Join Ashley Baxter & Paddy Donnelly on a journey to figure out how to create a business doing what you love.
It’s been over a year since we published our first episode, Doing What You Love. Since then, we’ve produced a further 44 episodes, created a Slack channel for freelancers, and built a daily stand-up app, but it's now time for us to take a little break.
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As Paddy works remotely for almost all of his projects, he shares his positive and negative experiences on handling timezones, communication, results-based work and developing trust with clients. Ashley talks about her experiences hiring remote freelancers and the importance of face-to-face meetings.
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You've shipped your project. Congratulations! Now what do you do? Do you abandon that little boat you've built out in the middle of the ocean? Or do you get working on steering it towards your destination? Ashley and Paddy talk about mythical overnight successes, managing expectations, losing enthusiasm after slow sales, and what to do in the days, weeks and months after launching a project.
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It started out as a bit of fun, but now you're thinking that this pet project you've been tinkering with in the evenings could actually be a real business. What do you do now? Ashley and Paddy discuss their experiences flipping their fun projects into money making ventures.
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Here's the story. Ashley and Paddy recorded an episode of the show for this week, but realised afterwards that it wasn't quite up to their standard. Instead of just releasing it anyway, they ditched it and recorded a new episode on why quality matters. They discuss how difficult it can be to maintain quality in a project many weeks or months after it launches, and how you're only as good as the last piece in your portfolio. Enjoy!
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Is it just a bit of fun, or a serious business? This is an important question you need to ask yourself about your passion. On the show this week, Ashley and Paddy discuss how you can plan for long term success in your business by thinking about end goals, exit strategies, building a brand, how passion and profitability intertwine and expansion strategies.
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So, you're thinking of making the jump to go it alone and work for yourself? Whether that's freelancing or setting up a small business, there are a few things you need to take into account before diving in. Ashley and Paddy have come up with a list of 10 points you should consider, including: portfolios, money matters, setting your price, finding your first client and settling on an environment.
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People who work at home are living the dream, aren't they? What could be better than sitting in your pyjamas and working from your sofa? There are a lot of challenges when you live and work in the same place, and this week we discuss dealing with distractions and procrastination, the benefits of establishing routines, co-working spaces, exercise and maintaining a connection to the outside world.
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So you’ve put all the hard work in to actually make your product, and now you’re ready to hit the launch button. With two product launches in as many weeks, Ashley & Paddy talk about some of the things they do before, during and after they launch a product. They discuss: announcing something before it's ready, lift pitches, how to contact PR people, creating press kits and landing pages, which are the best channels to launch your product via and keeping a product alive after launch.
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In the wake of Ashley launching her new camera course, the guys talk about the taboo subject of working for free. In the past they've discussed what to charge for your passion, but this week's topic is all about those situations where it's ok to not get paid for your work. Ashley and Paddy draw on past experiences where they've worked for free, while discussing the key differences on working for free vs working for cheap.
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Do you need to name your ideas before you start working on them? Is finding a good name a blocker for you? For many people it's a tough process, but it doesn't need to be. This week Ashley and Paddy discuss their different approaches to naming their products and when exactly in the building process they do it.
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Season two is here! After taking a break from the show over the winter, Paddy and Ashley are back. Paddy's got some stories after travelling for 3 months around South America. He explains how he was able to take so much time off work and how he's not quite yet ready to settle back into client work. Ashley talks about her new work/life balance and the pair reveal their plans for the upcoming year, both in terms of the podcast and their own businesses. It's good to be back!
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We've made it! In the season 1 finale of our show we look back at how the podcast has changed our working lives over the past 34 weeks. We talk about what we've learned, how our goals have changed since the beginning and what you can expect from season 2!
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Staying in your comfort zone and not taking any chances can be tempting, but will it make you happy in the long run? Setting up your own business doing what you love takes a lot of courage, so this week we talk about the fears we've encountered in our own personal journeys and share some tips on how to conquer yours.
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A good designer obsesses over the details. Last week we talked about Ashley's wedding photography process, so this week we discuss the details of Paddy's illustration and design process. Learn how he gets new clients, deals with payment, budgets and contracts, working remotely with clients and developers, the software he uses and the final (very tidy) deliverables.
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Ashley reveals the secrets of being a wedding photographer. She covers finding new clients, first impressions, scouting venues, getting paid, crazy requests, conducting yourself on the big day, post-event communication and delivering the finished product. If you're thinking of entering the photography scene then this one is for you, however we can all learn something from listening to other peoples' processes.
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In order to have a healthy working relationship between client and designer/photographer/other, you need to educate the client on how to work effectively with you. Before anything starts, you both need to decide what each of your roles will be, discuss each of your goals for the project and establish the best day to day working practices. This week we talk about how Paddy and Ashley educate their clients and how better communication leads to better finished products.
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The freelance life can be a lonely one, especially if you work from home. Co-working spaces, having side projects and contributing to your industry all feature on our list of tips to avoid 'freelancer loneliness'.
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If you want to run your own business, you’re eventually going to have to market it to people. This week we talk about one method of doing that - public speaking. From intimate meet ups to large conferences, we cover preparation, dealing with nerves and the urge to check all your tweets as soon as you come off stage.
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We've finished our MVP! After working on the side project for the past few weeks and documenting our progress along the way, we're finally happy to announce our little app is ready for you to play with. Yay! We'd like you to meet Toddle, an app to help you take baby steps towards your goals. In this final part of our mini-series we talk about what we've both learned from this experience. We hope you like it!
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Is it possible to make a living from your hobby? On Working out, Ashley & Paddy discuss their own personal journeys in creating their passion-based businesses. This is about the expedition, the here and now, the daily challenges and achievements towards getting paid for your passion.
An unusual combination of insurer and photographer, Ashley's big girl's job is running Insurance by Jack. She also photographs weddings under the Girl With A Camera alias, reserving what little leisure time she has for PlayStation 4.
Freelance illustrator and UX Designer. Originally from Ireland and now based in Belgium, he designs for print, iOS & the web as well as having his own range of iOS apps for kids. He wishes Pluto was still a planet.
Got a question for us? Or a topic you'd like us to discuss? Feel free to send us an email.
