I've moved sites!

I've finished my web move, and my blog is now hosted completely on my own site, www.maltpress.co.uk.

This blogger site will no longer be updated. Thanks for reading - now carry on over at maltpress.co.uk!

About to change!

There's about to be a big change on my website - and my blog. I'm going to be moving the blog off blogger (it's a great system, but I want it all centralised) and to a completely WordPress driven site. There might be a bit of disruption on the site over the weekend but normal service will be resumed as soon as possible...

A new poem

Yep - I've done my first poem in about two or three years. Because of Stephen Fry's excellent book The Ode Less Travelled (look it up on Amazon, it's a good read). I've not done it using any particular techniques - I very rarely do, I'm a painfully unskilled poet - but I enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it.


NAMED AFTER A BIRD

We live opposite lives, me
and Gregory.
Just out of step.
At night he warms me up
And by morning the opposite is true;
From red to blue and back
(Him, not me).

I fill him at night from the kettle
And twelve hours later it's me
Plus milk and sugar
Which would make him sticky
And not enhance his action.

Sometimes we look at each other
Him with his unblinking
Felt eyes
And me with my watery alives
And we wonder how we lasted this long
Wanting different things.

But that's what we need -
Me to fill him,
Him to warm me.
The perfect complimentary relationship
With a faint smell of rubber.

Difficult times

The past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for me - an ill cat (he's now fine), car troubles (ceaseless), money worries, a slow-down in work, some other personal stuff... all of which has resulted in me being in a bit of a grump for a while.

I had a major grump yesterday, ranted a bit, and found myself with my fingers hovering over the keyboard with a job application form in front of me. It's the closest I've been in 14 months of self employment to jacking it all in and getting a real job just so I have some money in the bank and can stop the horrid letters from the Student Loans people.

But then I remembered that I'm a bit of a pig-headed idiot and I don't give up. Giving up is stupid. Changing - that's the way to do things, but not giving up. There's always a way out, and while a "real" job is certainly one way out, I think I've become too antisocial now to be easily re-integrated into working society. Most employers frown at the idea of turning up to work in your pyjamas, showering half-way through the morning, not shaving for weeks at a time if you can get away with it, and the other fine distractions I have.

So I'm getting positive. I'm making proper aims, and proper things to look forward to. I'm planning how to achieve what I want. A lot of stuff I want I know I can't have; I know what I want might change with time. But I'm going to put it all down now and see where I get to. I will get through this difficult patch. Honest.

Blog in haiku

Work is very hard
Too late to roll in mist now
Not sure what is next

A new year...

2008, eh? Amazing how quickly it comes around. I can remember feeling smug this time last year for getting through my first ever self-employed Christmas.

Last year I made a few business plans and a few personal plans. Let's see how they panned out and make some new plans to not keep to:

Business plans

1. Find a designer to work with. Kind of - I've made quite a few contacts this year and I can certainly point people in the right direction for design. I'm also having someone whose design I admire look at my site for me.
   
2. Go limited. Nope - and I'm still umming and ah-ing about this one. At the moment I don't see the point. I'm getting by fine, I'm getting work in, and by working as part of consortiums I'm getting the weight of a bigger company behind me when I need it.
   
3. Refine what I offer. It's not really been about "what I offer" this year. I am going to get new business cards, and re-do the focus of the website, but other than that there's been little activity on this front. I do what I do, and what I'm asked to do; it's nice like that. I have started to focus my writing work away from my main website, though, and I approach it quite differently.
   
4. Sort out an office. Moving house was a great thing to do - the new place for my desk is excellent and I'm very happy here now. No need for an office, although I'd love one, and there's a brilliant building on the A10 I'd like to do up. Anyone got £300,000 to invest in me?
   
5. Join a professional body. Yep - I'm now a fully paid up member of BIMA, the British Interactive Media Association.
   
6. Upgrade the PC. Got a load more memory, decent graphics card and - most important of all - a really nice big flat screen monitor. Hurrah!
   
7. Market. I spend what seems a painful amount of time looking for new work now, even when I'm busy. Once bitten - twice shy.

So - an OK year, plan wise, but successful for the one thing I didn't really put in the plan - keeping going and enjoying it. It's been a great working year with huge, huge amounts of potential this coming year. New plans? OK then:

1. Sort out dull money things. I need a pension. Humph. I am nearly 30 and I do not have a pension. This is not a good thing. I also need income protection insurance. Luckily, a good couple of months mean I have a better bank balance than I expected - I've managed to pay the first instalment of quite a big tax bill (lots of confusing stuff about having 6 months in hand or something) without dipping in to the money I had put aside for that very purpose. When I know what the next tax bill may be, I might have enough put by to properly invest for my dotage.
2. New website, business cards, letter heads and compliment slips. I often find myself wanting a compliment slip but have never had any; I am also bored of the design of my site. This is currently being fixed by some very nice people.
3. Blog more. Both on this blog and on www.willwordforfood.com
4. Make more distinction between my "normal" work and my writing. The two are quite different at times; plus I like the idea of Will Word For Food and want to really take advantage of it.

