Category Archives: Software

Earning a self employed income is easier than you think…

With an increase in UK unemployment figures last week, it is good to know that as a counter measure the number of self-employed workers is on the increase, showing the determination of those who are unemployed to survive, while also illustrating the fact that earning an income is easier than most people think.

With many companies increasingly having to cut fixed headcount numbers through redundancies, many of those who find themselves unemployed are seeking out their own work, opting for self-employment and freelancing instead.

Official figures released last week by the Office for National Statistics revealed a significant increase in the number of people who have chosen to become self-employed and take on freelance projects over the past few months; more than 100,000 people took on self-employed status during this period of time, taking the total number of independent workers in the UK to 4.2 million, according to a report by the BBC.

A separate report published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) also stated that people from a much wider array of backgrounds and occupations had now turned to self-employment than in previous years.

Online marketplaces allow freelancers to sign up and search for work, which is advertised by companies seeking to outsource business functions to freelancers rather than employee fixed in-house teams. Last year was a particularly buoyant year for freelance marketplaces, as both the demand for freelance services increased , as companies look for flexible staffing solutions, coupled with an increase in the supply of freelancers operating within the UK.

Outsourcing business functions to freelancers has been a lifesaver for many companies in 2011, with this trend towards outsourcing looking likely to continue in 2012.

One outsourcing website in particular that has reaped the benefits of this increase in demand is OutsourceMyProject. With over £1 million worth of projects posted onto the site over the past 12 months, the business is looking forward to what 2012 will bring for them.

Loren Holland, Managing Director of Outsource My Project said: “We are expecting the demand for freelance staff to continue increasing this year, as companies continue to cut fixed overheads and permanent staff numbers, and instead turn to outsourcing business functions to more flexible freelance professionals.”

“OutsourceMyProject offers the perfect marketplace for freelancers and businesses to connect. Businesses looking to find a freelancer or outsource business functions simply advertise their project, which becomes visible to the thousands of freelancers registered on our site who then submit their proposals to win the work.”

Further figures released last week by the Office for National Statistics showed that unemployment has continued to increase, especially in the three months to November, where it reached a total of 2.7 million.

The UK’s unemployment rate stood at 8.4% of the economically active population by the start of November, up 0.3% during the quarter and the highest its been since 1995.

The number of jobless young people between the ages of 16 and 24 also hit another record high, with there now being over 1 million people in this age group out of work.

Via EPR Network
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Increasing interest in mobile app development

The New Year has already brought about a noticeable increase in companies exploring the world of mobile app development, which is becoming an ever increasing way businesses connect with their customers.

This growing popularity of smartphones, and Android devices in particular, is undeniable, with data released last week by US web analytics firm Chitika Analytics revealing that in North America Android devices overtook Apple iOS handsets when it came to mobile web browsing, and is therefore one of the most popular operating systems that people buy into.

Ever since the very first smartphone came into the marketplace, there has always been criticism over the lack of available apps. However, with the mobile app development industry growing and technology ever-advancing, more apps are being launched with every coming week. Companies are now being forced to wonder what benefits they can reap by launching their own app.

The amount of interest developers have had in relation to mobile apps over the last few months is also as a result of an increasing number of businesses investing in new tablet computers. A new survey has recently claimed that it is not just personal use which is fueling the tablet market, as more companies than ever before will invest in several tablet devices for their workplace during 2012.

According to the NPD Group, 73% of companies in America with less than 1,000 employees plan to buy tablet computers over the next few months, showing that it’s not only large organisations investing in such devices. A significant amount of companies have also spoken of their want to invest in iPads in particular.

Not only is this level of interest keeping developers who specialise in mobile app development busy, but it’s also creating a significant amount of additional jobs for freelance developers. This, coupled with the fact that more and more smartphones running the Android operating system are being launched, things look set to only get busier.

Loren Holland, Managing Director of OutsourceMyProject, a marketplace helping UK customers find a freelancer (e.g. freelance web designers and freelance graphic designers), said: “We have witnessed a significant increase in the number of projects being posted on our outsourcing website by those wanting a mobile app for their business. Furthermore, there has been a similar increase in freelancers registering to offer their mobile app development services. This is certainly a growing market and a mobile app is something every business should be considering for the near future.”

With the workloads of app developers likely to increase throughout the year, it’s no surprise that both developers in this market are getting their very own industry body. The idea for a dedicated industry body is being led by Jon Potter, the former executive director of the Digital Media Association. According to a report by Info World, the aim is to establish an organization that can lobby on behalf of app developers, promoting their interests, while at the same time increasing collaboration, improving education and providing shared product-testing facilities.

Jon Potter, the former Executive Director of the Digital Media Association is leading the idea and said: “Our thought now is that there’s an interesting space in the application developer community that isn’t really organised. We’re going to be at the meetups all around the country, we’re going to be at conferences, we’re going to be talking to folks, we’re going to be polling people.”

Via EPR Network
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Is 2012 set to be a bumper year for outsourcing?

With the New Year upon us, many companies are now looking at their business processes in order to assess what they can change in 2012. With companies continuing to struggle amidst a challenging economic climate, many are likely to dramatically change how their company operates this year, with outsourcing likely to become the preserve of many businesses attempting to rationalise their cost base.

Last year was a record year for companies operating in the outsourcing sector, with a huge number of businesses looking into the concept in an attempt to cut fixed costs and become more flexible. With the ability to drastically reduce fixed overheads whilst maintaining business operations without interruption and providing access to skilled staff, outsourcing has been a lifesaver for many in 2011, which is why the new year is likely to bring a further uplift in demand for outsourcing services; not only in the UK but overseas too.

