Blogging Along

Completed a few short 45 second long promo videos for the Freedom centre. These just highlighted future events and turned out really nice. Gave me a boost on pushing this type of video to other businesses and the good thing is they can use them on their web site and are featured on Humber.TV too.

Looking to cut back on my domains I’m letting a lot drop that in my eyes I could do without renewing as 10 would cost £70 for 2 years! On the flip side all my Hull domains are now listed on HullDomians.co.uk and give the ability for visitors to show an interest and place an offer in through a form system. To start my campaign off to either rent them out or sell them I’ve placed an Ad in the Hull Daily Mail for a week starting 19th February.

Just bought 2 domains YorkshireSEO.uk and YorkshireDesign.co.uk for £60 which I thought was a bargain and should be able to get them ranking and sold on to a local business. (if I don’t use them myself)

Looking through my SAGE accounts I noticed I’d dropped a bombshell and missed nearly everyones hosting renewals from last year. #fail But should be a nice boost for a few bills I have come up or have now.

I took a punge and turned off my shop plugin for JokeShop.org.uk and made posts as normal posts but mirrored the path so not to upset Google etc. Instead of actually selling products myself I’m giving” Paid on results” affiliate links from Silly Jokes. Traffic from my site is directed to them I make a sale and I get a cut of it but has proven shite TBH.

I may turn the shop back on if by the end of this month I don’t make one sale.

I’m quite a laid back “do anything for anyone” kind of guy, but over the past few months I’m seeing more and more reason to look after No1 more. Dog eat dog world it’s turning into I just need to look at every situation a little more before jumping in to the rescue or offering.

I found my CV on an old memory stick and decided to apply for a few jobs in SEO, Marketing etc just to see what response I get as theirs no harm in trying to see what bites I get from it. I actually wouldn’t mind going into a decent company to work on SEO and online marketing for companies. I would do a bad job too! ;o)

I decided to pull the internet connection from Beverley as I was only using it twice a week for 1 or 2 hours and was costing £40 + a month. So just a waste really.

Final thought for me about my Hull Domains, I may need to educate business about mini sites and “do what you say on the tin” domains buy hopefully enough will get it and opt for the rent option to try and test.

Slowing down on registering domains and booking catches with catch services just lately. Everyone is feeling the pinch and need more time to develop domains I already have anyway. Spending £30 – £50 for a catch is all good and well but need to be followed up with a live indexed site.

Humber wind farms or the whole wind farm idea in the Holderness East coast area seems a fab prospect for the area business,  jobs and just the green side of it. Myself I think we should dam part of the Humber off and be 100% guaranteed energy but I’m sure that won’t happen in my life time and the depth just isn’t there.

Looking forward I need to split myself into 50 I think or make a plan of action and STICK to it. Lots happening gand theirs me trying to juggle it all. With Humber TV’s 1 year Birthday coming up (party??)  I’m hoping that I have a set standard with all programs that get published. A nice intro tune, credits, graphics and just over all a better feel to them. This all does take time and think shows will need to be cut down more I think to a maximum of 20 minutes ish.

As mentioned in my last post – Looking at producing a few promotional videos to a fair standard at a good price for comapnies to use and for me to use on Humber TV, You Tube, Vimeo, mini websites like Hull Beds, Hull tyres. I have a few in mind which will look good and should give people and companies an idea of how it will look and work.

Keeping on domains I’m surprised none of my Premium ones haven’t been hunted down by big chains. PriceCrunch.net BodyCreams.co.uk BodyConfidence.co.uk to name just 3 as a £x’xxx or even a £xx’xxx would be nice right now. Well worth renewing and developing for an investment me thinks.

I’ll finish off by asking any businesses who spend money on advertising on or offline to get in touch to see how I can help you gain more clients by using my many portals.

Not to go into detail or go on about “Good, bad & Ugly” it seems as though the world is against me and nothing was letting up. Each day I thought (and still are)  what can possibly land on my lap today that will put me in a foul mood?

Google Instant  is maybe having an effect on my rev from Adsense, as it seems to be up and can see more of my local websites like HullExport.co.uk which never got any click through or revenue doing well and now getting traffic.

I really don’t want to rely on Google for a monthly revenue and still crave an Automated Revenue Stream of some kind besides Adsense. Maybe a digital download of some kind or automated service that needs minimal effort.

My latest project I’m hoping to push is my Joke Shop but also the JokeShop.TV which will show jokes in a video been used and so giving the buyer a great idea of how they work, look and can decide on whether to buy or not after watching the video.

