My new Website

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Hi guys, I finally managed to get a decent website up and running. Have a look and see what ye think of it. It's still a work in progress.

The site address is www.jbshopfitting.com

 

[Vindingo]

are you open to suggestions?

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

I am indeed

 

[Vindingo]

get better camera!!!  your shots do your work no justice. 

Less (if any) process shots.  Before and after maybe, but stick with the finished product. 
Get rid of the first pic of the kitchen... its a pile of garbage, literally.  [tongue]

Blurry shots are a killer.  One nice photo is better than a bunch of blurry photos. 

Its obvious you are a professional and do good work, you just need flattering images. 

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Some of them photos were takin with an old crappy phone. These days I use my trusty iPhone but I know that's not great either.

I set the site up to try generate some work as here in Ireland the recession is very bad. I have spent nearly every day at home this year with no work at all.

Thanks for your kind words and suggestions!

 

[Vindingo]

Some of them photos were takin with an old crappy phone. These days I use my trusty iPhone but I know that's not great either.

I set the site up to try generate some work as here in Ireland the recession is very bad. I have spent nearly every day at home this year with no work at all.

Thanks for your kind words and suggestions!

good luck with finding work.  Its slow on this side of the pond also. 

About how long did it take you to set up the website?  Any experience with website stuff at all?  A buddy of mine said he was in about 12hrs to get his up and running, so I lost hope. 

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

A guy on a web forum here in Ireland set most of it up as it would take me weeks to it by myself. He has it setup so I can log into Wordpress and change stuff in there. I'm still figuring it out myself as well.

I have limited website experience but I would be way too slow to do an entire site from scratch and not up to date with all the latest things related to it as well.

It has to change soon. It can't stay this quiet for much longer.
Any more pics of your bathroom?

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Well Vindigo got rid of that picture anyhow. Finally got onto the laptop to do it  [smile]

 

[Steve R]

Galwaydude18,

Nice site, I have to agree with Vindigo that the images are not doing justice to your wonderful work. Hire someone to image your work - just a hobbyist photog - would be of great help.

Cheers,
Steve.

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Thanks steve! I wish I could afford to hire a photographer but with the economy here I have spent almost everyday at home this year [crying]

 

[Steve R]

Ask around your church, I'm sure someone has a good camera that wouldn't mind helping.

Just a thought.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Ya dude I'll ask around but doubt they would like to come all over the country when I'm fitting shops for free [laughing]

 

[Wooden Lungs]

Dia dhuit mo chara!

I like your website. How do you promote it though? I used google adwords but it got expensive so I stopped. You have to advertise within a certain radius of where you live.

I did get work from it but not enough to justify the costs. I have to say I am fortunate to have repeat customers and have inadvertantly joined a "co op" of other tradesmen and it seems to work really well. Basically we all have our own contacts but we all help each other complete the various jobs. I have a full time apprentice but he is not always working directly with me. It varies from price work to day rate with large contractors. We start a cob farmhouse on wednesday which should be interesting.

It kills me to think of how the economy has slid in Eire. I hear most young people are going to Australia and Canada to get work. My brother is in Madrid and Spain has been hit really hard. When I went to see him recently there were teenagers just hanging around street corners everywhere with nothing to do.think the unemployment rate is very high there now. Think the UK has been not too bad because they can self regulate the currency unlike the Euro.

If it makes you feel better I have been working nearly every feckin day this year and I'm still skint.... [crying] Really hope you get loads of work soon.

Wooden lungs. PS my little boy just asked me what all the yellow faces were on screen and I told him they were smileys!!!!

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Hi wooden lungs. I haven't promoted the site yet as I'm unsure how to do the seo stuff. I just usually tell people to have a look at it and that they can see some of my previous work on it.

The only costs I have associated with the site is €5 a month hosting it on blacknight solutions other than that I can update the gallery etc. myself.

Ya I know the feeling about being skint even when your working but it's getting out of the house and doing what you like that's most important. It helps your brain and you get to talk to other people and socialise as well.

I have a very good friend heading off to New York Sunday morning to work. He had to close his company down as he was owed a fortune an couldn't get it off his clients  [sad]

If herselfs child was mine we would be long in oz ourselfs but child's fathers who sees her when it suits him would stick his foot in and prevent any plans of that happening. There are so many young people leaving this country with the way the economy is and I don't blame then because there is nothing to keep them here.

What's a cob house? Never heard of them before.

 

[jmbfestool]

Hi wooden lungs. I haven't promoted the site yet as I'm unsure how to do the seo stuff. I just usually tell people to have a look at it and that they can see some of my previous work on it.

The only costs I have associated with the site is €5 a month hosting it on blacknight solutions other than that I can update the gallery etc. myself.

Ya I know the feeling about being skint even when your working but it's getting out of the house and doing what you like that's most important. It helps your brain and you get to talk to other people and socialise as well.

I have a very good friend heading off to New York Sunday morning to work. He had to close his company down as he was owed a fortune an couldn't get it off his clients  [sad]

If herselfs child was mine we would be long in oz ourselfs but child's fathers who sees her when it suits him would stick his foot in and prevent any plans of that happening. There are so many young people leaving this country with the way the economy is and I don't blame then because there is nothing to keep them here.

What's a cob house? Never heard of them before.

Try and convince him that it will better for his child to be in OZ.

My mate loves it in Oz hes going for a second year now working!  With the money he earned in the first year working in OZ  hes gone and bought a house in England to rent out and hes going back next week.

He got him self a girlfriend for a bit I think they split up, hes only young 22/23 I think.  Hes a basic joiner likes doing standard joinery like hanging doors fitting skirting and fitting kitchens nothing special just a hard worker and he found loads of work in OZ  he jumped from job to job getting better pay every time.  

I keep telling my self I should go....  just scared  and I have more than enough work at the moment so I have no drive to go and my girlfriend doesn't want to go.  

Well I have plenty of reasons I should be going main one being soon England will be called Englandstan thats all ill im going to say.

JMB

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

I wish I could but I have never spoken to him in almost 4 years since I have been with the girlfriend and I know for a fact he doesn't like her calling me Daddy!  [big grin]

I know well the pay would get better with every job over there. Class weather, class social life so many things would be a lot nicer than over her. Tell your gf you won't have to work as much and would see her a lot more if she goes with you.  [big grin]

Trust me if I could get enough work here I wouldn't consider going myself but some day I will be in oz either working or on a holiday! I won't leave this planet until I go see oz !!

 

[jmbfestool]

I wish I could but I have never spoken to him in almost 4 years since I have been with the girlfriend and I know for a fact he doesn't like her calling me Daddy!  [big grin]

I know well the pay would get better with every job over there. Class weather, class social life so many things would be a lot nicer than over her. Tell your gf you won't have to work as much and would see her a lot more if she goes with you.  [big grin]

Trust me if I could get enough work here I wouldn't consider going myself but some day I will be in oz either working or on a holiday! I won't leave this planet until I go see oz !!

lol  I am going to do the same im going to visit my mate over in OZ this time have couple weeks Holliday he can show me some jobs maybe help me decide if I should go and work in OZ or not.

Thing is my GF is closer to her family than I am cus the only family I see really are my parents and brother thats it.   Also wa she moans about which kinda annoyed me but she said it wont be fair on her because my parents would be able to come over to OZ when ever they wanted as many times as they wanted but her family wouldnt be able to afford it which I think is a really odd way to see things.  

So I suggested then if it really annoys you ill tell my parents they can only come and see us when your parents can come and see us  I then got told I was being daft........... [huh]

I also said we will also come back to England to visit friends and family but she kinda wasnt in the mood then!  GIRLS!! Bloody annoying! lol

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

There is just no keeping them bloody happy  [huh]

Oh I bet if you go over you won't want to come home and be arranging to have your festool a shipped over there. She would probably fall in love with it. I'm not overly close to my family either. I see my mother and two brothers every day only caus they live in the same estate as me. Other than that I'd hardly see them.

 

[Wooden Lungs]

Hi Galwaydude have a look at this link for "Cob" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cob_(material) The walls are really thick which means the window boards are huge! I will take some progress pictures of the work.

I went to work in Oz in 1999 and loved it. I was working with a brilliant chippy in Sydney around Cogee and Bondi beach. He was great to work with and seemed to have and endless supply of work at the time. We mostly did one off timber frame houses.

There is a huge ex pat comunitee there so its great for work contacts. The Aussies have a very different work ethic though which was an eye opener! some of the older guys on site would smoke bongs before work in the morning and it was common to drink beer on site!

The one thing I could'nt cope with were the spiders that looked more like small dogs than insects. Also they have these small spiders called red backs that love plasterboard and harass you all day. I was taught to just kill everything with your hammer as soon as you spot them in case you get a bite. After a while it becomes second nature. I woke up one night with a huntsman in my bed the size of my hand and it gave me a nasty bite....like being hit with a lump hammer in the arm. I would love to go back and work there as the Aussies are great fun but I might stick to a joiners shop instead!