Back with a vengeance

Yup - I've got my concentration back. I've been working hard again now and things are going nicely - just won a new contract, which I might be able to give some details of when the project's finished. It's given me a real boost and it's a lovely bit of work with some very nice people, so I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into it.

I'm about to nip into Cambridge to sort out a new phone which will help solve two problems at once - getting lost and keeping up with emails on the go. T-mobile are the only carrier I can find to offer an unlimited data plan, and the cost is fantastic too. I don't make hundreds of mobile calls at the moment, but I think that might be as much because I'm on pay as you go as any other reason. I'll be keeping the same business numbers, so that won't change - but hopefully I'll be getting a fancy phone with GPS on it too so I can find places a lot easier....

The concentration drought continues...

...and I don't know why, or what to do about it. I'm going to try working somewhere completely different tomorrow to see if that helps.

Thing is, I've got some really interesting work to do. It's something I can really get my teeth into and I want to make a really good job of it. But inspiration just won't strike at the moment. I've made a start - so I'm not staring at a blank bit of paper any more - and I even know what I want to say... it's just saying it which is causing problems.

I think what I might do is continue the reading and research now, play a little bit with sIFR and have an early night. That might help. And I just have to hope I get it back tomorrow.

Concentration

For some reason I'm having real trouble concentrating at home at the moment. I know I have loads of work to do, but I just can't do it. It's not even as if I'm being distracted by anything in particular - I'm just not able to work at home very well. One solution - although it's going to end up very expensive - is that Ta Bouche, a coffee place/restaurant/bar in Cambridge has free wifi, good food and attractive passers-by. I'm thinking of becoming a regular there so I can cheekily ask to plug my laptop in and not be limited to three and a half hours' work.

I have loads on at the moment - writing proposals, doing work for existing clients, the usual month-end admin stuff, and concentration just isn't happening. I think I might hop on the bus soon. Especially because Clare Grogan is standing in for Nemone on 6 Music and I don't really like her.

My whiteboard is working out well - it's always full and I update it every day as things happen. Very reassuring to know I've got enough work to be able to do that. More work would always be appreciated though...

Oh, and I'm thinking of going limited before the end of the year. If I can maintain my levels of work for another couple of months and build up a bit of capital - and if I can get through my tax self-assessment...

Email issues and doing digital

Hello! If you've tried emailing me today, I might not have received your mail. I'm in the middle of changing hosts and I'm not sure I'm getting all emails. I'm relying on an ancient Hotmail account which all my emails are automatically forwarded to at the moment... things should be back up and running tomorrow, with luck. In the mean time, phone is the best option for getting in touch.

I've treated myself today - I went out and bought a Pure DAB radio. It's fantastic - BBC 6 Music in stereo without dropping bitrate every five minutes, lots of buttons to press, and great reception even without the arial up! How ace is that - I'm listening to Lammo at the moment and it's never sounded better.

Plus I get XFM now. How cool is that?

New toys, and organising myself

I discovered the other day that while managing an individual project is fine - and, to be honest, swapping between several projects is OK too - I wasn't very good at keeping track of them, especially the issue of giving things project codes. I reached a critical mass of projects where they just stopped being easy to keep track of in my head.

So, after much asking of advice, I've got a new filing system, involving job bags, a new project (and quote and invoice) numbering system, and a new toy - a whiteboard. It's all gridded out and different colours. I feel like I'm in CSI, which I've always wanted. Ideally one day I'll work in an office with a big glass wall I can write on, but until that day my little whiteboard will do.

I've also got my iPod shuffle - my leaving present from my last job. It's a coloured one, and it's utterly, utterly fantastic. I can't believe the sound quality from such a small thing. I need to do some iTunes organisation - I've got loads of Pet Sounds session tracks on there and they don't quite work on shuffle...

Of guilt and money

I'm a naturally guilty person. I feel guilty about lots of things. I feel guilty writing about this, because I'm using charity to promote my business, but then again charity is benefiting as well, so not completely and utterly guilty.

Because I've got such an ace job, which I love, and because of other things, I feel guilty more than ever at the moment. So I decided to spread a bit of the joy I have by making a donation to Comic Relief. I'd heartily recommend you all do the same; the money goes to some very, very worthwhile causes, and while it's not made me feel exactly guilt free, it's gone a little way to helping.

My £50 is apparently enough to help 15 African farmers. That's not necessarily where my money's gone, though; about 40% of Comic Relief money helps out with projects in the UK. You can find out more on their (excellently designed) website.

