My darling daughter recently shared her cold with me. Colds I can more or less deal with but, as so often in my case, the cold morphed into a chest infection. Out comes the Mighty Inhaler of Power but in the mean time I am aching and shivering even in the warmth of summer. So […]
The post Fighting Germs appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, Heathrow over the weekend. It is currently undergoing some much needed renovations, ‘tired’ looking as someone put it, which meant there was a certain amount of disruption around the lobby, reception and bar areas. Some people might have found this annoying but I came away with a positive experience. […]
The post It’s the Way You Feel appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I’m in the process of setting up some online courses to help freelancers get going. I know what I would have wanted when I set out but I am curious as to what YOU want to know now. Do you want practical advice on tech? Would you like to learn about free/inexpensive ways to run […]
The post What Do You Want? appeared first on Create Bubbles.
Yesterday was the first ever Sand & Castle Jelly and I am pleased to say it was a definite success. I arrived around half nine to set up for ten o’clock and got on with the last minute preparation of party bags and blowing up balloons for hanging on the staircase. Thankfully Rob & I […]
The post It Went Without a Wibble appeared first on Create Bubbles.
A few years ago I got my first tattoo, it’s an ankh and it’s on my right shoulder blade. Nobody ever sees it as I rarely wear strappy tops but I have always loved it and what it represents. Recently I decided I would like another tattoo done, this time a blue lotus in the […]
The post Projected Problems appeared first on Create Bubbles.
Last week I was lucky enough to take part in a pilot scheme called Recoventure. A small group of six social enterprise business owners gathered with two facilitators to imagine what each of us could do for our businesses. Planning before hand involved writing up to a 100 words about ourselves, our ideals and what […]
The post Recoventure appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I’m part of the Lancaster Social initiative which is an open cross sector networking opportunity and a great way to potentially improve your own knowledge base The next one is on 11th June at Lancaster & Morecambe College Business Centre from 5pm – 7pm. It’s free to pop along and there’s just a nominal charge […]
The post Want to Hear Me Speak? appeared first on Create Bubbles.
The Guardian went along to the Frome Jelly recently to see what it was all about. The film is worth watching, especially if you’re not quite sure what a ‘jelly’ is or you can’t decide whether to come along or not. Watch the Frome Jelly Film
The post A Frome Jelly Film appeared first on Create Bubbles.
So, plans are in motion for the first Sand and Castle Jelly on 21st May 2014. We have a logo courtesy of Jack Knight and the room we intend to use is being sorted. Myself and Michael Dutton, who is helping me out, went to visit Yard Coffee the other day and checked out the […]
The post Making a Jelly appeared first on Create Bubbles.
A couple of years ago I got introduced to Jelly – a great co-working initiative for business people, especially those who often work alone. Judy Heminsley from Work From Home Wisdom has talked to me about it and I’ve always wanted to organise one in our area but never had the time or the confidence […]
The post What is a Jelly? appeared first on Create Bubbles.
As an experiment I’m adding the brief slideshow I used last night as a post here. It was a great event and we’d all love to see everyone again – please bring friends next time too. The evening Jane Binnion gave a great introduction and explained what we hope to achieve with Lancaster Social then […]
The post Lancaster Social 24.2.14 appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I recently attended a presentation by Lancashire County Council’s Sustainable Travel Team at Lancaster & Morecambe College. While it was primarily aimed at businesses with a number of employees I was curious to see how freelancers could benefit from thinking about travel sustainability. Initially, the team said, people view what they do with resistance as […]
The post Sustainability for Freelancers appeared first on Create Bubbles.
As freelancers we need to be insured properly. That means car, home and also personal liability/public indemnity insurance. It can be daunting as there are so many options to choose from – should you find your own insurance or use a broker? What coverage do you need? Which company should you use? My advice, find […]
The post Cover Charges appeared first on Create Bubbles.
We all have them. Monsters lurking in the dark corners or our offices, dripping doubt and ridicule whenever things aren’t perfect. Today is the day you will defeat those monsters. Today is the day you’ll banish them to the depths. Today is the day you will laugh in their ugly faces. Today you will win […]
The post Defeat Your Monsters appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I’ve set a date folks. Mark it down in your calendar and come along to be part of the first Jelly co-working event to be held for Morecambe and Lancaster. Wednesday 21st May 2014 It’s going to be held upstairs at The Yard coffee shop, 5 King Street, Lancaster but we need your help. The […]
The post Freelancers, Come Get Your Jelly appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I am currently helping to test through an initiative from Lancaster University, the Barter Project. The BARTER research project aims to use mobile and ubiquitous computing to raise the understanding of how fiscal localism can produce new complementary economic models to build a more sustainable society. I’ve only been using the card (as a guinea […]
The post Barter Project appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I’ve teamed up with Kerstin Hammes to present a day of workshop sessions at Lancaster & Morecambe college. We’re going to be talking about online marketing, blogging, demystifying SEO and getting an effective website for your business (and your budget). It’s going to be a great, informative way to give you ways to kickstart your […]
The post You Too Can Shine Online appeared first on Create Bubbles.
Sent with love. You can now get your freelancer paws on a free pdf copy of my book Create Bubbles: Adventures in Freelancing by signing up to my newsletter. This has been something I have been talking about for a few years; it encapsulates what I learned in my first few years as a freelancer […]
The post Early Valentine’s Gift appeared first on Create Bubbles.
For five years I’ve networked, I’ve been a member of the Chamber of Commerce, a member of Pink Link Ladies and am currently a member of Lancaster ESTA. I miss my Pink Link Ladies. My reasons for leaving networks are usually because they aren’t my target audience or that it is no longer financially viable. […]
The post Not Networking Experiment appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I wonder how many of you read that post title and passed on? If you’re still here then congratulations. At a recent networking event I met some new and interesting people with great businesses. One person I met was Joanne Moore from Moore For Your Money. Her company provides financial planning for businesses and private […]
The post Financial Planning appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I recently saw this video (on Facebook) and it serves as a reminder as to why we should build our own bubbles on the web and not rely solely on ‘free’ social media. Basically, Facebook’s algorithms are showing less and less posts from your friends and ‘liked pages’, mainly in order to push paid-for posts […]
The post A Gentle Reminder appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I signed up for Instagram today after talking to a few fellow business people. I’d never bothered when I first heard of it, I think because it wasn’t on Android, but it kinda seems fun so I’m giving it a go. I am looking to use it as a way for people to get to […]
The post No Food Shots I Promise (maybe) appeared first on Create Bubbles.
I’ve started this year off with a new Filofax, however it’s not for dates as I use my Google Calendar for all of that. This Filofax is an attempt to organise my work and productivity. As I’ve got busier with my web design work, and added Create Bubbles to my workload, I’ve realised I need […]
The post Plan, Plan, Plan appeared first on Create Bubbles.
There’s certain aspects of social media that infuriate me. One of them is that users need to understand that you often haven’t much time to make a good impression, and if you make a bad impression people will leave. My bugbear today is the Tweeters that you follow who then immediately send you a, usually […]
The post Etiquette Isn’t Difficult appeared first on Create Bubbles.
