[00:00:10.020] - Gordon
Hello.
[00:00:10.470] - Taylor
Hello.
[00:00:10.920] - Gordon
My name's Gordon from Drayson Design.
[00:00:13.080] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:00:15.390] - Gordon
And welcome to "This Week With Taylor and Gordon," a weekly podcast and vidcast where we talk about things that have happened in the last seven days that affect our businesses.
[00:00:25.860] - Taylor
Ooh, switching up a bit there.
[00:00:27.060] - Gordon
Yeah, I know. For some reason my mind just went blank and I couldn't remember what I normally say.
[00:00:33.000] - Taylor
I think stick to what we normally say. I didn't, didn't like that one.
[00:00:35.970] - Gordon
Oh, good. OK, I'll go back to the other one then. So, another seven days and yeah, it's been busy as always.
[00:00:45.210] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:00:46.260] - Gordon
Always busy.
[00:00:47.440] - Taylor
I feel like we say that every week.
[00:00:48.870] - Gordon
Yeah. Well I think we're always busy, that's why. We're the sort of people, I tell you why. It's because, as a magician there are lots of other magicians that I know of who don't do anything when they're not performing. You know, they might play around with a bit of magic and practise it or get new ones in or read a book or something. But it's pretty much that's all they do. So they end up sort of sitting around, or going out and meeting friends, watching TV, that sort of thing. And I... That's just not me. I can't, I can't be unproductive. I want to always want to do something.
[00:01:24.510] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:01:24.900] - Gordon
I want to make sure that the time that I've got, I'm going to have something to show for it at the end of it.
[00:01:31.200] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:01:31.530] - Gordon
Which is effectively how I got into doing websites because I decided that this was something that looked like it might be coming along and getting more and more popular.
[00:01:43.830] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:01:44.610] - Gordon
So I started my first ever website which was disbelieving.com. That's the first ever website I built. It's been changed four times since then. Three times. I'm not sure. That might be quite interesting actually, to see the front page of each redesign. But yes, I started doing that and people then asked me if I could do one for them. As it, as the Internet was getting more popular and that's how Drayson Design came about. But it was because I didn't want to just sit down and sort of just do nothing all day until the weekend when I would go out doing shows.
[00:02:21.810] - Taylor
I mean, that's the same with me. That's why I have probably five personal projects on the go at the moment because I just I start a new one because I think, "oh, that's a really cool idea." So I start it and then, you know, I have to find time to actually sit down and actually finish it or carry on working on it. Most of them are just work-in-progresses, and I don't think they'll ever really be finished purely because, you know, it's mainly for me to just be creative, have fun and see what I can build really for my kind of projects. And that's kind of how I come up with them. I just, I think, "oh that'll be a good idea, I'll just have to play around with..." And then I just leave it and then I come back to it when I'm going to try something else, and then I think, "oh" and I see that. And then I start working on that and just get side-tracked. But it's good fun because it's something that I can just relax with and just have fun and see what I can come up with, really.
[00:03:10.890] - Gordon
And that's great. And I've done exactly the same thing myself; several side projects that I created. The important bit, though, is to get it to the end of stage one and get it released and out there, because there's no point in having a side project that's just sitting on the shelf, doing nothing.
[00:03:28.890] - Taylor
Depends. It depends on the side project. So I have a 'dev' site, basically where I just experiment and see what I can build, try out new ideas and techniques, not for kind of releasing or anything, just for seeing if the theoretical theory is possible.
[00:03:50.730] - Gordon
The theoretical theory?!
[00:03:52.220] - Taylor
The theoretical idea is possible.
[00:03:54.900] - Gordon
So it's a theory, but it's only theoretical.
[00:03:57.090] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:03:57.480] - Gordon
Ok.
[00:03:57.870] - Taylor
But it's more of kind of, "would I be able to use this in a real project?" And so I just test, you know, in a test site basically and so these...
[00:04:04.920] - Gordon
Well that's research though isn't it. That's not a side project.
[00:04:08.760] - Taylor
In a way yeah. I guess. But then some of them I don't care if they're not released to the public. It's more of stuff for me.
[00:04:14.820] - Gordon
But I know some of your side projects that you're doing at the moment and all of the ones I can think of, will be released...
[00:04:22.710] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:04:22.900] - Gordon
Or need to be released at some point soon.
[00:04:25.380] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:04:26.040] - Gordon
To then start generating a bit of interest and traffic and...
[00:04:30.360] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:04:30.660] - Gordon
And to see if it's viable basically.
[00:04:32.970] - Taylor
Yeah. Exactly.
