If you’ve been around the Echo Enduring Blog for a while, chances are that you will probably know that the site is built on and driven by WordPress. I love WordPress, with all its open source goodness and remarkable extensibility, through the immense library of themes and plugins that exist out there on the web.

However, when it comes to deploying websites, WordPress is not the only tool I use.

I am also very fond of the much lesser known CMS called Concrete5. WordPress is great for blogs, for websites that feature a blog, or even just for sites that are built on an articles/publication type architecture. However, while it is certainly possible to create a more static “brochure” type site with WordPress, I have typically found the content management solutions provided by Concrete5 to be a better fit in this area.

In fact, my portfolio is built on Concrete5, as is the website for my recently launched Survd app. It’s a powerful system that often gets overshadowed by some of the bigger players, but which has a dedicated and loyal user-base that is determined to see its market share grow. I certainly hope it will, because I think it’s a great system!

Anyhow, all of that is presented not only as an introduction to the CMS itself, but also as a precursor to the newest giveaway here on the Echo Enduring Blog. Our friends over at the html2c5 Network also love Concrete5 and have put together a bundle of addons to help build upon the already extensive core functionality. Selling for only $50, this bundle contains $590 worth of goodies including themes, functional addons and other extras.

Two of my favorites include:

• Clearview Theme – this is a beautiful and elegant little theme with some pretty slick menu animation. Make it your own  by changing the background image!
• Defunct Testimonials – need to manage testimonials on your website? This package makes it super easy. Planning on incorporating this one into a website already!

There’s all kinds of other stuff too, like chat functionality, a story boarding app and even a tool for adding rounded corners to anything (if you’re not inclined to style them yourself). Be sure to check out the c5bundle website for a complete listing of everything that is included in the bundle!

Anyhow, it’s a pretty slick bundle of goodness and we’re giving you the chance to win one of three copies! So get to know Concrete5 and get in on the awesomeness!

Here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter. Trust me, I won’t clog your feed and I always try to tweet interesting articles and resources!
2. Follow c5bundle on Twitter.
3. Mosey on back here and comment. Include your Twitter handle (eg. @echoenduring), your email address (so I can contact you if you win) and a note about why you want to win this sweet prize!
4. Spread the word! Tell everyone you know! Tweet this post, stumble it, blog it or post it to your favorite social network of choice! I’d really appreciate it! (optional)

A few basic contest rules:

1. Only enter once.
2. Contest closes after midnight (Standard Eastern Time) on Jan 12 2011.
3. I will be tabulating entries, and selecting and contacting the winner within several days of the contest closing.
4. We will then make arrangements for you to claim your prize!

So there you go. That should be all the details you need. So go on, enter this contest! Oh, and don’t forget to head over to take a closer look at the c5bundle to look at everything that is available for yourself.

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It’s been a while since we’ve had a giveaway here on the Echo Enduring Blog, but a little while ago I was contacted by the good folks at Marketcircle, the creators of the popular Billings app, a nice little piece of Mac-based software for time tracking and billing purposes. They offered to provide free licenses to 3 lucky readers!

We’ll get to the details below. For the past year, though, I’ve been using Billings 3 exclusively for all my billing and time tracking needs, and I’ve been extremely happy with it. It’s nicely designed and easy to use. Here are some of my favorite features:

Integration with OS X Contacts - Instead of just creating new clients from scratch, I can actually create them right out of my native Address Book, which makes for great integration with the rest of my apps. When I get a new request for some design work through email, I can just use Mac Mail to create a new contact, add any extra information in Address Book then bring the client in to Billings and create new estimate. Easy as pie.

Time Tracking – Billings make time tracking easy. As long as I have it open I can start, stop and even switch between timers right from my application bar. I can even start a new timer and then link it to the appropriate project later on. If you’re like me, though, you may not always remember to start the timer. No problem. Billings lets you go back and manually create your time slips too!

Billings allows you to create invoices from beautifully designed templates, or create your own designs

Professional Templates – Billings comes packed with all kinds of awesome, professionally designed templates for creating your estimates and invoices. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, there is even an entire branch of the app that allows you to create your own designs. Personally, I just use a heavily modified version of one of the basic templates, though I may be creating a new custom template soon.

Extensive Reports – Periodically, I like to check out how I’m doing. Billings can help with this too, offering all kinds of built in reports about clients, billings, payment, taxes and so forth. This makes it super easy to do quick check and see where I stand in relation to my goals at any given moment.

