TODO Magazine Issue 4 by NLD Accountancy Limited

Issue #4 / 2013 /

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THE FOURTH ISSUE The magazine for creative freelancers and small businesses in Brighton & Hove

/ Issue #4 / 2013

magazine THE FOURTH ISSUE The magazine for creative freelancers and small businesses in Brighton & Hove

code club

AGED DEBTORS

P4-5

P6-7

FREELANCING AS A COUPLE

CHILD BENEFITS

P14-15

P16-17

FIRST MEMBER OF STAFF

WIRED SUSSEX WORKSHOP

P22-23

P26-27

Brought to you by NLD Accountancy

Hello everyone

Thanks to our generous contributors, something I think for everyone, in this issue. There are three pieces of particular interest to those with children, and I’m especially pleased to have Josh Emerson introduce people to Code Club. This is a private volunteer initiative to teach computer programming to school children throughout the country, with great potential benefits long-term for all our wellbeing. Parents with an iPad and a girl, should check out Princess Petal on page 18. Any parent with a good income may want to turn to the previous page and wise up on Child Benefit changes. For those of us without kids, there’s advice, encouragement and inspiration here too. Thanks once again to all the contributors for sharing their valuable experience and expertise with us. If you too have something you feel you could contribute, please do get in touch. A happy and prosperous 2013 to all – Nilden

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get more work THAN YOU CAN HANDLE P8-11 PRINCESS PETAL AND THE TRAPDOOR P18-19

hello again, computer P12-13 how to run a successful NETWORKING EVENT P20-21

Managing Director/Editor Nilden Ozkan todo@nldaccountancy.com

ART DIRECTION, ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN Phil Wellington info@ilovenewwork.co.uk

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Josh Emerson, FreeAgent, Leif Kendall, John Shann, Alex Goluszko, Tom Watts, Anna Bertmark, Rosie Clarke, Julia Chanteray, Wired Sussex.

PUBLISHER NLD Accountancy Limited nldaccountancy.com

SPONSORED BY SPECIAL THANKS TO

ABOUT NLD TO ADVERTISE, OR SUBMIT AN ARTICLE todo@nldaccountancy.com

TO ENQUIRE ABOUT ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES info@nldaccountancy.com

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ÂŠ 2013 TODO Magazine / NLD Accountancy Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without permission from the publisher. The views expressed in TODO Magazine are those of the individual contributors and are not necessarily shared by TODO Magazine / NLD Accountancy Limited.

CONTACT

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code club I first met Clare Sutcliffe, co-founder of Code Club, three years ago at dConstruct, a web conference in Brighton. Clare was a freelance UX designer with no plans to change the world … yet.

kept bumping into Clare at conferences, and in April 2012 we met at UX London where she introduced me to Linda Sandvik, Code Club’s other founder. Somehow I had missed all the commotion surrounding the launch of Code Club, despite it having had an article in Wired and on the BBC News website the day before. Code Club is a nationwide network of volunteer-led after-school coding clubs for children aged nine to eleven. By providing lesson plans to volunteers, clubs can be started in schools, and kids can learn to code by making games and interactive toys. Code Club was conceived after Clare and Linda wanted to put on a hack day for kids and realised that in order to get kids coding at a hack day they would first need to teach them to code. I too had come to realise that the school curriculum falls short of the mark when it comes to encouraging kids to be creative on computers. ICT focuses on word processing and using Microsoft Office products but doesn’t introduce programming, web design, or any other creative disciplines on the computer. I

wanted to change this but couldn’t think of a solution. Others had tried and failed to change the curriculum, but what Clare and Linda devised was incredibly cunning. Instead of trying to change the curriculum, they would disguise their lessons as a club and we could then get kids to learn these skills outside school hours. What’s more, presenting itself as a club would ensure kids were truly energised and had opted in to this education, thereby avoiding any reluctance or negativity in the classroom. When Clare and Linda introduced me to their brilliant idea at UX London, I could tell they were experiencing a mixture of euphoria and anxiety as thousands of emails flooded their inboxes, so I offered to help. Only seven short months have passed and so much has happened. I’ve been able to help with the curriculum, writing lesson plans and discussing the finer details of Code Club. I’ve held workshops and meet-ups, teaching volunteers how to use Scratch, a program designed to let kids make games and learn to code. And, most importantly for me, I’ve been

