Computer Jobs Blog

To start with it will be a mix of IT support and internet marketing. Any other website, programming, database related needs I will outsource through elance and/or rentacoder.

I'd like to go full time internet marketing ultimately but because my experience is in IT support I'll feel comfortable offering that and to get some work. If I can throw in the odd 'so how's your website doing?' while fixing PC and server problems I'm hoping that will allow for some more interesting and lucrative online marketing stuff.

There's a fair bit of competition when it comes to internet marketing, but I'm not fazed by it. It's like some hot bandwagon that everyone's jumping on now they realise that flashy clunky looking websites don't actually sell very much - particularly when they don't get any traffic.

What they don't get is that it's one thing to get to the top of the search engines and get lots of targeted traffic but what if the website still doesn't sell?

The only thing more frustrating than getting no traffic is getting lots of traffic and no sales or leads. It's a popular myth in the internet marketing world that traffic = sales.

Anyway - I mustn't get ahead of myself I should really focus on getting come home computer repair businessand creating the opportunity to ask 'so how's your website doing?'.

I know I can outperform the 'SEO experts' because I already am with this site and others. There's so much more to building a website that works than just getting search engine rankings.

I'm so glad I found SBI! It's taught me skills that I can not only use for my own homebased online business but can use to build a highly successful internet marketing service for local small businesses - and they really need it - and the SEO experts just don't deliver what I can with SBI!

Watch this video if you're curious about SBI!

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March 4, 2007 08:37 - 5 Things you need to know before starting a homebased online business

Before you commit to spending any time or money on a homebased online business venture you need to mentally prepare yourself to weather a few storms and take more than a few things with not a pinch - a handful of salt.

1. It's very easy to get distracted and bogged down in information overload. Countless hours have been wasted trying to learn everything at once while getting very little actually done.

2. Don't get suckered in by magical 'too-good-to-be-true' offers with sensational sales copy and 'act now!' urgency. People selling get rich quick are very good at what they do and it's easier than you may think to get drawn in.

3. The time you spend building your business should be considered billable. Measure how much time you spend on your business by assigning yourself an hourly rate.

4. You need a business plan to stick to. Any serious business online or off has to be treated like a business if it is to succeed. Spend some time early on writing a blueprint and plan.

5. If you choose a field you know and love it becomes so much easier. Don't try and chase the money by going into high paying competitive niches you know little about. Make a business around a topic you love and it won't feel like work. Your passion for the subject will show though on your online presence and the money will follow.

There is so much information out there, some good and some of it absolutely terrible and just designed to extract money from you. Without a focus and a plan it's very hard to fly straight and get your life to where you want it to be.

Find out more about focusing and planning your dream business from the more in depth article - "5 Ways to Save Time and Money When Building Your Homebased Online Business" Click here for more on this subject

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March 14, 2007 06:13 - The Ups and Downs of Going Freelance

I've bitten the bullet and jacked in the permanent job to become a contractor. A scary move but I think will be much more beneficial in the long run.

The money is a lot better more but so is the admin, accounting and legal compliance - unless I outsource that to a management company which I'm not doing.

I'm still learning as I go and more admin/legal/tax/compliance type tasks keep cropping up - hopefully everything will be up and running soon.

Since I have chosen the option of registering my own Ltd. Company as opposed to using an umbrella here is the checklist so far:

• Register a company - I bought a private Ltd. Company off the shelf - relatively painless and cost £32
• Apply for a company bank account - understandably more complicated than applying for a private account even when choosing the option for no financing, overdraft or company credit card. A fair amount of forms and stuff to read - took a couple of hours.
• Fill out tax forms - Surprisingly quick - took about 15 mins, not the last I've heard from them though I'm sure…..
• Get insured - this is a requirement of the contract and all contracts. You need to be insured in case you break something or cause an injury. Could only afford public liability this week, next week I'll get professional indemnity. This protects me from being sued by the client.

That is the immediate list of tasks done so far to be able to start this new contract on Monday. There are still more on the to-do list such as:

• Register for VAT - not required while my turnover is below £60k but a good idea, need to look further into this.
• Write a business plan - IT contracting is only part of the business model for this company, I want to go into Internet marketing consulting as well as move my websites over to becoming revenue generating assets of the company.
• Prepare dividend meeting minutes templates
• Decide on a salary/dividend ratio
• Plan for tax - I have to save my tax payments as I go along and pay it all in one go after a business year (a year from when I started trading as a company)
• Plenty more.

I only now appreciate how easy life is being a permanent employee, not to mention the job security, sick pay, holiday pay, pensions and other benefits - and I've just given all that up!

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March 17, 2007 07:54 - Goodbye Boss Hello Clients - I'm a Director!

It's official, I am no longer an (insert job title here) I am a director of my own company working for clients on different contracts.

No job security, holiday pay, sick pay or benefits from the company's I'll be contracting at but the upside (more money, more freedom) should be far greater.

A lot of the admin is done now for setting up the company but there's still a massive amount of business, financial and tax planning to be done. I've got nearly all of the insurance I need, still need to find a good, decent accountant and get that under control.

Then I need a website for the company - that will be website number 4...

I went this route for greater freedom and to start building a business but I seem to be up to my eyes in admin, paperwork and to-do tasks. I'm sure it will be worth it though.

I'm loving being my own boss already - that bit feels great! I'll still be accountable for the work that I do and I'll be under more pressure to perform to the best of my abilities but at least I won't have someone else deciding how much I get paid, when I can take a holiday or not and chasing me to jump through hoops.

It's all very exciting - scary but exciting all the same! Maybe If I find myself in between contracts I can set up a home computer repair business as well!

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March 27, 2007 19:04 - Freelance Life After a Week On The Job

It does feel different being a contractor. Knowing that if you don't work you don't earn takes some getting used to. Also the uncertainty of whether there will be a job to go to or not in a few months time doesn't feel that great.

Then there's the admin involved in setting up a limited company, getting insurance, accounting and a business bank account.

Then there's invoicing, paying yourself and tax planning - it's all one big headache you could do without - especially when you're in a new job - as a contractor and can't be spending half the day on the phone trying to set it all up so you can actually have some money at the end of the month!

I keep telling myself - 'I can't wait until it's all up and running' - and that's an understatement.

But at the end of the day setting up and running your own business is no small undertaking. Once it's up and the systems are in place it should be easier and I'm expecting the rewards to be much greater.

On the technical side I will have to keep my skills up to date as well - time to crack on with that A+ certification I think. Maybe swapping the 5 minute down the road job with company car for a 1 ½ hour commute each way to the center of town isn't such a bad thing after all - plenty of study time!

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