Some little observation

I hear new news every day, and those ordinary rumours of war, plagues, fires, inundations, thefts, murders, massacres, meteors, comets, spectrums, prodigies, apparitions, of towns taken, cities besieged in France, Germany, Turkey, Persia, Poland, etc. Daily musters and preparations, and such like, which these tempestuous times afford, battles fought, so many men slain, monomachies, shipwrecks, … Read more

How to clear the Twitter Card cache to show the right image

Have you ever tried to share a news story from your site to Twitter and realised there is no picture being pulled through to the Twitter Card? Twitter might have added the wrong image or you might have forgot to add an image and added after publication. Or perhaps the headline has changed and the … Read more

Late Payment: What I’ve Learnt from 80,000 Freelancers

In this post I’d like to share with you my list of the top four resources you can use to tackle late payment. It’s based on my own research, combined with the insight I’ve gained from working with our users (to date over 80,000 of them). I hope you’re able pick up some great new … Read more

How to network online as a freelancer

Networking is an essential part of freelance life, both to keep yourself known that you’re looking for work, but also for meeting other freelancers to swap ideas, tips, potential work and even to have the occasional grumble with. Freelancing can be a lonely experience! Even if you’re based outside of  a city  (London, for example) where lots of … Read more

Freelance Statistics: The Freelance Economy in Numbers

Freelance statistics are a great way to show you how you’re not alone in wanting to go freelance, how others are finding the freelance environment and how freelancers contribute to the overall economy. Following this post and discussion on definition of freelancing, we’ve pulled together more freelance stats from the US, UK, Europe, Japan and further … Read more

Do freelancers need insurance?

We live in uncertain times. But one thing has stayed constant – the rise of the freelance workforce. Freelancers are more prevalent now than they have ever been before, and their rise shows little sign of slowing down. There are well over 2 million freelancers now plying their trades in the UK and they’re making … Read more

How to Become a Freelance Consultant

Becoming a freelance consultant is a dream for many. I’ve been lucky enough to have a successful freelance career as a social media and digital PR consultant for the last few years. There’s been some bumps along the way, but advice and encouragement from a wide range of people enabled me to go it alone … Read more

How to build a high performing communications team

(Thanks to Neil Grayshon for the image!) Building an excellent communications team requires lots of equally-excellent strategy, hiring, people management and culture building – and more. I knew when I started at FutureGov that I didn’t have experience in this area, so reached out to the good and the great of the UK PR industry … Read more

Digital innovation in local government around the world

(This is a full version of an article I wrote for The Guardian’s Local Leaders Network on digital innovation in local government. You can read the edited version on the Guardian’s site.) When working in digital innovation and local government, it’s helpful to stick your head above the parapet and see what others are up to. There is … Read more

Online Privacy Issues Need to be Easier to Understand

Online privacy issues are currently difficult to understand. Amid media headlines about NSA, Prism and Snowden, terms such as encryption, Tor and HTTPS are used extensively with the average person expected to keep up  with what they mean and understand how the issues affect them. For people who aren’t technically adept, the message about why online … Read more