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running my own Code Club with Alastair Lockie at Queen’s Park School, Brighton. Prior to running this Code Club I had very little experience teaching kids. The whole thing was a bit of an experiment; I just jumped in at the deep end. What surprised me the most was how independent the kids were: with the worksheets and a little prompting they were rapidly creating all kinds of exciting games. I always love when they ask if they can change things about their creations; my answer is always “Of course!”, because I think this is the point of it all: they are in control, and I want them to

LINKS • wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-04/17 /code-club • bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17740143 • codeclub.org.uk

use their creativity as much as possible. It’s been an incredible experience for me so far, and I know that at least some of the kids I’ve been teaching will go on to achieve great things in the digital space. If you’re interested in taking part in Code Club either as a volunteer or as a school, then visit the website, codeclub.org.uk. I’m hoping to put together another meet-up in Brighton after Christmas. You’ll find information about it on the Google Group http://goo.gl/MkGn6

CONTACT Josh Emerson hi@joshemerson.co.uk joshemerson.co.uk

IMAGE: FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/WALKN/

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AGED debtors Here’s how to view a report of your aged debtors on FreeAgent.

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HOLD ON A MOMENT. WHAT ARE AGED DEBTORS?

hey’re customers who owe you money on a particular day, because you’ve sent them an invoice before that day and, as at the report date, they hadn’t paid you.

OK, TELL ME WHERE I CAN FIND THAT ON FREEAGENT From the Accounting menu choose Reports, then Aged Debtors.

This brings up the Aged Debtors screen. You can see that all the customers who owe you money are listed here.

You can choose which date you want to see this report at, from the drop-down menu on the righthand side of the screen. For each customer there’s a total of how much they owed you. The column headers (0-30 Days etc) tell you how long before the report date you issued that invoice. There’s also a breakdown of the total that each customer owes, by invoice. You can click the arrow by the customer’s name to show or hide this information. Be aware though, that if you have more than fifty customers who owe you money, you’ll only see the totals, not the breakdown. There’s also a grand total of how much your customers owed you at the bottom of the screen.

CONTACT Freeagent info@freeagent.com freeagent.com

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GET MORE WORK than you can handle R

eluctantly you will learn to love the ‘peaks and troughs’ – the fluctuating levels of work that come with being a freelancer. One week you’re swamped with work, raising invoices, batting away enquiries, churning out quotes, completing projects, riding the success pony and feeling like Eddie the Eagle at the height of his fame, and then the next week your diary is bare, your inbox is empty and you feel like, well, Eddie the Eagle at the height of his fame. Freelance fortunes dip and dive, and to some extent you can never change that. But there are a few things you can do to iron out the bigger crinkles in your career.

RETAINERS If a client wants your help regularly, offer them a retainer. Retainers are agreements to pay a certain amount per month to secure a fixed quantity of your time. So your client can then just pick up the phone

and get you to do stuff, without worrying about quotes, costs or invoices. You invoice the client for the same amount every month, and they know how much of your time they have to use. Retainers are rightly prized by freelancers for the security they provide. If you secure a retainer, enjoy it but do not rely on it – just in case it (or your client) suddenly vanishes.

SUPPORT OR MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS Perfect for freelancers who create thin]gs that need maintenance or regular updates. You may need to charge a client for something like web hosting, or for a support or maintenance contract. Freelance writers might need

IMAGE: FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/KITTYIRELAND/

Brilliant Freelancer is written by Leif Kendall, a Brighton freelancer who learned how to survive as a freelancer with help from the Farm freelancers’ group. After a few years’ happy freelancing, Leif got the chance to share his experiences in book form. What follows is Chapter 12, which looks at techniques for achieving a more consistent workload. Brilliant Freelancer is available from all good book shops now!

ISSUE #4 / 2013 / to update a website or document regularly, and freelance SEOs can provide monthly reports. Think about how you can be helpful to clients on an ongoing basis.

