Join in if you are self-employed and work from home

renniwano

Afternoon all..

Well... even with the extreme weather.. I actually managed to get some work done last night... it may have only been sorting out one of my designers commission and a few minor alterations on my site.. but I felt so much better for doing it..

Hope it is all good with you guys..and that the weather isn't causing too many problems..

Nikki x

moneymabel

Whens your new site going to be up Horace? Looking forward to having a nose :-) Any sniff of any work yet? It's so frustrating waiting-I bet there will be nothing for a while and then you'll get 3 at the same time-like buses!

Put a listing for the site on hotfroguk and now my site (through them)is on page 3 of google when you type in wedding jewellery which is pretty good I reckon!

Well, i've got my new logo done,now just have to get it put on my site along with a few other tweaks to be done,tomorrow have to phone up wedding mag and pay for the first of my adverts and take my car in to have a sticker/decal done for the back windscreen.
On Saturday OH's sis went wedding dress shopping in a town about 50 miles away from here with her friend who's getting married ,she took some of my postcard/flyers with her and one wedding shop put them on the counter for me, I've emailed them through their contact form to see if they might be interested in stocking my jewellery (would have phoned but it says on the site to email any enquiries as the shop gets busy and they can't always get to the phone). So it's all systems go at last!

Batfink

Horace wrote: »

What line of business are you in Batfink?

Two prongs of internet services really - I program automation for web hosting services, and also, since I don't have to pay for my own software, sell the hosting etc too.

I started up with my best friend just over 10 years ago, but sadly he died a couple of years ago so I just do it on my own now.

I've often wondered about these business networking type of events, has anyone found them to be useful? I always imagined a load of jargonny middle management types, swapping home made business cards and bragging about their non-existent order books?

scuzz

Hello

I'm a self-employed broadcast journalist/voiceover artist. I'm based at home, but have to travel to wherever the work is. I went freelance back in April, when I was made redundant.

Work is thin on the ground and I really need a kick up the jacksey to email more people to let them know I exist or remind them I'm back on the circuit. Voiceovers I can do from home and I'm not really sure how I can generate more business through this as I'm registered with a few specialised sites. I've also branched out into corporate recordings after being approached by a company.

This month is, thankfully, a good month, with only a few days without work, but next month is looking very scary with only one day booked in so far:eek:

I want to find a casual bar job, but I don't know how many places would put up with someone who has to put their "real career" first.

To try and help I've also started making jewellery to take to local fairs to sell, but that's not picked up yet - I've only done one so far. It's another area I need a kick in, to book myself some more stalls at more events.

My only debt at the moment is my mortgage, and credit card, but I pay that off in full each month.

Horace

Hi Scuzz and welcome. It must be fascinating to do voiceovers - its not something that I could as I tend to ad lib and then feel stupid and laugh in the wrong places:rolleyes:

Mabel - apparently my website is live and I am trying to work out how to clear my cache (I am not technically minded at all :rolleyes:) but I am clearing my cookies to see if that will work.

Batfink - sorry to hear about your friend but at least you have kept the business going. Next week I plan to call 123 reg to see if they will talk me through this pop3 box I have got with them to see if I can set it up so that my business email looks as though it comes from the business - printing.com have pointed it towards my personal email which isnt ideal:mad: It maybe that I use them for free hosting for 12 months and ditch them too.:rotfl:

I usually go to chamber networking events although I have noticed that sometimes the same people are there. Yes, it can be an exchange of business cards but you can get some good leads from them, I on a training course organised by TheBestOf and sponsored by ActionCoach (I used their code and got a big discount otherwise I wouldnt have bothered) and from that (there were only about 40 people there so a bit disappointing) I came away with 3 contacts, one I am chasing up again this week as we were due to have a meeting and he cancelled because a job came up at the last minute. No-one I have met yet discusses their order books. I give out as many cards as I can because they might just remember me when they want that office party or conference organising - or even their wedding.:D

I did go to one chamber event - Women Who (this is a lunchtime event for women) and although met some lovely people, there were some there who were just there for the lunch and were more interesting in !!!!!ing about people at work which put me right off them to be truthful. I go with my instincts - if they are going to !!!!! about their colleagues then they probably do it about their clients and I have no wish to be associated with them. I came away from that one with 3 contacts - 2 who were attending the lunch and the third one was the host (sales manager for the Radisson).

moneymabel

Horace - just had another look and I am still getting your old site? strange. Wish I'd seen you were going to go with 123-reg as I'd have advised you to steer clear. I had my old site with them and were the worst company I have ever dealt with. I'm still waiting a year on for them to reply to a ticket I left and the 'customer service' onthe phone is appalling. Hope u get on better than I did! I can recommend Heart Internet as they reply to tickets really quickly.

Darth_Trader

Horace - I've just checked out your website; not sure if it is the old one or new, though (lilac theme with a bride in the header, and a changing picture on the actual page). Thing is, I won't have a cached version, as this is the first time I visited it. Soooo, if it's the old one, then either your site isn't up and running yet, or it hasn't propagated yet (if you moved your hosting, but kept the domain name registration with a different company, it might take time for the nameservers and the hosted site to sort of match - if you know what I mean. I'm not too technically competent either!)

Wordsmith

Just popping in to say hello. Have been very busy trying to keep afloat, so have just lurked for a while. Welcome to everyone new. One day when I get home and am not so tired I will join in again properly.

Happy self-employement day, everyone.

TCM_3

Good to hear from you Wordsmith!

Hi Scuzz - your work sounds facinating! I too, like Horace would have a fit of the giggles at an inapporpriate moment!

Schools are off here and last week I was rushed off my feet to the point where I now have a limp! Literally! Have given myself boot up backside about the amount of weight I have put on so time to tackle that before I cannot see my feet because of the spare tyre round the middle. Also, I do not want the horse to bow in the middle like a hammock!

Strange Harold (orange cat) fell out with a tomato plant on Sunday and wrecked the greenhouse trying to kill it. Odd George looked on from a distance.

scuzz

Hello again

Well the good news is, I've been sending out emails today reminding people I'm around.

I've also lined up an additional job for this week. It's not a huge amount of money, but every little helps. I've also found some new contacts to try for work.

Daft Questions:

1 - what is the daily food allowance for self employed people?

2 - how do you claim petrol? By receipt or by mileage?

Thank you