It’s been an interesting year already and quite discombobulating; an excellent time to work out just what direction to take my business self in. They say you should work on what you know. The thing is, at 59, I know quite a lot of things, love to learn and enjoy being nimble. And while I will continue to look after the clients that are still with me, several for well over a decade, maintaining and advising on their WordPress sites, some hosting and generally looking after them, my recent work has very much focused on the content of a website, and I rather enjoy this.
After thoroughly exploring what I love to do and what I am really good at with a dear friend, Tim (who is also my go-to person for all things WordPress security), he helped me pinpoint the focus of my future business endeavours. Something you may not know is that I had an actual job, employed, a real, full-time job! It was perfect for me, and I was perfect for it. Sadly they disagreed after a few months as the free hand I needed to make things happen was impossible, so I did not achieve much at all. I was pretty downhearted, and my confidence took a huge hit. Still, I now look back on the experience and understand what to pin down when taking on a new job (it has been a couple of decades!), and also move forward with precisely that role but for a few clients and agencies, which suits me nicely. And yes, I will share what I learned from that process as a 59-year-old disabled person re-entering the job market for the first time this century!
What is this new project? I hear you cry! Perhaps not, but if we cannot get away with a bit of drama in an update post, when can we?
I love working with a business on their content and not necessarily creating it, although I can do that too, but helping them to understand what will work best for them. Throughout the past 25 years of working with websites, I’ve been firm about understanding the client’s aims and ideal results. Increasingly, content is not just the words on your website; it can be social media, email marketing, videos, and all kinds of things now. Thankfully I can still keep up and tap into what is likely to work for a business, considering where their customers are and how they want to know about the business, as well as knowing what the available resources, the company’s skills and budget, can achieve. And the name of this shiny new endeavour? I love gardening, and my trusted peers enjoy my occasional TikTok videos about this. So Tim suggested I be a “Content Gardener”. And the domains (.co.uk) are available, so this is what I will be. Hoorah! If this sounds intriguing to you, pop me an email at hello@barbarasaul.com, and we can chat.
Meanwhile, yes, I continue to work in the organising team for WordCamp London, and I have a lot of vintage stock that needs to be sold through my hobby, Random Retro.
Oh, and I’ve moved. To Ely in Cambridgeshire! What a lovely place this is, and I look forward to exploring both the tiny city and the Fens. I’ve already found a wonderful garden centre, a couple of great places to eat, and an excellent chippy! So now that we’re settling in, albeit surrounded by boxes (we down-sized!) but having the off-spring just an hour away by train, it is time to get back to work!