RELENTLESS MARKETING Francesca Papp is a freelance sheep shearer. When she’s busy shearing sheep, she’s busy shearing sheep, and has no time for marketing. So she stops networking, her blog runs dry, she neglects her social networks and the whole world forgets Francesca. When she’s done shearing sheep, she realises her inbox is empty and there’s no work on the horizon. So Francesca polishes her networking boots, digs out her business cards, dusts off her blog, and updates her statuses. Marketing maniacally, Francesca soon finds work. Busy again, Francesca stops marketing and the cycle repeats. And repeats and repeats until the end of time. When you look for work, you will find work. When you don’t look, you don’t find – so it’s hardly surprising that freelancers experience ‘peaks and troughs’. When you’re busy you want to focus on the work that pays. You want to keep your clients happy and you want to raise invoices. You don’t want to attend yet another networking event, or wrestle with a blog post when you’re inundated with work. And that’s fine – if you want to live a life of perpetual fluctuation. If you want more than this, if you want a reliable freelance income with less of the terrifying lulls, then you need to maintain your marketing activities, even when you’re busy. Keep your marketing juggernaut moving along – even when you’re busy. Slow things down, back off the pace, sure – but do a little something each week. Get out and about, update your blog, spend half an hour on your plan for world domination – but don’t let your marketing drop just because you’re busy.

HOW SIMPLY BEING AMAZING CAN KEEP YOU LOADED WITH WORK Good freelancers get lots of work through referrals. Their clients, so delighted with the service they received, tell friends and colleagues about this amazing freelancer. Now, there is

something special about referrals, something that multiplies their value beyond the usual value of a new client. Firstly, any client you gain through referral is a client won without marketing – so the cost of acquiring that customer is zilch. Secondly, a client who approaches you after being recommended by a friend or trusted peer is less likely to seek competing quotes. So, many referred clients will land in your lap as a done deal. Because they’ve heard about you from someone they trust, they don’t want to compare you with another freelancer. So, the obvious question is: how do you get more referrals?

BE UNBEATABLE TO GET MORE REFERRALS You will likely get recommendations from the clients who get exactly what they want. Clients who get the work they want, when they want it, delivered with every condition met and a few unexpected bonuses thrown in for free – these are the clients who will sing your praises and recommend you heartily to everyone they meet. Dissatisfied clients are unlikely to recommend you. Hell, even clients who are just satisfied are unlikely to recommend you. Your clients will probably require full-on delight before they start talking about you. So that’s your goal: total, utter delight. Delighting clients is not always easy. Clients can be a pain in the backside. They can be difficult and demanding. You can try your best, work like a dog and over-deliver on a project but still get nothing but ‘meh’ from your client. Your clients are just people, so just as some people struggle to maintain harmonious relationships with others, so too will some of your clients. While it’s good practice to strive to please your clients, occasionally projects will go astray, clients will turn nasty and you’ll reach a point of no return, where the only sensible course of action is to politely excuse yourself. But most of your clients will be reasonable people, and by giving your client a little bit extra – whether that’s a little bit more thought, an idea they haven’t paid for, an insight they weren’t expecting or a just a fraction of work beyond what they’re paying for – you can leave them feeling delighted that they picked you.

IMAGE: FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/NOODLE93/

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If you go further than other freelancers, if you can tolerate pedantry and unreasonable demands, if you can accommodate tight deadlines and accomplish seemingly impossible challenges, then you will be the one they remember. And you’ll be the one they recommend.

BRILLIANT TIP: JUMP THE JOB QUEUE Simply respond to enquiries faster than everyone else. When a new enquiry lands in your inbox, respond immediately. There’s a good chance that the same enquiry email has been sent to your rivals. The first freelancer to respond has the best chance of getting the work. Think about it: if you’re looking for a freelancer, do you want to hire the attentive, alert, responsive one or the one that took two days to respond to your enquiry? You can leap ahead of your competitors simply by being there, and being there fast.

INCENTIVISE REFERRALS Because referrals are valuable to any business, many companies offer incentives to people who send work their way. You could offer clients 10% of the project value for every referral, or a flat £100 fee. Or you could offer the referrer some of your time as a thank-you. Go crazy and print loyalty cards and stamp them every time a referrer sends you a new client. When their card is full, give them something special.

RETAIN YOUR CLIENTS As we’ve seen, finding clients is expensive and timeconsuming, so it’s wise to hang on to the clients you have. Customer retention is a big concept in the business world, because everyone knows that it’s less costly to keep existing clients than it is to find new ones. So before you have a tantrum and sack

ISSUE #4 / 2013 / a pesky client, remember that it may be better to stop, take a few deep breaths and then give them a call to talk over the problem (see Part 3 for more on managing clients).