Extensive reporting makes tracking your success easy

Billings for iPhone – You can also get Billings Touch for your iPhone, which can be synced together with Billings on your Mac. I’ve just recently acquired this app, and it’s an awesome way to stay on top of invoicing and payments while on the go!

Billings offers a ton more features too. There is the ability to link files and URLs to projects and create notes, all things that I would like to start doing a bit more myself. I highly recommend Billings to any freelancer, and with the recent release of Billings Pro, I would probably even recommend that larger organizations and agencies at least give it a look!

All that being said, then, I was super excited when I was offered three licenses to give away to you guys, so let’s get on to the details!

Here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter. Trust me, I won’t clog your feed and I always try to tweet interesting articles and resources!
2. Follow Marketcircle on Twitter.
3. Mosey on back here and comment. Include your Twitter handle (eg. @echoenduring), your email address (so I can contact you if you win) and a note about why you want to win this sweet prize!
4. Spread the word! Tell everyone you know! Tweet this post, stumble it, blog it or post it to your favorite social network of choice! I’d really appreciate it! (optional)

A few basic contest rules:

1. Only enter once.
2. Contest closes after midnight (Standard Eastern Time) on Dec 1 2010.
3. I will be tabulating entries, and selecting and contacting the winner within several days of the contest closing.
4. We will then make arrangements for you to claim your prize!

So there you go. That should be all the details you need. So go on, enter this contest! Oh, and don’t forget to head over to Marketcircle and take a closer look at Billings, Billings Pro, Billings Touch and Daylite.

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It’s the first Friday of the month again, which means it’s also time for another installment for First Friday Giveaways. First, though, it’s also time to announce the winner of last month’s (non-First-Friday) giveaway of 500 free business cards from U-Printing. The winner is:

Karissa Wingate (@karissawingate)

Congratulations Karissa! I hope you can put the cards to really good use.

Okay, so this month we have an incredible prize up for grabs, as the good folks over at TrendyPacks.com have made a single license of their incredible Infinity Design Pack, which literally contains thousands of vectors and other design elements. This will make an incredible addition any designer’s arsenal of resources.

Trendy Packs Giveaway

I’ve had the chance to check out and work with the elements in this pack, and I have to say that they totally rock. The vectors are all of incredibly high quality, and there’s all sorts of different things to choose from. The pack contains all of your staples, such as grunge elements, floral, a few wings and, of course, skulls for rocking off trendy t-shirts. It also contains some awesome character illustrations, some great animals, and a whole miscellany of cool elements.

Here are some of my personal favorites

Awesome Animals

Marvelous Mushrooms

Cartoony Characters

Heroic Heraldry

Most of these vectors are also available as Photoshop brushes too, which makes the entire pack almost twice as valuable.

And, as if all those vectors and brushes weren’t enough, the Infinity Design Pack also comes complete with 13 complete and beautiful website Photoshop templates. These can be incredibly valuable resources for designers, providing layout ideas or a starting point that you can completely customize to your own needs and tastes. I’ve had a look at these templates too, and I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. They are lovely, and more importantly, very well organized!

That’s a ton of great resources, and this amazing pack be yours for free if you’re the winner of this giveaway!

So here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter. Trust me, I won’t clog your feed and I always try to tweet interesting articles and resources!
2. Mosey on back here and comment. Include your Twitter handle (eg. @echoenduring), your email address (so I can contact you if you win) and a note about why you want to win this sweet prize!
3. Spread the word! Tell everyone you know! Tweet this post, stumble it, blog it or post it to your favorite social network of choice! I’d really appreciate it! (optional)

A few basic contest rules:

1. Only enter once.
2. Contest closes after midnight (Standard Eastern Time) on June 28.
3. I will be tabulating entries, and selecting and contacting the winner within several days of the contest closing.
4. We will then make arrangements for you to claim your prize!

So there you go. That should be all the details you need. So go on, enter this contest! Oh, and don’t forget to head over to TrendyPacks.com and take a closer look at their full range of awesome design resources!

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This month, I unfortunately missed the First Friday Giveaway post – something I hope to rectify next month. However, that doesn’t mean that I won’t be bringing you the opportunity to win an awesome prize this month too. The people at U-Printing have been kind enough to put 500 business cards up for grabs for one lucky reader.

