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Saturday freelance chat – Andrew Donnelly

13 Aug

After a brief hiatus, the Libro blog is back with the next in our series of Saturday freelancer interviews. It’s been a difficult time for businesses and society over the past week, but one way we can pick ourselves up and drive the recovery forward is to get on with business as usual, ensuring we’re making money to put back into our local economies.

So, my next subject is Andrew Donnelly, who set up a mobile apps and websites development company that’s been running for just a year.  Andrew’s followed yet another path as he started his business, continuing to work as a contractor to bring in the money (so a bit like soft-launchers like me, who are still employed part-time, but a little bit more independent).  Andrew’s another 4N member and he talks about the value of networking – but in his case, being in the right place at the right time and embracing the opportunities offered by new technologies have kickstarted his new career.

What’s your business called? When did you set it up?

My business is called iphonemobileapp and has been set up for 1 year now. We specialise in the development of Apps and Websites to run on mobile devices.

What made you decide to set up your own business?

Having always been interested in mobile development, it was becoming frustrating working on mobile IT only in short bursts when the work came in, rather than full-time.

What made you decide to go into this particular business area?

It’s always been a big area of interest of mine; even before iPhones were launched I was interested in development on phones. When the iPhone came out, it was the perfect opportunity for me.

Had you run your own business before?

I had contracted for 7 years previously.

How did you do it? Did you launch full-time, start off with a part-time or full-time job to keep you going … ?

In between freelance work, I have taken contracts to keep the money coming in to pay the bills. When I have downtime, I’m still working, but on my skills, aiming to improve them more and more.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

That I could do it. Like everyone taking that big leap, it can be really scary at first. One year down the line, my confidence is high and the timing seems right for what I have done.

What would you go back and tell your newly entrepreneurial self?

Plan, Plan, Plan and more Plans; it’s all well and good having an idea, but as time went on, putting a business plan together helped me stay focused and gave me goals to achieve.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

Networked a lot more in the early days. Having just discovered networking, it’s a breath of fresh air to me and my business. Not so much in sales, but in terms of contacts and opportunities.

What are you glad you did?

Worked hard – it’s not a 9-5 job, it’s a 24/7 365 days a year thing. You have just got to keep at it.

What’s your top business tip? 

Trust your gut feeling a lot more than you do. It’s generally 99% right.

How has it gone since you started? Have you grown, diversified or stayed the same?

Still the same size, but now I have access to a lot of contacts to help me out.

Where do you see yourself and your business in a year’s time?

Hopefully on a much more solid footing, with a good client base. (Find out what he’s doing a year on!)

If you’re interested in knowing more, Andrew’s website is down at the moment for contractual reasons, but his phone number is 07795 511 083 and you can Tweet him.

Thank you for being my first app developer interviewee, Andrew! Click here for more freelancer chat.

 
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Posted by on August 13, 2011 in Business, New skills, Small Business Chat

 

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Saturday freelance chat – Matthew Marron

06 Aug

Welcome to another Freelancer chat!  Today we’re talking to Matthew Marron.  I met Matt via the 4N networking site forums and was impressed by the fact that he’s a student who’s already carving out a great career as a freelancer.  Although I did type up the odd thesis when I was a student, I would never have dared to try to go it alone and be completely self-employed, so I really admire anyone who’s trying to do that.  Matt’s website is here – and let’s now learn more about how he took the plunge and decided to go it alone.  I do like his answer to “What do you wish someone had told you before you started”!

What’s your business called? When did you set it up?

My business is called Matthew Marron Graphic Design and I first started freelancing around 3 years ago.

What made you decide to set up your own business?

I was still at college and just didn’t seem to be learning enough, and I realised I was at the age where I could start to be taken seriously by clients.  My work was well above the standard needed, so it made sense to start earning a bit of experience and portfolio work as well as a bit of money!

What made you decide to go into this particular business area?

Graphic Design is my passion; it’s as simple as that. I live and breathe it and have a lot of inspiration boiling inside of me!

Had you run your own business before?

