Professional Web Design – our first eBook
The book contains a selection of our best articles about professional Web design and the business side of web development. It contains 10 already published articles and 2 exclusive, newly written pieces. The book costs only $9.90.
This e-book contains a selection of the best articles about professional Web design that have been published on Smashing Magazine in 2009 and 2010. The articles have been carefully edited and prepared for the PDF version; some screenshots and links were removed to make the book easier to read and print out.
- Download a free PDF sample (0.5 Mb),
- Download a free ePUB sample (ZIP, 0.4 Mb),
- Download a free Mobipocket sample (ZIP, 0.6 Mb)
This book presents guidelines for professional Web development, including communicating with clients, creating a road map to a successful portfolio, rules for professional networking and tips on designing user interfaces for business Web applications. The book shares expert advice, and it also helps you learn how to respond effectively to design criticism, use storytelling for a better user experience and apply color theory to your professional designs.
Buy now and download PDF right away!
Everybody who buys the book supports Smashing Magazine and helps us to keep producing free high quality content. This book is not protected by DRM. It is available exclusively here, in the Smashing Shop. Please respect our work and the hard efforts of our writers. If you received this book from a source other than the Smashing Shop, please support us by purchasing your copy in our online store.
Table of Contents
On 242 pages you will read:
- Harsh Truths About Corporate Websites (Paul Boag)
- Portfolio Design Study: Design Patterns and Current Practices (Vitaly Friedman)
- Creating A Successful Online Portfolio (Sean Hodge)
- Better User Experience With Storytelling (Francisco Inchauste)
- Designing User Interfaces For Business Web Applications (Janko Jovanovic)
- Progressive Enhancement And Standards Do Not Limit Web Design (new article by Christian Heilmann)
- Color Theory for Professional Designers (Cameron Chapman)
- Is John The Client Dense or Are You Failing Him? (Paul Boag)
- How To Identify and Deal With Different Types Of Clients (Robert Bowen)
- How To Respond Effectively To Design Criticism (Andrew Follett)
- Web Designer’s Guide to Professional Networking (new article by Steven Snell)
- Group Interview: Expert Advice For Students and Young Web Designers (Steven Snell)
Please also spread the word on Twitter and share on Facebook. We appreciate your support!
jonny
March 22nd, 2010 3:19 pmreminds me of when NPR and such do those fund-raising things, so not that bad, I kind of see it a bit negatively and we do get a lot of good articles and resources from this site……but $9.90 is a bit much for an e-book, at least for me. But say it was a real book with an ebook version included: i’d pay at least $25…hell I just a bought a graphic design book today.
Toks Ogun
March 22nd, 2010 7:46 pmI don’t think the ebook is appealing enough because I would pay $100 or more for an ebook if I thought I would gain more than what I’m paying.
I don’t really care much about the format of the book as I do what the content of the book is.
Chris
March 22nd, 2010 3:20 pmHi Guys,
I bought the book in support. I really hope this works out. Smashing Magazine has propelled me into the world of web design and freelancing. I’ve never found a resource as useful as this or a community that I feel so at home in.
Please don’t go down the route of a premium channel. I’ve seen it done on other sites like Tuts+ but I just don’t think it suites the ethos of Smashing Magazine. I’d sooner buy an eBook every 4-6 months and keep the content for all than pay a subscription and feel like I was in a walled garden.
Maybe you could expand the shop more, T-Shirts, Mugs etc? I don’t know how much Mozilla make out of this kinda stuff but I think it’d be kinda geeky cool, the logo is neat. Just an idea which I’m sure will already be in the pot.
Keep us posted and let us know if we can help out in any way. Ignore any negative comments. You guys rock and the web wouldn’t be the same without you!
spuchi
March 22nd, 2010 3:24 pmHi,
I’m sorry to hear that you are in trouble. You are one of the top blogs when it comes to quality content and deserve the help of the community & the readers.
I don’t mean to a be a dick, but shouldn’t you try cover most of the costs through advertising? I mean, having “6 figure” readers should put some “value” on those ads… I don’t mean to say that you are greedy, or that the eBook is not worth 9 bucks (it’s worth more than that), just that IMHO the advertising should cover most of your expenses.