In a recent survey conducted by dictate2us, a dictation and transcription service, it was found that 62% of companies plan to outsource administrative jobs this year, to cut the costs of overheads. Chief Executive of dictate2us, Daryl Leigh said :“Many of the administrative tasks typically undertaken by secretaries are necessary but incredibly time consuming. For that reason, it’s important that business owners look objectively at their organisation to question whether outmoded methods of operation are still relevant.”

It is thought that the increased interest companies have in relation to outsourcing is due to the many small business that continue to struggle to find employees with the necessary skills. Research carried out by the Federation of small Businesses (FSB) found that 27% of start up companies struggle to find qualified and skilled staff.

Outsourcing was also a hot topic in the news last year, and this trend appears to continuing in 2012. In one article in particular, published in the Daily Mail, John Neilson, Managing Director of NHS Shared Business Services, has urged the NHS to outsource more of its call centres to India, to further cut costs; a predicted saving of £20 billion by 2014. With articles such as these featuring in various different publications on a daily basis, it is no wonder that more companies are wanting to know what is to be gained through outsourcing, with there being more of a demand for outsourcing companies than there has ever been before.

One outsourcing website in particular that has reaped the benefits of the increase in outsourcing is OutsourceMyProject. With over £1 million worth of projects posted onto the site in 2011, the business is looking forward to what 2012 brings. Loren Holland, Managing Director of OutsourceMyProject said: “Over the course of last year we witnessed a drastic increase in the number of small and SME companies looking to outsource their business functions to professional and freelance experts. Smaller businesses are now waking up to outsourcing, which historically has been viewed as the preserve of only large organizations. The principal benefits of outsourcing are twofold; cutting down fixed cost overheads and accessing skilled services which may not be available in-house.”

About OutsourceMyProject:
Established in January 2011, OutsourceMyProject.com aims to bring together organisations and individuals looking to outsource business functions or projects with freelance providers of professional services. Following the website launch, more than 10,000 providers, including freelance web designers, legal specialists, freelance editing professionals and copywriters have registered with OutsourceMyProject.com to bid on over £1 million worth of freelance work.

Via EPR Network
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Business iPad App Of The Year Award

Business iPad Apps are in high demand fueling the future of American businesses. Now BiziPadapps.com has brought you a contest to see which Business iPad apps are the best for 2011. Vote today for your chance to be the winner for Business iPad App of the Year Award. Voting stops Jan 15th 2011. Winner will be announced Jan 31st 2012.

Much like the crunchies award but we are focused on just businesses that are leading the way into the future using the Apple iPad apps which can help businesses excel into the future. Apple iPad Apps like Drop Box, Docusign, Square and others are among the few that were nominated.

List of iPad Business Apps of the year Nominees that made it to the TOP TEN BUSINESS APPS OF THE YEAR:

In alpha order:

DocuSign
Drop Box
GoCal for Google Calendar
Highrise HQ
iTookOff Paid Leave Tracker
Revel Systems iPad POS
Mint for iPad
Instapaper
SpeakEasy Voice Recorder
Square Payment

With over 500,000 thousand votes so far find out who the winners are for this years contest of Business iPad App of the Year Award. Criteria for this year: which iPad app contributes to businesses and helps them excel.

Via EPR Network
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Struggling Jobs Market Doesn’t Stop Entrepreneurs

Despite the challenging economic times entrepreneurs are helping to guide the UK economy through these difficult times, as both freelancers fight back against the high unemployment rates and new start up business look set to boost the national GDP significantly.

As a result of unemployment in the UK steadily increasing, as well as the number of unemployed people currently being the highest since 1994, research has shown that a significant amount of people are turning to freelance work, in an attempt to earn money – an increase of 12% since 2008. With the number of freelancers and new business owners on the rise, amidst a struggling jobs market, the strong business spirit is helping us all to avoid a future recession, and to make the very best of a bad situation.

In the current challenging economic environment, businesses are keen to reduce fixed costs costs, often by reducing the number of fixed staff they employ, and are instead employing freelancers. With freelancers working on flexible, short-term contracts, they are paid on a per work basis and are therefore not paid for the times when they aren’t needed, helping to minimise overheads.

This has of course shaken up the freelance industry, with a large amount of work available from many different companies. Whether it be a large retail company looking for a web designer to design and host their website, or an office based company needing a professional to undertake some administrative duties, it seems that outsourcing is the way to go about it, with more outsourcing websites setting up each month.

With many of the websites offering payment and project management platforms, as well as a whole host of other support, it’s a hassle-free way for those with the right skills to earn a sole income, or to supplement their income.

Many people who have been made redundant now seek work through outsourcing websites, in order to continue earning money during a challenging economic time. The amount of people freelancing in this way shows that they’re actively fighting the economic environment, and boosting the UK economy at the same time.

Furthermore, a recent survey has suggested that Britain’s newest start-up businesses are set to add hundreds of millions of pounds to the national economy next year, with outsourcing being the concept that looks set to continue leading the way. The survey, commissioned by T-Mobile and carried out by the Henley Business School, estimated that technologically-focused small businesses launched in 2011 could generated a combined £360m for the UK economy in 2012, generating somewhere in the region of 70,000 jobs.

Outsourcing websites have made it easy for freelancers, from freelance web designers to freelance graphic designers, to find work, whilst also providing businesses with a cheaper alternative in getting their workload and business functions completed. Loren Holland, Managing Director of OutsourceMyProject said: “OutsourceMyProject provides a useful service to freelancers and UK businesses. Our website connects freelance professionals with businesses looking to outsource their workload, and provides them with a platform to manage and complete their jobs. We’ve noticed that sign-ups to the site have increased rapidly over the past 12 months, which is undoubtedly a sign of strengthening freelance marketplace.”

