About the title of this note. Well when I first started to freelance, there was no internet. (insert dinosaur jokes here) Certain things were a little harder. And more expensive. And took longer. Later as the internet was still in its childhood stages, I was still working mostly on printed pieces, logos and so forth, and occasionally a “banner ad” for those just trying to get a presence on someone else’s website. No one really had their own. Getting a physical draft of work to the client took as much effort as doing the work itself. It was tedious and expensive, requiring a larger format printer with costly ink, 11×17 paper, spray mount, xacto knives, sometimes bristol board, large envelopes and a FedEx account (or equivalent).
Yep, we had to print those brochures, ideas and everything we wanted to present, package them up, go to a drop off location and wait before calling the client for the feedback. Or we took half the day driving to the client and presenting the thing in person. Or in the case of an ad agency, you kept a very unhappy FedEx driver waiting while you chase them down with your package almost ready to go but not quite yet, because if you didn’t get it into FedEx today, you’d miss the deadline. That’s a BIG word in an ad agency.
As emails and the internet became more prevalent, more and more people got themselves an email address. With AOL. The invention of email is in my view, the NUMBER 1 most important tool for me being able to work from home. No more running back and forth to offices, printed out pieces, just hit a button and off went the draft. Of course the recipient needed something to view that but it’s coming soon enough.
NUMBER 2, the PDF (portable document format). And Acrobat Reader. NOW this powerful two punch combo made everything a piece of cake. Better than a cubicle was my own office, and this made it all possible. Or just cheaper, faster, easier and more feasible.
In conclusion, everything has changed and it keeps on changing. I’ll try and help you keep up with it, give you some tips and tricks, share my knowledge, and give thanks to NUMBER 1 and NUMBER 2 often! I’m still talking about Emails and PDFs.