Nah – I’d messed about with bits of freelancing throughout High School but I was entirely self taught in Photoshop back then and working at 72dpi, which meant everything I did looked terrible when printed.

How did you do it? Did you launch full-time, start off with a part-time or full-time job to keep you going … ?

It was just gradual, I do it alongside my University degree which helps me pay for living costs, and this in turn will set me up for going full-time after graduating next year.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

Where the tree of clients is planted, and directions on how to get to it!

What would you go back and tell your newly entrepreneurial self?

Plan my time better and don’t let £30 jobs have lots of amendments!

What do you wish you’d done differently?

Same as the above really; I was a bit too nice and a bit too cheap at first. I was getting lots of cheap work but the amendments meant that I was spending a lot more time than planned on what were supposed to be 1 hour jobs!

What are you glad you did?

Started in the first place.  Graphic Design is a hard game to get started in and I think too many people just assume they won’t be able to get work if they start up on their own.

What’s your top business tip?

Go for it!  It applies to everyone, but especially students who have a lot of spare time. If they’re good at what they do, they have nothing to lose, and the experience is priceless.

How has it gone since you started? Have you grown, diversified or stayed the same?

I only really try to get work during the holidays, which works really well for me, as I get a lot of work when I’m off uni and then I get a steady stream of work during term time on the back of that.

Where do you see yourself and your business in a year’s time?

Full-time! Huddersfield University has a business start-up scheme which helps with office space and free phones, and this, combined with the connections I have steadily built up, will hopefully help me land on my feet.

Libro of course wishes Matt the best of luck with his future endeavours! You can find the Matthew Marron website at www.matthewmarron.co.uk and contact him via email info@matthewmarron.co.uk, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mmarrondesign or on Twitter: @matthewmarron

Click here for more freelancer chat.

 
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Posted by on August 6, 2011 in Business, New skills, Small Business Chat

 

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What I’ve been up to in July

03 Aug

It’s the beginning of a new month – and Libro was 2 years old on Monday, so Happy Birthday Libro, first of all!  I’m doing better than I could have imagined when I set it all up in August 2009; well, we all know I love my job by now … and I’m building up a good base of regular clients but still with the time to do one-off projects as well.  The variety in my Libro life has increased dramatically; originally I was just offering proofreading and copyediting but now I do writing, transcribing and even good old copy typing for all sorts of people, from academics to journalists, working on websites to novels to advertising materials to … well, anything to do with words!

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to in July …

Well, first of all, I went on holiday! Just a quick week in the Lake District, staying here, which is a hotel I can heartily recommend, especially for those on special diets.  I had a bit of a break from Libro work; I did have a few bits of work in but I took a laptop and managed to get them out of the way in the early mornings (and I didn’t mind being interrupted slightly).  Apart from that it was all very relaxing, but a lot of walking meant I got enough exercise not to get twitchy, and I even took Matthew out in a rowing boat on Lake Windermere!

The rest of the month was nice and busy …

I transcribed two interviews for journalist Jude Rogers (and she kindly tweeted about my services to her followers – social media exposure really helps my business – which I think I’ll blog about soon!)

I carried on coaching my Taiwanese client through the final stages of her Master’s dissertation – not long to go now and I’ll miss working with her.

I did various bits and pieces for my lovely physiotherapist client, Kate, including a final proof-read of her new brochures and e-book and a section on her new colleague for her website.

My American PR company client sent me various projects, including the usual bi-monthly magazine and an advertising leaflet to copyedit and proof.

A previous client came back to me with another medical journal article to work on, with more to come …

And I wrote pieces on local businesses and a downloadable brochure about retail shelving for two clients who came to me through recommendations.

I’ve also been busy networking, attending the Birmingham Entrepreneurs meetup and the Social Media Cafe this month.  I’ve met lots of interesting people through these two regular meetings, and while networking often doesn’t generate direct sales or offers of work (although sometimes it does!), it’s worth remembering that everyone on whom you make an impression is likely to remember you and perhaps recommend you when they hear of someone who needs what you provide. I’ve also ended up with an unofficial mentee; I’ve been helping one of the entrepreneurs with his website, advertising materials and marketing strategies, which is a nice way of giving something back.