[00:04:33.720] - Gordon
Yeah. So, who shall start this week?
[00:04:36.570] - Taylor
You can start this week.
[00:04:40.080] - Gordon
Ok. I want to talk about processes in the booking system. Now, for my magic, I have very, very set processes that I've worked out over many, many years that cover the whole of a booking. From the time that people visit my website and make an enquiry; through to completing the sale; through to sending out confirmation; through to sending out emails that back up the confirmation, make sure they know what's what's happening and when; through to doing the actual booking; and then the follow up processes which, you know, request testimonials and, you know, do they have anyone else they think might be interested with my services. And then also talking to them next year about whether they want to rebook again. So all of these processes are in place, and they're there for a reason. However, last week I had a lady on the phone who runs an agency who I, I know of, but I'd never actually spoken to or worked for before. And she said, "we have a guy who wants to book a party for this afternoon. Are you available?" And it's, it was about half an hour from me. So it's about...
[00:06:04.820] - Taylor
Half an hour away.
[00:06:05.570] - Gordon
It's about half an hour away, but it was, it's in another county and the time that they wanted was sort of school letting out time. So half an hour sort of grows a little bit when you've got more traffic. But she wasn't sure exactly what he wanted. It was either going to be just a show for children or it was going to be a full party for children. So she also had trouble contacting him. He basically was very busy, so I was told, and wasn't checking his phone all the time. And I think she was messaging him rather than phoning him, although I think she did also phone and he wouldn't pick up, which is why she messaged. Eventually she said, "look, I can't send anyone until you say, yes, I'd like to go ahead and book." And they agreed a fee. So I then got a call saying, "right, this is it, this is the address, one hour show, off you go." And I had to leave pretty much immediately. So I sort of got changed, I packed the car and I left immediately with the understanding that I would be able to do the show when I arrived. So off I go. Bear in mind, none of my processes have taken place here because a) it's not a booking that came direct to me, so I have no control over. I didn't even have the number of the client at this point. All I had was the address. And I, because it was through an agent, it was their processes. And again, they weren't able to do their processes because it was such short notice, and nothing had been put in place to protect anyone. So I drive round the M25 because that's the quickest way to get there at this time of day. And I get to the postcode that I've been given. There's an address with a postcode, and apparently it's an animal sanctuary. So I arrive at the at the address that's given with the postcode and it's a railway station and I'm thinking, "well, that's odd. Maybe it's sort of in through the railway station, and then there's, you know, another bit of road that you can get to." I don't know. So I go and have a look and there's sort of, they're building a car park basically on this station, so it's definitely not further on. So, I realise I'm in the wrong place. So I'm not entirely sure where I'm supposed to be or how far it is from here. So I do a search on my phone to find the the name of the animal sanctuary. And something comes up and it's about six minutes away. So it's like, "OK, good, I'll go and go and see, that's not too far, I'll go, I'll drive over that way." So I drive over that way. I'm looking for this place that supposedly in the map. But when I get there, I can't find anything, you know. I've been told it's an animal sanctuary that has 22 acres. That's all I know. So I'm looking for somewhere that's got a lot of space. And the only place that I can find near where I am with lots of space are golf courses. And there's two golf courses, actually. There's sort of either side of the road, basically both different. And they're the only big open spaces that are anywhere near, everything else is houses. So I'm thinking, "well, you know, this is not good." So I send a message to the client, to the agent, and I say, "I'm at the postcode address and it's a station, there's, it's not what we're expecting." And she came back and she said, "well, I'm looking on Google Maps and I can see the business address." I said, "Right, OK, I'll try Google Maps" because at this point I was using 'Waze,' go onto to Google Maps, still can't find it. Message her back and she says, "well, where are you?" And I told her, and she said, "oh, you need to be in this town, this road, this town. I'm going, "well, that's that's like 15, 20 minutes away. Are you sure?" And she said, "Yeah." I said, "OK." So I head over there 15, 20 minutes, get there, and I think I'm not going to spend time looking because I can't find it on the map still, and now we're 15 to 20 minutes away from where the postcode says I should be. So I message her and say, "right I'm here." Actually, I think I phoned her and I said, "I'm here, you know, is there a small road that this venue is near that I can look that up? Because, you know, the road that you've given me is an A road, it's a long road." And she said, "let me talk to the customer." So she called the customer and called again and called again. And he wasn't picking up. And this is the time when the party would have been on. And, you know, if someone's expecting an entertainer to turn up, surely they would be near their phone in case there were problems, right?