So that's business... what about personal? Here's what I planned and how I did:

• Get back on the stage - nope. Oh dear. Perhaps this year?
• Live like a monk - extreme! - that was January. I can't remember last January. Didn't really stick to it last year though - went abroad a couple of times, met a lovely girl and made the most of it.
  
• Fence in a couple of competitions - Didn't happen. Far, far too busy. In the later part of the year I hardly even fenced on club nights.
  
• Pay off my credit card - Not yet - although I'm doing OK. Got to keep plugging away!
  
• Take more photos - Yes. Then my laptop died and I lost them all. :(

Not bad - I did have a most excellent and incredibly fun year. I did a lot I didn't plan to do, and it was ace, so in some ways I'm loathe to put down plans for the coming year... but I'll do it anyway.

• Do my "things to do before I'm 30" - that's pretty much it, except to add:
• Learn to dive - some friends have been amazed I have a degree in marine biology but have never dived. Apparently I will enjoy it - so that's on my list of things to do. Perhaps it will tie in with the plan to go south of the equator at some point...

So that's it - big ambitions for business, realistic ones for my personal life. Let's hope I manage some of them at least!

Busy again

Another workload update - I'm currently busy until the New Year, but I'm happy to talk about any work which might come up in 2008. Give me a call or drop me a line - we're rapidly approaching the end of the financial year and it's time to use up budgets!

Things to do before I am 30: a note

Here are some things I want to do before I'm 30.

• Go south of the equator
• Drive at over 100 miles per hour
• Ride a motorbike
• See the northern lights
  
• Be on TV again
• Meet someone famous
• Drive to Scotland
• Change my car
• Pay off my credit cards
• Get a pension
• Get a six pack.
  

Please suggest more. I have just under 11 months at time of writing.

Edit: car died. Got new one. Not what I had in mind, but hey-ho - at least I've changed it.

Party hard!

Just a quick one to say that the party was a great success, and thanks to all who made it. Hopefully there will be many photos to come, but in the mean time you can find mine here.

One today!

Yep, today's my first anniversary, officially - so how am I celebrating?

By doing my VAT return, sorting out my start of month accounts, and doing my normal work... what joy, eh?

Still, these things have to be done, and I actually enjoy my accounts - one of the real surprises in all this.

I've just read through the blog archives, having a look for anything I could write about the first year coming to an end. It's interesting seeing how things have changed, how I've taken up all sorts of things and never followed through (jogging, swimming... well, physical activity) and how every now I get very, very excited about how the business is doing, plan loads, and then things get quiet.

With that in mind I'm going to re-write my business plan, but first lunch, and then some work.

Another award! Kind of

I'm afraid I can't take any credit for this, but the Strathclyde Pension Fund Office website - which I wrote the content for earlier in the year - has just won the Website Design Award (Public Sector) in the Professional Pensions Scheme of the Year Awards 2007.

It's great news because the team there are lovely, they work very hard, and they really care about their clients. Well done to them all!

One year. What have I learnt?

I got an email today out of the blue asking for advice now that I'm a seasoned businessman. Stop laughing at the back. I am, honestly. I've been going a year.

This was my reply:

1. It's not what you know, it's who you know. Keep every contact you make and - as long as you have the time and it doesn't get in the way of earning - do them the odd favour now and then. You'll never know when you need to call in those favours. Dad taught me that.

2. A friend who'd started a business a while ago told me one thing when I started - "it always takes more money than you think it will". I dismissed him out of hand. What money could I need? I had my laptop, a big pad of paper and some felt pens. Then I hit a quiet period. If you can - or as soon as you can - build up a "war chest" of about 3 months' money, because when the work dries up (whether it's for seasonal reasons - you'll be busy at financial year end and quiet in summer in some sectors) you'll be stuck without it. So yes - it does always take more money than you'd think.

3. Never stop looking for work. When I started I got two really nice, big chunks of work. They paid the bills and let me have fun, and it was interesting work. There was travel and glamour and I got caught up in and sat back, thinking I had it made. And I stopped doing what I'd done to get that work in the first place - calling people, applying for work, trawling websites. After that things dried up and I had no work for a while - and got into money troubles.