Anyway, I hope the problems are going to be solved and that Smashing Magazine will continue it’s trend of quality content. Don’t compromise because of money, the community is here for you!
tom
March 22nd, 2010 3:27 pmyou guys make over $50,000 in ad revenues alone! this is ridiculous.
tom
March 22nd, 2010 3:29 pm*monthly. (and its actually closer to 60)
Clayton Correia
March 22nd, 2010 3:27 pmLike I said this morning in a tweet that got me a bunch of hate:
If you’re mad at smashing mag just ask them to refund you everything you’ve paid in the last few years to view their content.
I can’t believe how people are getting so upset about this. These guys obviously care about their readers. If they weren’t passionate about their community and creating great content for free their site would never have become what it is today.
JohnONolan
March 22nd, 2010 3:31 pmYou could have avoided the backlash easily:
Step 1.) On Friday write a post explaining the situation, and saying that on Monday all site traffic will be redirected to a single page for 24 hours.
That’s it. All you had to do was give people advanced notice to make sure they didn’t misunderstand your intentions!
jeshua
March 22nd, 2010 3:34 pmBought the book earlier today, but the order is still “processing.” Is there something I’m missing? I was under the impression that I would be able to download soon after ordering. From the snipped I read, it looks like an excellent ebook.
Douglas Bonneville
March 22nd, 2010 3:37 pmNew model:
1) Require registration
2) Figure how many free articles a month to give away per reader
3) Charge for access to all articles above the free limit of articles per month
4) Charge monthly or yearly, a few bucks. You’d clean up as many readers would convert
Don’t worry about or bother the casual reader who comes by a few times a month.
or…
Accept micro-payments per article and help instill a “this is really not free” mentality on the site. Because really, it’s not free as you are clearly telling us.
Monetize or scale way way way back.
Matthew Shepherd
March 22nd, 2010 3:39 pmHow about setting up a tweet button upon purchase to get the message out there….something like:
“I just bought the #smashing #magazine Professional Web Design PDF book. Show your support to keep the free content coming http://ow.ly/1pBxC ”
Good luck guys hope this keeps you afloat :)
Cheers,
Matthew
Joerg
March 22nd, 2010 3:42 pmJust bought your book. Thanx for the work you’ve done so far.
Your blog is one of the very few where I would pay a certain amount of money on a regular base, if there would be a way to do that. So, as soon as you are on a colored reader platform like iPad, Wepad, future color Kindle, future 8″ Android with invoice system or anything, I’d be with you.
For me, this is the kind of journalism that could somehow survive: Filter all the free information, add comments and structure, draw connections and conclusions, and present it in a good looking way. I can’t judge wheter your information is always accurate — but of course, if I could, I would not need your blog any more ;-)
Just solve the “little” (yet unsolved ;-) problem that the paid content has to look better than the free content, so that the paid and restricted versions feel better than the free, not worse (like most actual epubs). But of course you know that ;-)
The PDF is not a step in the right direction: It has less functions than the free online version. There aren’t even Hyperlinks in the TOC, or at least my foxit can’t show them. So I bought the book not to get value for my money, but to say thanx. Now become professional! :-)
(btw: I’m a journalist by myself and our publishing house made a similar decision, selling “old” content in a new form. And for a certain market, that is a good idea. Not for all readers of course — so these solutions can only be the first step, not the last. But for sure you also know this ;-) Good luck!)
Amy
March 22nd, 2010 3:44 pmYou should see if any of the high profile web developers/designers/etc would be willing to donate an article due to recent circumstances. I’m sure there are some author’s that could help you out in that respect :)
Regards,
Amy
Milady
March 22nd, 2010 3:52 pmJust bought the book. Thanks for such great articles. you are the best resource on the web for what I need! Hope the purchase helps!
Tom
March 22nd, 2010 3:53 pmThanks for all your help over the years, Smashing. Here are some comments that I hope will be useful:
On one hand, you guys have provided the Web Design Community with lots of interesting posts over the past few years and I know that you’ve helped spread knowledge about web design to people everywhere (I can’t personally say that I’ve found all of the articles to be that unique..but many of them have been an interesting read with some good pointers made). The thing is, you *cant* expect to make your Business Model as it stands at the moment work out in the long run without some sort of cut-backs on the frequency of articles. Sorry, guys.