As we go into August, the dissertations and theses are starting to build up already (get your booking in now if you’re a student with a dissertation due in August, September or October!) and will join my regular clients’ projects in what are traditionally my busiest months of the year.  I’ve got some time booked off my part-time job towards the end of the month to make sure I’ve got the time to devote to Libro.

I’m concentrating on building up a set of troublesome pair and business-related blog posts so I can just publish as I go through my busy weeks, and there are still opportunities to take part in my Freelancer Chat interviews, which are proving popular with my interviewees and readers alike.

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proof-reading, transcription and typing services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on August 3, 2011 in Business, Celebration, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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On Why I Love What I Do

27 Jul

I wrote this during graduation week at the University where I still worked part time at the time, and that’s a time of year I have always loved.  The expectation, the joy of the families, the relief that the hard work is over.  And during the past couple of years there’s been the added pleasure of knowing that some of the people whose dissertations and theses I’ve proof-read are among those happy bands of people throwing their hats into the air on the library steps at my University and at various campuses around the country.

It’s not just the students, either.  OK, I also had a lovely email from a client whose English I’ve been helping throughout her Master’s year.  She’s nearly finished her dissertation, it isn’t half bad, her written English has improved hugely as she’s worked hard through the year, and I’m proud of what she’s achieved – and she appreciates the care I’ve put into my work with her.

But I’m also proud of the novelists who get their precious words in print, whether in a “tree book” or electronically.  I enjoy working with people who struggle with their writing, whether English isn’t their first language or they face issues like dyslexia, and bringing their words and meaning to life with them.  And I’m always excited to see my name on an acknowledgements page in a book!  I get a real thrill from opening a favourite magazine and seeing a journalist’s article which they’ve created from the bare bones of an interview I’ve transcribed for them – but I’m also pleased when I help someone with a transcription that is never going to see the light of day anywhere but in a research paper.

I get pleasure from seeing my corporate clients grow their businesses with the help of blogs and press releases I have written.  They are so proud of the work they do, and I love the fact that I can fill in some of the areas in which they might not be so confident.  I don’t think I’ll stop being pleased when I see the words I’ve written filling someone else’s website, helping them climb up the search engine rankings and representing their voice as well as I can – even though there won’t be a credit to me on the website and sometimes I don’t even tell anyone I’ve written it!

I also love helping other entrepreneurs and organisations, both formally through helping out at the Social Media Surgeries and more informally at Entrepreneurs’ meetings in coffee shops and the Social Media Cafe every month.  It’s great meeting other people with such enthusiasm and drive, and wonderful to share ideas, tips and hints, in a spirit of collaboration rather than competition.  As part of that, I’m really enjoying putting together the interviews I’ve been posting on Saturdays for the past few weeks.

I became a librarian because I wanted to help people and benefit society in some way.  As I transition away from my library career and more and more into Libro’s world, I am happy to say that I feel I’m helping people and benefiting them and, yes, society, perhaps more than in my library work.  Libro turns two in August, and I will continue to work in a way that I feel is both comfortable (most of the time – a few challenges along the way make it more fun!) and ethical, and, well … I love doing what I do!

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proof-reading, transcription and typing services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations.  Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on July 27, 2011 in Celebration, Copyediting, New skills, proofreading, Students, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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Outsourcing for fun and profit (2)

20 Jul

Welcome to the second in my two-part series about outsourcing.  In Part One we learned about the different tasks you could consider outsourcing to an outside company or individual.  Now we’re going to look at how to work out if it’s worth outsourcing.

There are three reasons why you might choose to outsource a task:

  • You’re so busy, you don’t have time to perform the task effectively, or at all
  • The task is not one of your specialities (OK: you’re not very good at it)
  • It’s more costly in terms of time and income to do the job yourself than to pay someone else to do it

Let’s look at these in turn.

