I just recently made an invoice for myself and thought I would share it with the world!

General invoice template (.XLS)

This took me about an hour to put together and I modeled it (slightly) after another template I found on-line (I didn’t like the format or the look). It’s clean, simple, and easy to use. Here are the steps on how to customize it a bit and use it for your business:

1. Open the template and fill out the company name at the top as well as the information on the bottom left. If you want to include a promotion or additional piece of information for all invoice receivers, change that text as well. If not, right-click that big, gray box and select Format Cells… > Alignment > Merge Cells. While you’re there, also go to the Border tab and select None under the style. Lastly, select No color under the Fill tab.
2. Now, save this template so you don’t have to go through all of these steps again.
3. Now you’re ready for customer information. Fill in the Date (this is the date that the invoice was created), the Customer Name, and the Customer Number (or another identifier).
4. Under the Date column, enter the date that the service/item was furnished. In the Description column, enter what was sold or the service performed. I also include the billing unit I use (such as “Consulting, hourly”) to make the invoice make a little more sense.
5. Under Amount, type in the amount of hours or widgets provided. Now, enter the price per widget/hour in the Price column (I told you this was easy) and you should see the Total column activate and show the proper total amount. You should also see the Total and Due fields at the bottom populate.
6. Keep entering in line items until you’ve got everything on there. Now just delete the cells under the Total column that weren’t used. This will not affect the total at the bottom.
7. If the customer has already paid you for all or part of the amount, enter that in along with the date and the Due cell will update.
8. Now, save it as a recognizable and scalable name (meaning that you can replicate the style over and over for the same and different customers). I use the customer’s name followed by an underscore character then the invoice number for that customer (simply “001″ or “002″ or whatever number of invoices I’ve sent) then another underscore and, finally, the date in 8-character format (mmddyy). For example, if I was invoicing myself today for the first time, the invoice file name would be “Cunningham_001_041408.”
9. After you’ve saved it, simply print it out and mail it. If you’ve going to email it to the customer, I would suggest turning it into a PDF file using something like PDF ReDirect (free).

And that’s all there is to it! Enjoy!

Sharing the front face of my next business card:

For anyone following, this is my second iteration and definitely the one most closely related to what I’m actually doing.

The last business card I had made was mostly a product of me being completely enthralled with cartoonist and blogger extraordinaire, Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid fame. I found his cartoons a few years ago and really enjoyed their honesty. Hugh made the great move of making his cartoons available as business cards through a site called StreetCards.com. Through a link on his site, you logged into StreetCards, picked an appropriate (or inappropriate) card, added your information, gave them the 16 digits, and waited for a shipment from the UK. I had nothing to promote besides my blog (a different one than this which didn’t even have ads on it at the time) but I felt like I needed an easy way to network and meet people.

Well, now it’s April 2008 and I need business cards… for a good reason. I wouldn’t say this whole JoshCanHelp thing is blowing up per say but I definitely have found myself in a couple situations where having a small piece of card stock would be handy. Designing a card has been on my to-do list for a few months but I always had it in my mind that I would learn the digital layout software Quark first and then submit a design to a local printer. Not only is the Quark thing on hold for the moment (I’m trying to pick an enormous, expensive software program to use and Quark isn’t winning) but I could definitely benefit from having something, ANYTHING, right now. So I drew up a few designs, settled the one I liked, set my free, simple drawing program to high resolution, and went to work.

The first thing I came up with is this:

If you can’t tell, the black text is the same font as my website (Trebuchet MS) and the red text is Rockwell (a font I would have never chosen until I saw it used properly). I really liked how it turned out so I showed it to a few people. The main complaint was that the important message - tame your technology - was difficult to discern and should be larger. I also heard (and thought myself) that the red text should be larger than the rest.

Since I had made the original design as a plain image, I had to start over with the new design. This was actually a blessing in disguise because, instead of repairing what went wrong, I just rebuilt everything to the correct specs. I used Rockwell font for all the front text but dropped the descriptions down a bit. Instead of cutting letters and words off (intentionally), I continued the words on the next line (to add continuity) to make the most out of the space. For the “josh” in the background, I lightened it quite a bit and added a blur effect to take the concentration off of my name. Finally, I left the separators between the attributes as dashes instead of manually changing them to black dots (individually).

