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

moneymabel

Hi Lisa- wish I could understand websites and Seo, might get more business then!
What are you doing with the chocolate (I'd be eating the stock) is it personalised wrappers?

nzmegs

yep me too. Websites go right over my head!

My first fews days full time at home have gone weel. I still feel like I am on holiday. My husband has been home for the first part of this week too so it has been nice to be able to go down and chat to him eeach time i take a break.

Do any of you guys know a good way to learn to touch type. I have realised I will be much more efficient if I can type up my artilces without having to go back and cahnge loads of stuff. I am a stream of consciousness writer and then I have to spend a lot of time tidying it up. I know there are online courses but was hoping someone might be able to reccommend a good one.

Todays to do list includes research for one article, sending off my blog, making up a list of article topics, compiling news and looking for more work. I might put some stuff on ebay too just to boost the income a bit.

Speaking of jewellry I have been trying to learn to make it. I bought a basic kit and have made some really basic stuff. It never looks very neat - my loops are all bent out of shape etc. I guess it takes time to work out the best methods. I am also thinking that buying the best quality beads and findings mean you get the best result. My stuf is kind of cheap, but it was just to see if i could do it.

anyway have a good day.

moneymabel

Cant help with touch typing-I do the two finger typing method! I learnt most of the jewellery techniques from About.com jewellery making forums,theres a lot of useful info on there :-)
Am still looking for ideas to expand the website but dont want to get too diverse and complicated thats why I was thinking of favour boxes.

Lexxi

Practice is one of the best things to learn to type nzmegs!! Position your left hand fingers on ASDF and the fingers of your right hand on JKL; make sure you are sat properly, your arms should be at a 60 ish degree anlge, back straight, feet on the floor and repeat - The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog - It uses all the letters on your keyboard, use your thums to hit space bar and see how many you can type in say five minutes then keep working on it? Save you a bit of money than a course until you can find one that really suits you.

I spent the day shopping today, I think I found the most expensive tights ever Most of the stuff was for OH, he has been wearing a jumper that was falling apart on him.
Still waiting for my paperwork to say that that I have a company..... OH has been promising everyone jobs and gigs etc but there has been a full confirmation as yet, there's still so much that could go wrong, plus I'd rather keep it close to my chest.

What are favour boxes etc? You mean a box to put things in or a box that comes with things in? I think I've only ever been to two weddings

jpwhittle

most people just sell the decorated boxes and then the bride and groom have to fil them themselves, but im hoping to have them already filled so they appeal as its one less job for the bride and groom, then the gifts are sorted for the guests, hope this helps

Smart_Mart

Hi there, may I join in?

Male, 41, single, tall with brown hair and green eyes seeks...oops, sorry, wrong thread!!:p

I work from home which is between Bristol and Bath, a lovely part of the world. I used to be a self-employed courier subcontracting to one particular company but sadly he lost most of his customers through natural wastage so now I only do 7am - 8am and 5pm - 6pm on Mondays now but he gives me a fully serviced Ford Focus estate in return.

I also do six paper rounds (the local freebie) that brings in another £60 a week. They take 5-6 hours a week in total.

Finally, the bit I love. For the last two years, I've run a small website for my twin son's junior football team. Unpaid and around an hour a week was all it took. My boyhood football team, who I've followed for 38 years now, took me on in July 2009 to work for them. I go down once or twice a week to the club (an hour away) and interview players, write articles and on matchdays, I go to the match and write a match report. It really is a job from heaven!

I'd like to get more into writing for a living and maybe do some more website admin stuff. I'm thinking of placing a local advert in the sports papers offering my website admin services at a cheap rate.

I also ought to add that I stay self-employed because I spend a lot of time with my twin boys. I have them from 3pm - 8pm on Wednesdays and every weekend from 3pm Friday till 5pm Sunday. Anything I end up doing has to fit in with them.

Any ideas will be gratefully received....

Best wishes

Martin
xx

moneymabel

Hi Martin,
Nice dating advert lol! Welcome to the thread :-) Sounds like you have the perfect job for you already! Are we allowed to know which football team you write for?
As for the advert I don't know much about magazines except for never accept the first price they give you , always batter them down ( advice courtesy of Horace, a regular on here who is on hol at the mo). Have you made any enquiries into prices etc? Or would it be better to spend a morning phoning clubs direct or getting a leaflet printed and sending it to them, following up with a phone call?

nzmegs

Hi Martin, as a writer myself i know how difficult it can be to get yourself known and get work. At least you have the website design thing as well. I find most of my work on bid sites such as Elance. The pay is not great but it is good experience and hones your skill.
Try contacting some sports magazines, both online and print. Perhaps offer to do an article or two on spec and if they accpet you have your foot in the door.
I have just left my part time job to concentrate on writing full time. It is already proving stressful but fun. I just need to find more revenue streams. Sometimes I feel that I am writing all these articles and someone else is making all the money. it would be good to skip the middleman and sell my articles direct. But as with most writers I have a bit of a confidence issue and never know if my writing is good enough...

Best of luck. I am not into sport myself (football bores me to tears....) but being a good sports journalist is a great niche to be in. Especially if you love the game.

TCM_3

Hi Martin! Welcome along! (doesn't he sound lovely girls.....!) Like the Horace advice, never pay full price for advertising! I have a stepson of 10 who wants to be the next David Beckham and I wish he would put as much effort into his homework as he does daydreaming about footy!

Busy the past few days which is good as I have a heap of bills to pay but I am now demotivated completly. Have a saddle to fit tonight for a girl who apparently has the oddest shaped horse in Ireland. I have yet to see him but 2 people have said they have never seen anything quite like him!

Have a good day everyone
T xx

Purpleroses

ohhh more newbies! welcome to the mad house :wave:

been so busy not had much time to read the thread but hope everyone is doing well.x