You’re too busy to do the task yourself

Your company’s doing so well that you’re flooded with orders and work, you’re making those widgets till they’re coming out of your ears … but your filing system’s a mess.  Call someone in to sort out what you don’t have time to do.  You’ll profit in terms of having good systems that can be run easily, and not wasting time sorting through a mess to find a vital piece of paperwork.  Or you’re a journalist with too many deadlines and you haven’t got time to transcribe all your tapes – send them off to someone else!

You’re not very good at the task

Maybe you’re great at making widgets but you clam up on the phone when you’re making sales calls to get more clients.  Or you create beautiful websites but panic when a client asks you to write or check content for them.  Or you work with your hands, add up invoices in your head, but need to create some leaflets and are not sure of your spelling.  This is when calling in an expert in their field will help you concentrate on building your expertise – and income – in your own field, and make sure you’re representing yourself as well as you can.

It would actually cost MORE to do it yourself

Remember that method of justifying buying an expensive coat by breaking it down into cost per wear (price of coat divided by number of times you’ll wear it.  Now it costs 50p – hooray!)?  Well this works a bit like that.  Say I have a very simple tax return to do and it only takes half an hour.  Say I charge my clients £20 per hour.  Doing my tax return will cost me £10 in terms of lost potential revenue for that half hour (and I know it’s so simple that an accountant wouldn’t be able to get my tax any lower).  I doubt I’ll be able to get an accountant to do this for £10.  So it’s not worth me outsourcing it.  But if I had a big complicated business, with VAT and all sorts of deductions, and it took me 10 hours to battle through it, then that £200 in lost potential revenue (plus any tax savings I’m missing by not being an expert) could probably pay for an accountant to do it properly.  Similarly, if it’s going to take you 10 hours to type up a 1 hour interview tape that I could do for you for £45, it’s worth outsourcing to me and saving time and money.

In summary: if it’s more expensive to do it yourself, or you don’t have the time or skills to do it, consider outsourcing!

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proof-reading, transcription and typing services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on July 20, 2011 in Business, Copyediting, Organisation, proofreading, Transcription, Writing

 

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What I’ve been up to in June

06 Jul

Before I tell you what Libro has been up to in June, I wanted to mention the results (so far!) of my user survey.  Last month, I posted a survey in order to get some feedback on how my blog was going, what people thought of the content, how often I posted, how often I told people about what I’d posted, etc.  The poll is still running, but I’ve gathered together some interim results, and am making some changes as a result.

14 people have been kind enough to respond to the survey so far. I know this doesn’t lend itself kindly to statistically significant results, but I have drawn out some trends. As regards the content of my blog posts, reactions were varied, with the guest posts and these “what I’ve been up to” posts attracting the most extreme likes and dislikes. But … these weighed each other out. For every person who didn’t like so much detail about what I’ve been doing, there was someone who wanted more of that! So the content of my blog posts is going to stay pretty much the same.  After all, when I promote a post, you get an idea of what it’s about, and can choose whether to click to read further.

Although the majority thought I was doing it just right, slightly more people thought I advertised my blog posts too much than too little.  Most of those people were people who accessed the posts through Facebook.  So I’ve cut down on the number of times I promote my posts on Facebook (and I now post about them more often to the people who’ve “liked” my Libro page, on the grounds that they have actually signed up to know stuff about Libro, than to my friends list), with maybe slightly more on Twitter, as people do miss great chunks of Tweets through the day.

Quite a few people thought I posted articles a bit too much during a typical week.  I did get a bit over-enthusiastic for a while, especially with similar, marketing-type posts.  And I know I posted two articles yesterday, plus this one today – but those two were on very different, and not very Libro-centric, topics.  So I have listened, and I have cut down and varied things a bit.  Each week, you should see one or two “troublesome pairs”, a main post on a Wednesday about a topic that’s important to Libro, over the next few weeks, something for the students instead of a troublesome pair on a Friday, and a freelancer interview on a Saturday.  With the odd extra cafe review or Iris Murdoch update.