4. Money moves at an odd pace. You have to get used to cashflow. I spent the whole of September working - only one day off all month - and I've not seen a penny of the money yet. I've not even invoiced for it. Remember it's never as simple as do job - get paid. It's find job, negotiate, do job, issue invoice with 30 day terms, wait, chase, eventually get money, so the bank balance is anything up to 60 days behind the workload, and certain people you want to give even longer terms to because they're nice people and they're as busy as you. You're either rushed off your feet and poor or quiet and rich - and when you're quiet and rich you have to hold on to that money because you won't know how long it's supposed to last for.

5. If you work for friends don't be afraid to charge them what you charge everyone else.

6. Your last employer may well be your first client. Be nice when you leave and keep in touch with them.

7. You never stop learning - so keep a log. I hadn't done this and my girlfriend got sick of me telling her about mistakes I was making over and over again - so she suggested I write a project diary. I have a blog hosted on my home PC now where I write - and rant - about projects I've done. When I undercharge, things I do wrong, things to note... keep it personal, for yourself alone, and keep it up to date.

8. Listen to people. Everyone has ideas and opinions and you don't have to use them but you'd be surprised where good ideas can come from - and who might know someone who might know someone else who needs you.

9. Don't pay for something if you can get it for free with a little work. There are services to get government contract alerts sent to you and they cost a fortune - but if you actively look you can get the same info for free. If someone has an old desk, printer, keyboard, whatever you need - take them. Be smart and professional for your clients by all means - but everything else just needs to work.

10. Get a good accountant - someone recommended by a friend - and pay them to do your tax return. They'll save you more than you'll pay them.

11. Put at least 30% of everything you earn into an ISA or other high interest savings account. Never spend it. Never be tempted to use it to bail yourself out of a quiet period. This is your income tax. You pay it in one big chunk at the end of the year, not as you earn, and it's easy to forget this. If you save more than you need, put that to the next year's bill. When you stop working for yourself, take the excess, buy yourself a Mars Bar or something. Don't touch it before that.

12. Approach your local business support organisation (www.businesslink.gov.uk should be your first port of call) and do whatever courses they offer. I did book-keeping, marketing, and legal and admin day-long courses for £30 a pop and it was the best money I ever spent. For the business, I mean - going to Florence was the best money I *ever* spent. Or my MG. Or that meal in Paris. Or something.

13. Be anal about keeping records. Receipts, invoices you issue, invoices you receive. The more accounting you can do yourself, the cheaper it will be for an accountant to do your tax return. Learn the basics of double-entry book-keeping at the very least.

14. Be prepared to sacrifice your social life some months - and to sit at home, alone, bored for others. Build your portfolio with charity and club work when you're quiet.

15. Any attempt to do cash-in-hand work for a friend *will* get more complicated than it needs to because you'll need to pay tax on it - and avoiding paying that tax will lead to massive worries about being found out, which really *is* a bad thing. It is possible, but make sure it's worthwhile, and certainly don't go public (like on a blog or something) and say that it happened. Of course, this point is purely hypothetical.

16. Stop thinking of other agencies and freelancers as competition and think of them as friends and colleagues. If you're too busy to do work, recommend someone good (remember your reputation can be tarnished by a bad recommendation) and make sure they know you were involved. They might return the favour, give you work themselves, or otherwise owe you.

17. Enjoy it. And enjoy the benefits. Eat a decent lunch. Listen to the radio when you work. Work in your pants. When you've got 3 months' money as a safety net and you know your income tax is covered, treat yourself a little. Put what you can through the business (a good accountant will tell you what you can and can't get away with). Every now and then sit back and smile. I celebrated (quietly) my 6 months - and I'm having a party for my first year.

18. Things will go wrong. It'll be hard. You'll want to jack it all in at least once a month. You need to remember why you started working for yourself and keep going. It is incredibly rewarding but also depressing at times. Remember that whatever happens now you've made a big, positive change in your life - you're more employable as a failed freelancer than as someone who's never tried. You've given yourself infinite flexibility. If I wanted to leave the country tomorrow and start a new life somewhere I could, very easily, and that's an incredibly liberating feeling. I really do feel that I'm capable of anything now.

*Edit*

19. Don't spend your VAT. I just remembered this one. I did it once, got my VAT bill, and watched everything from my next invoice just dissapear into the VAT man's pockets. Always assume (if you're a low expenditure company like me) that everything you collect in terms of VAT is just "sitting in your account" (like Father Ted used to say) before going on to the VAT man. Anything you do get back is then a bonus. Put it in your ISA with your other tax money.

20. Get a pension and - if you can afford it - income protection insurance. If I break all my fingers in a freak piano accident I can't earn, and then I'm in trouble. That's why I avoid pianos.

Paintballing

I took a little time off from the busy schedule this weekend to get shot in the bottom, leg, arm and back. Thoroughly good fun:

http://www.pixelwork.com/newsStory.cfm?id=254

Like a bee. A busy, busy bee.

