Nothing has changed on the boards since last week

[Durbs]

In all practical experience do you think it is really worth the effort of designing and setting up a website?

And to answer that one, YES, absolutely, my website has been by far the biggest source of incoming work.

[chewie171]

Hi Durbs how did you market your website? did you have someone seo it ?

[MPwannadecentincome]

And remember if you run your own business and you do not currently have a revenue generating contract then you should be out there trying to get business - being on the bench is not a holiday when you have no work to do it is the hard bit where you have to try and get the work.

If you run your own business then you should not wait until you are on the bench to do this - you should be doing this as a matter of course on a regular basis!

[Durbs]

Hi Durbs how did you market your website? did you have someone seo it ?

No, i worked for years at the start as a pure web developer sometimes alongside SEO guys so some of the stuff rubbed off and i try (with varied success) to handle that side of things myself. I always found that once an SEO guy had got his hands on a clients site, it generally ended up more geared to being read by a machine rather than a person - saw some nice sites turned into trainwrecks so be careful if hiring someone in the SEO market as they tend to be not very technically gifted in my experience!

I'd say try it yourself first, theres loads of articles out there. Also i had some success with paid targeted web advertising - but depends what you are plugging as to whether it'd work in your case.

[Peter Loew]

Most contractors I would assume have their own LTD, but does that mean they have their own business...?

I would like to have my own business too but the most obvious way I see this happening to start with at least is to recruit resource I hire through my LTD rather than direct through an agent. I almost had the chance to do this at my last contract but the events leading up didn't allow it to happen, unfortunately.

Hmm, websites, flyers and cold calls... I have to think about this and of course about what services I would be offering as a PM.

So Durbs etc., let's see some of these websites then!

[Stan.goodvibes]

I still wake up sobbing occasionally, you ever tried sticking 500 stamps on?

Hey it wasn't a complete waste of time - your story really made me LOL (with you, not at you).

Setting up a phone line: 50 quid
500 flyers and stamps: 100 quid
Not gettting the ph connected property: Priceless

[KentPhilip]

One of the best ways to get contacts is to go to your nearest buisness parks and knock on the doors - get a comps slip with some of the directors names on it. (Note you may need to turn on the charm and 'work' on the receiptionist to get this info)

huh? So you stroll around your local business park saying "I'm an experienced SQL Server DBA, and I'm looking for an assignment"
The most likely response you'll get is "What's a SQL Server" and "Can you fix our photocopiers for £8/hour"

[MPwannadecentincome]

So Durbs etc., let's see some of these websites then!

I don't know if Peter Loew is your real name or not but I don't think Durbs will be sharing his websites with us as it will then reveal his real identity!

[original PM]

huh? So you stroll around your local business park saying "I'm an experienced SQL Server DBA, and I'm looking for an assignment"
The most likely response you'll get is "What's a SQL Server" and "Can you fix our photocopiers for £8/hour"

No you say you work for your own company and you specialise in SQl server.

As you say you will get blank looks - here you need to try to explain in simple terms a basic overview of what your company provides- being a condescending muppet will get you nowhere.

Once you have explained what you do you should then be able to get the name of the head of IT.

Bit of a tip for free - try to see what is on her desktop and explain what you do in terms of how it could affect her applications - it makes it real and builds bridges.

I am gonna have to start charging for this info!

[Durbs]

I don't know if Peter Loew is your real name or not but I don't think Durbs will be sharing his websites with us as it will then reveal his real identity!

Indeed, i'd love to but how you put yourself across on forums and how you'd like your company to be seen is a totally different thing. I've done that before, had my company URL in forum sig and then after reviewing some past posting realise I occasionally come across as a right bell-end and that doesnt reflect well on the Ltd's image.