I’ll say this: it is difficult to come up with a design and a message that accurately conveys your sense of creativity and vigor and excitement while also concentrating on being somewhat original. I’ve seen some amazing business cards on-line and it seems insane to even try and compete with half of them. But, in the end, that’s simply not the point. Just like my resume is no comparison to other resumes out there, my business card is not at all a matter of out-doing other people out there. If I don’t make an impression in person, it’s unlikely that my card is going to open some magical door.

Layer-by-layer, inch-by-inch. The message is more effective as a snowball, building momentum and speed and power and influence over time, than as one massive onslaught. A better presence is made by just that: presence.

Your comments are welcome and highly desired. Thank you.

This is your introduction to the major feature of this blog, the “Problems Solved.” I’ve told you that I’m Josh and declared that I can help but where are the goods? Right here, buddy.Every major project I finish (customer or my own) and every large even that I had a hand in will get a “Problem Solved” post, complete with it’s own number (I’m limited edition, FYI). Each call has it’s own nuances and various issues so, as you can see, the heading also gets a few words to describe the problem. The sub-headings in the posts will detail each problem (succinctly) and what the solution was, if any.

The personal value behind these posts should be clear: I’m interested in a chronicle of experience and a professional journal of sorts (I think those are synonymous). The value to the outside world is two-fold: you can see what kind of problems other people are having and you might just find a quick-fix to one of your problems. When I research problems on-line, I’m never frustrated by an OVERABUNDANCE of solutions.

On with the show…

The set-up

This customer lives in a gorgeous part of Del Mar, CA in a pair of condos with his family and veritable zoo of domestic pets. He called me to help him move his router, make sure wi-fi worked throughout the house, set up a printer with Vista (which was causing him problems), and possibly help him acquire a new desktop.

Sub-problem: home DSL network

The home DSL network was the main reason I was called in the first place. I’m very comfortable working with small wireless networks, wired or otherwise, so I figured there would be no problems. Silly me.

The piece of equipment he was using was a 2Wire 1800HG combination DSL modem and wireless router. I’ve had DSL before and never had any outstanding problems moving equipment and setting up networks so I neglected to print out any documentation. That was my first mistake (I’ll be posting on what I learned on my first customer call soon).

I unplugged the router, moved it upstairs, plugged it back in, and waited a moment. I was hoping for this:

I got this:

I tried a few power resets and the reset button on the back with no discernible results. I started to panic (I was already a little nervous). I tried moving the router back to its original location with the same results. Because this customer was living in two different condos, I wondered if maybe the phone system was not setup correctly to allow the DSL router to be moved. Then, because I didn’t see a DSL filter on the phone line leading to the fax machine, I got the crazy idea that the whole house was wired for DSL filtering (so filters would not have to be attached to each phone).

Yes, I was getting a little desperate.

Moving a DSL router solution

What I did next was exactly what I was supposed to do but, since I did not have the documentation, I did not do it correctly and went through another hour of mucking about trying to figure things out (I certainly did not charge for this hour).

For any router you have connected to your system, you are able to access that piece of equipment in a similar way that you would a website. Just like a website, your router has an address - an IP address (I suggest Wikipedia for an in-depth explanation of an IP address). You can type this address directly into your web browser and access your router’s software. What’s the problem? Finding the correct address. Here are the most common ones:

2Wire address I needed but could not find:
gateway.2wire.com (this isn’t an IP address as much as it is just a way to access the router)

Edit: the address above did not work today. The one that does work is 192.168.1.254 (router model number above).

Good general addresses to try for any router (separated by commas):
192.168.1.1
192.168.1.101
192.168.0.1
192.168.2.1
192.168.8.1
192.168.100.1

Motorola routers:
192.168.10.1
192.168.15.1

D-Link routers:
192.168.0.30
192.168.0.50

Linksys routers:
192.168.1.225
192.168.1.226
192.168.1.245
192.168.1.246

Oftentimes, your router will ask you for a login and password. This is one of those logins that you set up, write down, lose, and then panic a year later when you need it. Try a few of your common logins, try a blank login field with a password of “admin,” or, if all else fails, go to http://virus.org/default-password/ and look for your equipment based on the manufacturer (listed as “vendor” on that page).

Once you’re in, there are many things you can do but only one thing that I needed:

This, in short, tells the router/modem to run it’s set-up program. This particular piece of equipment needs this to be run when it moves. Go figure.

