a service is going to be.

Personal recommendation

Getting a personal recommendation or two from trusted friends or colleagues can be a smart move, but it’s worth trying to find people hosting similar types of content to you.

The requirements for a multimedia-rich site getting tens of thousands of visitors each day are going to be far different from a small photo blog averaging a couple of hundred visitors, and web hosts won’t necessarily handle both situations well.

Speak to Support

Though the fashion is to find a web host online and sign up straight away, bypassing all human contact, do consider speaking to someone at the company you’re considering.

If you can’t find anyone to talk to, or you can’t get past a pushy sales rep, that in itself should set alarm bells ringing.

However, if you can gain access to technical support (who won’t bombard you with language you might not understand), they may well be able to recommend the best package based on what you’re trying to achieve.

Conclusions

If you’re now expecting my recommendation of the best web host, you’ll be disappointed.

For the very reasons I’ve outlined above, your requirements could well be very different to mine.

I’ve learned quite a lot from experience (and some bad hosting either self-chosen or enforced upon me by my clients) what makes a good web host.

Taking the time to find a good web host means that you can spend more time blogging and less time fighting with a web server or moving hosts every time something changes.

What tips would you give for finding a good web host? Note that we’re not after actual recommendations here, just best practice for researching companies.