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

fc123

dopester wrote: »

So I threw the work out to a designer forum. Deposited a bounty, and had the designers competing to provide their designs to my brief. Offering their ideas on the forums in low-res. One designer really caught what I wanted, and after asking for a few tweaks... the fee was released to her and I was sent the artwork to use, which was perfect. It really worked out well.

Random thread example from one of many design forums. There must be similar services for very capable freelancers on photoshop jobs, even minor ones.

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Thanks for that, I had no idea such a site existed. I will deff spend a some time sussing out how it works.
AIUI...You put out a brief and the fee you are prepared to pay (is that what you meant by bounty?) and see what people submit?
Also Phirefly..useful useful thanks.

Max.....did you purchase an Elle today? You do get a free notebook for £3.60 but you can't pull out the comp page as the mag is shrinkwrapped (but you may be able to get away with that in Asda ) as your writings about cars, larger girls, swiss watches etc could be worked into something? Maybe?

Cars aren't just for men nowadays, girls read about them too.

PN's book.....any chance in a clue or 2 to what is it about? Only being nosy.:o

Phirefly

dopester wrote: »

Not when that money/time can be more profitable used elsewhere. Not when there are many skilled others who can be approached to get an advanced result at value prices.

Makes sense. Mr P is a big subscriber to this way of thinking and thats partly why he shuns this value ghetto we call mse.

He figures there's no poing in him labouring over something that takes up a disproportionate amount of his time that a pro could acheive with far better results in a much shorter timeframe while he's off earning more doing what he does best.

Phirefly

fc123 wrote: »

Thanks for that, I had no idea such a site existed. I will deff spend a some time sussing out how it works.

Its good in theory and you can get results but these bartering design sites can be quite frowned upon by the wider design community as you often get overseas workers bidding to undertake design projects for what can equate to a slave labour fee. I'm sure with a bit of research and digging around though, it could be an avenue worth persuing and pitfalls could be avoided.

fc123

Phirefly wrote: »

Makes sense. Mr P is a big subscriber to this way of thinking and thats partly why he shuns this value ghetto we call mse.

He figures there's no poing in him labouring over something that takes up a disproportionate amount of his time that a pro could acheive with far better results in a much shorter timeframe while he's off earning more doing what he does best.

For years I have had opposite with OH.
He is getting his head around it now.


I have calculated his av hourly rate and anything below that he needs to sub out and anything above, is worth doing himself.

I learnt it many years back from one of those freebie business link advisors who questioned why I spent large amounts of time on humdrum, relatively unskilled, routine tasks when I could take someone on to do them releasing my time for more profitable work.
Good advice but then you have to deduct 15% of your time as you have to oversee and instruct etc.

Phirefly

Its a way of thinking that seems at odds with the very ethos of MSE. It became significant to us when I became self employed and charge by the hour, suddenly your time has a very distinct value. We paid a lot to have our bathroom fitted which felt extravagant at the time but when we calculated it in the way you describe, it worked out far cheaper than to do it ourselves.

I guess it all comes down to how much you can earn doing your specialism and how that compares to the wider market... Although there's value in learning a lifelong skill that you derive pleasure from which could also save you money.

fc123

Sorry, don't want to clog up your thread with irrelevant natter..but..read this today in The Sunday Times.

Got laid off as chef.

Couldn't afford rent.

Built a tree house (inspired by the coppicing guy on Grand Designs) and wrote a blog www.thetreehousediaries.com

Now it's going to be a book.

OK he happened to have access to 'some land' owned by family friends (handy) and must have had access to a bit more £££ than JSA. Can you get JSA if your address is a treehouse? He was also in a reality show last year?/ So not sure how that fitted in with the cheffing.

Anyway, meanwhile I am crossing fingers for Audi interview...

In April, this self-styled modern-day Robinson Crusoe (with iPhone close at hand) set himself a challenge — documented on his blog — to survive on nothing but foraging and raw instinct for six months. “I wanted to see what I could achieve with my bare hands,” he says.
Weston, 27, was a freelance set designer and chef based in southwest London, but as a consequence of the recession, work dried up and he could no longer afford his £700-a-month rent. Instead, he decided to build a treehouse from scratch on land owned by family friends.

Max_Headroom_3

That's remarkable! Mind you, that is a good story and he has been going at it for two years.

I'd love to know how he got it to the attention of the Sunday Times mind, that's the clever bit.

Audi interview tale is up!

harryhound

We all read it here first; but the BBC Radio 4 is catching up:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m0k5f#synopsis

John Waite asks whether the tough targets imposed on Personal Advisers mean they don't have time to help job seekers look for work, only administer benefits.

StevieJ

Phirefly wrote: »

Makes sense. Mr P is a big subscriber to this way of thinking and thats partly why he shuns this value ghetto we call mse.

He figures there's no poing in him labouring over something that takes up a disproportionate amount of his time that a pro could acheive with far better results in a much shorter timeframe while he's off earning more doing what he does best.

Yes the basis for world trade, comparative advantage.

Max_Headroom_3

harryhound wrote: »

We all read it here first; but the BBC Radio 4 is catching up:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m0k5f#synopsis

John Waite asks whether the tough targets imposed on Personal Advisers mean they don't have time to help job seekers look for work, only administer benefits.

Nice one HH! I can honestly say that after more than half a dozen visits, I've not been helped by them in any single way.

I read an extremely interesting article on the subject by a job seeker here:

http://charliecroker.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/189/

Very insightful comment from someone who's experienced it first hand I thought.