Awesome Business Cards

This particular giveaway is being orchestrated through Digital Room, a division of the U-Printing network based out of Los Angels, California. They provide awesome printing services like the business cards you have the chance to win, uniquely die-cut business cards, brochures, flyers, posters and so much more.

If you’re just getting started with your own business, or are looking to restock your business card supply, this giveaway is a great way to get it done.

The Details

I know you’ve probably already seen different U-Printing giveaways around the internet, and I look at their prevalence as one more bit of evidence as to how professional and established they are as a printing company. Well, here are the specific details of what the winner of this giveaway will receive:

• Quantity: 500
• Dimension: 2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card), 14 pt gloss cardstock
• Finishing: 14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock, Full Color Both Sides; Offset Press; 3 Business Day Printing
• Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping

So here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter. Trust me, I won’t clog your feed and I always try to tweet interesting articles and resources!
2. Follow U-Printing on Twitter.
3. Mosey on back here and comment. Include your Twitter handle (eg. @echoenduring), your email address (so I can contact you if you win) and a note about why you want to win this sweet prize!
4. Spread the word! Tell everyone you know! Tweet this post, stumble it, blog it or post it to your favorite social network of choice! I’d really appreciate it! (optional)

A few basic contest rules:

1. Only enter once.
2. Eligibility: Limited to US Residents only. Sorry to anyone not from the States!
3. You must be at least 18 years old to enter.
4. Contest closes after midnight (Standard Eastern Time) on May 27.
5. I will be tabulating entries, and selecting and contacting the winner within several days of the contest closing.
6. We will then make arrangements for you to claim your prize!

So there you go. That should be all the details you need. So go on, enter this contest! Oh, and don’t forget to head over to Digital Room and take a closer look at the full range of printing services that they to offer!

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So here we are with the second installment of my First Friday Giveaway series. Last month’s giveaway went pretty well, and I’m excited to be back with another great prize for all my readers. As many of you probably already know, I do some work creating design resources for MediaLoot, a new resource base for designers that totally rocks.

MediaLoot - Premium Graphic Design Resources

Well, this month’s giveaway brings my work for MediaLoot and you, my readers, together. I have three design “grab bags” that I will be giving away to three lucky winners. These packages include 10 vector characters (5 male and 5 female), 10 book cool cover textures, 10 hand painted watercolour textures and a collection of watercolour brushes for Photoshop. All of these resources have been designed by yours truly and are currently part of the general MediaLoot library.

Here are some previews:

Cartoony Vector Characters - Guy

Cartoony Vector Characters - Girl

Great Hand-Painted Watercolor Textures

Book Cover Textures

Hand-Made Watercolor PS Brushes

All of the resources are of the highest possible quality, and I’m sure that you will be able to find some sort of use for them in your various design work!

So here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter. Trust me, I won’t clog your feed and I always try to tweet interesting articles and resources!
2. Follow MediaLoot on Twitter.
3. Mosey on back here and comment. Include your Twitter handle (eg. @echoenduring), your email address (so I can contact you if you win) and a note about why you want to win one of these sweet prizes!
4. Spread the word! Tell everyone you know! Tweet this post, stumble it, blog it or post it to your favorite social network of choice! We’d really appreciate it! (optional)

A few basic contest rules:

1. Only enter once.
2. Contest closes after midnight (Standard Eastern Time) on April 16.
3. I will be tabulating entries, and selecting and contacting the winners within several days of the contest closing.
4. We will then make arrangements for you to claim your prize!

So there you go. That should be all the details you need. So go on, enter this contest! Oh, and don’t forget to head over to MediaLoot and take a closer look at the full range of design resources that they to offer! You can expect some more resources from me soon!

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A couple of weeks ago, I launched the first in a series called First Friday Giveaways. On the first Friday of every month, my aim is to publish a contest and give you – my awesome readers – the opportunity to win some awesome stuff. In the first installment, I had one free license of the freelancing software Fanurio.

The winier of one free license of Fanurio in announced

Well the winner has been selected, and the free license is going to Brent Alexander (@brentalexander)! So, here’s a big congratulations to Brent on being the winner! I’m sure you’ll enjoy working with Fanurio!

And to everyone else who entered the contest, please check back next week for the second installment of this monthly giveaway series. I’m lining up some awesome stuff for you to win!

