This newsletter is distributed to anyone selling in a Slivers-Of-Time
marketplace. Also, to those waiting for a market to start in their area who have registered at www.sliversoftime.com
It will keep you posted on developments in this exciting new way of working. |
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IN THIS ISSUE |
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SPOTLIGHT ON THE SELLER: |
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Single no more |
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Natalie: going great guns |
A lot of Single Parents take up Slivers Working. It allows them to fit sporadic part time work around something much more important: the kids. Natalie Canavan in Liverpool [Bookings: 8, Hours Sold: 55, Buyers: 2] was one of them. She discovered Slivers when she called at local agency U&Me Recruitment. “I’d met my boyfriend Lee when we were both in the army. We left to start a family but separated after I’d had our first child”.
Lee and Natalie are now back together. They have two children: Jack and Jamie. 23 year old Natalie’s skills from the Royal Signals Regiment puts her in demand from Slivers buyers. But she’s choosy. “There’s a big supermarket that uses Slivers sellers in Liverpool and I was offered their training programme. But I’m not a retail person.” Instead, she’s focused on office work.
Natalie’s bookings so far have been with a business club who use Slivers to get receptionists for their breakfast briefing sessions and a Safety Inspection firm. She types up their reports for a few hours at a time. “My children are under 3, so I can only work when there’s someone to look after them. I do like getting out of the house and doing something though. I’m learning a lot”. When the children reach school age Natalie wants a conventional job. Until then, it’sSlivers all the way.
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SLIVERS FUTURES: |
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Launch Partners Together |
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Slivers summit: launch partners in
discussion |
Around the country, people employed by a variety of organisations are working hard to get Slivers going in their area. Now we’ve started getting together on a regular basis. Recently, locals from places like Bradford, Leeds, Hull and Cambridgeshire came to join the London launch team for a day. (The Liverpool contingent ended up fogbound at the airport.)
We shared war stories. Yes, procurement procedures in some Local Authorities can sap your will to live. We all know companies crying out for Slivers workers but who can’t grasp how simple the concept is to implement. Across the country, the NHS commitment to tackle worklessness in communities is leading to a lot of opportunity for Slivers sellers.
The complex software that enables Slivers isn’t static. We kicked around the next few months of technology development. How could we make life even easier for users? What functionality could take Slivers workers into new sectors? Could anything be done to make the system ever more intuitive? Our core principle is a Silicon Valley ethos called “Don’t Make Me Think”. If ever a user has to ask “how do I do this?” or “what’s this for?”, then we’ve failed.
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TIP: |
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Tweak the rate! |
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Cartoon by Shamima Aktar Koli, Slivers-of-Time seller
[Bookings: 82, Hours Sold: 293, Buyers: 4] |
Coming soon in Slivers markets: you can set an hourly rate for a specific buyer. Know you’re repeatedly doing good work for a particular business? Try increasing your rate for their bookings a little. (But remember, there’ll be other sellers available for bookings so don’t charge more than you’re worth!)
Look out for My Buyers appearing in your “My Terms” screen at the end of April.
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CASE STUDY: |
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Butting out |
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12th March was a big day in the No Smoking World. National No Smoking Day is second only to New Year as the time when people decide to kick the habit. For people like John Spokes, Smoking Cessation Manager for the NHS in London’s Hammersmith & Fulham there’s a lot of work to be done in the run up to the day. And John turned to Slivers to get it done.
The Slivers market in West London has been launched by H&F Council. That worked well for John. “This is the NHS, so of course we have targets” he says. “We need to get 1,875 people to give up smoking through our programme this year.” John used Slivers sellers for leafleting, assembling mailout packs and delivering packs to surgeries, school nurses and NHS walk-in centres on his patch.
“The flexibility was invaluable” says John.”We know smoking is linked to economic deprivation so we wanted to leaflet in those areas. But we didn’t want to saturate the locals. Slivers allowed us to do outreach on a little and often basis.” Slivers sellers were also deployed to ask local libraries, shops and cafes to put up anti-nicotine posters. “Icalled round some of the venues afterwards” he says “and I was pleased with the take up.”
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April 2008
Published on the last Friday of the month |
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Slivers-of-Time Working: the basics
Marketplaces for Slivers-of-Time are for:
who wants to work around other things in their life, such as:
-childcare
-studying
-part-time work
-caring for adult
-medical commitments
- Organisations who need top-up workers at short notice, for short periods:
-councils
-caterers
-retailers
-logistics supplier
Benefits:
- Sellers: do whatever odd hours of work they want and quickly build skills, experience and a track record they can print at any time.
- Buyers: access a self-selecting pool of local people who choose to work in a way that demands flexibility and rewards reliability.
Signing up:
Anyone who wants to know when a market-place is starting in their area should enter their details at:
www.sliversoftime.com
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