[00:11:08.660] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:11:09.200] - Gordon
So no answer. I try, now. I've been given the number. I'm trying, still nothing. And I'm thinking, well, I don't think it's here. I'm in the middle of a town now. There isn't twenty two acres here. The town isn't twenty two acres. I thought it must be near the postcode I was given. So I'm heading back there again, while the agent's are still trying to contact the client. And it gets to the point when, you know, the party was probably finished. We don't know because that's again something that wasn't found out, what time the party was. And it gets to the point when we have to give up and I have to come home. And so I spent three hours driving to and from this town, looking for this venue that to date, even now, I still haven't been able to find. The phone number doesn't pick up. No one picks up. It's not my client, so it's not really right for me to to call them and talk to them. The agent was mortified because this has never happened to them before. They've promised to give me something for my time. But it's, you know, it's actually going to be a quarter of what I would have got if I'd done the show. And so the problem right from the outset here is that processes weren't in place. For me, if I take a last minute booking, I require payment over the phone before I even leave the house, or I require payment when I arrive. And that's to make sure that the person is genuine and is not messing about. If they, if they're messing about, they're not going to want to pay for things. So they'll find a reason not to pay me. And that will then signal red flags for me, and I'll sort of be very cautious with it. And so because it came through an agent, what I should have done, looking back on it, is to check the venue on the computer before I left, and do a street view and just check to see that I know that this venue actually exists. And when I get near, I'll know what I'm looking for. If I had done that, then before I'd even left, I would have been able to call the client and say, "look, I'm looking on the, I can't find it. Can you please get a better location description? Because it's not showing for me." And that would have then prevented me from going out and driving for three hours and then coming back and not actually doing the show. It was really disappointing day actually. It ruined the day for me. I was having a good day up to that point. It ruined the day for the agent. And because of that experience now, I've got this new process that I will go through should I ever get a call from an agent or someone I don't know, giving me a third party booking. And I will make sure that that is followed before I go out. You know, it doesn't really matter if I'm going to be a few minutes late, because if I had've waited and looked up the venue, yes, I'd have been a few minutes later than I would have been if it were a proper venue, and it was easy to find. But at least I would have known that the venue existed. So lessons learnt, new processes put in place. Experience now tells me what to do, and I'm passing that on to you so that you can think about any processes that you have in place and try and think about something that maybe hasn't happened yet. And think about what the best way of making sure that the event or the job happens before you get to it, and put a process in place, even if it's just in your mind, just so that you know what you're going to do should that situation arise and you won't end up like me, driving around for three hours in the sun. Which was not fun at all.
[00:15:25.380] - Taylor
I'm sure.
[00:15:26.520] - Gordon
So Taylor.
[00:15:27.660] - Taylor
So this week I wanted to talk about kind of getting my motivation back and kind of, you know, getting my spirit up again. So I was kind of down, not down, but just unmotivated and very, I was procrastinating a lot and not getting the work I needed to do, done kind of then and there. I was always kind of putting it off. Not because I didn't want to do it, but just because I was having fun with my own personal projects and not being able to kind of draw the line between when I need to kind of focus on the actual work and focus on my own project. Because of, you know, this lockdown, everything's kind of merged into one kind of really long day, really. And so it's very difficult to, you know, find the balance between your own personal fun, personal life and then also work. And I kind of, I guess, got into a position where I was wanting just to relax and have my own time and do what I wanted because I'd spent so much time just doing straight work and nothing else. And I reached out to the coach that I had. I had some coaching lessons. I was like a guinea pig.
[00:16:42.950] - Gordon
Do you want to mention who it is because you might want to promote them?
[00:16:45.150] - Taylor
Yeah. His name's Peter Webb. And he helps basically people, he finds out what the issues are and tries to help you, whether that be personal or kind of business related. And I had, um, kind of coaching lesson or sessions with him a while ago to help him get his qualification. And I kind of reached out to him and said, "you know, look, I need help because I'm struggling in terms of just being motivated to wanting to do the work." Because I enjoyed building stuff and actually doing it when it got around to it, but because I had lots of projects that were all of high importance and all, you know very, kind of all needed priority, instead of just doing one and getting on with it, I was saying, "well, I can't prioritise one over the other, so I just won't do any of them." And that wasn't helping because I was just not doing any of them rather than just getting on with one, and then, you know, then in a couple of hours, I would have been further than when I was previously. And I reached out to him and said, "you know, can you help me?" And he said, "you know, it's really, you know, that your awareness that I kind of built on from the previous sessions" when I used to have them with him. He said, "the awareness to realise that you needed, you know, just a bit of help getting put back in line is very, very good because..."