Smashing *Network* was supposed to bring together all of the different sites that regularly publish good content on Web Design, Web Development and Graphics Design, but surely those sites have costs too, costs that aren’t being absorbed by Smashing. So you’re getting content every single week for free from all of those sources. With that kind of network in place, why don’t you just scale back on the articles Smashing itself releases and fill in the void with more featured articles by other authors? (namely those on your network). You dont *need* to have a separate tab for this.
Secondly, you guys are a huge source of traffic. Why not charge authors who want to have their posts featured in your sidebar a certain amount of money to have it displayed for a week/few days and let that be another source of income?. Tom isn’t my real name and I run another high-profile blog of my own but I can tell you this: If you were to just start scaling back instead of thinking that this eBook is going to save the company, you would have more success.
You have, what, 200,000 readers?. If even 10000 of those bought your book you would have more money than I make in a year. Certainly more than enough to have *one* full time expect or a number of freelancers paid for a very long time. But wait..what happens when that money runs out?. Is there going to be another round of donations being requested in a years time?. Please..consider changing your business model.
Bryan
March 22nd, 2010 4:10 pmI agree.
You guys need to write a book about better business management, not trying to be harsh. But this is pathetic.
Shikeb Ali
March 22nd, 2010 3:54 pmI love smashing magazine, what they have provided to the world… there is no alternate for that.
I went through almost all the comments from top to bottom. First comment which made me stop and read it entirely was #33 (Saad). What he was saying was almost based on financial and about money. (I exchanged some tweets over it with @saadbassi)
I agree with him about hiring a good finance manager because when you are hiring people you have to pay them and for that purpose you have to do all the money management.
later on I went through some harsh criticism and some outa the world love for the SM.
“Where it all went wrong in my stance is the presentation of the book and the “Subject” of the post “SM needs your help today”. You people shouldn’t be asking for help like this. People will still buy your every offer but this shouldn’t be the way.”
Anyways good luck for the book hope you people will achieve your targets.
Alavri
March 22nd, 2010 4:04 pmI think this site has great content, and is worth supporting. However I don’t think this is the right way to go about raising money. Just sell the book, don’t beg for people to buy it.
I purchased the Smashing book and I am very happy with it. When I saw this one up I was thinking I’d love to buy it too. Then I read the article to go with it and now I am turned off. I think this campaign is going to hurt you not help you. Just sell the book with a “support Smashing” tagline, and that’s it, don’t give us a long story about your bad business decisions, it looks unprofessional and IMO it will do more harm than good.
Luke
March 22nd, 2010 4:10 pmThe re-direct was a bold move indeed, but it got my attention. The articles of this site and those of the great community associated with it keep me pushing as a designer and as a developer. You have my continued support be it by book, donation, or membership.
Keep up the great content
Alvaris Falcon
March 22nd, 2010 4:11 pmWell, let’s talk about business model later (that might be another great article topic), I would buy the book.
There’s a Chinese proverb saying, distant water won’t help to put out a fire close at hand.
SM asks, so I help.
Melissa
March 22nd, 2010 4:18 pmI wish I had 10 dollars to buy this book! I did buy the Smashing Magazine wordpress book several weeks ago if that helps??
Ronny
March 22nd, 2010 4:38 pmHi
I am eaglly waiting to buy books, both CSS and this one, had many emails send but no reply, had payment issues with credit card.
Ronny
March 22nd, 2010 4:39 pmHi
I had credit card payment issues on this site, couldn’t but CSS book too, is it still available.???
Lee Gustin
March 22nd, 2010 5:27 pmPurchased the ebook. I LOVED the Smashing Book (which taught me so much in such a small amount of pages), so I figured the ebook can’t be bad!!
I have stuck with Smashing Mag for years now and look forward to your posts every day. I hope you guys don’t need to cut costs and can get back on top of your financial situation, as you are THE design resource of all designs.
Thanks for all your hard work guys.
Bariski | TutZone.net
March 22nd, 2010 5:43 pmYou guys have always tried to help us out with such a great content. Moreover I know the owners personally and believe me, they are so down to earth, they are really lovable guys. Please let us all know if you need any more help we are always here for you. The least I can do right now is buy the book and I just did it. And I know the content has to be awesome, simply awesome. Thanks for coming out and asking for help, we will never put you down. Long live SmashingMag. Good luck with everything you do.