And, if I've managed to make you feel guilty for not doing your bit too - which I hope I have - you can donate quickly and easily online.

Brrrm brrrrrm!

I've got a car! It's a nice little Citroen AX. It has five whole gears, a working fuel gauge, and thanks to dad a CD player.

It also has a nasty knock from the CV joint at the moment, but that'll soon be fixed. I'm generally very excited by it. Soon I will have the embarrassment of filling it with petrol and probably not being able to get the cap off, but there you go.

This of course means I'm properly back on the road and ready for more work... which is a very good feeling.

Now for a nap in front of the rugby.

Snow joke, etc etc.

Yes... I know. Insert snow pun here.

It's funny how I missed all the snow (well, the tiny bit) in Cambridge the other week when I was in Glasgow. I really wanted some. Now I've learned to be careful what I wish for, because "road chaos" has meant the cancellation of a meeting I was looking forward to going to and a day spent at home, snuggled up in two jumpers (and I'm trying to encourage the cat to sit on my feet) doing other work instead.

It's lucky I'm able to work from home like this - it must be a nightmare for other small businesses who rely more on being able to get out and about. I realise now how critical a single day's work can be - if that's the only day's paid work you get for a month, you're in trouble...

Time allowing, I may venture out with my camera later and take a couple of snapshots of the Dissenter's Cemetary in the village. It looks incredible in the frost, so I can only hope it looks as good in the snow. I have to nip to the post office anyway.

Tomorrow I'm helping some friends move house - let's hope it's a bit nicer.

Oh, and I've just found out fencing tonight is canceled. Damn! It'll be four weeks off in total... I think my legs are turning to jelly rather than the chiseled oak I thought they were.

OK, so they've never been that good. But they ain't getting any better.

Sad farewell

It's with great sadness I announce the departing of a much loved Rover Metro at the ripe old age of 89,000 miles.

Head gaskets. Damn them. It's not an expense I need now - a new car - but I suppose these things happen. And it means something shiny and new(ish) to play with - hurrah! That's always fun.

In other news... I'm back from my trip, which was fun and interesting and I got to see Glasgow, which is a very nice city. I'd like to go back. I'm glad to be home and able to eat in my own house, though. There's not much else to report - a few ideas on the go for some promotional stuff, several meetings coming up for other work, and all in all I feel very settled into the self employment thing. It's been nearly three months!

Oh, and I'm now properly VAT registered and completed my first return this weekend. It made my brain proper hurt. It's got to be the hardest maths ever.

*Very* out of the office

Well... it turns out I'm very, very out of the office at the moment. Email access is flaky at best, so the best way to get in touch is to phone or text me. My landline number will go through to voicemail, which I'll pick up when I'm home at the weekend, or I'm available on my mobile pretty much all the time.

Hope you're all well - I am.

Out of the office

I'm out of the office for the next couple of weeks - I'll be available by email, or leave a message on my voicemail - I'll be able to check it lunchtimes and evenings. I'll tell you all about it when I get back...

Asimo, ticking things off, and scrabble

First up - Asimo. Now, I love the Honda advert with this little robotty fella. So when I saw this on The Register, I was very - well, somewhat - excited to see him in action some more. It was a little disappointing:

• What's with the human-like, girly voice? He should sound like a proper robot, all electronic and synthesised.
• They missed a trick with him dancing - why's he not doing "the robot"? That's just foolish.
• He looks constipated when he runs.

Still, it's quite an achievement - he's a clever little bit of kit.

Secondly, ticking things off. Despite many distractions, I've managed to get mostly caught up with my to-do list and I've ticked loads of things off. Opportunity-hunting continues apace - this is the one part of business I'm doing a lot more of than I thought I would. Paperwork - far less than I thought. Still, it gives me a chance to get in touch with some old friends and contacts, which is always nice.

Thirdly, Scrabble. I'm realising how incredibly bad I am, having bought myself a Scrabble-themed desk calendar with a different challenge every day. I've managed one, so far. Oh dear.

Obligatory iPhone post

Ah, the iPhone. Is it just me who thinks it's nothing more than a fairly bog-standard smart phone, but with incredibly sexy design job and thoroughly beautiful looking user interface?

Don't get me wrong - I'm completely caught up by the hype and I'd like one. I like some of the clever features, too - the SMS "conversation" idea is brilliant, as is the voicemail you can listen to in any order regardless of when you get them. But that's just an improvement on standard phone OS stuff, surely? Likewise the music and video - plenty of smart phones can do that, but perhaps not in such a slick way.

