StartingOut Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I wondered if anyone had good\bad experiences of advertising for work. Since my French is still poor I'm aiming at the expat market and before I spend the meagre advertising budget I thought I'd ask around.Cheers,Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Sorry if this is going to sound negative, but...It seems like half the Brits in France are trying to get work out of the other half. I'm a database guy myself and I wouldn't expect to get much work from expats -- you may get some basic support & Web design but I can't see a living in it. By the way, I had a look at your site and it would not inspire me to use your services. There's a blank rectangle at the top of some pages and when I mouse over the tabs the text jumps up a couple of lines -- quite disconcerting. I use a Mac and I tried it with Safari, IE and Opera.There are various Brit magazines in parts of France if you do want to try advertising. Interestingly, it looks like you are selling the skills you need to do all your own advertising anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOut Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Thanks for the reply but if you wanted to help then maybe a PM about the problems you had with the site might have been more approriate. I'll look into why you had a problem with the flash movie on the site. The menu jump is by design, its actually confirmation of the item but I may well review it since you've given an opinion.I don't think it's much of a surprise that the Brits are looking towards other Brits for work and my long term aim is to get my French to a level where I can get French clients as well.Interesting point you make about the advertising though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Sorry, I'll switch to PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 BobAlbert's very brief critique of your website on open forum may not have pleased you, but remember, you have published your website on the internet for the whole world to see. Far better to have your Living France friends tear into it - rather than lose potential clients who may not be bothered to e-mail you with comment.It's an ideal opportunity to say "what do you lot think....." [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOut Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 Sunday (may I call you Sunday?)You're quite right that this forum offers the opportunity to say "what do you lot think....." [;-)] and had I been doing that I would have expected and accepted all comments on the open forum and I will probably so do at some point. Since I wasn't doing that, my own personal view, is that a PM would have been more appropriate if Albert was trying to be constructive, as I think he was.Incidently I have made some amendments following Albert's bluntness so "it's all good" Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 And it's looking better already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOut Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 I'll give you a shout when it's finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wibblywobbly Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Hate to say this but the website business is very competitive. 350 Euro's is pushing the boat out a bit when you consider that 10,000 French schoolchildren will do something similar for the cost of a Playstation game? I know from my own experiences in the UK how difficult the market is, and I tried believe me.The most that I got was from an engineering company that paid me £100 to set one up, plus £50 a month to update the stock lists.If I thought that I could scratch a living doing this, or using my data analyst, Excel Vb skills, down there I would be gone tomorrow. I already have a house down there, and no mortgage on either my UK or French property, but I still can't make the figures add up!The daft thing is that I look at hundreds of sites and know that I could improve many of them in minutes, especially many of the Gite ones, but people don't realise how much business they are losing by having a lousy shop window. One of my customers in France went from 0 Euro's to 350,000 Euro's in his first year of business, but then, he heeded my advice when it came to display, navigation and content?Having said that, I wish you all the best in your endeavours, if you can find the solution let me know what it is! RegardsRob G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOut Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 Thanks for the input, I do know it's a competitive field but it's what I do so I'll try my best.If you can increase someones turnover by those figures I'm surprised you can't get a living out of it, doesn't seem fair does it? Incidently what I originally meant by the post was which publications have proven profitable for you when advertising? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 In our commune of approx 900 souls there are four local french businesses offering website set-ups,computer sales,logiciels and repairs etc within a 10km radius so the market is very competitive here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOut Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 It does seem to be the current favourite option, oh well I suppose I could always try selling my body, got to be worth a couple of € for medical science. I've now found a thread relating to my initial question if anyone else is interested it's http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1/850853/ShowPost.aspx#850853 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I would imagine that the expat market would also be aiming to target the French as well as expats and may therefore require a bilingual web designer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wibblywobbly Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Beryl has a good point there, though in dealing with 'the client' they would supply all of the wording for the site, so the language barrier may not be a problem. It would depend on the client I guess?To be honest I have never advertised as my work has come via word of mouth. I actually dissuaded people in the end as I didn't want to come to be seen as someone who was going to do work for next to nothing, and get lumbered with long term agreements that didn't pay their way.Maybe I should have...I am now out of work here in Blighty, and at the grand age of 50 I find myself going for interviews for solid gold jobs that mysteriously evaporate as soon as they realise how old I am. To be expected I guess in this day and age.I would sell my body, but I reckon that I could buy a van load of salad cream and tour France selling that instead. I did think about herbs, but that is seasonal work. lolRob G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.