KEEP IN TOUCH TO RETAIN CLIENTS Provided you still have something to offer clients you’ve worked with, give them gentle reminders that you exist. If you’re connected to clients with tools like Twitter and LinkedIn, then something as simple as a status update can be enough to remind people that you’re alive. If you have a few regular clients who keep you well furnished with work, show them you value their work by being friendly. Schedule a meeting (perhaps once a year) to catch up – even if there’s no work to discuss. Informal meetings give you both a chance to chat about your wider business issues and your personal lives. By staying at the forefront of a client’s mind you improve your chances of being referred and reused.

OFFER REWARDS TO YOUR PREFERRED CLIENTS Let your best clients know that you value them and encourage them to use you again with discounts or exclusive offers.

UNDERSTAND AND MEET YOUR CLIENT’S CHANGING NEEDS Every job you do will be a learning experience. Often, you’ll gain insights into your clients and what they want from you. So make sure you recognise these lessons and adjust your services accordingly. Give your clients what they want and show them you are tuned in to their requirements. If you really want to know what your clients want, ask them. The next time you see them, ask them if they’re happy with your service or if there’s anything they would like done differently. Be prepared to act on the feedback you receive. If several of your clients want better payment terms, a faster service or more regular contact, consider giving it to them. If you want to keep them as clients, you may need to adapt to meet their needs. No doubt there are plenty of other freelancers who will happily take your place.

TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR CLIENTS FEEL VALUED New clients are exciting – full of potential, free of problems – but if you can make your existing clients feel just as valued as your sexy new clients, then you’ll do well. If your clients feel taken for granted, they may be tempted by another freelancer, especially if the interloper seduces them with attractive rates or an irresistible proposal.

OFFER PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT Put your existing clients ahead of the pack. Let them jump the job queue – and make sure they know it! Work especially hard to meet their deadlines, or accommodate a change to the requested work without additional charges. When you do a favour for a client, make sure they know about it; you could easily bust a gut without your client even noticing.

OFFER BETTER TERMS Let your trusted, valued clients take a bit longer to pay. You know they’re good for it.

DELAY PRICE HIKES Your existing clients won’t be too thrilled when you put your prices up. Sugar the pill by giving them an extension on your old rates – but make sure they realise that they’re one of a select group of valued clients entitled to this special offer.

CONTACT Leif Kendall leif@kendallcopywriting.co.uk kendallcopywriting.co.uk

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Hello again,

computer Get ready to cast aside your mice, your keyboards - even your touchscreens. Connected objects, projected interactive displays and interfaces that become one with your body - and your brain - are all here and they’re about to radically change the way we talk to computers.

oor computers! For as long as we can remember, every single one of them – from the humble cash machine to the latest smart phone – has only had one dominant way to communicate with us: by displaying information on a screen. We, meanwhile, have only been slightly better equipped to make our wishes known to the gadgets which surround us: we tapped away on keyboards, shunted mice about and jabbed at touchscreens. Intelligent voice command may have finally arrived with the iPhone 4S, but if you think that Siri is the ultimate breakthrough in human–computer interaction then read on. Thanks in part to the proliferation of cheap, adaptable microcontrollers – such as the Arduino – almost any physical item can now find its way onto the network. Once connected, these smart objects can deliver feedback from computer systems in enchanting new ways. The so-called Internet of Things has given rise to a flurry of creative gadgets: from Olly, a gizmo which dispenses our favourite scent any time we’re mentioned on Twitter; to the Good Night Lamp which illuminates when our distant loved ones arrive home; to the MIT-designed jacket which offers hugs when our updates are liked on Facebook.

We, in turn, can now choose to trade-in keyboards and mice for almost any physical object. MaKey MaKey, the circuit board which took KickStarter by storm, dares us to turn any electrically conductive thing into an input device, be it a vegetable, a lump of Play-Doh or a cat. Projector-camera hybrids such as MIT’s LuminAR and Microsoft’s IllumiShare free us from the constraints of conventional monitors by turning any surface – including our own bodies – into collaborative, gesture-controlled screens. Google Glass and other augmented reality systems have also arrived in earnest, acting as virtual mirrors or “auras” that layer digital information onto our world and ourselves. Touch-free gestural interfaces are proliferating thanks to the Kinect (gaming peripheral turned hacker’s best friend) and its latest rival Leap Motion. Their motion sensing technology is spawning a host of applications which go beyond immersive gaming: from the manipulation of complex data in 3D space to interfaces designed for the restricted mobility of stroke victims.

