tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post1710147364270862843..comments2023-10-15T10:29:12.991+01:00Comments on Karyn's erratic learning journey: Early reflections on going soloThe upsychohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-12769889412381797502009-01-22T23:33:00.000+00:002009-01-22T23:33:00.000+00:00Thanks all for the suggestions, advice and words o...Thanks all for the suggestions, advice and words of encouragement. All the best, Rob, in the world of the self-employed!The upsychohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-60577372566300995592009-01-22T16:43:00.000+00:002009-01-22T16:43:00.000+00:00Harold's made a good point - use WordPress and mak...Harold's made a good point - use WordPress and make your site more like a blog. I've just finished mine, but I did need some help, particularly with tweaking the templates. I don't think people expect those whizzy sites anymore and they're pain to keep up to date.<BR/><BR/>Here's mine:<BR/>www.rob-alton.co.uk<BR/><BR/>Good luck with it - I joined the independent crew this month.Rob Altonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09785971735704435962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-80126570203719242432009-01-21T16:47:00.000+00:002009-01-21T16:47:00.000+00:00Just some of my recommendations. Set office hours...Just some of my recommendations. Set office hours. You can still be flexible, but when you do something during your office hours people know that you are being inconvenienced (not just your family, but friends--only my mother doesn't get it when I'm working from home. I tell her I'm on my way out to a meeting).<BR/><BR/>Make sure that you have your own "office" or desk. This is constant battle in my house, and once I got "my" desk, at least I can try to recapture the space from my family.<BR/><BR/>As Harold said, make sure that you have a "library" of proposal templates. You should take time out to have standard information that you can cut and paste into the proposal. Sometimes, even the best proposal looses out to someone underbidding you or with a better reputation. I read somewhere that new businesses should expect 10:1 acceptances (one acceptance for every 10 proposals). Have you gotten feedback as to why your proposal was not accepted? Even when I worked on a multi-million project, we would get feedback and tweek our next proposal based on that.<BR/><BR/>Finally, I learned that getting out and going to "luncheans" or "dinners" with professional organizations not only helped me to network, but also helped me to identify resources (i.e. the techy who can look over your shoulder) and make me feel less allienated.V Yonkershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910904367068063554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-49405946362390953942009-01-20T20:36:00.000+00:002009-01-20T20:36:00.000+00:00Oops! Just noticed the Kashflow link is broken. My...Oops! Just noticed the Kashflow link is broken. My fault! Sorry.Mark Berthelemyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812278774682999567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-27495455844335163022009-01-20T13:13:00.000+00:002009-01-20T13:13:00.000+00:00@Mark - Based on the unmitigated disaster that cal...@Mark - Based on the unmitigated disaster that calls itself 'today', I have one response to your second paragraph: HA!<BR/><BR/>But thanks, anyway.The upsychohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-3169833231692963052009-01-20T13:06:00.000+00:002009-01-20T13:06:00.000+00:00Harold's right Karyn.You know more than you think!...Harold's right Karyn.<BR/><BR/>You know more than you think!<BR/><BR/>On the accounting front - use <A HREF="www.kashflow.co.uk" REL="nofollow">Kashflow</A> and find an accountant that will work with it. It does everything you'll need, without accountant-speak.Mark Berthelemyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812278774682999567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-67221332068348205782009-01-20T03:06:00.000+00:002009-01-20T03:06:00.000+00:00Then start playing with wordpress.com where you ca...Then start playing with wordpress.com where you can select templates that have lots of widgets that make you look more "2.0 ish".<BR/><BR/>I play around and test themes at jarche.wordpress.com, but my main site is hosted locally.I do not know how to edit CSS either ;-)Harold Jarchehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11462304722726586155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-19882420578215105612009-01-19T23:32:00.000+00:002009-01-19T23:32:00.000+00:00@Harold Thanks for the support. The problem with t...@Harold Thanks for the support. The problem with the website thing is that I have no idea how to edit CSS to achieve anything more interesting than <A HREF="http://learninganorak.co.uk/" REL="nofollow">this</A>.<BR/><BR/>Someone sent me some feedback to say that, as a 2.0 champion, I should include elements of interactivity in my website. I dare not even think that far ahead in terms of the learning curve. I don't speak very good html-ish!The upsychohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-74010370814469907772009-01-19T21:16:00.000+00:002009-01-19T21:16:00.000+00:00Your network can help you with some of the downsid...Your network can help you with some of the downsides. I have hundreds of proposals on file, as I'm sure many free-agents do. Just tell us what you're looking for. Same for the website. You might find that someone can help. Look at my website though. It's just a wordpress blog, and it's been good enough for the past five years. You can set up a wordpress.com blog, pay $15 for a domain name and pay a few extra bucks if you want to edit CSS or get rid of what few ads are there.<BR/><BR/>Just remember, you're not alone :-)Harold Jarchehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11462304722726586155noreply@blogger.com