I am a bit of a gadget freak and love new technology, with me offering a VoIP service to clients as an add-on I was interested to see if a Mobile Internet Dongle could be sufficient  for my Home use. So to run 2 laptops, a tower and 2 landline numbers the answer is YES – In my area we get around 1mb up and 1mb down on Three on a bad day with no aerial.

I ordered another package from Three as my current 3GB for £7.50 offer wouldn’t be enough for the month and so 15GB (500Mb per Day) for £15 seemed a good deal. The video above explains and shows you in more detail but basically this time next month I won’t have a landline with my current provider KCOM and Karoo. This saves us around £40+ a month and now could only pay £4 for the phone number and line and £15 for the Mobile broadband connection with Three.

I do work from home but do most of my heavy traffic when out and about at other locations. Within a week or so I should be able to see if this was a sensible change and will update here. I have tested the system for a few weeks and all works fine and think the system will work even better when I get an external aerial for the dongle.

Still not got an IPAD due to the £600+ price tag

With me feeling a little sorry for myself, I’m due some (maybe not luck) but rewards for my efforts as this self employment lark can be a bit time consuming and takes over your full life.

I’m still looking for people in the Humber area wanting to break into the HyperLocal game. I’ll set a domain, website etc up for you and then you run it adding images, videos, content but passing some of the content Humber.TV’s way!

Talking of video, You Tube is a good way to drum interest up to Local sites or any site thinking about it. Take a video of a local parade for example, post the first 2 minutes to You Tube and the full version to your site. In the description in the first line on You Tube paste a link to the full video and if the want to see more or are just wanting more in general they will click through.

A quote from Leo when we met him the other night on a Wedge Welly knees up – “Make Money, Have Fun but don’t forget to make money having fun”

I have spread myself quite thin, and all because of my active mind that seems to have new ideas every week. Rather than saying ok when I’ve finished this I’ll do that next, I start it so not to miss the moment. I could hire some one to follow it up for me but not got the cash spare to do this.

I have juggled quite well up to now and have cut back on a lot of things time and money wise. This will hopefully get the wheels in motion and my arse into gear with a climb that can only be up, instead of bobbing along on a flat line.

I nearly never was able to post this as a crazy 169 year old woman disregarded giveaway markings on a Beverley Westwood road and would have been a head on crash. Luckily I decided driving onto a grass verge and skidding was a better option than death.

Cash flow is KING and hope this month or before the end anyway, payments are more regular. No one is withholding money, it’s just jobs take longer than anticipated. Hence as mentioned before Humber.TV and the whole video service will generate a nice regular flow to balance short falls in the month. Latest one we created was for a teeth whitening company.

I have a lot of mini site ideas, FootGloves.co.uk Jokeshop.org.uk to name 2 and these are sites that if I follow up and make them a lot bigger, increase inventory and range, they will do a storm. Again time and money! A local Joke shop owner who has no web site agreed to work something out between us as he has the stock and I have the ranking and web site.

Want to set a few goals before the end of this year and hopefully look back at this and smile.

• Humber.TV – 1000 unique visitors a day
• Jokeshop.org.uk – Stock inventory 250 items plus with 25 orders a week
• My Hull domain portfolio – Making £25 per day from adsense or clients renting
• People in the Humber Area know Humber TV as a Brand to view local video after asking 100 people 50% of them say they have heard of it
• At least 25 clients renting Hull sites from meand  at least at £10 a month
• Have a team of 4 Volunteers with HD camcorders to record events etc local to them for Humber TV
• I am at a stage where I can start thinking about myself and maybe even go to the gym
• Make 10 new friends I chat to at least once a week!
• To use this blog at least 4 times a week almost like a diary

Lets see ;o)

Doing my bookkeeping myself for the past 2 years+ was a mistake I wouldn’t wish on anyone. First off I wasn’t one for keeping on top of it and wasn’t one for actually doing it once it became a need to. I HATE ACCOUNTS!

Been in business as a self employed person has made me want to stay in business due to the flexibility but also with all the job loses and unemployment I am a man controlling my own destiny. To be honest now I do find myself falling over myself offering help (for free) to new start ups where I can and hope they see it as a good opportunity to grab with both hands.

So nearly the end of June and didn’t want to rely on Web design too much I get 2 – 3 jobs in with no effort and very welcomed as cash flow as always IS king and I thank these 2 new start up companies for that.