Ray
March 22nd, 2010 5:46 pmGuys, I think you’re doing a nice job with your websites and all, but “asking for help” isn’t a good sign at all that you’re doing things well on the business front. My suggestion would be to reconsider your approach on that end and get rid of the illusion that “good content” will get you on the other side.
This is a yellow flag and business is business, it cannot depend upon philantropy. Smashing Media GmbH is a company. It should be managed as such.
K.Jagadish
March 22nd, 2010 6:03 pmOrdering it right away. Hope you guys come up with future editions and give us some kinda discounts ;) ..
Do keep the site up.
vineet
March 22nd, 2010 6:04 pmJust bought one. Keep it up you guys. We love you.
aimee
March 22nd, 2010 6:20 pmWhat about the Smashing WordPress book? I have not seen it promoted and I think it is the best book on creating custom themes I have found.
Matthew Davis
March 22nd, 2010 6:21 pmHow about releasing the Smashing Book as a PDF? I, for one, haven’t bought the printed version because I like reading technical books on my screen, where they’re always handy, and searchable.
I’m sure if you released that as a PDF, many people like me would buy it.
I hope things pick up… Keep up the great work.
Marco Tello
March 22nd, 2010 6:25 pmHello everybody!!
I already read all those post but I dont care, lets support Smashing Magazine … I love it!!
Cheers!!
Paul Espino
March 22nd, 2010 6:25 pmI read your blog a lot, if not everyday.
Just bought the ebook, I was expecting a little more of the “visual aids” like pics and all ,but I’m sure I’ll happy to read this while drinking coffee.
Good Luck and more power to you!
Cheesy Message: Thanks to you guys my work has only gotten better & better. Thank you.
Matthew
March 22nd, 2010 6:30 pmHave you considered releasing the Smashing book and the Smashing WordPress book as PDF ebooks? Because you might see some more purchases of them if you did ;)
Jahangir
March 22nd, 2010 6:31 pmGood luck with the book sell and your financial conditions but I would suggest you to promote more advertising space on smashingmag so that more advertisers should come. I am sure you can earn good money only from the banner ads.
Bruce
March 22nd, 2010 6:32 pmI’m in! Purchased a copy. Keep going!
Brian Lovin
March 22nd, 2010 6:33 pmIts what most people seem to be saying, but I think you guys could easily sell more books if you would have simply marketed this post as a useful ebook, not as a call for help.
I was completely surprised by this post today – I’ve bought the Smashing Book and been following SM for over three years and this is by far the most out-of-character move I’ve ever seen from the Smashing team.
My 2 cents.
slnc
March 22nd, 2010 6:33 pmI love Smashing Magazine but I wonder why you saw it necessary to incur into these higher costs like this. You may not be able to foresee increased costs in book production, sales may not go as planed, you may overhire, your traffic can quickly increase increasing hosting costs but, everything at the same time?
I think you should focus on getting your costs lower, not your overall income higher. Growth for the sake of growth is not necessarily the right way to go.
Eric Kelsey
March 22nd, 2010 6:52 pmI will gladly purchase a copy to help support a site that I have learned so much from.
jean-Pierre
March 22nd, 2010 6:59 pmJust got my copy hope it will help to keep this site alive..
author
March 22nd, 2010 7:00 pmcomment
Aby
March 22nd, 2010 7:08 pm@saad
Mr Hotshot,I only discovered your blog via SM network feeds.Atleast be greatful for that?What a low life.
Gabe
March 22nd, 2010 7:11 pmI can’t pretend to know what it’s like to run a company that gives away so much work for free… But maybe that’s the problem. I say cut the fluff and advertising and start seriously charging for content (not easy), or find ways to cut costs. If your business model isn’t sustainable, change it. Don’t expect charity from your clients. Also, don’t forget that people assign a higher value to things they paid for than things they didn’t, even when they have equal worth. My 2 cents.
Chi
March 22nd, 2010 7:13 pmI agree with the donate idea. You guys do some amazing work and I’ll buy the book to support for sure, but if you have a donate button as well, those who don’t one to buy the full price can still add their support
Brett
March 22nd, 2010 7:20 pmYou guys rock! Thanks for all you do for the web design & development community. Love the eBook, and am happy to help support one of my favorite sites!
Brandon Brule
March 22nd, 2010 7:24 pmNo problem smashing magazine. Perhaps it seems like we are entering a new way for corporations to be successful. Since Smashing’s birth you’ve been loyal, passionate, and offered a caring community for those connected.
