Social Innovation Camp – 5-7 December 2008

Social Innovation Camp 2 (The Revenge!) was an amazing experience – tiring, draining, seemingly unending, but fun, fulfilling and infinitely rewarding. Around 60 people descended onto 7 different ideas trying to make positive social change to bring them from the glint of an idea into a project that could be taken on past the weekend. The key idea … Read more

Tweetbot, Pocket and Reading It All Later

I love being productive and the feeling that comes from getting the right work done at the right time. A recent productivity hack I’ve been following is to save all reading – including articles, newsletter and books – to outside of work hours, when I have downtime and can concentrate on the material. There have … Read more

8 simple steps you can take to get the confidence to go freelance

Lots of people dream about going freelance, but getting the confidence to go freelance is something else. Starting your own freelance business can feel like a big risk. There are lots of unknowns and you’re going to have to rely on your own knowledge, experience, judgement and plain hard graft to make your freelance business … Read more

Freelance Consultant Rates: How To Work Out Your Hourly, Daily or Project Rate

One of the main things people ask before they go freelance is how to work out their freelance consultant rate. Setting your freelance consultant rates is difficult. Set your day rate too low and you have to work longer and harder to make a decent income. Set your day rate too high and you risk putting … Read more

Nesta’s Innovation in Giving Fund Videos

I’ve recently been working on a funding application for Bright One and Bright Works to Nesta’s Innovation in Giving fund, which aims to invest in, support and grow innovative ideas that bring about a step-change in levels of giving and exchange and which have a credible route to being self-sustaining in the longer term. Part of the … Read more

Sending Out an SMS

Last night I went to an event organised by 160characters and the Mobile Entertainment Forum called Sending Out an SMS: Charities Prepare To Go Mobile. Although charities have been slow to pick up the potential offered by mobile the barriers to adoption are crumbling. With a growing number and range of successful case studies, the … Read more

Moving on from Bright One

(This post is cross-posted from the Bright One blog) We’ve come along way since Bright One started in September 2008. Bright One has made great progress, from a small group of people who wanted to change the world for the better in their own small way using the skills they have, to a strong and … Read more

Self-publishing a book on freelancing in 100 days

"Self-publishing

Freelance in 30 Days is the first book I’ve written. It’s self-published and I wrote and published the 200-page book in around 100 days, starting late August and finishing in early December.

Along the way I’ve learnt a lot about the self-publishing process and gathered lots of information about how to make it work for you.

Here’s my experience on what worked and what didn’t go so well in the self-publishing journey.

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When freelance projects go wrong, keep calm and communicate

When you win a new client and start working on a fresh freelance project, it can be one of the most exciting times for any freelancer. You spent time and effort putting together a project plan and strategy that you know the client should go for. When they do and you get that call to … Read more

Managing multiple clients as a freelance consultant

Unless you’re a freelancer who has a long-term client relationship, you’re likely going to be managing multiple clients as a freelance consultant. Working with many different businesses has its plus points, from spreading the risk of losing clients to building up a body of work and knowledge that can be adapted and shared between your separate … Read more