Tag Archives: Business

Ain’t I lucky!

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I didn’t get much sleep Monday/Tuesday night because I had one of my work fits again so I stayed up till 04.00 in the morning to finish a website for my wedding photographer friend in Scotland. I had an appointment with the dentist at 10.45 who is situated at the High Road. Since last week I have been working on business cards for the glove company based on the design I did for their eCommerce website. I sent them a quote along with my terms and conditions translated from ‘lawyer Dutch’ into ‘lawyer English’ language thanks to the skills of MvdM. He translated my version while I was at his place for lunch to discuss business, last week. I’ll design the bi-monthly email newsletter for his stock photography company! *yay!*

Back to yesterday: while I walked down the High Road I passed a large window covered with several posters and one particular poster caught my eye although it wasn’t very clear what the place was about. The poster referred to having business cards printed so I wondered if it was a print shop. I noticed another poster which said that they were looking for a part-time graphic and web designer. I still couldn’t figure out the deal so I went in and asked the woman at the desk if she had a price list after I asked her about foil print and spot UV varnish. She couldn’t answer my questions but a guy came from behind the partitioning wall. He must have overheard my conversation using jargon that the woman didn’t understand.

He answered my questions and offered me a generous discount on the business cards. I told him I’d moved from Amsterdam just over two years ago and that I’d never noticed this place before. He asked me something in a weird language that I somehow recognised: I understood what he was saying but I thought I misheard. Then the penny dropped, it was South African so I answered him that I was good. Too funny… He asked if I’d seen the sign on the door about the web designer and if I was interested. I told him I was but I explained that I really should send him my CV so he could have a proper look at it. I did show him the website that I had been working on all night and several others.

The conversation went really well and both of us were extremely enthusiastic about the whole thing. So today I will go over there to discuss a quote for the business cards, give him my CV and show him my portfolio.

Ain’t I lucky!?

I tell you I was extremely hyper yesterday when I got home… And the cool part is that I found out that this place is part of a social plan organised by the borough I live in to develop local businesses. So, it seems I have finally found my way into the local community. Even if I wouldn’t get this freelance position I still have found a good printer who’s only an eight minutes walk from home. I know it sounds weird but I finally start to feel that I’m settling in in a way. This opportunity will open so many doors for me and not just business-wise also social-wise and I’m really excited about it! The Universe has wicked ways of showing me that patience will be rewarded *hehe*

Latest update: I’ve got the job, I’m now their official graphic and web designer, all freelance and with a steady flow of work coming in. I think that calls for a tiny celebration *hehe*

The Quiet Me

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I’m quiet… I realise I am… That’s because I seem to be in a whirlpool again. Not a bad one though but one that consumes my time and leaves me drained. It’s kinda weird but work seems to be coming in more and more and I have to keep lists of people that I need to contact otherwise I simply forget. I’m about to team up with a Dutch coder, he sent me an email last week with a very interesting proposal and he sounded genuine which is extremely important to me because I learned my lesson and refuse to deal with time-wasters.

I’ve met a few over the last months that contacted me through my blog but it only confirmed my feelings that I should keep personal and business separate. So I no longer accept requests through this blog in fact I’m thinking of setting up another blog to write about design and business which will be directly linked to my business website. Something a friend suggested a while ago, clever man he is, he was right and it would be great to show my recent design work there as well, that way I will have a splendid showcase.

Back to the Dutch coder, the deal is that he will do the coding and I will do the design and from what he told me, he seems like the person who knows what he wants and who has his act together. I’ve been approached in the past to team up with others but after some time I could always tell the other person turned out to be just hot air. These days I’m more cautious but this one sounds great and most of all enthusiastic and even better: with very interesting projects lined up [yes more things to do! *hehe*].

Then there is another team option which I was asked for but somehow I feel that that one -again- is just hot air… I keep my option open though and haven’t decided yet, let’s see what’s on offer first before I’ll jump to conclusions. This is a UI designer who wants to set up a team of people probably worldwide, he would contact me again soon, we’ll see what happens. Then there is a client that I will have to approach this week, a contact that I got through my accountant, he is in need of a website so I will send him an email today.

In the meantime I’m still working on the online leather gloves shop, if all goes well the software should be installed on their server/domain this weekend so I can finally start transferring my design to their server. Once that’s done I will start the last phase which is building the product pages, add the press and news pages, test the website, and replace current images with the new autumn collection ones. In between projects I will start building websites for friends, they’ll be small ones so they won’t take much time.

I was asked to design business cards for the garden designer and I also have to design an advert for my own business which will be placed in one of London’s black cabs. I was offered this brilliant way of advertising for free by a client who wanted to show his appreciation, isn’t that cool? So I need to come up with a marketing plan, I need new business cards that will be placed in the cab as well and I will have to start designing and installing that business blog so people will be able to see and read what I’m up to.

I realise the list is long but I am extremely excited about the whole thing. So to ease my mind a bit and to work out ways to deal with all this I needed some quiet time, some ‘me’ time to reflect… And while I reflect, ideas are born and sketches and notes flow from my Staedtler leadholder like water flows from a tap once turned on. But letting the water run without using it is a waste of a valuable source so for now the tap is off again while I start changing sketches and notes into digital designs… Being creative is fun!

[off to read and comment on blogs now, reply to emails and write a few and install Movable Type on my business domain]