So, iPhone - exciting, sexy, cool - but hardly ground-breaking.

Procrastination - an art form

I'm discovering a talent for putting things off. Which is not a good talent to have. My methods for procrastination are many and varied, but some notable examples include:

• Writing to-do lists - it's certainly not the case that I don't really have enough to do. It's just trying to motivate myself to do things once I've finished writing them down.
• Cleaning the toilet - when we moved into this house several years ago the upstairs toilet was a little limescale-encrusted... let's just say it's not got any better. It's suddenly turned into an obsession. I am trying many, many chemicals, elbow-grease, and other techniques.
• Shopping - I need to get food today, for...
• Cooking - I'm cooking from scratch more. Today it will be mushroom burgers from the Crank's cookbook. I'm not a vegetarian; I like mushrooms.

Still, things are going OK at the moment. Live like a monk - extreme! is going pretty well (apart from all the chemicals I've bought to clean the toilet). I even went into Cambridge on Monday for a meeting, had a wander around town for 45 minutes, and managed not to spend anything. I was extremely tempted yesterday to go into Cambridge and drink tea somewhere with a wireless internet connection... but I avoided it. Plus I've not been out socially all year. I'm quite pleased with that.

Marketing hard!

Yes, just like I said I would in my "year ahead" post below, I'm really pushing my marketing at the moment. My target is to find at least two opportunities per day; yesterday and today it's been people I know and agencies I respect. There's a few of them, too, so that should continue for a while.

I've also joined EMMA today - the East of England Multimedia Alliance. Having worked at the East of England Development Agency, I have something of an unfair advantage in knowing about networking organisations like this... and I intend to join as many as possible. EMMA is free, so even if I don't get any leads from it, I've lost nothing. The benefits, of course, include better search engine listing because there are more incoming links; better links with other EMMA members; and a central place to find tendering opportunities. They also run events, so I'm going to try to get along to one or more of those and meet some more people.

Other marketing activity has included updating Maltpress.co.uk to include my new contact details (thanks to Skype, I have my own land-line number now) and - at long last - working on JuicyFly.com a bit more. It's about half done now, and I hope to get it finished tonight. Then work begins on a new toy - some PHP image manipulation - before I re-do Cambridge.IsHome again. Then the empire will be up-to-date, which will be very, very nice.

2006 in review, 2007 ahead...

Ah, the end of the year. They just seem to be racing by, to be honest. I said in a previous post I'd set some personal goals for 2007 to go with the business goals, so I'll get on to that in a minute. First up, though, 2006 in review. I doubt anyone's interested; this is as much for me to be able to remember what went on this year.

2006 was the year in which, after over a year of planning, umming and ahhing, general scaredness and procrastination, I quit my job and became my own man. Scary? Yes. Worth it? Definitely. It's been the best thing I ever did. I miss the people I used to work with; and, I suppose, the certainty of the pay, but nothing beats the feeling of working for yourself, in your underpants. 2007 is going to be the year it all takes off. The last couple of months were just practice.

2006 was a good year for music; Wolfmother, who I have on iTunes at the moment, were my big discovery for the year. I've been to lots of gigs, too; the Subways, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, local bands, the list goes on. Theatre-wise, I've seen some oddness. Film-wise, Bond was very good, but little else really sticks out.

I discovered the Backstreet Bistro this year, which I fully intend to go to again, when I have some money. Also, Ta Bouche, with nice food, pleasant staff, and free wireless. I've found a love of The Pickerell, which is a great little pub. I've managed to not go to The Snug, the pub I've been intending to try out all year.

I watched the World Cup in Cambridge and didn't enjoy it. I bought a giant china cat from a charity shop and now keep my pens in it.

I fell in love with Apple computers this year, too; my little Mac laptop is the best investment I made all year.

2006 was the year of living like a month; my budgeting exercise. Not exactly fun, but well worth it.

I said goodbye to two great friends this year; Michelle, who I met, had a wonderful time with, and then watched (well, metaphorically) fly to New Zealand; and Monty, my lovely MG Midget, who I had to sell to finance the business.

All in all, a good year. Wouldn't change a thing. Except perhaps the World Cup bit.

Aims for 2007

So what's next? Here are my personal aims for 2007. I've not actually thought about these at all, so I'm just making them up as I go along. I bet I won't achieve any of them.