Via EPR Network
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Private Firms Should Follow The Lead Of The Public Sector, Says OutsourceMyProject

Businesses in the private sector should follow the example set by an increasing number of public sector bodies and consider outsourcing.

That’s according to one of the UK’s leading outsourcing marketplaces, OutsourceMyProject.com, which says the number of organisations now looking at outsourcing in a bid to reduce their cost base is proof that bringing in the right external specialists can make a big difference.

IT services, finance, HR, payroll and logistics are all areas that are being outsourced by public sector organisations.

Loren Holland, managing director of OutsourceMyProject, said: “The large number of local councils and public organisations including police forces and fire services that have started outsourcing in recent months in a bid to reduce costs in the face of budget cuts shows how much of a difference the right professional services provider can make.

“At OutsourceMyProject.com we see first-hand how much companies are saving by enlisting the help of specialists. The fact that councils and other public bodies are making the same business decisions is further evidence of the crucial and growing role that specialists such as freelance web designers and freelance content writers play in helping businesses to remain competitive across a huge variety of sectors.”

The tender process for public contracts can often be extensive, with organisations spending many months ensuring they enter into a deal with the right partner. Loren said it is just as important for private businesses to make the right decision when it comes to choosing a professional services provider.

He said: “While most firms will not be dealing with 10-year contracts worth millions of pounds, it is still vital for the good of the company to ensure that the external specialist charged with completing a project is reliable and will finish everything on time and to the required standard. Posting a job through OutsourceMyProject ensures that you are always connected to the best freelancers in the business.

Via EPR Network
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OutsourceMyProject Breaks The £1million Barrier

OutsourceMyProject, a UK web based marketplace which allows businesses to outsource work and business functions to freelancers and professionals in the UK and aboard, has just broken a major barrier after having £1 million worth of projects posted on the website since its launch.

OutsourceMyProject launched at the start of 2011 and has already helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and small businesses find a freelancer in service categories such as web design, e-commerce, graphic design, copywriting and administrative support.

OutsourceMyProject is a marketplace which connects skilled professional freelancers and professional service providers with UK businesses seeking to use their services. The website can be used to find and work with a variety of experts from web designers to translators, graphic designers to accountants.

Customers simply post their job on the OutsourceMyProject website, which is completely free of charge, and then receive proposals from experts within hours. The site provides the platform to evaluate and manage service providers with concerns over ability and experience of providers being mitigated by the websites comprehensive feedback and rating system. Furthermore, OutsourceMyProject.com also provides a range of web-based tools to ensure confidence in the execution of your project. These include an online payment platform, project management facility and messaging system to ensure open and clear communication between both parties, all within the safety of the OutsourceMyProject.com website.

Loren Holland, Managing Director OutsourceMyProject said: “Breaking the £1 million barrier within a year of launching the website is a major achievement and one we are all very proud of. This achievement is testament to the value proposition OutsourceMyProject offers small and SME businesses and the strength of the UK freelancing and outsourcing markets at the present time.”

The concept of outsourcing and the use of freelancers to provide essential business services have proved to be a lifeline for many companies over recent years, and this looks set to continue as we face a double dip recession. These difficult economic times have made it more important than ever for companies to tighten their purse strings and streamline their operations. Rather than employ new staff on a full-time basis, specific projects can be completed by freelancers, with exactly the right skills and experience, on flexible contracts.

The number of freelancers registering with OutsourceMyProject has tripled over the past six months. The website attracts everyone from unemployed skilled professionals looking to earn a primary source of income to retired workers and students looking to supplement their income. The website is becoming an essential platform for the UK freelance market, helping them connect with businesses seeking their skills and expertise.

One early customer looking to find a freelance web designer on OutsourceMyProject was Manchester based Edge Worldwide Logistics. Director Philip Edge said: “We posted our job on OutsourceMyProject and received over 20 offers to redevelop our company website from specialists in the UK, India and other offshore locations, all at a significantly lower price than I had budgeted for.”

Via EPR Network
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How To Survive A Double Dip Recession

With a double dip recession looking likely, businesses are streamlining themselves more than ever before, in an attempt to ensure the struggling economy doesn’t cause the closure of their business.

Cutting everything from staff head counts to workloads, businesses are keen to reduce costs by re-thinking their everyday operations and processes. One example of the type of change being made by businesses is that they are reducing the number of fixed staff they employ, and are instead working with freelancers. With freelancers working on flexible, short-term contracts, they are paid on a per work basis and are therefore not paid for the times when they aren’t needed, helping to minimise overheads.

Delegating work to freelancers in this way is called outsourcing, whereby an outsider is used to provide the product or service needed by the company in question. There are many different business functions that can be outsourced to freelancers, including everything from a company’s finance and account functions, to web design and other IT functions. Outsourcing work enables companies to cut their fixed overheads, by replacing in-house teams with third party organisations and/or freelancers.

The recent economic climate has resulted in potentially the strongest freelance market ever, with many professionals offering their services on flexible contracts, as these skilled individuals look to gain or supplement their income after losing their permanent job, or having their income reduced during these difficult financial times. With today’s society facing such economic uncertainty, freelance work can provide both greater stability and flexibility than a full-time job can offer, which is just one of many reasons working in this way is as popular as it is.

OutsourceMyProject is an ideal site to find freelancers and professional service providers who are capable of undertaking projects and business functions. Furthermore, the site provides a platform to not only find, but also evaluate and manage service providers and projects. Concerns over ability and experience of providers are mitigated by the websites comprehensive feedback and rating system. OutsourceMyProject also provides users with a safe payment escrow service to provide maximum protection to its users.

Loren Holland, Managing Director of OutsourceMyProject said: “Outsourcing is an increasingly popular concept and the benefits have the capability to protect a business during the potential double dip recession. It is essential to operate a streamline business in the current economic environment whilst also maintaining access to skilled professionals who can sustain a business’s front and back office functions. ”

He went on to say: “OutsourceMyProject is a website that connects businesses with freelancers and professional companies looking to offer their services. Customers post their jobs free of charge and receive offers from experts within hours. If you need a freelance web designer or freelance copywriter, to name just a few specialist categories, then we have hundreds of experts waiting to provide their services through OutsourceMyProject, at the most competitive rates. Best of all, posting a job to find a freelancer to complete work is completely free with no hidden costs.”

One recent customer of OutsourceMyProject was Midlands based firm Stephen Gaskets Ltd, who posted their search engine optimization (SEO) project. Rex Baynton the Managing Director of Stephens Gaskets Ltd, said: “We posted our project on OutsourceMyProject and within a few days had received over 20 offers and had appointed a freelance SEO expert. After just a matter of weeks we witnessed a drastic increase in orders via Google, as a result of the excellent work completed by the freelancer we appointed.”

Via EPR Network
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brightsolid and The British Library Publish 4 Million Pages Of Historical Newspapers Online

brightsolid and The British Library have announced the launch of a website that will transform the way that people use historical newspapers to find out about the past.

The British Newspaper Archive website will offer access to up to 4 million fully searchable pages, featuring more than 200 newspaper titles from every part of the UK and Ireland. The newspapers – which mainly date from the 19th century, but which include runs dating back to the first half of the 18th century – cover every aspect of local, regional and national news.

The website offers a wealth of material for people researching family history, including family notices and announcements and obituaries, while the ability to search by keyword/s, location, date and newspaper title means that people can search across hundreds of thousands of pages at a time as they track down that elusive ancestor. Searching the website generates free preview snippets of results found but users wishing to download full articles and images can pay to do so with a range of payment options available, including pay-per-view access for 48 hours or 30 days and a subscription package for a year. The website is free to use in the British Library’s reading rooms.

“The launch of the British Newspaper Archive website opens up the British Library’s newspaper collection as never before,” said Ed King, the British Library’s Head of Newspapers. “Rather than having to view the items on-site at the Library, turning each page, people across the UK and around the world will be able to explore for themselves the gold-mine of stories and information contained in these pages – and the ability to search across millions of articles will yield results for each user, that might previously have been the work of weeks or months, in a matter of seconds and the click of a mouse.”

The British Newspaper Archive is the result of a ten-year partnership between the British Library and brightsolid, announced in May 2010. Over the past 12 months, brightsolid’s digitisation team, based at the British Library Newspaper Library at Colindale, has been digitising up to 8,000 pages of historic newspapers every working day. The project is expected to scan up to 40 million newspaper pages over the next ten years. The site also offers high quality A1 prints.

Welcoming the new website, Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, said: “The British Newspaper Archive is a rich and hugely exciting resource, packed with historical detail. It’s a great example of the public and private sectors collaborating to deliver something that neither party could have delivered by themselves. I searched for my own constituency of Wantage and within seconds had 42,000 results – an indication of the breadth and variety of material featured.”

The launch and further expansion of the British Newspaper Archive website will help the British Library to fulfil its strategic goals of long-term preservation of and access to the national newspaper collection, including old London newspapers. The Library’s newspaper strategy aims to secure the future of this unique resource by moving the hard-copy collections from the current building at Colindale to a purpose-built storage facility in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire. Access to the collection will be provided via microfilm and digital copies made available at the Library’s main site at St Pancras.

Via EPR Network
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OutsourceMyProject Continues To Provide Freelancers With Work

Several months after first launching, the outsourcing website, OutsourceMyProject, is continuing to provide freelancers with work. Enabling many different businesses to have their work completed by skilled individuals, the work costs significantly less than it would do when sourced from a high street company, which is why the concept has really taken off.

Loren Holland, Managing Director of OutsourceMyProject said: “My business partner and I launched OutsourceMyProject with an aim of providing a platform for UK businesses to engage with the UK freelance workforce, whilst also providing UK businesses with the opportunity to outsource their workload to freelancers abroad.”

He went on to say: “With more freelancers signing up to the website every day, whilst an increasing number of businesses are also posting jobs onto the site, it’s thankfully going from strength to strength. At a time where unemployment rates are continually rising, OutsourceMyProject is the ideal marketplace for unemployed UK workers to not only offer their services, but to be able to put their skills to use and be paid for it too.”

With shocking figures released today by the BBC, a record 1 in 5 people under the age of 24 are currently unemployed. Clearly backing the concept of outsourcing, and more specifically backing the purpose of outsourcing websites such as OutsourceMyProject, now is a great time for people out of work to be able to make money from home.

With a jobless rate of 8.3%, and a figure from October 2011 announcing that 1.6 million people are now claiming jobseeker’s allowance, the unemployment rate is the highest since 1996, whilst the total number of those who are unemployed is the highest since 1994.

To date, the concept of outsourcing professional services has been limited to large companies and organisations. However, OutsourceMyProject is a website that enables small and medium sized businesses, as well as entrepreneurs and individuals to be able to successfully find a freelancer and outsource business abroad.

Helping businesses to work within their ever-tightening budgets, OutsourceMyProject is a concept whereby significant cost savings are generated. This is most commonly through the outsourcing of work to low cost economies that have a highly talented skill base, such as various information technology roles and back office support roles to countries like India.

Freelancers firstly sign up to OutsourceMyProject, upon which they are then able to create a freelance profile and use the fair and transparent bidding process to secure the work that appeals to them, such as opportunities to become a freelance logo designer or as freelance graphic designers. With companies able to cherry pick the exact talent they’re looking for, and consequently choosing the freelancer they feel can carry out the job to the required standard, it’s a great way to build up strong working relationships, and is a concept that encourages competitive bidding from both UK and global providers.

With any cost saving method being essential in combating the ever-struggling economic climate in today’s society, it seems that outsourcing is an ideal concept not only for thriving businesses facing budget cuts, but also for companies who simply wouldn’t be able to survive without these savings in place.

OutsourceMyProject provides a sought-after service that helps UK businesses to cut fixed employment overheads whilst also cutting the costs of service providers too. For example, sourcing a competent web designer on OutsourceMyProject is considerably cheaper than sourcing someone at the same level from a high street company.

Thanks to the concept of outsourcing, the freelance jobs workforce is growing, with the possibility of working from home and making a living for yourself being much more of a reality today than it has ever been before. With the digital world growing too, as well as the increasing capabilities of technology continuing to pleasantly surprise us, perhaps this is the way of the future and something we will see a lot more of over the next year or so.

Via EPR Network
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OutsourceMyProject Gives Its Backing To National Freelancers Day

OutsourceMyProject.com, the UK’s leading outsourcing marketplace, has given its support to National Freelancers Day which takes place tomorrow (23).

The event, which is being held for the third year running, is designed to celebrate the strength of the freelance sector in the UK and promote the use of freelancers by companies of all sizes, specifically with regard to how they can help businesses through the current tough financial environment.

National Freelancers Day has been organised by PCG, a group which champions freelancers, contractors and consultants across Britain. To celebrate the event, PCG has organised for a number of webinars to take place throughout the day aimed at helping experienced and novice freelancers alike. Setting up an effective business framework, finding and winning work, self-promotion and understanding opportunities and threats are all topics that will come under the microscope.

Loren Holland, managing director of OutsourceMyProject, said: “Highlighting the role that independent workers play within the UK economy is a great thing and the more that can be done to promote the work of specialists such as freelance web designers the better.

“Experience running OutsourceMyProject has shown us that more and more companies are recognising the benefits of working with freelancers, especially in the current financial climate when having access a wide range of skill sets without having to shoulder the cost of employing specialists on a full-time basis can really make a huge difference.”

Events are being organised to celebrate the day and promote freelancing around the UK and OutsourceMyProject has called on those working independently to get involved, share their experiences of freelancing and help to make the community stronger.

Loren added: “We’d urge all freelancers, whether they’ve been involved in the sector for five minutes or 50 years to take part in National Freelancers Day and if possible, attend an event in their area.”

Via EPR Network
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Freelance Workers Are On The Increase

With an increasing number of companies struggling and having to make staff redundant and put recruitment on hold, it’s no surprise that more people are choosing to become freelancers, and that outsourcing the services they offer are in demand now more than ever before.

Simon DeGale is a freelance web designer who uses outsourcing marketplaces to source work. After leaving his full-time job in London to become a freelance web designer, Simon has never looked back. Not only does he now have an ideal work/life balance, but he also gets to spend time with his two young daughters; something he wasn’t able to do as much whilst working in London. Working in the freelance industry has also allowed him to take charge of his own workload and to secure exactly the type of work he wants to be doing.

One particular website Simon DeGale uses is OutsourceMyProject, a UK based platform that offers various different professional services within a freelance marketplace. To date the concept of outsourcing professional services has been limited to large companies and organisations, but OutsourceMyProject enables both small and medium businesses, as well as entrepreneurs and individuals to successfully outsource business both home and abroad.

OutsourceMyProject helps businesses decrease their costs significantly, through outsourcing work to freelancers and/or low cost economies that have highly talented skill bases. OutsourceMyProject works by offering both a transparent and competitive bidding process on each project, which results in competitive bidding from UK and global service providers.

With any savings that can be made being a lifeline for many companies at the moment, outsourcing is the ideal concept to use to make such savings. Companies and individuals that use OutsourceMyProject can perform their due diligence on each service provider by viewing each their unique profile and portfolio, along with analysing their ratings and feedback for past projects. With complete freedom and flexibility in customers appointing their preferred professionals, both parties are able to work on agreed terms.

With improved communication and technology making this type of work arrangement possible, freelancers are able to improve their offering. Last month’s employer survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), JobsOutlook, revealed that the UK economy has discouraged permanent employment, leading more business owners to seek freelance, contract and temporary workers instead.

According to the report, 83% of employers said that their use of temporary workers will rise or remain the same during the next year, whilst four out of five of them said this will happen within the next three months. Only 49% said they expect to add to their permanent workforce within the next 12 months, and this is compared to 66% in the previous month. However, short-term permanent recruitment expectations currently stand at 67%, compared to 74% previously.

Loren Holland, Managing Director of OutsourceMyProject said: “These figures show that employers are waking up to the wealth of flexible human resources available to them. Rather than take on new staff on a long-term or full-time basis, specific projects can be completed by sourcing people with exactly the right skills and experience for each task. Whether a business is large or small, or even if someone working alone is looking for one-off assistance with a particular project, it’s possible to find a freelancer to offer invaluable support.”

A report published at the end of 2009 by Enterprise Nation, in association with British Telecom, found there were more than 2.8 million businesses operating full time from home in the UK, which represents a 16% increase from the prior year. Furthermore, home businesses contribute around £284 billion to the annual UK economy. Technology was cited as a key factor in enabling people to start and grow a business from home, with 81% of the Enterprise Nation survey respondents stating that technology is critical to the success of their home business.

These improvements in internet access have lead to a dramatic increase in the number of company employees working from home. Businesses are more flexible to staff working from home given the improvements in technology and business tools which give staff full access to servers and files from their home, such as cloud computing and drop box application.

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Invest In A Mobile App And See Your Company Grow

With recent research conducted by Acquity Group showing that one in four retailers now have a mobile app, it seems that businesses are keen to reach a new mobile audience.

There are many benefits to be reaped by companies with mobile apps, mainly due to the fact that almost everyone owns a mobile phone these days. With companies increasingly using mobile apps and processes in their everyday working lives, time is saved whilst performance is improved too. Other benefits include increased efficiency in terms of communication; the ability to download the same everyday applications that are on desktop PC’s; constant internet access; and quick completion of tasks.

Mobile phones have made it possible to talk, text, email, watch television, watch films, and listen to music, no matter where in the world we are. Through businesses investing in mobile apps, work can therefore be conducted wherever we are, with there being no need to be in the office to carry out a simple task, such as reading emails.

Today we are hearing of more and more businesses that have developed apps. Giving employees the opportunity to access any of their work regardless of where they are, companies are therefore increasing their employees’ productivity as a result.

With some companies developing a mobile app, or in some cases paying for a mobile app to be developed, they are most commonly either an app of the actual business, or an app that will help the business to grow and be successful. As a great way to promote a company, mobile apps will only get better, as in months to come it may be possible for additional services to be sold through them.

A company that’s recently invested in a mobile app is the financial services firm Prudential. After launching new mobile tools in a bid to make it simpler for clients and business partners to access the company’s products and services, Prudential is definitely tapping into the previously unknown world of mobile apps. Not only that but Prudential Retirement, part of the Prudential Financial group, has unveiled a new website optimised for mobiles, which will allow account access to 2.5 million of its retirement plan participants whilst they’re on the move. In addition to this, the company has also invested in a retirement income calculator app for smartphones, which has been designed to allow users to calculate their estimated monthly retirement income, as well as their estimated monthly retirement income need.

The fact that mobile app development is becoming popular all over the world makes it easy for mobile app freelancers to secure work. Not only is app development a task that requires the knowledge of someone highly skilled within that particular area of development, but it’s also a task that’s costly and therefore needs to be completed correctly first time around. The opportunity for a mobile app developer to pick up work is great for those working in the freelance industry; with many freelancers often signed up to various different outsourcing websites in order to secure such work, as well as to ensure they’re contacted by those who want to make use of their skills.

OutsourceMyProject is an example of an outsourcing website that has many skilled people signed up to it, from freelance web designers to freelancer programmers. As a UK based platform that’s been created to open up the global market place for professional services across a wide range of sectors, OutsourceMyProject helps businesses and those in the self employed industry to decrease their costs significantly. A freelance mobile app developer, for example, can be found to complete work within a specified budget, without the need for companies having to compromise on the quality of work delivered.

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UK Business Turning To Freelancers To Survive Challenging Economic Times

In what’s undoubtedly a tough economic climate for many UK businesses, an increasing number are turning to the skills of freelancers in an attempt to stay afloat during these challenging times. With the services of freelancers helping businesses to not only continue to get their jobs done, but to reduce their fixed overheads at the same time, the workloads of many freelancers continue to increase, as more companies start to realise exactly how outsourcing can help their company.

As a result of the freelance market being stronger than ever before, both in terms of supply and demand, freelancers are increasingly giving businesses other options, such as a being flexible alternatives to the permanent staff they’ve always had. With freelancer web designers and freelance translators, for example, completing work within the desired time, and in many cases ahead of schedule, the appeal of freelancers is clear, especially when their prices are often a lot cheaper than those quoted by high street companies. With businesses being able to save money whilst also getting the job done and without having to sacrifice the quality of it, outsourcing is a win-win situation for all involved.

A recent survey has shown that 66% of companies who took part in it said they were more likely to start outsourcing their work during difficult economic times. This is, of course, great news for freelancers, as being in this role can also bring its fair share of difficulties too, such as work not being guaranteed. With freelancers often being essential to start up businesses who need access to affordable, flexible specialists, the outsourcing market is growing constantly.

Loren Holland, Managing Director of OutsourceMyProject, an up-and-coming online freelance outsourcing company said: “With significant savings to be made through outsourcing work to freelancers, it’s no surprise that an increasing number of UK businesses are choosing to have their workloads completed in this way. Savings are commonly made by outsourcing work to low cost economies that have highly skilled workers, such as India, as an impressive amount of money can be saved yet the job is carried out just as well.”

Loren Holland went on to say: “OutsourceMyProject is a UK based platform, which has been created in order to open up the global market place for professional services, across a wide range of sectors. Outsource My Project enables small and medium sized businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals to successfully outsource business within the UK and abroad, whilst also helping self employed individuals to secure work. With the transparent bidding process of many outsourcing sites meaning that businesses are free to pick and choose the type of freelancer they want for the job, the concept is appealing to say the least.

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Nothing’s Safe In Cyberspace Says Leo Impact Security

What do the NSA, the Army and Sony Corporation have in common with US embassies around the world? All of them, along with over 2,500 other entities, have been compromised by hackers like Wikileaks and Antisec. The cost of these cyber-crimes has mounted to over $3 billion a year. And “the little guy” isn’t safe, either. Everyone who uses the internet is at risk, despite the increasing use of antivirus software, IDS/IDP and firewalls in the current security models.

Today Leo Impact Security is exposing top secret methods used by cyber criminal’s also defending preventive methods because today all corporate, personal, and government computers are vulnerable to remote cyber attacks.

How do cyber criminals bypass current security model?

1. Antivirus bypass using crypters and protectors with random encryption methods
(ex: cypherx, Themida).
2. Firewall bypass using known ports in malware like port 80 and 8080.
3. IDS/IPS avoid using SSL encryption+ DNS tunneling-based malware (BOTS, RAT).
4. Remote access to any computer using Zero day exploits (.doc, .PPT, and .PDF individual files), Java silent driveway, browser packs, Router DNS MITM, and pen testing tools – Core impact, immunity canvas, Metasploit Pro etc.

For Proof of concepts/Live demos, check our site: http://www.leoimpact.com

How to defend against advanced cyber attacks?

Use m2 security model developed by cyber security expert Manish Kumar, chief research officer at Leo Impact. All of the following services are nonprofit as per our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

1. World’s first free antivirus scanning online engine which protects your PC from viruses, trojans, spyware, rootkits, and other malicious programs (zero day exploits) and attachments by using 32+ antivirus on cloud. Visit: www.balajiplus.com

2. To protect against unknown malware (rootlets, trojans, BOTS-Zesus, spyeye, Ghostrat, etc.) and zero day exploits attacks using Neutron+ Protection system software in PC.

3. To protect against remote-based attacks like DDOS, Sql Injections, XSS, and buffer overflow, use cloudflare.com on servers and Free VPN providers ( www.usaip.eu, www.vpnreactor.com, www.torproject.org, www.hotspotshield.com )

4. To protect against data & information leakage and other attacks, use our two-way authentication and free security analysis and consultancy.

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OutsourceMyProject – An Essential Money-Saving Tool For Every Kind Of Business

With many businesses trying to carry out their everyday work with a limited budget, it’s no surprise that each day brings the unfortunate closure of another company, whether it be a struggling design company with an unmanageable workload, or a well-known company failing to make ends meet.

In today’s society, everything costs money, and these costs seem to always be on the increase, which makes every new day a struggle for many businesses. However, a company called OutsourceMyProject (OMP) looks set to turn everything around, with an aim of being an essential source of skilled labour and a money-saving tool for every kind of business, no matter how big or small.

Many companies would jump at the chance of being able to outsource some of their business functions to specialist service providers for a small fee, and that’s exactly what OMP allows businesses to do. As a result, over the past year a steady flow of companies have taken the time to learn about outsourcing, whilst also taking advantage of the benefits they themselves have been able to reap from the concept.

It’s no wonder that outsourcing marketplaces, such as OutsourceMyProject (OMP), have therefore helped to keep many companies afloat when they would have otherwise crumbled. OMP prides itself on helping businesses find specialists with the skills they require at an affordable rate, in what is undoubtedly a financially straining economy.

Cedar Falls Care Home, based in Walsall, is just one company that’s saved a significant amount of money by outsourcing their work through OMP, and has gone from strength to strength since first signing up to the website. Managing Director of Cedar Falls said: “We read about OutsourceMyProject in the news and thought it was a great way to find experts who could provide the services we needed at affordable rates. We loved the idea of posting one project and then sitting back and receiving multiple proposals in a competitive environment.

“We’ve used OutsourceMyProject to find several experts to help with projects; the main one being a web developer and SEO expert, who helped to build and promote our company website. We posted our project on OutsourceMyProject and within hours we received several great offers from experts in the UK, as well as other low cost economies, such as India. We went on to find a freelancer based in Wales, who built our website for 50% of our original budget!

“We’ve used OMP for the past 12 months now and have found freelance experts ranging from web developers, to PR consultants, and freelance graphic designers, who have all provided their services at a fraction of the price we were previously quoted from high street companies.”

During their time with OutsourceMyProject so far, Cedar Falls has not only found a website designer for just £350, compared to the high street quote of £1000, but they’ve also enlisted the help of a freelance logo designer, who turned out to be 83% cheaper than the quotes received from the high street. And, it’s not just a database of designers that OMP offers, as many content writers, admin support freelancers, and those with a solid understanding of search engine optimisation (SEO) are registered on the site too, saving Cedar Falls 67%, 60%, and 50% respectively.

By realising the potential of OMP, Cedar Falls successfully found freelancers to fulfill their business needs; all for a total cost that would only have paid for a website design on the high street. It’s no surprise that through using OMP, Cedar Falls have saved a total of 64% to date.

The case study of Cedar Falls illustrates how OMP can not only help businesses directly, but it’s also an aid in helping entrepreneurs to launch their business ideas at a significant saving. OMP makes it both easier and cheaper for business ventures to be launched, whilst also providing companies with what is sure to become a essential aid.

Through OMP, businesses can not only find the most suitable professionals to complete their work, but they can also make all-important savings along the way. In turn, this has allowed businesses to consequently become leaner, whilst also making it feasible for them to reduce their overheads, through the use of both freelance and online workers. This is, of course, perfect not only in a difficult economic climate, but perfect for the digital world as a whole, paving the way of the future.

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AsaDrive offers a wide range of online storage plans and free trials to choose from

AsaDrive offers a wide range of online storage plans and free trials to choose from. There you will find some useful information which will help you choose the best one to suit your needs.

There are basically five online storage plans AsaDrive provides: two dedicated Online Backup plans, two Online Backup and Online Drive plans and one Business plan.

All of these plans are designed to fit different sets of demands and standards, according to the motivation and purpose of using AsaDrive Desktop software and the data storage service. You do not need to worry if you have not decided yet, as the online backup plans are available as free trials. This means the system will not charge you for fourteen consecutive days, during which you will be able to test AsaDrive Desktop software and maybe even drop a line to tell us how it felt!

The Online Backup plans make it available an unlimited storage amount for you to safely back up very large amounts of data. Unlimited bandwidth and access to the web portal are included, however the Online Drive and file sharing features are not included.

Of all the five backup plans offered by AsaDrive, the Online Backup and Online Drive is the most popular choice among users. This pricing plan consists of 2 TB storage space, a 0.5 TB to use with the Online Drive feature and also unlimited bandwidth for you to benefit from while taking advantage of your access to the web portal and file sharing. Unlike Drive, the improved Drive+ plan provides unlimited storage, a total amount of 2 TB to use with Online Drive, apart from web portal and file sharing. You should go with this option if you wish to mount your back up, online drive just like any other regular virtual drive and access it straight from your computer.

Last, but not least, the Business plan offers ultimate backup and storage experience, as it includes all features offered by AsaDrive. However, the included storage amount for Online Backup and Online Drive are yet to be determined. The most powerful of all five backup plans is recommended for computer clusters or large amounts of data resulting from the activity of a business corporation.

All five backup plans offer the best AsaDrive experience and are meant to meet any types of expectations from this software. So start thinking about which one best suits your needs, and if it happens for you to still remain undecided, you can download the free trial. You are strongly encouraged to feel how it is like to use this software and experience, for fourteen days, the true AsaDrive quality and care for your files and online safety.

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TrustTone Communications Appliances – Voted BEST BUY for Email Encryption

TrustTone Communications, Inc., the leader in Email Encryption technology, today announced it has been rated Best Buy by SC Magazine. The Best Buy designation reflects the coveted Five Star rating for every aspect of the product – Features, Ease of Use, Performance, Documentation, Support and Value for Money. TrustTone continues to provide the most comprehensive feature set at the lowest cost.

“Simple, effective, secure. This is just what this doctor ordered.” notes SC Magazine.

“TrustTone is the perfect solution for email privacy compliance for organization large and small. The product offers depth of functionality and configuration flexibility with very low total cost of ownership,” said Hemant Thakkar, CEO of TrustTone Communications. “We are thrilled to earn the Best Buy designation by SC Magazinne. It validates our approach to creating value for our customers.”

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OutsourceMyProject Welcomes Increased Demand For Flexible Staffing

Marketplace outsourcing service OutsourceMyProject has welcomed news that there is an increasing demand from employers for freelance and contract workers. The company has also affirmed the quality that an effectively outsourced task can bring to a project.

Last month’s employer survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), titled JobsOutlook, revealed that the tentative UK economy has discouraged permanent employment and led more business owners to seek freelance, contract and temporary workers.

According to the report, 83 per cent of employers said that their use of temporary workers will rise or remain the same during the next year; and four out of five of them expect an increase within the next three months.

Only 49 per cent expect to add to their permanent workforce within the next 12 months, compared to 66 per cent in the previous month; while short-term permanent recruitment expectations stand at 67 per cent, compared to 74 per cent previously.

Loren Holland, managing director of OutsourceMyProject, said: “These figures show that employers are waking up to the wealth of flexible human resources available to them.

“Rather than take on new staff on a long-term or full-time basis, specific projects can be completed by sourcing people with exactly the right skills and experience for each task.

“Whether a business is large or small, or even if someone working alone is looking for one-off assistance with a particular project, it is possible to find a freelancer to offer invaluable support.”

OutsourceMyProject is based in the UK and helps match businesses from a range of sectors to the right service providers, from freelance web designers to freelance SEO experts.

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Increasing Number Of UK Businesses Appreciating The Benefits Of Outsourcing

An increasing number of businesses in Britain are recognising how the financial benefits and specialist expertise linked to outsourcing can help their firms grow, according to the results of a new survey.

Research carried out by leading outsourcing marketplace OutsourceMyProject.com found that 72 per cent of businesses asked said they had either already outsourced services to specialist providers, or would consider doing so in the future.

In addition, two-thirds of respondents said in the current financial climate they were more likely to outsource specific projects or business functions as the need arose, rather than recruit a full-time member of staff.

OutsourceMyProject helps bring together businesses from all sectors and match them with a huge range of service providers, from freelance writers to freelance SEO experts. Co-founder Loren Holland said the recession has made many firms take stock and make positive moves to ensure their companies become more efficient and cut wastage, while retaining the experience and skills of valuable employees.

He said: “The results of the survey show that more companies now look to find a freelancer to outsourcing work to when those skills are not available in-house and this can lead to considerable cost savings. We expect to see a continuation of this trend as more firms look to rationalise their operations and increase efficiency.”

The majority of businesses that said they do not currently outsource work pointed to a lack of confidence in the skills, qualifications or experience of providers as the main reason for not doing so.

Loren added: “It’s completely understandable that companies want to know exactly who they are bringing onboard and that the professional they choose can be relied upon to complete the project on time and to an agreed standard. By going through OutsourceMyProject.com firms put themselves in a position to receive genuine tenders from experienced professionals.

“In addition, the website’s transparent feedback and rating system means both parties can draw on the experience of others before entering into an agreement.”

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