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Mudbath

Hiya
Long time no see! We've been away for a week and I hardly seem to have a minute to come on here and say hello!

TCM - I can't remember if you have a website. Would that work for you? If you've got one could you try and promote that in lots of free ways? I hope things pick up.

Horace - good idea about doing the anniversary dinner ... the more people who see your work the better.

I can't remember if I told you I'd had an enquiry about paying for a voucher using paypal. Well, as I had a paypal account i've said yes and she's gone ahead and booked. I'll just have to leave the money sitting there until I need to buy something online otherwise I'll have to pay to take it out but it's all money and at the moment I can't turn any down.

Lots of vibes to get work to you all. Catch up again soon xx

jpwhittle

good morning everyone, sorry i havent been on its hard work getting used to life in the sun lol.
Havent had much time to think about work for the last 6 weeks, but things are loking good, im currently looking at getting a printer sorted so i can do photography after having some fun at a friends wedding. got some pictures better than the pro and he charged £800 without an album, also the shop on camp out here has said they will stock my tiaraas for a small cut so got that in the pipeline as well, so all in all im feeling very happy.
Not missing england at all, just my mum and dad but they are coming out here soon and i have a trip to bethlehem to look forward to for my 30th, its a drem trip for me as ive always wanted to walk round all the biblical places.
So the diaries open for anyone wanting to visit sunny cyprus, and it really is sunny, 35oc at 8AM think im hybernating after getting noah from nursery.
happy 1 year anniversary horace. Glad everyone else is doing well to.

Mudbath

JP - lovely to hear from you and it sounds like you've settled in so well! The sun is out here today so I'm making the most of it - the difference is we might get a day and you'll get a whole summer! Lol! Looking forward to hearing more about your photography. Catch up soon xx

Horace

Hi gang

Sorry I havent been about I have been rushed off my feet. Its great to hear from you JP and well done on getting your tiaras into the camp shop too. I am also interested to hear about your photography. I am off on a photography course in Brill, nr Aylesbury on 4 July which should be fun.

I went to Swindon about a week or so ago (got hopelessly lost but got rescued) for a photoshoot of the wedding dresses that I have, I am making arrangements to sell them through a dressmaker friend of mine oop north because two of them will need tweaking - one dress has shoulder straps that would suit a weight lifter they are massively big.

I am still sorting out the anniversary dinner - trying to get a proper quote out of the venue is like drawing blood from a stone, in fact getting blood out of a stone would be much easier:mad: I have another opportunity to organise business networking events - the profits of which will be split 50/50 which suits me and is far better than the offer of a franchise that another firm has offered me (they must think I am mad if they think I am handing over £15K plus VAT plus at least 35 of everything that I'd earn). Their maths doesnt add up and I worked out that over 5 years I could end up paying them £450K excluding the cost of the franchise and I would get £90K - and they are saying that I would have a viable business and would earn £128K each year (so their maths doesnt work).

JP keepa hand on your bag when you are in Bethlehem and have zipped pockets if you can to stop people dipping. I spent 6 weeks in Israel when I was 16 working on a kibbutz in the Golan Heights and then hitchhiking around:eek: I would send letters home begging for a bacon sandwich or even a bag of smoky bacon crisps:rotfl:

I have a new blog attached to my website now and the site has been given a complete overhaul thanks to some nifty copywriting. The blog is dragging some interest in at least.

Tomorrow I am off on a course with my accountant - 6 steps to growing a better business which I am looking forward to. Recently blogged about the chamber of commerce too and got their marketing chappie on the phone so now my membership has been upgraded, my membership had actually expired..but that's more networking that I can do to recruit for the networking team that I am working with - more money = more profit.

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine and in JP's case the wonderful Cyprus sunshine.

jpwhittle

haha thanks horace, it is wonderfull cyprus sun, cos we arent on the coast we are inland its 44oc here today, most of the other camps are at the coast and so cooler but ery hot today, but unlike england you can breath in this heat.

my photography is quite a new thing but hopefully i can get it to take of. john was worrying i was trying to do to much but after our last wedding fayre thinks its all ok. so now working to getting it a fully fledged business for when he leaes the RAF so we can do this together.

Also on holiday had another crazy idea to make peoples lives easier and so am going to look at patanting that, ran it past a few people who said it was fantastic. wish i had the money to buy an area out here as theres a town that has been abondoned in the war and eerything has been left, would love to buy it and turn it into something like eden camp. maybe need an insider to deborah meaden, john laughed again and thinks im crazy and really should start implamenting these crazy ideas as i have an idea then someone goes and invents it a few years later. so fingers crosed one of my crazy ideas may just pay of one day

Horace

I love dry heat - I cannot stand humidity at all.

I was out today at a seminar called 6 Steps to a Better Business which was interesting and I learnt a few things. Trust me to park on the carpark furthest away from the venue though..still I enjoyed the walk as it was a lovely hot and sunny day here today.

JP - you need to start tweeting, I know that Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne are both avid twitterers. Really you need to write down your ideas and perhaps concentrate on one thing first and do that well before jumping onto something else (this is something that I learnt today). The thing with dragons or business angels is that they will want a proportion of your business.

Horace

I am grinning like a cheshire cat - not sure if I mentioned but I have been asked to organise some events for a 50% share of the profits:cool: and today I have been asked to write the FAQ column for a national wedding magazine:eek: - now I can't think of any questions:mad:

Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful weather?

whitstableimp

I currently run a local magazine and would like to launch another in the next town, getting the first off the ground was tough and I really need it to make money from the start. I have looked down the franchise route where there are a couple of different options, so far I have looked at MyMag, The Family Grapevine, Raring to go, Ladies First and Community Times. Firstly I believe that Community Times has gone bust so scratch that one. The others vary in price from £25k to around £3k. and other than the price the difference is not immediately obvious, they all claim that you can make profit from the first issue.
Is there any need to be part of a franchise? before looking into this I had never herd of any of these 'brands' I mean they are not exactly Cosmo are they? It looks like a lot of money to pay for some guidance, has anyone any experience of these products, all offer profit from issue 1 by working a couple of hours a day... would I be capable of getting the project off the ground alone? is there a 'how to' guide anyone would recommend?
Thanks in advance

Bubble16

Hi All, Just found this thread and am hoping for a few kicks and poss some advice Am in my second year of self employment and am doing OK, am very lucky and every time I have started wondering how I am going to pay the mortgage something has fallen in my lap. Now I am good at what I do, what I am spectacularly useless at is selling myself, particularly on the phone. I have a business idea, which I think will be pretty good, and I know is done by other companies in other parts of the country however I need to cold call another local company and sell it to them and I don't know how to!! Anyone got any great tips on cold calling where I don't come off sounding like an idiot who immediately gets hung up on? I should mention in a lot of ways there is more in this idea for me than for them, I need use of their premises and am hoping to pay them commission on all sales. Equally I suppose they don't have to do anything I am going to be doing all the work. Sorry, long rather rambling post, have spent the whole day trying to rehearse the telephone conversation in my head and I think it has sent me slightly mad!

TCM_3

Sorry not to have been on for a while - have been trying to get my head down and keep working but shop still quiet. Trying to stay positive though! Not easy!!

Glad to hear everyone well - Horace, well done on your events! 50% of profit .... wow!!

JP glad the move went well. We got a cheapy last minute deal to Turkey a few weeks back and had a ball - it was what we both needed. The heat was great!

Muddy, my website is pure rubbish so I don't want to promote it until i get it changed. It just looks like Tellytubby land!

Will try and be about a bit more in future to catch up!
T