too many decisions to be made.

in the meantime....
I got some business cards made up, which have now arrived. in retrospect they are a bit too IT-focussed, but I have updated http://www.paddimir.com to make it more photoey.

I also got a cheque for £200 for photos used on http://www.visitrenfrewshire.com/

I got a surprisingly big bonus, which makes a sabbatical seem more possible. it also makes me think that leaving BT might be cutting off my nose to spite my face. it was 5 times what I'm getting for a doing a wedding. a sabbatical can seriously damage your pension though. and I should really be leaving in principle. and coming back from a sabbatical to find hugh has taken VR would be a nightmare.

A complication

I was literally about to apply for Voluntary Redundancy, when someone said "have you seen that email that just came out?". it said the company was offering new flexible ways of working including taking a sabbatical of up to a year on 1/4 pay. after a year things might be a bit less insane, and they might miss genius so much they would treat me reasonably. in the meantime I would be free to make money from photos, but without the security of having that big pay-off sitting in my bank account.

decisions... decisions...

Things I have done thus far

Ordered business cards!
phoned my financial advisor but not phoned him back
created a barra calendar for sale at the hotel - who haven't emailed me back
arranged to take photos of sonia's niece for free. hopefully it will be good advertising
taken photos of eileen's baby. see above.
i've already arranged to do a wedding in september for a relatively modest fee.
i've looked into self-employed status, which I had better apply for sharpish

Ways I might make money

Okay, largely I hope to make money from photography, and IT.

more specifically, here are some detailed options that I have considered:

1. I write JMS bridge checker website, which is free at the point of use, but sponsored by Oracle as it will reduce their support costs.
2. I could also perhaps work as a consultant on JMS bridge work. the previously mentioned website would be a good way of advertising my skills.
3. wedding photography. I have one wedding lined up in September, but would need more
4. Barra calendar. this doesn't seem as though it will ever be particularly profitable, but I am trying to arrange for the hotel to sell them anyway. If that proves doable, I could get them to sell prints too perhaps.
5. I could maybe try an Elderslie Golf Club calendar too, selling them through the pro shop.
6. I could talk to nurseries about doing baby photos, as suggested by Julie Hynes. I could try out my "just send me what you think it's worth" approach here, which I am for some reason more comfortable with
7. Doing websites. I'm doing one for St Mirin's Cathedral for free, which might help to get me more.
8. Advertising. Most of the meagre money that I have made from photography thus far has been from people approaching me through flickr, mostly to use my photos in adverts.
9. Ad hoc portait work, like I did for Julia and Jen
10. Making money from getting my macbeth/facebook thing published. this seems unlikely, but it's worth trying. actually finishing it would be painful though.
11. Local papers etc.
12. Selling prints
13. General IT contracting. Probably for perl skills.
    

Why I'm starting this

Currently, I work for a telecommunications company doing IT. I am planning to apply for voluntary redundancy at the end of the month, and try and make money from other things.

This blog is to document that attempt.