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Simple (But Not Obvious) Best Practice Techniques for FileMaker Developers

by Heidi Rettig on Apr 08, 2014 with 4 Comments

Simple (But Not Obvious) Best Practice Techniques for FileMaker Developers By Molly Connolly I’ve been a FileMaker developer since 1989 and there are a lot of goofy techniques I use that save me time or just plain cover my butt. I tend not to mention them because I think they are obvious OR someone clearly has a better/more exciting way so I don’t want to put out something that seems silly or dated. But you know what? After several years of training junior developers I realized there is no way for them to learn these types of things because no one else ...

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Cris Ippolite on Designing Effective User Support and Training Materials for FileMaker Products

by Heidi Rettig on Apr 04, 2014 with No Comments

The ultimate goal for any FileMaker developer is to ensure that clients are comfortable with new products and embrace the application(s) in their work. Effective training, documentation and ongoing support is a critically important element but can be costly and time consuming for developers. Cris Ippolite, president and founder of iSolutions, Inc., addressed these issues and offered ideas and solutions in his presentation, “Best Practices for User Support & Training” at the 2013 FileMaker Product Developer Conference in Chicago.  This session is one of more than a dozen included in the audio package available on the conference website*. During the “Best Practices ...

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JumpStartFM FileMaker Training Class Review

by Heidi Rettig on Mar 24, 2014 with No Comments

Last week we sent a note to past participants of JumpStartFM asking them to share upcoming dates with colleagues. Bob E. participated in the class last year and replied with this wonderful note: “Molly has put together a wonderful class that is beneficial for both veterans of FileMaker, and newcomers alike. The topics covered, coupled with classes led by some of the most respected developers in the FileMaker community, made it a truly fun and educational experience. Molly’s JumpStart training gave me the confidence I needed to pursue a career developing in Filemaker. Thanks to Molly, I now get to do ...

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How Much Should FileMaker Developers Charge? Kirk Bowman on Value Pricing

by Heidi Rettig on Mar 18, 2014 with No Comments

How much do FileMaker developers make? How much should FileMaker developers earn? According to Kirk Bowman, your bank account balance is a direct result of your pricing strategy. Is your pricing too low? In a compelling presentation at the 2013 FileMaker Product Developer Conference in Chicago, Bowman suggested developers make pricing a "core competency" and outlined strategies to help increase your income without sacrificing the quality of the work you deliver to clients. Kirk Bowman's presentation, "The Art of Value," is available for download in the 2013 FileMaker Product Conference audio package. All 2013 sessions can be downloaded for $125*. *FMPug members get ...

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Online FileMaker Training Course June 2014 Registration Open

by Heidi Rettig on Mar 17, 2014 with No Comments

Thorsen Consulting has opened registration for the next “JumpStartFM” FileMaker online training course. Scheduled for June 2 – 26, 2014, this online class is for developers looking to take their FileMaker skills to the next level. Participants come away with a solid understanding of FileMaker and its capabilities, a set of marketable skills (QA, testing, basic design) and a long term plan to lead them to certification and high-level development expertise. JumpStartFM students attend 12 online classes between June 2 and June 26, 2014 and complete project work on their own time. One-on-one feedback from expert instructors means the hands-on project assignments can ...

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Download Audio from the 2013 and 2012 FileMaker Product Conferences in Chicago.

by Heidi Rettig on Mar 13, 2014 with 1 Comment

Are you looking for best practices on technical issues? Do you sometimes feel as if you work in a vacuum? Are you curious about how other developers maintain a successful business? If the answer is yes, you might be interested in downloading the audio from last fall’s FileMaker Product Developer Conference. Listen to discussions about architecture, deployment and support. Hear what people have to say about the costs and challenges of hiring full-time employees, managing sub-contractors and outsourcing. Find out how other experts estimate project hours. Mark Anderson, founder and developer of the FloristWare POS system said, “I was unable to attend ...

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2nd Annual FileMaker Product Developer Conference October 21-22, 2013

by admin on Oct 15, 2013 with No Comments

I'm hoping folks will join us at the 2nd Annual FileMaker Product Developer Conference this fall. October 21-22, 2013. https://www.fmproductconference.com/

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FileMaker Virtual Training Program “Jump Start” Your Career as a Developer

by admin on Apr 25, 2013 with 1 Comment

It's official! I'm going to be offering my FileMaker Junior Developer training again. The class runs June 3-June 27, 2013. Who should attend this class? I originally designed the course to help companies onboard new employees who had little to no FileMaker experience. The idea was the company saw potential in this person but didn't have the immediate resources to train them. My goal was to help these junior developers develop skills that they could use to immediately assist their organization with useful (billable!) work. By "earning their keep" they would then free up additional resources within the company to continue to ...

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Rate Differentials…

by admin on Apr 23, 2013 with No Comments

After my recent a survey I received a bunch of questions from developers wondering about how to set their rates and some more specifics on "to bill or not to bill". I thought I'd throw down a few comments here and hope they may be helpful. As usual, the answer to everything is "it depends" but here is what I do and what I see most other folks doing. 1. Can I bill for travel time? I don't bill for travel time because I think it is the cost of doing business. I do however set a minimum time for on-site visits (locally ...

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Developer Survey Results

by mconnolly on Apr 11, 2013 with No Comments

Here are some quick charts showing the results of my informal survey. Thanks so much to everyone who responded. It's a small but informative sample spread across the US and Canada. I wasn't surprised to see that almost everyone has more than 10 years experience. We keep talking about how we need to attract new talent. I was excited to see a lot more developers than I expected making over $125K. Good news for developers--not great news for people trying to hire. That said, in general the folks making >$125K appeared to be business owners and/or sole proprietors. More risk! More reward! I ...

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Salary Survey

by admin on Mar 20, 2013 with No Comments

I've been working with a variety of companies across the United States and been able to gather general information about salaries and rates. This allows me to make broad generalizations about what companies are paying. I'm wondering however if I can get a better data pool so we can get a better idea of what people are paying based on location. Just to check it out I'm posting a brief survey. It asks for your name and company and if you'd like to be contacted about employment opportunities (obviously I'm trying to find more candidates!) but you can also leave ...

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Spring Training Program Starts in May

by admin on Mar 19, 2013 with No Comments

I'm looking to train a new batch of developers starting May 20th. The program runs for 5 weeks and includes a series of webinars and exercises targeted to jump start your FileMaker career. The reason this class evolved was to help my coaching clients who needed to hire, but were so busy they knew they couldn't dedicate the time to train a new person. With this in mind I put together a series of exercises and webinars that would help on-board a new hire. The focus of the course is really about teaching people what being a developer is all about ...

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