There’s still time to fill in the survey, so please feel free to do so if you haven’t already. And I really appreciate those of you who took a moment to fill in the survey and add your comments!

What I’ve been up to in June

Trying to get this a bit closer to the end of the month than I managed for May …

I’ve had a good, busy and varied month. I worked on some tender documents for a company that provides these for other companies trying to get contracts with local authorities etc. (although I just do the proofreading at the end, this ties in with the contract writing work I used to do in London – everything comes in handy one day!); continued working for my lovely regular customers; helped someone write an introduction to a book; copyedited parts of two PhD theses and a couple of dissertations; worked on an e-book on marketing; transcribed some tutor-student interviews; proofread a Kindle version of a book; did a substantive copyedit on a novel.

If you want to know what any of these tasks involve, the blog posts in the what do I do category should help.

In other projects, I sorted out my libroediting domain names so my web address is now http://www.libroediting.com and my email address liz@libroediting.com; gained a logo in a skills swap with a graphic designer (I wrote her some marketing letters) and sorted out a dedicated mobile phone for Libro. I also helped out at another Social Media Surgery and attended a great Social Media Cafe at the end of the month, where I met some lovely new people and introduced some old and new friends to one another.  I’ve also started publishing a series of interviews with fellow freelancers; I plan to revisit them all in a year’s time to see how they’re getting on.

And I collected some lovely quotes for my references page!

 
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Posted by on July 6, 2011 in Business, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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Saturday freelance chat – Carl Nixon

25 Jun

Welcome to my second interview with a fellow freelancer.  These are running every Saturday, and are aimed at sharing our experiences in setting up and running our own businesses.  This does gives people a chance to showcase their businesses, but the main aim is to share and encourage.  Each interview includes the same questions, and I’ll be revisiting my interviewees a year after their original interview is published, to see how things are going.

Today we’re going to meet Carl Nixon; I first came across Carl on the 4Networking forums and he’s also on Twitter.  Carl is based in Wales and his business, Excel Expert, has been going for 2 years, so it’s about the same age as Libro.

What’s your business called? When did you set it up?

It is called Excel Expert and we are just coming up to our 2nd birthday.

What made you decide to set up your own business?

Mainly being bored of my job. I worked for Admiral Insurance for 10 years setting up and maintain their systems and procedures for the elephant.co.uk brand. Once all the bugs were worked out there was very little challenge left so I found myself just turning up for work at 9, wasting my day and going home at 5.  I should have left years before but it was a genuinely good place to work and I was a part of a great team

What made you decide to go into this particular business area?

I’ve been a geek and a lover of all things maths all my life so it was almost a no-brainer. I could have equally gone down the database route rather than the spreadsheet route, but I chose spreadsheets because there was less competition. It’s really strange, because databases are becoming our main focus.

Had you run your own business before?

Prior to working for Admiral I ran businesses for other people but never my own.

How did you do it? Did you launch full-time, start off with a part-time or full-time job to keep you going … ?

I started out with the aim of starting part-time and going full-time when I hit a certain turnover. However I was never going to hit that threshold because I never had the time to produce that much turnover. So I just bit the bullet and went for it.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

Expect to spend several times more money and time on marketing than you plan to.

What would you go back and tell your newly entrepreneurial self?

Spend more time on marketing and concentrate earlier on eliminating the marketing, working,  marketing, working cycle.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

Not left it until I was 40 to start up a business

What are you glad you did?

Making the leap from part-time to full-time. It is a big leap of faith but it just makes it so much easier to get your business really going.

What’s your top business tip?

Has to be fail fast – As soon as you see something not working or going wrong, get right on it. Either fix it or bin it.

How has it gone since you started? Have you grown, diversified or stayed the same?

We tried to diversify but it was a nightmare. By offering more core services you dilute your marketing message and as a result it becomes weak and doesn’t have so much reach and impact.

Where do you see yourself and your business in a year’s time?

Hopefully employing people so I can take on more work.

