A cult phenomenon among those who work in graphic, print and web design - and those lucky enough to have discovered the namesake blog - Clients From Hell has been bringing readers to tears with its unbelievable and always hilarious anecdotes from the twenty and thirty-somethings on the frontlines of design.In print for the first time, this collection brings together the same type of original stories that make the blog a hit and exposes the designer's trade for what it really is: new, misunderstood and often unappreciated. Read the quotes, bizarre requests and elaborate communication failures that are all part of the daily life of working with clients.With anonymous submissions from over a thousand creative freelancers, Clients From Hell sheds an insider's perspective on difficult - and all-too-often irrational and insane - interactions with clients.Anyone who has ever worked with clients may find these tales frighteningly familiar. New designers may think twice about their chosen profession - or at least find relief in the fact that they're not alone in absurd client interactions. And non-designers? Well, they'll just feel grateful - while they laugh and discover the new and uncharted territory of miscommunication.

Praise forBranding Yourself "Branding Yourselfis a good beginner's guide on how to build an online presence using social networks and blogs that will turn you into a thought leader or expert or just get you a job." –Dan Schawbel, #1 International Bestselling Author ofMe 2.0 "The biggest problem most people have with embracing the power of online networking and personal brand building is they don't know where to start. Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy take out the guesswork and roll the dice with platforms to find the right combination for you in this book. The book is a recipe for success...your success." –Jason Falls, SocialMediaExplorer.com “In this exceedingly useful book, Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy provide step-by-step guidance for building and maintaining powerful personas. With wit, wisdom, and numerous expert tips,Branding Yourselfis the new roadmap for navigating the sometimes complex world of personal branding. If your best marketing plan isyou(and it is), thenBranding Yourselfshould be your playbook.” –Jay Baer, Coauthor ofThe NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, and More Social "Our parents taught us to find a great job with benefits, put money toward retirement, buy a home, and work hard, and you'll reap the benefits. Our parents werewrong. The job market was downsized; the retirement account was ransacked; the house lost its value; and working hard has only put you in the unemployment line. Those who personally branded themselves were able to capitalize on the down-turned economy, and their businesses exploded. Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy are providing you the blueprint for kicking off your brand and effectively leveraging online technologies to transform your future. [This book is] a must read." –Douglas Karr, Founder of theMarketing Technologyblog, CEO of DK New Media, and Author ofCorporate Blogging for Dummies "In an environment filled with philosophy, platitudes, and '30,000-foot views,' Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy give us a refreshing how-to guide for actuallydoingsomething meaningful through social media. Here's a trustworthy book to help you (and me) take real action to leverage emerging tools to create customers and make them happy!" –Trey Pennington, Entrepreneur, Story Prospector, Author ofSpitball Marketing Use Social Media to Build a Great Personal Brand–and a Great Career! Need to demonstrate more value to customers or employers? Want a new job or career? Use social media to build the powerful personal brand that gets you what you want! InBranding Yourself, two leading social media consultants show how to use today’s social media platforms to attract new business and job opportunities you’ll never find any other way. Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy show you how to supercharge all your business and personal relationships&demonstrate that you are the best solution to employers’ or partners’ toughest problems&become a recognized thought leader&and translate your online network into great jobs, great projects, and a great career! Discover how to: " Build an authentic storyline and online identity that gets you the right opportunities " Choose the best social media tools for your personal goals " Blog your story boldly and effectively " Promote your events, accomplishments, victories&and even defeats and lessons learned " Integrate online and offline networking to get more from both " Reach people with hiring authority and budgets on LinkedIn " Use Twitter to share the ideas and passions that make you uniquely valuable " Launch an online branding program that really gets noticed " Avoid “killer” social networking mistakes " Leverage your online “expert” status to become a published author or public speaker " Measure the success of your social media branding " Get new projects or jobs through your online friends and followers

Love wasn't supposed to be part of the bargain... On every visit to Madame Delacroix’s brothel, Nathaniel Travers requests the same man. Stunningly handsome and highly skilled, Jasper not only shares Nate’s fondness for wickedly erotic games and black leather corsets, but he has become a trusted confidant. And Jasper’s the only person who knows Nate longs for a committed relationship with his childhood friend, Peter Edmonton. Unrequited love hurts, but it hurts even more when the object of affection is in love with another. Jasper Reed has been working at Delacroix’s for a decade. He’s saved enough to retire, yet he remains at the decadent London brothel. Leaving would mean leaving Nate and the hope someday the rugged gentleman would stop pining for his best friend and realize he loves Jasper, just as Jasper loves him. Edmonton’s impending marriage looms before them, causing Jasper to take another look at his stubborn heart. Yet Jasper’s a bastard whore, and Nate’s the nephew of a viscount. Surely there can’t be any hope for them... Note: This is a previously published work. This second edition has been edited with minor changes. For readers who purchased the original edition, this second edition is not substantially different.

This book is about building and delivering great customer experiences. Many companies neglect this, but the physical execution and emotional impact of customer experiences, companies and brands may ultimately determine customer satisfaction and loyalty and commercial success. With the use of compelling examples and cases the authors show that this is key for all companies and organisations.

"Spufford cunningly maps out a literary genre of his own . . . Freewheeling and fabulous." —The Times (London) Strange as it may seem, the gray, oppressive USSR was founded on a fairy tale. It was built on the twentieth-century magic called "the planned economy," which was going to gush forth an abundance of good things that the lands of capitalism could never match. And just for a little while, in the heady years of the late 1950s, the magic seemed to be working. Red Plenty is about that moment in history, and how it came, and how it went away; about the brief era when, under the rash leadership of Khrushchev, the Soviet Union looked forward to a future of rich communists and envious capitalists, when Moscow would out-glitter Manhattan and every Lada would be better engineered than a Porsche. It's about the scientists who did their genuinely brilliant best to make the dream come true, to give the tyranny its happy ending. Red Plenty is history, it's fiction, it's as ambitious as Sputnik, as uncompromising as an Aeroflot flight attendant, and as different from what you were expecting as a glass of Soviet champagne.

This is an explicit and detailed guide, an intelligent "how-to" book for professionals. It lays the groundwork and creates context by exploring essential concepts, defines terms that may be new or unfamiliar, and then moves forward with practical software techniques. All the while it is building on the existing knowledge and experience of its professional design audience. Taking Your Talent to the Web is based on the Populi Curriculum in Web Communications Design, developed by Jeffrey Zeldman in cooperation with Populi, Inc., (www.populi.com) and the Pratt Institute. The book's purpose is to guide traditional art directors and print designers as they expand their existing careers to include the new field of professional Web Design.

This is the graphic, authentic and often humorous autobiography of a young man's journey into Melbourne's underworld and nightclub scene in the recent past. 'The Hammer' was a feared enforcer capable of inflicting indescribable pain on anyone that stood in has way. Supreme violence and a manipulative calculating streak were tools of the trade. This story gives the reader a rare insight into addiction, the dark art of violence and ego involved in the world of a drug dealer, debt collector and stand over man in Melbourne's underworld scene. An embracing family background and unwavering ability to believe he was destined for redemption allowed 'The Hammer' to claw his way back from the darkness and use his hard-earned experience to assist men to break the cycle of addiction and crime and re-discover their own power and spirit. Nice work mate! Proud of you and glad to call you my friend. - Trevor Hendy AM