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Hey all. Over the past few days, I have been in contact with Stefan over at ArtBox7 and together we have come up with a really awesome giveaway, exclusively for readers of the Echo Enduring Blog! You’re definitely going to want to get in on this one!

So what’s up for grabs? Well Stefan has very generously donated 5 prizes for 5 lucky winners, each of whom will receive 1 vector pack, 1 icon pack and 1 brush pack from ArtBox7′s extensive collection. I’ve had the privilege of looking at some of their work, and it really is high quality stuff!

Incredible Giveaway from ArtBox7 and Echo Enduring Media

It gets better, too. We’re not just giving away some predetermined packs here. We’re giving away choice! That’s right – each of our 5 winners will be able to select 1 vector pack, 1 icon pack and 1 brush pack from ArtBox7′s vast collection. So, not only can you win yourself some really sweet resources, you’ll also get the chance to pick the packs that will be the most useful for you!

Talk about an incredible deal!

So here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter. Trust me, I won’t clog your feed, since I only ever tweet a few times a day!
2. Follow ArtBox7 on Twitter. Again, expect nothing but awesomeness from them.
3. Mosey on back here and comment. Include your Twitter handle (eg. @echoenduring), your email address (so I can contact you if you win) and a note about why you want to win one of these sweet prizes! It would also be great if you told everyone which packs you choose if you win!
4. Spread the word! Tell everyone you know! Tweet this post, digg it, blog it or post it to your favorite social network of choice! We’d really appreciate it! (optional)

A few basic contest rules:

1. Only enter once.
2. Contest closes after midnight (Standard Eastern Time) on October 31.
3. I will be tabulating entries, and selecting and contacting the winner(s) in early November.
4. Winners will subsequently be contacted by ArtBox7, and given the choice of 1 Vector Pack, 1 Brush Pack and 1 Icon pack. You will then receive an email containing links through which to download the packs of your choice.

So there you go. That should be all the details you need. So go on, enter this contest! Oh, and don’t forget to head over to ArtBox7.com now and start browsing their packs! If you win you’ll have a hard time choosing from such a great range of awesomeness, so get started now!

By the way, I have contacted the winner of my previous giveaway, and am currently in the process of working out the designs. The official announcement and runners up will be announced soon!

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Hey folks. I’m probably crazy for taking this on, but in the spirit of generosity, and in an open effort to promote this blog and hopefully pull a little more attention my way, I have decided that it is time for the first ever Echo Enduring give away!

So what’s up for grabs, you ask? Simple. It’s nothing less than a brand new vector pack. So new, in fact that it hasn’t even been designed yet, and this is where you come in. The lucky winner gets to tell me exactly what kind of theme they’re looking for and I will design a vector pack specifically with them in mind, and then grant them a free license for the pack!

Comment and Follow me to win a Custom Vector Pack!

So that’s the basic idea.

But there’s one more thing. Because the way to enter this contest involves Twitter (we’ll get to that), I am also going to go out there and say that for every 7 (that being my favorite number) new followers that I get (@echoenduring), I will also give away another free license for the vector pack. So, if you’re not our main winner, you can still get your hands on some free vectors, based on what the main winner chooses.

I’m currently sitting at 33 followers. Let’s say I hit 68. That would mean I would be giving away an additional 5 lisences to the vector pack. Pretty sweet.

So here’s how to enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter. Trust me, I won’t clog your feed, since I only ever tweet a few times a day!
2. Mosey on back here and comment. Include your Twitter handle (eg. @echoenduring), your email address (so I can contact you if you win) and a note about why you want to win this sweet prize!
3. Tell everyone you know! The more people who enter, the more chances you will have at winning! So tweet this, digg it, blog it or post it to your favorite social network of choice!

A few basic contest rules:

1. The final vector pack will be contain either 5 basic black and white vectors or 3 coloured vectors, at the winner’s discretion.
2. Only enter once.
3. Contest closes after midnight (Standard Eastern Time) on September 31.
4. I will be tabulating entries, and selecting and contacting the winner(s) in early October.
5. I will retain all ownership of the resulting vector pack. Winners will be granted a license to use the contents of the pack, just as though they themselves had purchased it. I retain the right to further distribute the vector pack and any of its contents.

So there you go. That should be all the details you need. So go on, enter this contest! Oh, and if you want to see a sampling of some of my vector work, head on over to my freebies page, where I have some awesome vectors that you can download.

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