• Get back on the stage - I'd like to gig a few more times, just to keep my hand in.
• Live like a monk - extreme! - that's January. No going out, extremely careful budgeting, buying the minimum of anything and not wasting a thing. Time to clean off the bike.
• Fence in a couple of competitions- if I can afford it, I'd like to compete a bit more. It's nice to fence some new people.
• Pay off my credit card - somehow. I may alternate months of living like a monk. I'm certainly going to be working as hard as possible and saving every penny I can. Maybe I'll alternate live like a monk (living to a set budget) with live like a monk - extreme (just not spending anything).
  
• Take more photos - I like photos.

And that's it... a modest set of targets. I'm going to print these out and tick them off as I achieve them.

Being unreasonably ambitious

Way back in 2004, the organisation I used to work for held one of their series of "ideas talks", getting leading thinkers to talk about business, ideas, and creativity. This particular event - Robert Heller holding an "ideas audit" for three leading regional businesses - called for business to be unreasonably ambitious. Well, I'm working on version 2 of my business plan at the moment and I'm trying to do that. So as we round up 2006 - the year in which I quit my job with nothing to go to, sold the car I loved, discovered fresh ingredients are far, far superior to anything you can get from a supermarket, and won my first awards for something I've done at work - I've decided to set out my unreasonable plans for 2007:

1. Find a designer to work with. To provide a fuller service, I'm going to need a designer. I also need to find someone who'll be there for small projects - I've got "associates" who are perfect for bigger projects, but I doubt they're interested in little bits of work here and there. A freelance designer who thinks like me would be a great boon to my business. Someone I could learn a bit more design from would be ace in itself.
   
2. Go limited. Earlier than I originally planned, I'd like to go limited in the middle of next year. The paperwork as a sole trader isn't as bad as I thought, so I can handle that; the benefits would be great; and the risks seem lower than I thought at the moment, with some decent clients coming in and some good work on the way.
3. Refine what I offer. Small business stuff doesn't seem to be particularly "me", or in demand, while public sector, strategic work, and content - writing and planning - are working well. I think I might drop the small business side of things. When I've used up a few more business cards.
4. Sort out an office. Working from home is great, but the cat can be incredibly annoying, it's difficult to concentrate at times, and there's no-where to hold meetings or anything. I'd like an office. I'd like something interesting and different. And room for a decent chair and desk.
5. Join a professional body. Like CIPR, CIM, or - possibly, but it's too design focussed - UKWDA
   
6. Upgrade the PC. And replace it with a decent big Mac running Parallels.
7. Market. Market hard.

I think that's about it from a business point of view... I imagine I'll write some personal objectives over the next couple of days too.

Even more awardy

There are photos of the awards ceremony online now - rather small, but I'm about to email the photographer to get a copy of at least one of them.

See them here: http://www.ipr.org.uk/prideawards/eastanglia/2006/photographs/photographs.asp

Oh dear, oh dear.

I've succumbed to seasonal fever... not to the point of looking forward to Christmas, or anything like that, but maltpress.co.uk has been updated to reflect the season.

Of course, it's going to be a little while before the fairy-lights go up in Maltpress HQ, what with me being a grumpy old scrooge who's not a massive fan of Christmas (I think I'm just quite ant-hype; I don't think it's worth all the fuss and pressure put on it... although the parties are fun). Mind you, the corporate world moves at a different pace and it's probably about time to be thinking about sending cards to my contacts. Being a new company, and having better things to do with my time - and not actually having that many contacts yet - I'm probably going to send actual, physical cards to people rather than electronic ones.

I've also updated the site to reflect the fact that I'm now an award winner - or at least part of an award winning team. See the post below for more details. But I'm going to remain smug about this for some time.

Award winner...

Last night was the East Anglian CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) PRIDE awards - which I went along to, and at which the project I was there with (Running the Gauntlet) won two gongs. A gold and a silver.

My role in the project was as an internal consultant - providing advice and support for the electronic communications part of the campaign. Because one of the awards was for integrated PR campaign, I'm rather proud of my involvement. It shows that what I'm doing now is something I'm actually pretty good at and I can prove the results I'm capable of getting; a job for today is updating maltpress.co.uk to highlight the award.

I'm also rather pleased that I'll be getting a copy of the physical award which will be taking pride of place on my window-sill. Oh, and the fact that I wore a self-tied bow-tie - although I did have to have help tying it...

EEDA, my former employers, won five awards in total last night - including the Grand Prix overall prize for an internal communications campaign. It was incredibly nice to sit and bask in the reflected glory for an evening.