Nick’s expertise is in helping people to overcome the conditioning many of us have received that work is something you have to do to pay the bills and fund the things you like doing in your time off. He helps people to identify their unique combination of skills and talents and find ways of earning money while using these and enjoying themselves. I have known Nick for 10 years, since I sold my cleaning business, and over the last couple of years he has helped me enormously in shaping the vague ideas I had about building a business related to home working.

I find I benefit from his events in several ways – because the quality of the information is topnotch, coming as it does from Nick’s own experience, because there are always interesting and supportive people there, and just because it’s so refreshing to get out of my normal environment and spend a day in the big city!

This time Nick is talking about making the often scary move from employee to Inspired Entrepreneur and in the ticket price you also get a workbook and 12 interviews on CD – and do you know, one of them is of me! Oops, just noticed there are only two places left, so if it sounds interesting, you’d better book quickly!

In the afternoon Judy Piatkus (who founded Piatkus Books from her back bedroom) will reveal the six biggest trends of the next two years, and how you and your business can take advantage of them. I am fascinated by trends and have been on the alert for them since years ago I read a book called The Popcorn Report, which predicted many trends that have since become commonplace – for example, the rise of ‘foodaceuticals’, where food such as butter spread contains ingredients with health benefits, the growing popularity of foreign foods, and the retreat to the home as a refuge from the scary things happening in the world. I can’t wait to hear Judy’s’ take on what’s happening now.

The podcast came about as a result of the spontaneous call I made to Radio Bristol after receiving a tweet one snowy morning telling me the subject under discussion was working at home in bad weather. Somehow the editor of Freelance Advisor heard the clip and invited me to do the podcast. And all accomplished sitting at my desk at home – amazing!

The answer is that I have been working first on the content of the site, on linking to other sites that are good resources for home workers and on building up traffic. I’m now at the point where I’m almost ready to offer products and services, while still regularly adding new pages of information.

One thing I have been working on is provisionally titled the Work from Home Audit, and is a 30 or 60 minute phone or Skype conversation to assess how happy you are with what you’re currently achieving in your home working role, and to discuss ways of improving things. The people who have been helping me trial this have been delighted with the results and moved their businesses on noticeably.

I also give talks and workshops about home working to groups and at events, and again I’m preparing information about this. At the moment, apart from the occasional help of the patient and long-suffering A, it’s just me producing all this stuff so progress is always slower than I’d like, bearing in mind I have very little patience and would ideally like to bring every idea into being as soon as I think of it!

‘Are you in full-time employment?’
‘No, we’re both self-employed.’
Pause…‘Self-employed?’
‘Yes.’
Pause…‘Ah…have you been self-employed for more than three years?’
‘My partner has, but I haven’t.’
Pause…’Ah…because you see you’re supposed to… blah blah’

Now I’m fully aware they have a duty to protect their clients’ interests by making sure we aren’t a couple of swindlers who would move in and then never pay a penny of rent, but what difference does it make if you can prove you’re in full-time employment when you apply? You could give up work or get the sack the day after being given the go-ahead, and have no money at all.

We have the capital from our last house sale and are working hard on building what we fully intend will be very profitable businesses, but we are treated as undesirable because we don’t work for someone else or have three years books.

Just another symptom of how the system is still set up for a disappeared way of life. Governments have paid lip service for years to the idea of enterprise, self-employment and small business, but I’ll take them seriously when a self-employed person isn’t automatically treated as a bad risk when applying for a mortgage or to rent a property. You could argue quite the opposite case to my mind.

OK, thanks for reading, I feel a bit better now.

Passing 1000 tweets made me think back on all the people and information Twitter has brought me in just over five months. For a start, it was where I found out about Jelly and then met or connected with many interesting people who can see the possibilities in coworking. I now have lots of Jelly information on the site and it’s exciting to know that it’s being read, and recommended, by coworking spaces in the US where Jelly originated.

I find it quite staggering that I can tweet a short message from the West Country here in the UK that is instantly picked up by like-minded people on the west coast of America. This really is the best time in history to be starting and running a business.

Take a look at Enterprise Nation for tips and advice on any aspect of running a home business. If you can’t immediately find what you’re after, you can post a question on the forum and will undoubtedly get a response that will point you in the right direction, whether it’s facts you need or a bit of support and reassurance.

I’ve written the new page in response to all the questions about Jelly and coworking that have been coming in to me and Lee Cottier, who organises Jelly in Bristol and Bath. It seems that although the idea of coworking has been around in the UK for a few years, it’s now really taking off. Timing is all.

Having completed this, I’m keen now to crack on with my page for freelance writers working from home.

Sometimes it’s very clear what needs to be my priority, other times I pick one thing and as I do it, in the back of my mind I’m thinking I should be doing something else! For example, I’ve been leaving the dreaded search engine optimisation (SEO) to the bottom of the list for ages, because I couldn’t get a grip on where to start.

I’ve wondered about paying someone else to do it, then changed my mind, and finally bought a copy of Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin. It’s written in a surprisingly readable style and so I’m charging through it, all the while thinking I should be completing my new page on how to start your own Jelly, writing the magazine article that’s due by the end of the month or tackling several other tasks on my lists.

I think it’s easier to decide on priorities when you work with other people, as there’s often a common goal or deadline to work to. When you’re on your own it’s harder to make a decision. So when I’ve finished this post I’m going to prioritise the jobs, start with the most urgent and put the rest firmly out of my mind.