IdeoScript is born

IdeoScript copywriting (soon official logo here) (c)FlickrHwren

So what do you get when you take a career break for one year? You actually start planning to work even more!!

One of the conclusions of my year off (thanx to my job coach), is that I should diversify, and take on board some different things besides the lovely international youth work I’m doing for SALTO. So I asked my boss to work part time (80% – 4 days/week) and in the remainder of my time (3 days/week), I decided to register myself as a freelance copywriter – HURAY – IdeoScript is born.

• Have a look at my provisional IdeoScript website ;-) Am soooo proud of it.
• Now I only need to find customers… Hm, any ideas? Please let me know if you know anyone who needs a writer, reporter, editor, website-developer, etc.

Easier said than done

You need to be strong to set up a business (c)FlickrVictoriaK

I suppose it is about the same in any country: setting up a business is not easy – despite living in the days of modern technology. Systems and the people managing them seem to be shy of change (and make things practical). Setting up a company in Belgium involves lots of waiting.

• To get any information whatsoever, you are queued before a call-center agent or some civil servant picks up the phone. With a bit of luck they only have to transfer you a few times before you get an answer (and also double check the answer with a second person, as versions tend to contradict each other)
• You wait in line (taking a ticket) at the business-centre where you have to register the company. To register the company they have to find your company’s activity in a list of pre-set services. It took them quite a while before they actually understood what a copywriter is, let alone finding the English term in a Flemish database, maybe because the staff was french speaker?
• When you finally pin down all you want to do (I added journalism, publicity, print & editing,… just to be sure), you can go… and wait till the bill arrives in your letterbox – for the ‘service’ of registering your company. Once you have paid, they will send you (again via snaaaaiiiil mail) the proof that you have started a company.
• With the proof of registering a company, you then go to the tax office, wait in line again, to activate the Value Added Tax (VAT). This is needed because on all services you invoice, you need to add 21% for Father State. The positive side is that I can also deduct the VAT from all I buy for IdeoScript e.g. my new phone, computer, stationary will be 21% cheaper than before!
• And of course it’s only after all the papers are ok, that i can start making expenses (e.g. real website, develop a logo, business cards, etc…) – and the Xmas period was not particularly helpful to get things going…

Getting started… HELP

Let the (copy)writing start! (c)FlickrChurl

Oh yeah, the company actually is not about deducting VAT and making expenses (so that I would have less income, which means less taxes to pay) – IdeoScript is actually about ‘copywriting’... but where do I get my customers from?

So this is the moment that I’d develop cunning marketing plans, nicely segmenting the market and targeting my publicity for my services to the right people in big companies. I should start filling my agenda with all kinds of networking events where I’ll meet people from companies who are likely to need copywriters. Or I develop a superb mailing to communication people. But… wasn’t IdeoScript about copywriting? (instead of marketing)

• If you have any super ideas to get some customers, please add them in the comment box below!