Staying true to yourself and showing us that you are very much like the rest of us asking for help when you need it has proven to be a far superior strategy.
I hope the best for your everyone incorporated with smashing magazine and will continue to support you as best I can.
Kevin
March 22nd, 2010 7:28 pmBought! Smashing Magazine is well worth the daily price of *free*, so I’ve bought the Smashing Book and now the e-Book. Look forward to reading them… and the site!
Tabitha
March 22nd, 2010 7:36 pmI absolutely appreciate everything you do Smashing. I am a new designer about to graduate from college and you have helped me immensely. I’ve been planning on buying the book, but this is a little bit easier since it’s 1/3 the cost.
Thanks for everything you do Smashing!
Victoria Roan
March 22nd, 2010 7:44 pmI’ve been reading the articles on here for years and appreciate every one of them. Bought the Smashing Book and was more than happy to drop the $10 on the eBook. The content is amazing and, best of all, it’s free. I love what you’re doing here and would be a bit disappointed if it changed into a subscription site, seeing as I’m a lowly college student who can’t afford much, but this is one site I might consider subscribing to if it came to that.
Keep up the great articles and the great site. I hope you get enough from the eBook to keep you going, at least until you can find a more permanent solution.
sajeerstarline
March 22nd, 2010 7:47 pmHey SM…Its not seem to be good as you tempt the readers to buy the book in this manner. You can do well present before the readers, they will choose to buy or not. Its a mere business trick rather than sensible marketing. Am a great fan of SM, ad can’t live without, I shocked while seeing your marketing tricks.
tejas
March 22nd, 2010 10:20 pmWould you have preferred if the site had gone down for ever without giving you a notice? Why is it that we appreciate something only when the ultimate tragedy has already stricken on them?
Chris
March 22nd, 2010 7:48 pmDesign is not my work but something I love to do in my spare time and your site inspired me to go back to school for design. I visit almost daily and can get lost in the articles and links. It’s so much more than I have time to learn. I already paid my $10 today (+ bought a paperback for myself and two others as gifts back before they shipped) and will continue to buy more but please offer an epub version as well (including your Smashing book). They are far more flexible on phones, netbooks and tablets that don’t have large screens.
Thanks again.
Adam
March 22nd, 2010 7:59 pmThank-you, Smashing, for your honesty and truthfulness. You have my full support to help with this avenue of financial revenue. I hope that in the future you will be able to level out your situation whether it be by cutting costs elsewhere or improving your business model.
Either way you have been an incredible resource for learning and the advancement of my career. I wish you all the best and look forward to the usual top notch content I’ve come to admire from all you Smashing folks!
Dr. Girlfriend
March 22nd, 2010 8:09 pmI guess I missed all of the hub-bub earlier with the SM link re-direction, but I must say, coming so soon after the stunt pulled by arstechnica.com (without warning, on March 6th, the site served only blank pages to people who were using Ad-Blockers), both of these stunts were really bad ideas. What were you guys thinking? P!ssing off your loyal readers is the very last thing you’d want to do when trying to improve your income stream and asking for their help. It makes me seriously question the mental fitness and business acumen of the folks running the show (of both sites).
That being said, the quality of the articles here on Smashing Magazine has really taken a dramatic leap forward over the last year or so — the writers you’ve featured have been truly top-notch and they’ve taken this website from a nice, interesting place to visit to a truly outstanding, 1st class presence on the web. Kudos to you all!
I am a die-hard fan of free content and there are only a handful of sites that I’d even remotely consider paying a subscription to, but if Smashing Magazine can continue to provide as much excellent content as you’ve been pumping out lately, I would gladly pay a reasonable monthly fee to support you and your outstanding writers. Just don’t try that sh!t again ;) Treat your readers with respect and they will respect you as well.
Lian Tze
March 22nd, 2010 8:10 pmBought. ‘Nuff said.
Anggi@icreativelabs
March 22nd, 2010 8:17 pmi just bought the pdf, and its weird, i cant download the pdf
can you send it by my email?
–> ok i got it :D sorry
Praveen
March 22nd, 2010 8:19 pmI am definetly buying this e-book. Please dont close Smashing mag!!