IMAGE: flickr.com/photos/49822796@N00/

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What about those of us who cannot count on voice or movement to engage with technology? Brain– computer interfaces, which interpret signals directly from the brain, hold great promise for the severely paralysed. Their other uses, however, are surprisingly commonplace: non-invasive EEG headsets such as MyndPlay allow us to control UIs and games through neurofeedback alone. What does this new language of interaction mean for our relationship with the multitude of systems and devices which surrounds us? If anything can be

a computer, and anything its interface, then perhaps it’s time for us to stop thinking about technology as the “other”, and simply see it as an extension of our physical world, albeit one we can shape in exciting new ways.

CONTACT Alex Goluszko alex.goluszko@gmail.com alexandtheweb.com

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freelancing as a couple A

lthough it has to be said that for many people the office provides an escape from the petty tyrannies of home, they are the married ones, usually with children, men who treat their workplace like a shed or a train-set in the attic, devoted presenteeists who thrive in the impersonal environment of a twenty-first-century workspace. Freelancing, working from home, is only tolerable for such characters if they can be alone in the house, working close to the phone in a rigidly demarcated office plot. As soon as the wife or the children arrive, they get nervous. And there are plenty of women for whom four suburban walls and a ten second walk to the kitchen

can never be anything but a tyranny, a sofa cage from which office work represents a paid escape. When freelancing or working from home, they feel dissatisfied and unproductive, no matter how productive they actually have been. This more or less describes my wife and me, before a fraught and unexpected combination of circumstances lifted us out of our separate workplaces and deposited us back at home, forced to rely on our own skills as designers, yoked together of necessity. When the companies we worked for collapsed and dissolved, we created our own firm and determined to prosper regardless. That was a decision which tested us and our

IMAGE: flickr.com/photos/7147401@N07/

Working for oneself, liberated from the petty tyranny of the office.

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relationship not quite to destruction. We started out sharing a converted attic space, each with a desk at opposite ends, and with two separate telephones. We bought a Chinese screen decorated with mountains and hermits and placed it between us. We bought a top of the range coffee machine, despite having a perfectly serviceable cheap one. We communicated by messaging each other, which included such messages as: “Bring one cafe latte and a biscuit”. When we had to collaborate face-to-face we would immediately start arguing. We would waste precious hours fuming to ourselves before finally agreeing to play nicely, in a series of last ditch rescue operations. We hadn’t planned to be a freelancing couple, and we had not given any thought beforehand as to how we might work happily and effectively together. Instinctively, we made our own spaces, new little narrowwalled separated offices. When we emerged from our screened-off corners, we at once came into conflict. It’s a wonder that we ever made it work, although we did, and our relationship now is certainly different, and probably stronger. The European economy is trapped in what seems to be an endless and inept game of political brinkmanship. Life can be cold for designers. Others may find themselves in a similar situation to us. So here are a few meant-to-be-helpful suggestions after six months of failure and a full year of co-working success: • Plan the office space in detail beforehand and get files and reference materials in place before you start. It takes time to orientate yourself to a new working environment, but that’s doubly difficult when you’re constructing it as well. • W ork if you can at a single large desk, with some kind of token divider. Communicate by mouth. • A ssuming there are two of you, put one in charge according to the needs of the job. That way, one person takes overall responsibility and the other can relax in the feeling of being delegated to. • T his is particularly true of tax and invoicing and all the tedious stuff – same with phone calls – put it on one person’s shoulders and leave it there. Anything else gives rise to confusion.

Each of you will probably have a slightly or wholly different working style and methods. One is a procrastinator, the other puts in their tax return the day it’s due, etc. This is perhaps the single hardest thing to negotiate. The very worst thing is to try to change the way your partner works from the outset. It’s better to view him or her as a colleague you’re stuck with, and work out a way to work around them. Attempting to impose changes, at least by nonstealth approaches, is a discourtesy which at once promotes resentment and tension. Of course creative conflict can be intensely productive and energizing, but if you’re working with your life-partner they know who you are, and the psychological armour you may rely on in a less personal working environment is no help at all. So praise each other; it doesn’t matter whether or not it’s especially merited; the more intimately you know somebody, the less likely you are to be able to judge their work objectively, anyway. Being both a couple and a company involves an extra burden of trust: you need to have confidence, most of the time, in the work your other half does, and it helps to maintain this if you have different, but complementary skills. You can start work at more or less the same time if you start it with coffee. End work when your tasks for the day are done. It doesn’t matter if your partner is still beavering away. Make them a sandwich. Presenteeism is what you left the corporate world to avoid. Never criticise your partner for engaging in distraction activities. They’re getting used to things. It’s best to keep the coffee machine in the kitchen. You have to leave the room to make it, which relieves inner tension and exercises the legs. Try not to discuss work in the bedroom. Tom Watts is a freelance writer and design journalist.