Carl’s website is here and you can call him on 029 2125 1450

Thank you for joining in with the interviews, Carl!  The information on going full-time from part-time was particularly interesting for me, and I’ll be interested to see how things are going in a year’s time, as we’re in fairly similar lines of business but with different expansion plans. Here’s how Carl is doing two years down the line …

Click here for more freelancer chat.

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2011 in Business, New skills, Small Business Chat

 

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I need your feedback!

15 Jun

I’ve been updating this blog more frequently for almost six months now, so I think it’s time to seek some feedback! Please be honest, as I want to know how to improve it in the future!

The survey is here and should only take a few minutes to fill in.  Please note, I CANNOT see who has filled in what, so it’s completely anonymous and you can feel free to be as honest as you need to be!

Thank you for your help!

 
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Posted by on June 15, 2011 in Blogging, Business

 

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Libro update for May

15 Jun

I’m a bit late publishing this May update, but feedback says that people like these, so here goes!

May was a good month, with a nice mix of regular customers and new ones.  I’ve been doing lots of new blog posts, too, starting off my “troublesome pairs” series where I help differentiate between words that people often confuse, and doing a series of posts explaining exactly what the different parts of my job entail, which I’m giving the category “what do I do?“.

As regards paid work, I’ve got up to all sorts of things …

Copy-edited blog posts for an artist, a physiotherapist and a training specialist.

Written up short pieces and longer articles for a website featuring local businesses.

Proofread one ongoing academic client’s essays, gone over a successful PhD candidate’s changes, and worked on some shorter essays for undergraduates and dissertations for postgraduates.

Copy-edited a biography for a local small press.

Proofread a business document for a regular client.

Completed various projects for my regular physiotherapist, translator and magazine designer clients.

I’ve booked in a few students for their dissertations – that work will start to hot up in the next month or so.

I’ve also helped out at another Social Media Surgery, which is always fun and worthwhile, and been on a course to learn how to publish on Kindle and sell the resulting book via Amazon.

Coming up – things are getting lovely and busy in June – I’ve got some new customers, including another translator, more transcriptions coming in; I’ve started putting together a series of interviews with other freelancers, which I’ll be publishing weekly from next Saturday, and I’ve already had a couple of very busy days and hit all my targets!

 
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Posted by on June 15, 2011 in Business, Jobs, What Do I Do?

 

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Virtual Assistant or Website Designer? I can help!

07 Jun

If you’re a busy Virtual Assistant (VA) you know that there are some jobs you need to give that personal touch … but others that are more routine and can be outsourced.  If you’re designing websites, often the design and functionality is your forté and you could outsource the copy writing, either because it frees up some of your time, or because it’s not your speciality.

I provide all sorts of services, from copy writing through to copyediting, proofreading, transcription and copy typing.  Here are some ideas for projects I could help you with.

For VAs:

  • I can take routine copy typing or audio typing off your hands
  • I can pick up overflow work when you’re really busy
  • Maybe you prefer not to work weekends but have a valued customer who needs a rush job completing – I work weekends and can let you know availability very quickly
  • I can help you offer services like copy writing or copyediting/proofreading which are outside your usual skillset, allowing you to offer an all-round service to your clients

For website designers:

  • I can write new copy for your clients, based on existing websites and marketing materials or from going through a questionnaire with them
  • I can polish ideas your clients already have into coherent and useful web content
  • I can proofread the final website (including checking links)
  • I can insert keywords into the web content in a natural way to help with the SEO

I don’t need to contact your clients direct; I’m happy to work through you.  And my standard agreement means there’s no worry about me “poaching” your customers – I’m more than happy to work with you long term to satisfy your clients’ needs.  You won’t be employing me, simply outsourcing some of your work; I’ll invoice you an agreed amount per hour and you can invoice your clients whatever you want to!

Talk to me today about outsourcing some of that routine work and getting on with the things that you do best, and that differentiate you from other VAs and web designers.

Have a look at what a copyeditor and proofreader does; see references from my satisfied clients.

Contact me via email or via my contact form.

 
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Posted by on June 7, 2011 in Business, Copyediting, Jobs, Organisation, proofreading, Transcription, Writing

 

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