[00:18:08.440] - Gordon
It's half the battle, isn't it?
[00:18:09.640] - Taylor
Yeah, because, you know, a lot of people, if you have mental health issues and things like that, actually admitting that you need help is very...
[00:18:17.840] - Gordon
It's a big step.
[00:18:18.250] - Taylor
Yeah, it's very difficult because you don't want to kind of admit that sometimes that, you know, you may have these issues or whatever.
[00:18:26.510] - Gordon
Well you don't want to admit it to yourself because it makes you feel weak, doesn't it?
[00:18:29.830] - Taylor
Exactly. And then kind of when I when I spoke with him, we had our session, I realised, you know, actually, I'm not that bad. I just need, I'd fallen off what I had set up. So all of those processes, like, you know, you were talking about, I had all my project management system all organised; I had all of the tasks that I had, every time I got new task, I put it straight into the management system. And that kept me up to date and being able to easily have an overview. And actually, when I broke it down, I was like, "actually I haven't got that many tasks left for this project," whereas I was thinking, "oh, I've got so much to do." But as soon as I broke it down into what tasks needed doing, even though there were one, two minute jobs, just putting them down, realised, "oh, actually this isn't actually too much that's got left to do." And then also putting in all my quotes into my CRM so I can see which ones are outstanding, which ones have been approved and things like that. I kind of realised actually, you know, I've got quite a lot of time. And he he said to me, "you know, you need to find the balance between working and having your fun and personal time." But he also split it up into 'work' and 'fun work,' if you want to call it that, where I was doing work for clients,but then I was having fun doing work on my fun projects that I enjoy, which is still kind of work because it's still web related but it's not...
[00:19:50.500] - Gordon
But it's something you want to do.
[00:19:52.150] - Taylor
It's something I wanted to do in terms of my own stuff. But then also having the cycling and my other stuff that I really enjoy doing that I'd stopped because I was always in this, "oh, I don't have time because I've got all of these high, high priority projects, but I'm not prioritising any of them because they're all at the top."
[00:20:10.450] - Gordon
Yeah.
[00:20:11.140] - Taylor
And so I kind of I set myself.
[00:20:13.900] - Gordon
Sorry to interrupt, is it because you sort of left things for a while that everything became a priority? So there were priorities, and then everything sort of came up to that, so they were the same then?
[00:20:24.280] - Taylor
It's more of the fact that the, my planning was, ended up going out the window because of clients. So...
[00:20:33.460] - Gordon
Right. Waiting for content and so forth.
[00:20:34.910] - Taylor
Yes. So what I do is I plan...
[00:20:36.590] - Gordon
Approvals.
[00:20:37.390] - Taylor
This is how long I think a project's going to take. However, if I don't receive the content by three quarters of the way through the project when it's, I know, I should have been, you know, halfway through already, then it means that gets delayed and so that gets pushed back. So then the time that I'm like, "ok, I can start this." Someone comes to me and says, you know, "I want a website." I said, "ok, I can do this, but I can't start until this date." I have then planned and said, "Ok, by the time this one's finished, I can start this one." But because other ones that get delayed...
[00:21:08.230] - Gordon
They get pushed forward.
[00:21:09.460] - Taylor
Yeah, they get delayed.
[00:21:10.870] - Gordon
Pushed back, I should say.
[00:21:11.710] - Taylor
They get pushed backwards. So then the start time and the end time get closer together for the two projects which I'd tried to finish one and start a new one. And that's what was causing the issues, was because I was getting delays, which then pushes stuff back and then they all end up kind of finishing at the same time.
[00:21:29.740] - Gordon
Yeah.
[00:21:30.670] - Taylor
And so that was my issue. So I need to think of a way that I can basically, you know, have a contract, I guess, with the client or a part of my contract that says, "if something gets delayed and it's not where it should be. So if I give you a date and said I need the content by this date and you don't provide it to me, your project will be delayed further than what it is."
[00:21:53.020] - Gordon
And will incur further costs.
[00:21:55.090] - Taylor
Yeah, because I...
[00:21:56.410] - Gordon
Because you're going into time that you could be using for other customers.
[00:21:59.440] - Taylor
Well, I'll have to say, "look, I can't prioritise fully your project anymore because I've got another one starting which..."
[00:22:05.890] - Gordon
Yeah, has been scheduled in.
[00:22:07.600] - Taylor
Yeah, which has been scheduled. "And the delay is because of you rather than me." If it's a delay for me then that's fine.
[00:22:15.340] - Gordon
That's down to you.