CONTACT Tom Watts info@kongur.co.uk kongur.co.uk

CHILD benefits The government is changing the way parents are means tested for Child Benefits.

IMAGEs: flickr.com/photos/badwsky/

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rom 7 January 2013, the government is changing the way parents are means tested for Child Benefits. Currently a universal benefit, where parents receive £20.30 per week for their first child and £13.20 for each child thereafter, the coalition will stop payments to families where one individual earns £60,000 or more in the tax year. Any individual who earns between £50,000 and this new £60,000 threshold will see the benefit cut by 1% for each £100 over the limit. Many see this as an unfair way of means testing a family’s income. If one parent is earning £60,000 and the other is a stay-at-home parent, the whole family loses their benefit entitlement. Whereas a family whose parents each earn £50,000, creating a household income of £100,000, will still be entitled to this credit. Further to this, many parents are still unaware of this change as HMRC are only writing to those earning above £50,000 on the Pay As You Earn scheme. Therefore, business owners earning over this in dividends or sole trader profits are yet to be told about this imminent change. Moreover, those whose income fluctuates year-to-year through bonuses,

commission or extra dividends, will be told to carry on claiming the benefit but that this will be clawed back each year if the earners income is above the threshold. If you’re worried about your personal circumstances on this, check the Personal Tax Computation your accountant would have supplied to you with your tax return. The total income on this, before any deductions and the personal allowance, will demonstrate to you whether you should elect to stop your child benefit. Remember, it’s based on the highest earning parent, not household income. If you are over the limit, tell HMRC using this link hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/change-circs.htm after 7 January 2013.

CONTACT Nilden Ozkan info@nldaccountancy.com nldaccountancy.com

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Princess Petal and the trapdoor A new kind of princess story.

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rincess Petal and the Trapdoor is a new interactive children’s story, exclusively available on iPad. It blends rhyming verse, wonderfully narrated by CBeebies (BBC) presenter Cerrie Burnell, with retro graphics children will love, and sound effects they will love to hear and play. Throughout the story are fun things for children to touch, while the story’s strong female character makes it a feisty and modern take on the traditional princess story.

key features • A brand new and original rhyming story. • 20 charmingly illustrated pages and lots of interactive animations. • ‘Read on my own’ and ‘Read to me’ options. • Fantastic sound design throughout. Find the hidden surprise-sounds! • Intuitive navigation. The cost of the Princess Petal and the Trapdoor app is £1.99 (€2.50) and it is available now in Apple’s App Store.

About Princess and the Trapdoor

The ‘Princess Petal and the Trapdoor’ app was created by Anna Bertmark, written by Joss Albért, programmed by Danielle Huntrods of Angular Momentum, and illustrated/animated by Ami-Louise Sharpe and Stevie Green of The Cream Tea Club.

Attic Sound and Music

Attic Sound and Music is a sound company that offers sound supervision for feature films, post-production assistance and the creation of soundrelated mobile apps. The company is directed by Anna Bertmark and Joss Albért, who are both respected in the field. To expand the company’s portfolio, Anna and Joss decided to offer their expertise to app developers. However, as few developers were interested in devising a bespoke sound service, the duo decided to create their own apps, working from the technical and creative hub that is Brighton.

Anna Bertmark

About Anna Bertmark Anna is Swedish, fluently bilingual and passionate about sound. After working as a sound editor in a Soho facility, she has acquired credits on films such as Academy Award winning ‘The Queen’ and ‘The Proposition’. She is also Vice Chairman of the Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS).

CONTACT Anna Bertmark anna@atticsound.net atticsound.net

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HOW TO RUN a successful networking event Rosie Clarke defines eight simple tips that can increase your networking mojo.

’ve been involved with various Brighton networking events – most recently The Space and She Says – and I know it can be daunting going along to a new event, and setting up your own! Here are my top tips and questions to consider, when coordinating a useful and enjoyable networking event.

study the market

Go to other events: what aspects are valuable and what would you do differently? Is there a gap in the market that you could fill? Ask your friends and contacts what sort of event they would like to go to; does your idea resonate with enough people to make it viable?

gather a good team

It’s difficult to organise an event alone; who can you call on to help you with planning, marketing and coordination?

decide the format

Will you run a business breakfast, informal drinks, or a hands-on night of brainstorming or crafting? If you want to bring in speakers, you’ll need to ask them as far in advance as possible.

