successful home working
Posts tagged Video
Work from Home Wisdom Facebook page
17 months ago
So now you know I’m no expert on social media but one thing I am trying to do with the Work from Home Wisdom Facebook page is to create a useful resource for home workers. As with everything I do with social media, it’s not my own idea. I’ve copied it from The BIG Jelly Facebook page I created with Jan Minihane in the build-up to the event in March. Jan, who is a social media expert, suggested I post links to articles and sites related to Jelly, coworking and small business. When The BIG Jelly was over, it finally dawned on me that this would be a good idea for my own page, where I was already posting new blogs and occasional comments.
It’s a good place to post bits and pieces more or less related to home working that I stumble upon and enjoy, but don’t have the time or inspiration to turn into blog posts. Now I have somewhere to share them with other home workers that’s more permanent than a quick tweet. Sometimes they make it onto the website as well, like Yuvi Zalkow’s funny video about the sleek, minimalist desks he admires online, and his own, erm, slightly less sleek and minimalist table. I was worried I might be overdoing the photos of gorgeous workspaces, so it struck a chord.
Do let me know if there’s a subject you’d like me to cover more (or less) often, and I’ll see what I can find to oblige. I have some favourite sites that are mines of slightly offbeat posts, and return to them again and again. And please let me know your own favourite destinations, whether they are information sites, blogs, collections of photos, whatever, as I’m always looking for new resources to plunder!
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Social media – vital for working from home, but…
117 months ago
Social media has only been around a few years and yet I can’t remember what home working life was like without it. Which doesn’t mean I’m enamoured of it all. Do you have a favourite social media site? Mine is Twitter, because as a confirmed minimalist I love its brevity, I started off by attending a day course and so understand everything I need to, and mostly because I feel in control – I know exactly what will happen when I press Send!
Facebook, on the other hand, feels to me like a sprawling mass of ever-expanding stuff, most of it of no interest whatsoever. I’ve had no instruction in using it and haven’t really grasped who sees what and which bits of information go where. I rarely look at my Profile wall – I just don’t have time and can do without another opportunity to procrastinate. Please excuse me if you’ve contacted me and had no response – I’m not ignoring you, it’s just that I probably haven’t even found what you’ve sent, don’t know how to respond or have done it wrong. Every time I start to feel I should get some help, something happens like the recent uproar about tagging photos, and I think rude thoughts about the sheer arrogance of the youths manipulating us and resolve to have as little to do with it as possible.
I should get more training on Linkedin as well. From the comments I’ve heard it seems many of us do little with it apart from occasionally sending off a flurry of invitations to connect and guiltily posting an overdue contribution to a group. I am happy to connect with you if we have connected on or offline. It seems rather pointless to connect with somebody who is a total stranger and my least favourite communications come from people sending the standard connect message who claim to be my friend, when I’ve never heard of them. At least tell me why you want to connect.
As for Youtube, my resolve earlier in the year to film regular vlogs has been hit by the persistent humming of the microphone, a problem that was supposed to be have been resolved. I can’t spare the laptop going off into Apple hospital again, and so vlogs have slipped down the list.
So for now my major efforts are reserved for Twitter, which has been a rich source of fascinating people and information. But I’m open to persuasion and no doubt I’m missing all kinds of tricks – how can I get the best out of social media?
The Big Jelly takes shape
71 year ago
Yesterday was a very exciting day as I had three breakthroughs – I published my first video blog, or vlog, as I’m reliably informed it should be called. I was featured on the website of Lisa Kanarek, American home working expert, who was a guest here recently talking about her home office. And I confirmed the third speaker for The Big Jelly, the first national UK Jelly event, which will take place on Friday 25 March next year.
It’s early days yet in the planning of The Big Jelly, but the level of enthusiasm, goodwill and generosity we’ve encountered so far is a very positive start. We have some really inspiring people lined up to take part, with different kinds of expertise to share.
What we’re aiming for is a day that reflects the spirit of Jelly – particularly its friendliness, quirkiness, and new way of doing things! Jelly organisers will be the first to receive details of our plans, we hope in the very near future.
So on this Thankful Thursday I’m feeling grateful to be involved with such a great bunch of home workers and to be meeting experts who quickly understand the spirit of Jelly and are eager to come along to help us move our businesses forward. Can’t wait for March!
Talking about home working
31Today I’m making a change by having a video instead of writing a post, and I’m asking what kind of information about home working you’d like to see on the site.
Let me know the topics you’re interested in, and also tell me what you make of the talking blog idea!
Books to inspire home workers
121 year ago
I was knocked out by The War of Art by Steven Pressfield the first time I read it, and I’ve reread it several times. It’s about resistance – how we tend to neglect our most precious dreams for the mundanities of everyday living and how we can change that.
It will make you laugh, make you cry and emerge with the greatest respect for the wisdom of Mr Pressfield, who has written many bestselling historical novels and understands the ongoing temptation to do anything other than get down and write, or paint, or train for a marathon, or start a business, or learn a skill – whatever you believe deep down you are here to do.
For some inexplicable reason the book is currently not in print in the UK. (If I was in government I’d want to give a copy to everyone losing their job in the cuts). But you can get it secondhand from Amazon, and failing that, beg or borrow it from friends or try your local library. But read it!
I get very frustrated listening to politicians talking about pulling our way out of recession through economic growth, when it’s blindingly obvious that the earth simply cannot support endless growth. The first gleam of light at the end of the tunnel for me is Tim Jackson, whose book Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet discusses how we might tackle the enormous challenges of adapting how society works, starting with a much broader definition of prosperity than we’re used to.
It’s only available in hardback so far and I reserved and borrowed a copy from the wonderful library here in Frome. I had to wait a while, but you can get a taste of Tim’s argument immediately by watching his TED talk, which is 18 minutes until the start of questions. If you’re pushed for time just watch from 4.24 minutes for a wonderful description of how social anxiety and materialism are intertwined. And if you’ve got longer, stick around to find out if your life is all about keeping out the giraffes…!
Cottier on coworking
02 years ago
You’ll know by now how keen I am on coworking and Jelly. Well, all my information came originally from Lee Cottier, the foremost coworker in the South West, and the driving force behind coworking in this area.
Last week I had a good long natter on the phone with him about how he discovered coworking, why he’s so keen and what he’d like to see happen in the future. I’ve transferred all that information to a new page on coworking that I hope will explain the concept, still a very new one to many home workers and freelancers in the UK. There’s also a brief but illuminating video made by a coworking space in Seattle, which was brought to my attention yesterday in one of Lee’s tweets about coworking. (Follow him on @CoWorkingWest for general news as well as events in the South West).
Coworking is an exciting development for anybody working from home. It tackles both the potential problem, always looming, of isolation and becoming cut-off, and also offers countless possibilities for collaborating with other freelancers on new projects.
