Water Cooler

Barry Moltz is back and he's sharing his expertise on the technology trends to watch out for in 2009.  If you're feeling overwhelmed with the number of new gadgets and websites that are popping up everywhere - check out this article to help you decide which to watch this year:

Carla White is an advocate of daily expressions of gratitude and began keeping a gratitude journal last year. She believes that reflecting on her day and jotting down all the thing things she is thankful for has changed her life dramatically – for the better.

Wanting the world to share in her experience, Carla took the concept of a gratitude journal into the iPhone/iTouch world and created a new application available in the iTunes Apps store today – Gratitude.

Hiring a full-time designer to join your staff may not be in the cards this year, but making sure your website, brochures, business cards, and other marketing materials are up-to-date and well-designed should be on your must-do list in 2009.

Want to know the top five pieces of marketing material you should keep current and professionally designed? We asked experts in the design field – experienced designers on Elance – for their top picks of materials every business needs to make pop, and here’s what they said:

Guest Contributor Shannon Newton is back, and he's sharing his expertise about video production and what you can do to successfully manage your next video project within your budget:

Pretend you want to build a nice, second story deck for your home. If this deck was your video and you had a specific budget to spend on it, where would your money go? I took a look and based on my experience, here's what I found:

We asked Barry Moltz, a widely recognized expert on small businesses, for tips on how small businesses can thrive in today’s economy. Barry’s tips are based on his hands-on experience as a small business owner and his research as a professor and published author. So whether you’re a provider on Elance or a employer, you’re sure to get a lot out of these tips:

I often joke that the original title of my first book was: “The Worst They Can Do is Eat You! Surviving Your Business during Tough Times”. That title seems very appropriate today as we head into a very tough part of the economic cycle.

How do we survive and thrive in 2009? Check out these 10 tips: