People Per Hour Review: Update

It's been over a year since I joined People Per Hour. When I initially reviewed the site I offered a mixed bag but came to the conclusion that, on the whole, it was worth it.

I've changed my mind.

Use the site with caution - people are whoring themselves out for as little as £6/hour. When I've complained about this do you know what PPH said? "We are a global platform, some people will charge what is reflected in their country".

Ummm... isn't that what sweatshops do?

Anyway, that is clearly a LIE. If they *were* a global platform they wouldn't need to send me tweets like this:

I'm pretty sure that globally, somewhere, someone is awake and working for PPH.

It's a dastardly, murky world with little gumption as far as I can see.

On £60.00 I earned I only received £49.20. You don't need to be a mathematician to work out that is shocking. In fact, for the £90.00 I've earned via the site this month, I've only actually had £75.80. I would rather give a free hour to the client that have the greedy PPHers take the money. And what are they taking the money for? Pure profit?

Oh, if you ARE a keen maths brain you might notice that actually they are taking MORE than 15%.

I tried to get in touch with them. To contact them it took 4 clicks and poking around the site to find out how to do this - which is dodgy. If a company haven't got a very clean and honest way to contact customer service then they don't offer honest, clean customer service as far as I'm concerned.

I mailed them. How dare they steal a further £1.70! That is really bloody rude, actually. The answer? It's VAT.

YEAH? Then be upfront about it!! Don't provide a patronising "earnings calculator" that doesn't include VAT. What is the bloody point?

This screen shot says is all. In the background you'll see my earnings AFTER they've taken their commission. It very clearly says £49.20. Yet, in the foreground you'll see their "earnings calculator". This tells a different story. The Earnings Calculator is designed, from what I can see, to help you work out what you'll really earn (NET) after you've charged your client. In this instance, I invoiced £60.00 and could expect to get £51.00. Yet, I only got £49.20...

Sorry, I'm seething. Can you tell?

REVIEW UPDATE. On a scale of 1-5 (1* being the worst) I award People Per Hour the following:

Honesty? *
Clarity? *
Site layout? *
Customer Service? *
Value for Money? *
People I've met using the site? *****

Overview: Don't touch them with a bargepole.

I'm off to find something better. Anyone got any suggestions?

Creative University - A good find

If you're thinking of turning your hobby into a money making small business then you might wonder where on EARTH to start...

I've been complimented on my knitting before but I've never known if that is just etiquette for "really, so you didn't BUY me anything?" but the thought of spending my days crafting away for profit is a warm, fuzzy one.

For now I'm still loving my day job *far* too much but you if *do* want to turn your creative flair into a small business you could use this as your starting point.

There are a whole bunch of courses and resources on offer

In a couple of week the Creative University is running a short course - from Passion to Profit: Start Your Business in 6 weeks or less.

6 weeks? Really? Raised eyebrow in cynicism? Well, I've been privileged to see the course outline and details and it is FAB.

Becoming Self Employed is nerve wracking and *so* many people don't understand - I know that only too well - so a short course to equip you with the knowledge and confidence to know that you CAN succeed seems pretty perfect in my book.

The psychology of this course is ACE - offering you peer group support and all the essentials to launch your business. This course isn't promising to make millionaires overnight or even suggesting that it can give you a successful business. What this course does, which is more important, is that it allows you to put your business plan into action and support you along the journey.

Glass Half Empty? A little look at social media stats...

I've always *hated* statistics, not because I am historically dreadful at Maths (I am), but because my A level fling with Sociology showed me just how dangerous statistics can be.

I came across this a couple of days ago. It's well worth a read but it isn't gospel.

As you can see, "Did you know over 50% of the UK population are on Facebook (sic)"

The implied reaction is 'well then, over 50% use Facebook therefore we must concentrate all our efforts there', and the language in the article is in the same vain. But is this just a case of the glass being half full?

Oooh, that's a little small, sorry!

The first thing that struck me about this statistic was that nearly 50% of the UK population DON'T use Facebook. Furthermore, taking only the ONLINE population that means that just over 37% aren't on Facebook at all. That is over a third.

You simply can't ignore that. If you focus just on Facebook you are ostracising just over a third of your potential online audience.

I love social media - I love everything about it. I love learning, I love the pace, I love the errors and I think ALL social media needs to be considered but, when it comes to the big three?* I think small business, big business, individuals and groups should have a full glass of social media cocktail and enjoy it.

Cheers!

*currently Facebook, Twitter and Linked In. Although this is set to change - that's exciting, isn't it?