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find a venue

This may depend on the format of your event and how many attendees you expect. Will people stand and mingle, sit in rows, order food, or use table or desk space? Will you charge for admission? Do you need wifi? Can you get a venue for free, in return for an acknowledgement or a minimum number of people ordering drinks? Ask around.

set a date

Check local events listings to ensure you don’t clash with a similar event competing for the same target audience. If the city is busy, e.g. during Brighton Digital Festival, can you double-brand your event to benefit from their publicity and attract people who might not otherwise hear about it?

spread the word

on a list, or invite them to write their Twitter handles on stickers? Encourage mingling, and consider inviting a blogger or photographer to record the night. Have a Plan B in case your speaker cancels!

follow up

Thank your helpers, any sponsors, and the venue staff, and ask for their feedback to improve your future events. Email everyone who attended and ask for feedback if you want it. Link to the Facebook photos so people can tag themselves. Share a Storify roundup of tweets or a blog post about the night, and encourage them to connect on LinkedIn. If it went well, why not make it a regular event? Rosie Clarke coordinates the annual Museums at Night festival for online cultural publisher Culture24. She is studying for a marketing diploma, writes arts reviews for the Argus and Latest 7, and can be found on Twitter as @rosieclarke.

Where is your target audience and how will you reach them, in person and online? As well as posters or flyers, use free online tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Lanyrd and Facebook. If you take bookings with Eventbrite, you can display attendees’ names for social proof of your event’s popularity, and capture email addresses in order to send a reminder and map the day before. You can even make a Twitter list of attendees so they can connect beforehand. Share the hashtag!

friendly atmosphere

Welcome people warmly, and display an obvious sign so you’re easy to find. Will you check people’s names off

CONTACT Rosie Clarke rosie@culture24.org.uk culture24.org.uk

IMAGEs: flickr.com/photos/adactio/

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IMAGE: flickr.com/photos/kasrak/

your first member of staff

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People come to me because they want to grow their business: they want a proper grown up business that will earn them some decent money. One of the main issues that comes up is that people are reluctant to take on their first employee, even when they can see that having someone else to share the workload and contribute to profits would be helpful.

Why is this step so very scary?

here are lots of reasons why people are reluctant to take this step.

Taking on an employee means that you’ve got to be responsible for someone else. You’ve got to pay their wages at the end of the month, and they can’t wait to get paid if you’re a bit short or a customer is late in paying you. You’ve got to manage and train that person, and – if you’ve gone into business in order to do things your way, like most people – the new person may not do things exactly the way that you like them being done.

scaremongering There is a lot of scaremongering about taking on staff. Business organisations complain about red tape and employee rights. In my opinion, this is overstated. Sure there’s a bit of hassle – advertising, interviewing, contracts – and you definitely have to make sure that you stay within the law, but sometimes it sounds as if employing people is some superhuman feat of endurance, rather than a normal thing that companies do across Britain every day. If employing people were so much trouble, no one would have a job.

This argument completely misses the point. Taking on an employee shouldn’t be about getting someone else to do the boring stuff, or because you’re too busy (if you’ve got too much work on, you’re not charging enough. See my other article on setting the right price). Employing someone should mean that you make more money, not less! Taking on staff should be an investment and a way of expanding your business. It can be a great way of having other people to share the burden and keep you sociable. Above all it helps you to take your business seriously; to make sure that you’re growing into a proper grown up business.

want some help? If you’re still wondering whether you’ve reached this stage or not, and you’re based in Brighton, Sussex or London, get in touch for a chat. I’ll come round and ask you lots of nosy questions about your business, and see what the next steps are, and if that should include taking on staff. If you want some help with the technicalities of employing people, including making sure that you’re doing everything the right way legally, there are some great resources on the Business Link site.

more profits Business owners are often apprehensive about what effect taking someone on will have on profits. People say: “Well, I’m making about 4k a month profit at the moment, so if I take someone on and pay them 2k per month, that doesn’t leave enough money for me to pay my bills.”