I'm utterly, utterly snowed under at the moment, so just a quick one: I am currently working at full capacity but happy to talk about work which can take place from 8 October onwards, when things slow down a little, hopefully. If you've got anything you want to discuss, please call or email and I'll fit it in where I can.

Mandatory iPod post

Yep, new iPods out now, so as a blogger I'm legally obliged to write about them.

There's going to be lots of debate about the iTouch (the stripped-down iPhone) and costs - but, being shallow, I'm going to skip over that and just drool a lot. God, it looks incredible. What an interface! I'd like one, but it's just far too expensive at the moment and I think a 30GB iPod would be a better deal.

The new nano and "classic" both look really nice too - the metal enclosure is a lot more resistant to damage than the plastic, and from my shuffle I know that any little knocks and nicks they get add to the character somewhat. I'm not sure about the new colours for the nano - the old ones were pretty good as they were.

The new nano is a nice size - looks quite squat but not ugly.

So... I want one. A "classic" as my first choice. Please give me work so I can get one... :D

Tacheback again...

It's nearly September, and September is Tacheback time.

Tacheback runs every year and basically involves being sponsored vast (well, some) sums of money to grow a moustache. The money raised goes towards male cancer charities and you can find out more here:
http://www.tacheback.com/

I'm doing it for the third year now and hoping to achieve something which actually looks OK and not - as one teenager once told me on a train - a "poo-tache". Regardless of that, I need your money, and I need it now. Right now.

You can donate online at https://www.bmycharity.com/maltpress2007 - I'd appreciate as much money as possible because I think it's a great charity. And because I'm going to look very, very stupid and I think that's worth cash.

Come on - stump up.

More about diary software

Following yesterday's post - and today's comment suggesting a Wiki - I've got a bit of a follow-up.

I've installed a local version of Wordpress, which is running very nicely and will do some of what I want. Coffeelover's comment, however, suggested a personal Wiki, and this is also something worth thinking about - and something I might also try out.

Wordpress seems a good solution at the moment - I can tag all my posts with their project code and keep them all together like that. I can also look at my learnings chronologially, which might be handy.

I've got a couple of problems with the way Apache is configured on my local system at the moment, though, I think - which means I can't directly link to files on the local system. Once I get that sorted I should be OK - except because I use Thunderbird and IMAP email it's difficult to link to emails unless I re-save them in project folders, which is a bit of a stress. They're nicely organised in Thunderbird anyway, though.

Above all, it's resulted in me having a local instance of Apache and MySQL which means I can learn a lot more about PHP and database-driven apps - and, if I try a wiki too (something I've never done) I'll be learning loads from this experience. It also means I have a great local system to test blogs on before launching them.

Diary software

I'm still learning loads about working for myself - and what's involved in each project. It's been suggested that I keep a diary of my projects - writing notes on each one and what's involved, what I've learnt, how I feel about them etc.

I was all for doing this in a hard-backed A4 notebook I've got - it's just sitting there waiting for something to be written in it, and after hearing an investment fund manager proudly talking about getting through his 50th notebook on the radio the other day there's some kind of romanticism about the idea. Problem is, most of the information I have is stored electronically - and ideally I'd like to link to documents, emails and so on.

If I was a big company with a server and all that sort of stuff it would be easier - I'd have a web-style intranet using a content management system and set up a kind of blog on it. As it is, I have a PC, and a mac, although most important bits are on the PC - or at least final documents can be moved over to it easily enough.

So - any ideas for a cheap (free if possible) blog-type bit of software to keep all my project notes in one organised place?

Getting my money thoughts in order.

So - I've been reading the Motley Fool, looking at my bank balance and thinking about finances - again. A scare with the car (which turned out to be nothing, thankfully) brought it home to me that at the end of quite a quiet period I've not really got enough put aside at the moment to cover myself for emergencies.

I also found out today that if I start putting money aside for a pension when I'm 30, I'll need to save over £400 a month... which I don't have.

So what to do? Well, one of the first things is to stop reading websites and get on with getting more work in. I really need to have a couple of nice busy months to earn a decent amount and save up for the next quiet period. That, of course, is quite difficult to do when I'm actually fairly busy - so it looks like it's going to be a month or two of not going out.

Which, in itself, will be a good thing. The less I go out, the better off I'll be. Perhaps it's time to live like a monk again? The current situation makes that pretty difficult - I'm doing masses of driving and I have stuff all over the place, and not having my own room makes things very awkward and expensive. But I really, really must stop spending.

And I really, really, must keep working.

Email back!

OK - for the time being, email is back up, with most of the bounce-backs being automatically deleted. A few are slipping through the net but for the most part things are running.

Over the weekend things may be lost, however, so please copy maltpress@gmail.com into vital emails just to make sure it gets through.

I've got my patience back now - it was wearing a little thin earlier...