The program will likely ask you to set up a number of different logins, passwords and settings. On of these setting is a keycode that, according to the program, you would have been given. The customer I was with did not have this written down and the url given by the program was not working at the time (2wire.com/keycode [try also http://www.2wire.com/?p=268). I lucked out with a Google search on my phone so, for those of you in the same position, here are a few to try (from the 2Wire URL above):

AT&T service: 522P-22P4-6262-22AT-F2NV
Verizon service: 523E-23E4-6262-22AS-B2DD
Verizon service (another option): 524Y-24Y4-2262-22AS-B2GV
Other DSL service: 5225-26P4-6262-22AS-B2E7
Other cable service: 5225-26Q4-2262-22AS-B28F

After running through the program, in putting all of the right information, and writing everything down, we had the router moved, wifi up and running, and a connected desktop PC.

Wifi for the latops solution

Nothing to report here. Thankfully, the wifi reached all the way down into his living room in the second living space. The son was able to play World of Warcraft on the couch which was definitely the litmus test. I was, however, ready with a recommendation in case this was not the case.

I researched a bit about wifi repeaters and found some interesting information. According to most of the comments out there, they do what they should and work fairly well in a public situation. What they don't do, however, is allow for security, which, in my opinion, is a big problem. Since that was out of the question, I researched a few wireless access points. These basically take the network signal through a network cord and make it wireless (sounds so simple). We would run a cable from the 2Wire upstairs (located next to the desktop) out of the office and down the hall into a second room that was closer to where wifi needed to be used. Here are the ones I was recommending for him:

D-Link DWL-G700AP High Speed Wireless Access Point
Linksys WAP54G Wireless-G 54Mbps Access Point

One slight hang-up happened as the laptop was being passed around. There was a switch on the front that turned the wireless off of the computer. That was hit accidentally and chaos ensued. The chaos did not last for long.

Sub-problem: Vista printer set-up

Though I was a little wary about this part because I don't have a lot of experience in Vista, everything came together for the most part.

I was working with an HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One printer that was network capable (you can plug it right into your home network and print to it from any computer [theoretically]). To test it, I downloaded the XP drivers onto my laptop, connected to the network (with a cord), and tried it out. It went through without a hitch and printed like a charm.

Since the customer did not have any ethernet cables on-hand, I offered to leave mine behind. He said he would pick some up the next day so not to worry about it. To set him up to do it on his own, I downloaded the correct HP Vista drivers onto a USB drive and transferred it to his desktop and laptop. Vista drivers are located here.

I started the driver install on the desktop and left it at a screen where the computer needed to find the printer. I told him once the cables were plugged in from the desktop to the router and the router to the printer to finish the install and try to print. I left it at that.

Final outcome

After a few days, I sent him the invoice and asked how everything was going. Apparently, the desktop connects to the internet just fine and prints to the printer just fine but now the laptop, after installing the drivers, will not connect.

*sigh*

…to be continued…

As I sat here, stressing mildly about the amount of work I seemed to have created for myself, I remembered that I have been wanting to tinker with the code on this blog to make it look more like my own. In true Josh fashion, I charged right into the task and began futzing with header styles, colors, and text sizes. It was immediately quite confusing so I tracked down the maker of this theme and started to read up about this particular theme. At the same time, I figured that the Wordpress forums could probably help me with a few of my general questions. I implemented a random image switch for my header, changed the title format, and started messing with the individual post headers.

After about a half hour of mucking about in code I only half understand, the stress of other jobs being ignored started to seep back into my head. Though I’ve let go of any urgency on this blog on purpose, I also want to get into the habit of at least a weekly update here. I have three posts that are half-done along with an article I’m making for Squidoo and my home page. I also need to build a blog for someone else and it needs to be done in the near future. I also have some nagging editing to do for the same person the blog is for, I owe my recent customer (post on that coming soon) an invoice, and I think I’m still enrolled in school. Not to mention the pile of certification books I just ordered that are begging to be cracked open.

All this stuff just hounding me for my attention and I’m screwing with the CSS of my blog. So I made a decision:

Aesthetic changes to this blog, my other blog, and my homepage will be placed on hold until content concerns and primary outstanding customer concerns are addressed.

As such, this blog will remain fairly ugly but will be updated more often. My home page will be getting a slight content overhaul to make it more search engine friendly and explain what I do a little better. I have also been working on an HTML format of my resume which will incorporate some parts of my LinkedIn profile.

All of that comes third to pertinent work that demands attention at gtmbride.com and content additions for this blog and my home page.

There, now that I’ve said it, it must be done.

Stay tuned. Please.