Symbiotics
March 22nd, 2010 8:25 pmI will buy the book, to support you guys, since the smashing book was one of the most amazing collection of info I’ve ever read, and has helped me a lot to grow as a designer
Rudra Saha
March 22nd, 2010 8:27 pmVery much interested in this book! I love reading content offline and im my own time. Can someone tell me how large the PDF is?
imarcosg
March 22nd, 2010 8:31 pmScrew all the bad comments. Smashing Magazine is the best and thanks to you guys I have been able to evolve and improve my web design and graphic skills. I am a self taught designer and coder and without Smashing, it would have been a challenge. Buying the book right now and for all those haters that complain about supporting a blog that they read every day then maybe they should go elsewhere since you guys think Smashing is so bad why the F*** do you read it then. Excuse the language but it bothers me when people are earning a living by providing an excellent free service and then when the situation arises for the support of the readers the bitches complain and back down.
Keep your head up Smashing, my support is here to stay.
Robert Lincolne
March 22nd, 2010 8:51 pm*bought*
Dendy B. Sulistyo
March 22nd, 2010 9:05 pmbought one :) and hope that next month would be good for SM !
and please.. dont close this website
Sue
March 22nd, 2010 9:18 pmBought it. Long live Smashing.
Claudiu
March 22nd, 2010 9:57 pmIt’s a shame for what is happening here. I will buy the book and support Smashing Magazine, it’s my no.1 in my bookmarks list. I hope you guys fix the problem, best of luck!
Blake R.
March 22nd, 2010 10:09 pmSorry to hear about your financial struggles; I hope my purchase helps!
tejas
March 22nd, 2010 10:17 pmNo, I won’t let you guys go out of business until you have featured one of my work in here. :P
And a complain, why isn’t the Smashing Book available as an eBook? Now THAT is something I really want to buy…
Andrés Ayala
March 22nd, 2010 10:18 pmHi, I just bought a copy. I just saw the demo pdf and notice that a printed version of the book will not give me access to the information contained in the urls. I print almost all the PDF I have/want to read.
(…)”Not only is this less wasteful, it is also better for users, as pointed out by Cameron Moll in his post “Good Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign”.
(http://www.alistapart.com/articles/redesignrealign)
I think that it will be a very good improvement to add a line with the long boring string of lower-case characters. With this new feature I will be at home, office or college and have my printed version and will access all those links you’ve chosen for further reading.
Thank you in advance for the attention and answer to this suggestion. I’m looking forward for a full-working printable version of your new eBook… I don’t mind paying twice the eBook to redownload it.
Thank you Smashing for all the good things you have given me in three or four years I have been typing in the early mornings and late nights, http://www.smashingmagazine.com!
I have your back!
Andrés Ayala
Colombia
kozeyar
March 22nd, 2010 10:22 pmLong live Smashing Magazine!
Manmohanjit
March 22nd, 2010 10:28 pmI’m buying that book, anything for Smashing Magazine!
Karim
March 22nd, 2010 10:45 pmI love Smashing and understand the ‘bold move’. As a business owner myself I realize how hard it can be to create a steady income. Smashing is by no means a so-so website. It’s an internet icon, providing us with top quality content, every day!
Most people are used to having everything for free on the internet. Not that I’m rejecting that thought per se, but it’s reality businesses have to face. Thus, the plead for assistant seems very logical to me.
It goes without saying that I bought the ebook, Keep up the good work guys!
bouncer
March 22nd, 2010 10:45 pmsome wanker released the full version link on the internet for poor ppl download
I’m here to report the link so SM can contact them to remove it.
the link is ~
mynewthemes.com/85m
Richie
March 23rd, 2010 12:29 amWell done for publicising it here, that was the right thing to do wasn’t it????
Smashing, – Remove this post!!!!!!!!
lisa
March 23rd, 2010 3:10 amWell intentioned though, I reckon. And being naive I would hope anyone commenting would be inclined to do the noble thing. I hope.
Luis
March 22nd, 2010 10:56 pmI’ll buy the ebook as soon as I have money :( Same situation as you I guess :)
JingalalaDesigns
March 22nd, 2010 11:15 pmHey SM friends,
I have been a gr8 fan of SM and will surely support you guys. I also had a suggestion to make – if you could somehow convey the users what financial target you are trying to achieve by selling this book…that would help us all know the situation more better. Also it would a good idea to enable donations option on SM site.
