An overdue post!

Firstly I must apologise for not posting sooner. I've been so busy lately I'm just catching up with things now.

Secondly I would like to say a big congratulations to Craig Smith who I was running against. He's a lovely guy and has a great business. He deserved it 100% and I hope I'm doing as well as him in a couple of years from now!

So what have I been up to?

Well iYosh has bee going through some changes. What started out as a web 2.0 app has now been merged with a seperate business idea I had. It will now be integrated as an application into a new software product I'm developing.
Next Thursday I've been invited to the University of Teeside to take part in a seminar for their Digitalcity Fellowship. This is really great scheme that allows someone with a business idea to become an entrepreneur fellow for 6 months. The process allows you to work with the University, mentors, businesses and fellow entrepreneurs to turn your idea into a trading business. So I've been invited along to the seminar and then to apply for a place.

I'm also working very hard with my best friend Allison. I've been freelancing as an SEO consultant under the name 'Fizz Bang SEO' - www.fizzbangseo.com - but we've decided to setup a dedicated design and marketing agency together. So at the moment we're working on our new site and those of several new clients, including Newcastle University. I've loved design since an early age and have worked in everything from logo design to e-commerce for a while now. So we decided to create a company that provided all these things. The new company will be 'Fizz Bang Interactive' but will reside at the same web address. I'll let you all know when it goes live.

Also found out that I'm being nominated for another business award... but will share when I know more.

On a more personal note, I'm about to have 7 wisdom teeth removed (yes I'm one of those lucky individuals who has more than the standard number of wisdom teeth) in hospital. I'm just hoping any business wisdom remains! I'm scared so words of encouragement are greatly received.

The final countdown

We're now into the last couple of days of voting and its getting quite nerve wracking. However the results go I'll be very proud of myself for getting this far.

So what have I been up to this last week? Well Monday-Wednesday were booked in as holiday. It was my partner's birthday so we went on over to Thorpe Park for a few days. Here I am waiting at the entrance to the new Saw ride (which we went on twice!):

As you can tell by the very blue sky, it was hot. Very hot. So it was great to get away and chill for a few days (even if we were hanging upside down most of the time!). Stealth has to be the scariest ride I've ever been on. 0-80mph in 1.8 seconds certainly gets the adrenaline going.

On Thursday I had a really good meeting with Paul Callaghan. Paul is the chairman of The Leighton Group which is based in Sunderland. He is also the founder of the Entrepreneurs Forum and a huge champion for entrepreneurship in the North East. It was great to discuss my idea and my goal to generate proof of concept funding. He seemed to like the concept and gave me some great feedback on what to do next. His advice to me was "follow the money".

I'm also busy redeveloping my other project. I've been working as a freelance web designer/SEO consultant for some time and I'm now moving into offering a full creative agency called Fizz Bang Interactive. We're busy building the new site (the old one is still online: www.fizzbangseo.com) and are aiming to offer branding, web design, print design, SEO, social media marketing, hosting, e-commerce and IT support.
We're currently looking for a printer in the North East who we can outsource full colour business card printing to. If you are a printer or can recommend someone please get in touch with me at emma(at)fizzbangseo.com

So now I just have to wait to hear the results. If you haven't yet voted, please vote for me! Please please please! The address is voting@entrepreneursforum.net

Emma Reilly interview at the Entrepreneurs' Forum's Annual Conference, Inspired6

Grrrrrr! and other things.

So yesterday I came across my first major business headache. My 7 month-old laptop died and is now off getting repaired for god knows how long (week-2 weeks, he couldn't tell me exactly). Luckily I managed to do a complete back up so I haven't lost anything. But its just the annoyance of running a web business and doing web design for other people without a decent laptop. At the moment I'm using my dad's laptop (which is sloooooooow!). It doesn't have the required memory I need to install all of my various software packages for web design. It just surfs the net really. Then when I need decent memory I run up into the loft which is set out as an office. It has a PC in there which is decent... except it doesn't pick up the wifi very well. So I'm going to be up and down like a yoyo for possibly 2 weeks. Benefit of that is I will be much fitter.

Last week I ordered my new business cards in time for the conference. They arrived a day late and when I did get them, the text was printed upside down. Even better was that the details on the card where not mine.
So one week later I got my second batch of business cards (designed by myself). I think they look rather pretty so have taken a photo to show you all:


I designed the logo too. I think they've come out rather well, so Im happy.

Entrepreneurs Forum conference

It is nearly 9pm and I'm very very tired. Yesterday was a long day, but very enjoyable. I attended the Entrepreneurs Forum annual conference at the Hilton hotel. This was only the second time I've been to the Hilton (the first for the judging round) and its one of the nicest hotels I've seen.

I must admit that I had suffered the night before from panic attacks. The old anxiety still likes to creep up on me every now and then. Normally I would have made excuses and not gone, but this was too good an opportunity to miss. I'm glad I did because I had an amazing time.

The speakers were fantastic and very inspirational. Richard Farleigh seemed a lot different from his role on Dragons Den and Julie Meyer was just how I thought she would be. I didn't get to meet her as she left straight after her talk, but the forum are going to try and get me in touch with her. They're very good at helping you meet the people you need to meet. I also got to meet the other finalists and they're all really lovely people. Especially Craig Smith (who I'm running against). He's a really lovely guy and I would be honestly very pleased for him if he won.

At dinner I ended up being sat next to Paul Callaghan of the Leighton Group. He was one of the founders of the Entrepreneurs Forum and it happens that I have a meeting with him in two weeks. So it was great to meet him early. We ended up talking about the state of North East football (he is a die hard Sunderland supporter, whilst I am a die hard Newcastle supporter).

