The recession, benefits, the safety net, and the learning curve

mewbie_2

fc123 wrote: »

The thing that prompted this was a stonking great big quote for 15k for techy stuff I need to sort out. Some (like new website/hosting/google clean up) I will have to pay for, but, surely, we can do the rest with the right training?

Good luck fc123, maybe acquire skills you can sell on at some stage.

nearlynew

Don't lose your fishnet stocking making skills though.

fc123

mewbie wrote: »

Good luck fc123, maybe acquire skills you can sell on at some stage.

I can never tell with you Mewbie ;)

Making/designing things is what I sell at the mo.

Writing about making/designing things would be nice to sell.

Techy skills...I can't even tell if the quote is fair play or not as I don't understand any of the jargon da de da. It's so frustrating.

Def one thing that has failed us over the past few years ~(as broadband became mainstream) was not maxing out the internet and opps that can come from it.
We embraced it 7 odd years back but it was too early.

fc123

nearlynew wrote: »

Don't lose your fishnet stocking making skills though.

Don't worry.......but having a bondage moment currently as sig.
Very popular but you don't want your teen daughter wearing it....oooops...it's in a few mainstream outlets targetted at 16 - 30 right now.
Apologies in advance to any dads out there. Now you know who thinks up this stuff that you don't want your teen daughters to wear.:o

mewbie_2

fc123 wrote: »

I can never tell with you Mewbie ;)

Sorry fc123, not always playing the fool. Genuine thought - tech charges 15k, learn skills, might be possible or even interesting, charge others in turn for newly acquired skills. Maybe that over simplfies it, but, you could possibly swap your new found skills for favours of other kinds - barter style.

I am not joking, this is me being serious.:money:Sorry about the demented Martyn - it's the most serious looking smiley I could see.

fc123

mewbie wrote: »

Sorry fc123, not always playing the fool. Genuine thought - tech charges 15k, learn skills, might be possible or even interesting, charge others in turn for newly acquired skills. Maybe that over simplfies it, but, you could possibly swap your new found skills for favours of other kinds - barter style.

I am not joking, this is me being serious.:money:Sorry about the demented Martyn - it's the most serious looking smiley I could see.

Tech skills for our age group, unless you get them from your employer, have to be self taught.
We never had the time before either.

Biggest problem when you have your own business is you only acquire new 'skills' or training (I hate that skilllls word BTW) as you need to use them whereas, if you just 'had' them, you would then use them to create or do something new...if that makes sense.

PasturesNew

fc123 wrote: »

learn Adobe Photoshop...mind you, £575 for a day.
...
The thing that prompted this was a stonking great big quote for 15k for techy stuff I need to sort out. Some (like new website/hosting/google clean up) I will have to pay for, but, surely, we can do the rest with the right training?

I'd say "maybe not".
A course like that will teach you how to use the software, but not how to USE it ...

That piece of software would enable you to manipulate images/photos, crop, cut, transform, collage them, stretch, blah blah (stuff I've no idea about), but is that what you want to do? It wouldn't teach you other stuff... just how to use that software. The software is for website designers, graphic designers or photographers ... for them to be able to manipulate images for their needs.

I think you need to probably research/check deeply exactly what you do want/need - and precisely what going on the course would achieve for you.

I am completely graphically/visually challenged ... and know nothing of graphics packages because I am non-creative garbage

Certainly nothing you put in your list had anything to do with what you'd learn in a Photoshop class.

fc123

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'd say "maybe not".
A course like that will teach you how to use the software, but not how to USE it ...

That piece of software would enable you to manipulate images/photos, crop, cut, transform, collage them, stretch, blah blah (stuff I've no idea about), but is that what you want to do? It wouldn't teach you other stuff... just how to use that software. The software is for website designers, graphic designers or photographers ... for them to be able to manipulate images for their needs.

I think you need to probably research/check deeply exactly what you do want/need - and precisely what going on the course would achieve for you.

I am completely graphically/visually challenged ... and know nothing of graphics packages because I am non-creative garbage

Certainly nothing you put in your list had anything to do with what you'd learn in a Photoshop class.

The stuff in the list ~(new site/google clean up etc) are the not the things I could learn properly in the amount of spare time I could devote to them.............the adobe photo course would be for me plus I need a high res camera. Mags 'phone for pics (not model type ones but cut outs) and I have to send actual garment at the moment.

I also need to produce better pics for wholesale customers.

OH needs to get more competent on Excel and Word plus those dam Pdf files.

The Google stuff I inderstnd better how it works now but not totally and don't feel able to manipulate it...if that is what one can do?

PasturesNew

fc123 wrote: »

The stuff in the list ~(new site/google clean up etc) are the not the things I could learn properly in the amount of spare time I could devote to them.............the adobe photo course would be for me plus I need a high res camera. Mags 'phone for pics (not model type ones but cut outs) and I have to send actual garment at the moment.

I also need to produce better pics for wholesale customers.

OH needs to get more competent on Excel and Word plus those dam Pdf files.

The Google stuff I inderstnd better how it works now but not totally and don't feel able to manipulate it...if that is what one can do?

Ah, if you want to take some pics t hen, cut out round them, make some adjustments so they look better, adjust lighting and colour balance etc, then drop them onto emails, or send off to mags, or drop onto your website, then that's ideal. And you can do it at the drop of a hat (something mags expect you to be able to do when they suddenly want a feature for the presses in an hour's time)

Phirefly

fc123 wrote: »

£575 for a day.

:eek:

*Picks self up from floor* Ok call it £500 a day + I'll throw in Adobe Illustrator too?

-Seriously though PN's right (yawn it gets boring doesn't it - can't she just spice things up with a misguided comment once in a while?)

To improve your photos, a decent digital SLR is essential and needn't break the bank, they are worth every penny. Do a digital photography short course. I'm about to start the 10 week intermediate at my local college for £70. Then I (or any one of your acquaintances who has any p'shop know-how) could teach you the basics of cropping/levels/batch editing in Photoshop in less than a day, and its certainly not going to cost you £575. Making sure you take the best possible photos at the outset is worth 10 times every minute spent on post-production digital manipulation.

As PN says - get a real handle on what you actually want to achieve with your site before you worry about how you go about it. It may actually be realistic to learn how to implement the changes yourself in a limited timeframe. And as Mewbie pointed out, once you have those skills, it is a valuable asset which could present limitless opportunities. Once you have the know-how, surely countless SMEs just like you would see huge benefit from taking your advice on how to sort out their 'techy' side as you'd be approaching it from a their point of view and speak their language. Even if you were just acting as a middleman and referring them to third parties you encountered on your technical journey.