CONTACT Julia Chanteray julia@thejoyofbusiness.co.uk thejoyofbusiness.co.uk

/ Issue #4 / 2013

wired IMAGE: flickr.com/photos/globalismpictures/

sussex workshop For the second Wired Sussex workshop ‘Being a Successful Freelancer’ at The Skiff, it was great to have freelancers Helen Keevy, Nilden Ozkan and Paul Silver to lead the conversation and provide guidance and useful information.

here was advice and support aplenty, and it was really refreshing to see so many people keen to motivate and inspire one another. The discussions covered a range of subjects and addressed lots of questions and concerns; so I’ve put together a list of key hints and tips, in no particular order, on how to be a successful freelancer.

network Get involved in your local community and not just with other freelancers in your area of expertise; it’s essential to speak to people with different specialisms in order to learn new things, keep up to date with industry trends, and understand different skill sets.

be passionate Be passionate about what you do and make sure this comes across when you are talking to people.

be resourceful Do your homework before contacting potential clients/co-workers.

share Share advice, ideas and knowledge via a blog and/ or social media but be careful not to give too much away for free. Why not set up a LinkedIn group?

Issue #4 / 2013 /

take on a personal project Take on a personal project to freshen things up. Working on similar projects for clients can become repetitive; take up a hobby or do something fun for yourself.

contingency fund Budget an adequate reserve for the unexpected on a complex project. If the project does over-run you can then let your client know in advance that you are going to need to dip into the contingency reserve, and so avoid disputes. It may be helpful to establish clear limits.

stopwatching

keep in touch Keep in touch with old clients, remind them who you are.

milestones Milestones can be really useful for big projects. Schedule regular meetings, contact and review time.

terms & conditions Stipulate everything. Research other freelancers’ Ts & Cs, lay out expectations and set the tone for the working relationship to avoid disputes down the line. Map out the expectations of both parties.

Accurately monitor and assess time spent on each client/project using a different stop watch for each.

confirmation

fees

Don’t start any work until you have received definite agreement from your client. It might be helpful to secure part of the project cost upfront.

Carefully consider whether to charge per project or per day. Be realistic about the time the work will take.

invoicing Invoice and remind, and resend if there are delays in payment. Be friendly but remember this is business. To encourage the timely payment of invoices, consider a substantial discount for prompt payment. You’ll need to factor this into the initial quote. This could help filter potentially difficult customers. Politely remind any late payer with a telephone call to check that your project is all OK and running well.

linkedin Take advantage of groups and question areas on LinkedIn, get involved in conversations, answer queries, and offer advice using private messages.

finding new work Find new work organically rather than subjecting people to the hard sell.

communication Manage client expectations: to maintain positive relations keep people in the loop and let them know in advance if there may be delays.

value Make sure you add value for your clients in everything you do. Of course, the list could go on, and there are many best practices to adopt, suggestions to be voiced, and ideas to be heard. What stood out most throughout the workshop was the feeling of community between the freelancers present. It’s important to engage with others in your situation, not only to make new connections and learn of potential joint working opportunities but also for the sake of your sanity if you‘re working on your own at home all day! Check out The Skiff for a cool co-working space with a unique community feel. Our informal quarterly members’ meetups are also a great opportunity to network with others in the digital, media and technology industries. Keep an eye on our events calendar for more info on upcoming events.

CONTACT Wired Sussex info@wiredsussex.com wiredsussex.com

About

NLD ACCOUNTANCY

NLD Accountancy provides full accountancy and taxation services for freelancers and small businesses in Brighton & Hove. Nilden Ozkan heads a team of professionals to deliver services to our clients.

y spending time in the business community in order to understand businesses and the business environment locally, we have developed an understanding relationship with our clients, enabling us to tailor our service to individual needs and make real money savings.

Our aim is to help your business prosper and grow by using a range of accounting techniques and procedures, cash flow being an especially important area for most businesses. If you think we may be of help, why not call Nilden for your free one-hour consultation: 01273 252 241 or 07960 315119 – nldaccountancy.com.

Free Accountancy and tax clinic at NLD Accountancy 12pm, Wednesday 6th February 2013 The Werks, 45 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2BE Thinking of making your business a limited company? Opportunity to have a 25 minute one-to-one meeting to discuss aspects such as: • • • •

When to form a limited company he benefits of trading as a limited company T What trading as a limited company involves Tax savings

Only four slots available. Please email: info@nldaccountancy.com to secure your place. Looking forward to hearing from you.