[00:22:15.760] - Taylor
That's down to me. But if it's a delay from the client, then they need to understand that their project is going to get put back because of the delay with them. And that I have everything scheduled and planned out with how long I think things are going to take and, you know, if you're not meeting my deadlines and working with me rather than me working with you, then, you know, that's how it's going to work.
[00:22:38.090] - Gordon
So is that what you're going to do going forward now?
[00:22:40.100] - Taylor
Yeah, I'm going to, from the new projects I will make sure that, you know, I set out and say this is the date that I need the content by; this is the date I'll get you the designs by. You know, failure to get me the content by this date will mean a delay in your project. And, you know, I can't say for sure when, how long the delay is going to be, because it depends on my other projects, that obviously, then will take higher priority.
[00:23:07.490] - Gordon
And as far as doing things that you enjoy doing, we've always had a saying since you were little haven't we, which is?
[00:23:16.070] - Taylor
Do the things you have to do, then do the things you want to do.
[00:23:19.340] - Gordon
Exactly. And that still stands.
[00:23:21.260] - Taylor
Yes. However, I find that I need to do it in moderation, because if I only ever did the stuff I needed to do, I would never do any of my personal stuff. So it's basically finding the balance between saying, "ok, I'm going to spend four hours doing client work" and then maybe go for a bike ride, come back and do...
[00:23:36.980] - Gordon
So give yourself a reward system.
[00:23:39.470] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:23:39.470] - Gordon
So, "once I've done four hours of work for this customer, then I can do something for me."
[00:23:44.720] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:23:45.200] - Gordon
It's a reward system that's worked really well for all sorts of things. People who want to get fit will do, you know, twenty minutes of exercise and then after that they'll reward themself with five minutes watching television, or whatever the reward is. It's different for every people.
[00:24:01.060] - Taylor
Whatever your motivation is.
[00:24:02.330] - Gordon
So is that, is that what you're going to be doing?
[00:24:05.000] - Taylor
Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do going forward, is basically planning everything out, making sure that I do kind of make sure I spend, have time that I can spend not doing work. Have time spending, doing my own personal projects, but making sure that I also get all my work completed. And if there's going to be delays, making sure I communicate with the client.
[00:24:24.590] - Gordon
Yeah. Keep expectations level so that people know that it will be delayed if they don't meet their deadline.
[00:24:32.390] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:24:32.660] - Gordon
And it's amazing actually how deadlines will focus you, isn't it?
[00:24:37.970] - Taylor
Yeah. So, yeah, and I've got a couple of clients I need to reach out to you who have projects that have been going on for a long time. Which I don't mind too much, it's normally because they are very, very busy, which is fine. And I understand that. But those types of clients, they don't have a deadline and they're very, very easy going and that kind of like, you know, "we get the website finished when we get it finished." It's not a priority for them because most of the time it's more portfolio sites where they don't need it for the work, they already have a website, so it's kind of like a redesign. And for them, it's kind of, you know, "we get it finished when we get it finished." And I'm fine with that because...
[00:25:13.880] - Gordon
When it's right.
[00:25:14.450] - Taylor
Because it's, it means I have a lot more flexibility with that project because I can fit it in and around kind of when...
[00:25:22.700] - Gordon
As long as it doesn't drag on and on and on, because that is the problem. It could end up being years and years.
[00:25:27.650] - Taylor
Yeah, exactly. Obviously it's in moderation.
[00:25:29.690] - Gordon
So you need to have a deadline even if it's, you know, this time next year.
[00:25:33.500] - Taylor
Yeah.
[00:25:34.040] - Gordon
So um, so that everyone knows. Interesting. Very good.
[00:25:38.450] - Taylor
So yeah, that was, that's all I wanted.
[00:25:39.590] - Gordon
Anything else you want to say?
[00:25:41.060] - Taylor
That's everything for this week, I think.
[00:25:42.740] - Gordon
So, thank you for joining us. As always, please like, share, subscribe and comment below. And, we are on Facebook and on YouTube as always.
[00:25:55.370] - Taylor
You can also go to our website: thisweekwith.co.uk, where you can find all of our past episodes, and you can search as well for any topic that we've spoken about. And we have quite a lot of them.
[00:26:07.460] - Gordon
We do, yeah. We've got a lot. Join us next week at 1pm on Facebook and/or YouTube. Probably not 'and,' probably don't want them open together, that's not a good idea. Or YouTube. And until then, my name's Gordon and I'm from Drayson Design.
[00:26:26.540] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:26:29.060] - Gordon
Goodbye.
[00:26:29.570] - Taylor
Bye.