My another company FocusQA, is an Independent Web Testing/QA startup company and we would be happy to provide our testing services for free in order to extend our support to SM. Do let me know accordingly.
Best,
Pritam
Jean-Baptiste Jung
March 22nd, 2010 11:26 pmI’ll be very interested to see if all those people who are criticizing Smashing Magazine could build the same successful website than them.
It’s always easier to focus on others failures rather than your own success.
My 2 cents
March 23rd, 2010 12:20 amI dont think that is the case, people are expressing thier opinion (positive or negative) on the request of SM to help them out of a finical woe due to their own business choices.
Wawan
March 22nd, 2010 11:28 pmWe will buy it to make SM always can help to the world.
iqbal
March 22nd, 2010 11:34 pmWell, I haven’t really purchased the ebook, but I promise that I and several friends here will buy it. We love your articles, they help us to be a better web developer. And that small thing is the least I can do to help you guys.
Anyway, as I also have read several other design sites, I may suggest that you have a subscription model for some premium contents (such as tutorial with full source code or some exclusive themes). I see that Tutsplus membership works this way, as far as I know they charge the subscription fee for $9 a month and they have like… 30k subscribers (correct me if I’m wrong). Well, I do hope you guys find your own business model that works and can support you.
JF from Chile
March 22nd, 2010 11:36 pmHello,
I just bought the e-book as I really like SM and enjoy most of the articles, but please contract/ ask for professional business/financial advisory services and build a solid business model.
I wouldn’t mind paying for premium access as I do with many other content providers because I see value in the extra content like IGN Insider.
Best regards
Babs
March 22nd, 2010 11:46 pmI love your Magazine and it helped me in many situations.
Bought your book a few minutes ago!
Kalix Glenn
March 22nd, 2010 11:49 pmI’m buying this book. I’ve learned a LOT a LOT from Smashing Magazine . Keep it up and I will always support SM.
Adrian
March 22nd, 2010 11:52 pmHave you guys considered premium content? Like the envato network does.
Emilis
March 22nd, 2010 11:58 pmMany thanks Smashing Magazine team… I’ll buy this ebook as well… I have learned a lot from your previous book and I know I’ll get more from this…
DeepBlueNine
March 23rd, 2010 12:02 amHi Smashing Mag, bought a copy for support, keep up the good work!
Tj
March 23rd, 2010 12:05 amBought the smashing book last week and buying this one later today :)
gafields
March 23rd, 2010 12:05 amI am a web designer. Everyday I read SM to improve my work. I will buy the ebook, it’s the minimun I can do
Primoz
March 23rd, 2010 12:10 amHi!
As a fellow company owner I fully understand the costs involved by owning and running a business, and why you had to take such “drastic” measures.
I didn’t get hit by the “sales” page myself, but I think that taking into account, that you are providing quality content for free, this measure is OK, especially because you are trying to ensure the future of SM.
Maybe a suggestion for additional revenue source. Why not provide a premium subscription for a reasonable montly/yearly fee? I think many of us would be willing to pay a few bucks / euros per month, to get access to some kind of premium content. Maybe exclusive articles, or goodies like templates, or other resources?
I think this is the perfect time, that you setup a poll and ask us, the readers, if we would be willing to pay a fee for a premium subscription, I am certain the response would be positive, if we can help keeping SM up and running, so you can smash us with great articles in the future.
Folks, what do you think?
Pirkka Rannikko
March 23rd, 2010 12:13 amAn honest request for help which I aswered by buying the Smashing Book. Hope it helps and keep up the good work!
dunster
March 23rd, 2010 12:14 amJust order the ebook no.1, I order the WordPress book too, it was already on my wish list.
Hope you will get enough support for keeping up your great work.
Greetings
Dolf van Munster from the Netherlands.
Vladimir Remenar
March 23rd, 2010 12:18 amJust bought the book purely because this is for the cause of supporting one of the best on-line design magazines!
icetrix
March 23rd, 2010 12:19 amThis site is awesome and helped me alot. So I bought the e-book and I love the content. These really are one of my favorite posts.
Go Smashingmagazine!
Michel
March 23rd, 2010 12:20 amI love smashingmagazine. Bought already.
Eric
March 23rd, 2010 12:26 amHi guys, I really love your website. It’s unique in many ways. Just bought the book and hope I can keep reading your posts for many years to come.
