At Friday’s Freelancer Get-Together in Bridport – I spent a wonderful morning chatting to a fellow independent self-employed business owner, who I will refer to as Nancy Drew for the sake of this blog. Nancy and I have known each other for a number of years – both having been employed before, and both taking the plunge to change our lives, wear our hearts on our sleeves, and give self-employment a real go.
Nancy is, despite her protest, a wonder in her field. A gentle soul with so much experience in what she does and a wealth of energy bubbling over with ideas. We got to talking about things that many of us self-starters and freelancers deal with – things like dealing with Competition, knowing where our next Gig will come from, reinventing something that doesn’t appear to be working, looking for the break to get us in front of a new audience.
It dawned on me, as Nancy and I passed the time with our coffee and hot chocolate, that many of the things I’d been struggling with as a new business owner was anything but uncommon. The reality of having to face the challenges that are usually absorbed by individual departments in large corporates, by myself only was one that appears to be shared by all self-starters and independent workers.
We got talking about dealing with Competition. We both live in relatively small towns in Dorset – where there are probably a handful of other people in the county doing similar things. Yes, we’re carving ourselves out as individuals and we’re finding the perfect recipe to blend our extensive experience with our new independent venture – but despite our steadfast head-down perspective, we all too often become distracted by our competitor who is shouting louder, making bigger waves, getting more attention. And, as we both discovered on Friday morning, it’s not always the competition shouting the loudest, that ends up reaping the reward. Sometimes it’s simply those of us who do what they say, and say what they do, keep their heads down, deliver a fantastic service – and simply get the job done.
My dad used to warn me to be careful of people who were over-baked soufflés – looking great and sumptuous on the outside, but the minute you cut through that top layer – all you find is a bunch of hot air, and disappointment.
Me – I’d rather be an all-round bake – warm and mushy on the inside, toasty on the outside – a sure thing. And thankfully, Nancy and I are just that!
You know how we’re always going on about being able to determine the validity of social profiles and voice, etc etc etc?
Well – today, we thought we’d let you figure this one out on your own.
We had the joy of interacting with a fellow-Twitter person today.
Here’s what we noticed….
Do you see what we see?
Hint:
Check out the ratio of Tweets to Followers. Now – picture yourself at a cocktail party with this person. Either they’re about to chew your ears off with their verbal diarrhea, OR, they’ bought their stats.
You decide.
Either way – we’re 100% certain this profile aint getting the response they’re after.
That’s where we can help. Are you looking for real responses and engagement? Why not chat to us about your social strategy. And get there, the good, old-fashioned way – with hard work, interesting conversation and most of all – reasons to make people listen to you.
Growing up, there were several key lessons that my mom passed down to us as kids. Many we still practice to this day, and some may have slightly fallen by the wayside (like the importance of eating apples). Most of these lessons and memories invariably stem from the kitchen, where many an afternoon, my mom would be cooking or baking up a new concoction that was to serve as our feast that evening. But one lesson that that my mom taught the 3 of us, that still sticks with us to this day, was to make sure we ate enough fibre.
(Because Moms care that way).
And a key tool in the battle of the High Fibre war, was this wonderful rusk recipe amicably nicknamed, “Hardloop Beskuit”.
Hardloop because they’re so easy to make – and hardloop because, well… you know.
So – after adapting the recipe to suit UK ovens and ingredients lists, we thought we’d share this winner with you as a perfect rainy-day dunking spectacular.
I don’t know what it is about florals, but I love them. I love looking at them. I love smelling them. I love photographing them. Perhaps it’s that the lens captures so much more than my eye can. Perhaps it’s the ability to look at the petal itself in crisp clearness against a backdrop of nothing. Perhaps it’s the contrast between the dark tennis court green and a bright fuscia or lilac.
I don’t know what it is.
And living in Beaminster – it makes it easy to fall in love with the summer garden frenzy that takes over – despite the clouds and rain. When the sunshine hits, Garden Centres are full, the smell of mulch lingers on the breeze like the carrot cake you baked that morning.
Hope you enjoy these florals, just as much as I enjoyed snapping them.
KR
Anyone who works for themselves is bound to understand the familiar feeling that is one’s own company. So every now and then, I take myself and my busy workload, off to a local cafe (which usually ends up being either The Bull Hotel for their Pain au Chocolat and free wifi, or Symondsbury Kitchen for their hot chocolate and free wifi) and spend a morning getting all the little things done that I need to get done.
Yes, I do it for the hot chocolate. Yes, I do it for the nibbles. But – there’s such a bigger reason why I do this. Company.
You see – working for yourself invariably means you are so busy getting things done, and looking for the next opportunity – that you forget to look after yourself – and sometimes, all you need is some inspiration from other creatives doing some impressive things.
So that’s what this is about.
We’re organising a get-together for anyone and everyone who is a freelancer or self-employed, and who – like the rest of us – enjoys meeting up with other self-starters for a cup of tea and a chat. There is no agenda – no plan – just a simple Let’s have coffee and see where the wind takes us.
We believe in purposeful coincidence – and you never know who you may meet – or where you next business lead may come from.
When: Friday 29 July, 10:00
Where: Bull Hotel Bar, Bridport
Bring a friend. Bring your work. Or just bring yourself.
Please RSVP if you’re keen by popping me a quick email – so that I can give the Hotel the heads up.