It feels as though Humber.tv has been launched for an age but has only been up for 3-4 months and I know I’ve worked on the whole idea for over 18 months but it just feels sooo long since March. I’m very excited by the idea of us creating mini adverts to place in the breaks to interviews and video’s and again this has come off the fly from a request by a client (Karma Queens) for us to produce a short film for them.

This summer has been a good one with been self employed and working in Beverley as it’s not to much of a sin to go to Kings Head in Beverley with Duncan P for a cheeky pint or 2. Working or employed this wouldn’t be possible to be able to enjoy the sun in the afternoon  but does mean working later to keep on top of work is needed but again all to do with flexibility.

We now (at Humber.tv) have Jess C, Neal, Valerie P, Nick D, and Gina as interviewers and look forward to full weeks of interviews and work flowing towards the Humber.TV way. I do hope they all stay on and grow with the whole idea as I do like them all as people and it’s quite easy not to like a person for what ever reason.

My aim for the past 2+ years has been to just survive and ride the wave, because when I set out as a limited company the crunch in the business world had just kicked in and many said it wasn’t a great time to do it. Looking back it was a perfect time to setup.

Domaining been one of my passions but cash been in short supply I have been only renewing ones I feel they are worth doing and will continue with my GEO Service / product fest in the knowledge it will pay off.

Final thoughts before July kicks in……….

• So glad I started Humber.TV
• Need to set up Humber.fm as a Internet only radio station
• Get every Geo / service domain LIVE and earning
• Get at least 2 interviews a day and post more events
• Focus my ideas more and always aim higher and expect nothing!

Attended a Hull and Humbers Chamber of Commerce speed networking and lunch today at Cave castle (FAB grounds complete with moat) and I realised I need to get out more.

I did use to go to a few networking events but was trying to promote web design and VoIP. Web design is saturated and VoIP people didn’t want to take or trial it.

So out this morning and people I spoke to warmed to the idea of my Humber.TV idea and concept which made me feel fuzzy inside! Also people came up to me and was saying “Are you Mr Humber TV?” again this was a little strange and almost felt like a celebrity  😉

The Chamber hold a speed networking and lunch every month and WILL be going to every one from now!

On another note with Humber TV Valerie Prentice (our only host) is departing to France for a month and needed a stand in. Jess from Divine Clark PR was very interested as an extra permanent host and bagged 4 interviews next week at £50 a shot for advertising. “Result” I thought and hope she keeps her intro rate up.

This made me realise I need to up a gear with the whole Humber TV game and am now on the look out for more willing people to help out on a short term volunteering basis (hope to pay on invoice for their time ASAP). Wanting people who see the potential of the concept, are willing to stick with it and help out how they can to make it work/grow.

3 days till D day, D been DOG! “WOOF WOOF”

Adsense has nicely increased daily which is nice and aren’t sure if it’s with me adding new content on a few or just people looking on-line more leading up to gardening and getting out weather.

Needed to raise some funds and sold a few domains in the past week which in one way wish I never as I let them go for peanuts but altogether made a nice tidy sum to help out. Tried to sell my scuba gear too but think it may be harder than I think due to testing etc.

Signing off and catching some Zzzzzzz

So the New Year and the 4th of Jan 2010 filled me full of positiveness, calls and emails streamed in!

Most of my work is Web site design, building and have wanted other projects to make that percentage less one sided. (eggs in one basket and all that) Their isn’t a day that goes by when I have an idea, whether it’s for a new mini site or a totally new project and that isn’t always a good thing.

My current project is Pod casting. Not just recorded to be downloaded to an IPOD later but LIVE scheduled streaming video with local people, businesses and groups discussing and explaining more about their areas. Whether it’s Techy, Health related, Current News, Music or business it can be anything and the good news is it’s all FREE to viewers.

The Stream will be live video and will include an option for a low quality stream or even just audio ideal for poor Internet speeds.

Both Video and Audio will be recorded for later viewing or just listening if people missed it, along with transcript and other useful information. As well as been posted to our site we will be widening our possible scope by posting to You Tube, ITunes and other media sites.

Please do contact us if you are in or have an interest in the Humber area which include the cities, towns, and villages below to name just a few:

• Hull
• Grimsby
• Scunthorpe
• Withernsea
• Hornsea
• Immingham
• Hessle
• North Ferriby
• Brough
• Goole
• Cleethorpes
• Beverley
• Cottingham
• Ellerby
• Hedon
• Preston
• Barton Upon Humber

We’ve ran many tests, setups and believe we have a great model for the Humber area to take advantage of, so please do contact me for more details on how to take part.

We hope to run test shows towards the end of January and start streaming live scheduled shows in February.