Lars
March 23rd, 2010 12:32 amLove Smashing Magazine and would like to support you. Would it help you as much if I just bought the Smashing Book?
Sapphiro
March 23rd, 2010 12:42 amIt’s a completely differnet book from what was sold last year rite? :)
Ester Liquori
March 23rd, 2010 12:48 amI think that Smashing Magazine always offer valuable contents and if we can support valuable sources is all up to us and our future inspiration.
Perhaps they may be consider a new way to get money, bandwitdth, contents, webspace have costs and the bills must be payed.
I bought the e-book and, Iwas sure of that, it worths.
Thank you Smashingmagazine!
Callum Chapman
March 23rd, 2010 12:53 amFinance can become tough for any company at anytime – for those saying SmashingMag shouldn’t have done this are wrong!
I’ll do what I can to help, and I’m sure those that understand how difficult it is to run a blog as big as this and all the costs involved of not only hosting bills and rent, but paying freelance authors such as myself, will help as well.
Good luck!
Tyrone May
March 23rd, 2010 2:32 amCallum I take my hat off to you, I’ve just sat here and read all the comments. You are the only one out of all the other big name authors and bloggers that has come forward and said that they are willing to help.
Yet these other big name bloggers wouldn’t have the following they have, if it wasn’t for SM.
It should be the other bloggers making the $4,000 + per month helping SM not so much the readers, even though every little helps.
And to all the haters out there, there is no shame in asking for help.
My Quote of the day ” you’re quick the eat the pie, but when the pie is gone,you beat the master”.
James Duncombe
March 23rd, 2010 12:55 amThanks Smashing Magazine!
Bought your book last night. Looks like a good read. I’m a freelance web designer / developer who uses your site nearly every day for ideas and inspiration. Please keep it up as you are a great source of info! Oh and I liked the India post you guys did the other day too :)
It might be worth having an unobtrusive donate button on the site. I reckon a lot of people would happily donate a small amount to Smashing Mag. Some sort of micro payment scheme.
Just my 2 pence :)
Cheers,
James
ilithya
March 23rd, 2010 12:55 amohh SM i hope all turns for the best in the end for you! I really, really hope you stay here with us, we love having you and we need you ;)
I´ll put my little grain of salt and help by buying the book too guys!!
Good luck!! I´m sending a lot of good vibes from here in Lübeck!
Chris Grant
March 23rd, 2010 12:58 amJust bought the eBook, nice to put something on the eReader that isn’t Terry Pratchett. I, should have bought two ebooks now actually. Anyway to support you guys, you have been too big a part of this community, if you guys go, I don’t know what would happen.
George
March 23rd, 2010 1:08 amI’ve just bought my copy….hope everything turns out well for you guys…
Baeze
March 23rd, 2010 1:12 amSmashing magazine…
Yesterday, you posted 50 pictures of India. Today you’re telling us you need money. Are you doing drugs?
colorman
March 23rd, 2010 1:23 amPlease, transform more of your articles into e-Books – we will buy them too!
Suggestions: Best Of compilations; HowTo-Themes; Stuff Favorites;…
And on more hint: Why not implement a donate button on your site? With weekly reports about how many spenders, the money you’ve collected, how much you would regularly need and some information about where the spended money gone into.
Just some ideas – it’s time for a new relationship between contributers and the reader.
tykho
March 23rd, 2010 1:24 amAlright, I’ve bought the PDF now and I also ordered the smashing wordpress book. Good luck sorting this out!
harrison
March 23rd, 2010 1:26 amThu guys who work for smashing magazine all drive round in Ferrari’s and Porsche.
Sounds like an excuse to get even more rich.
George
March 23rd, 2010 1:33 amLol
you post an article about some kind of photography… you go to flickr, hit search and post photos,
you see you have low traffic from some country. you just post an article “web desing from israel” etc.
Instead of using feed sites, you chose to host your own rss server, instead of using analytics you chose to pay for web analytics
and now you are asking for our money because of your stupid choices
Please tell me you are joking
Sandstream
March 23rd, 2010 1:41 amIt’s sad to read that you have problems with the economy but begging for money will not help you in the long run. You have done the classic error of growing to fast without having a solid foundation to stand on. Wish you the best of luck and hope to see your exellent site running for many years to come!