I also ran into a venture capitalist who seemed impressed by my business idea and has told me to get back in touch when it gets up and running.
But for now I'm glad to be relaxing with my family and recharging my batteries for the week ahead. I'm making an application for funding to help with the development costs of the next application release. But I'll be back to tell you all about that soon.

For now, have a good weekend.

Emma.

An introduction to my number two!

Just wanted to introduce my number 2 here at iYosh and the person who keeps me entertained when I have to do boring stuff:

Harry is my eight year-old West Highland White Terrier. My parents bought him for me when I was ill as a companion. He has never left my side and is part of the reason why I want to start a business. He hated me leaving to go to work after seven years of having my full attention. So now he sits next to me when I'm working and I plan on getting a nice office that is Harry friendly! That includes a TV as he likes watching television... and is a fan of YouTube (mainly cat and dog videos). He has his own YouTube video:



I also wanted to take some time to thank everyone who has voted for me so far. Things are going so well and I just want to make the most of this exciting opportunity. So thank you and I hope I can do you proud.

Emma.

I'm a whole year younger and other stuff...

So I just wanted to point out that I'm actually 28, not 27 as reported in The Chronicle. As much as I liked being portrayed as a whole year younger, I just wanted to set that straight (more for friends who wondered what happened to my birthday).
Also, if anyone saw the Chronicle on Friday you will have seen the photo of me sitting at a computer screen. For some reason they decided to use a photo they must have had in the archives. I must have been about 24 when that was taken (and two stone heavier!). I had set up a small e-commerce shop and they were doing a feature on it.

iYosh is currently not live. I'm hoping to have more of a news area online in the next week or so where you can sign up to our beta testing of the new application. I'll keep you all posted as to when it goes up.

Not long now until the Entrepreneurs Forum Conference. I have no idea what I'm wearing on the evening. I'm not really a 'dressy up' type person. Give me jeans and a t-shirt anyday. Any suggestions of what to buy would be much appreciated (see this is where iYosh will come in very handy!).
I have however got some nice business cards made. I designed them myself and they look very nice. Would love to meet Julie Meyer when I'm there. Its just trying to find the courage to go and speak to her without a proper introduction.

Today I also applied for a couple of software programmes that run here in the North East. Hadn't heard of them until I attended Thinking Digital. So hopefully I'll at least get an interview. The one I really want to get involved with is the University of Teesides digital fellwoship. It's a six month programme that helps you get your idea off the ground. So fingers crossed.

Other than that I've been finishing a couple of projects I had going on from my freelance work (I'm a graphic designer and SEO specialist by trade). One of them is for my dad who has decided he would like to start a business.

So busy busy busy!

Thinking Digital 09

Thanks to Ifwecanyoucan I had the opportunity to attend this years 'Thinking Digital' at The Sage.
This is a great conference which offers a diverse and interesting range of speakers covering all aspects of digital technology.

I must admit that I was incredibly nervous about going. Being in a room with lots of strangers still makes my heart beat like a drum. But at least i did it, which is more than I would have done in the past.

Yesterday I opted to take a look at the 'Social Media Masterclass' lecture. This was a fantastic breaking in period for me. It was just a few hours long and had some really relevant stuff for me and my business. Speakers included Stowe Boyd (social media guru), JP Rangaswami (BT innovations - and I had no idea BT had an innovations!), Alex Hunter (head of Virgin.com), Paul Smith (better known as the Twitchiker) and Dan Lyons (Technology columnist from Newsweek magazine).
Of course the strangest encounter I had was on my way into the theatre... I ran into my old school headteacher!

Today I got to hear more from Alex Hunter who gave us all a sneak peak at the new socially active virgin.com site. It looks really good and proves how all the big brands are trying to tap into social media... maybe I should show them my App?!

I also got see the best presentation I have ever seen. Mike Southen, (aka beermat entrepreneur) is now my new hero. Probably the most entertaining and inspiring thing I've seen in a long time.

Of course I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see any of these individuals if it weren't for ifwecanyoucan. Just hope it keeps going so I can make everyone proud.

Emma.

What is iYosh?

It's been reported that iYosh is a tool that allows you to record your purchasing history and share with friends. In reality it is so much more than that. I had the original idea in 2004. Like most people with the internet I shopped online... a lot! I realised quickly that I bought either one of two ways. The first was meeting friends, talking about new products they'd bought or seen. I would think 'that sounds quite good' and would rush off to buy it on the internet. The second way would be that I wanted something like a new mobile phone. I would sit for hours reading countless reviews, opinions, product specs. I would think I had found the one for me only to go and tell my friends. "No, you don't want that one" they would say. "My cousin has it and it keeps crashing". They would then show me what they had and tell me why it would suit me better. Sometimes they would even send me links by email where they had found a great contract offer.

It was here that I realised that this process could be made so much easier. What if I could compile a database of every product or service my friends had ever bought. What if I could use it any time I wanted to find out what they really thought about it and if they recommended it to me. They know me more than anyone and they know what I like. Maybe I could even use it as a way to allow them to come into the shopping experience with me... like high street shopping with friends, but in a virtual way.

So thats how all these ideas turned into iYosh.

But how does it keep track of what my friends are buying? Well, I've developed a web application that you simply download and install in your web browser. Every time you buy something online you can tell the programme to record it. It saves all the crucial data: Product name, ID, store name, price, voucher codes you used. You can even choose to group your purchases together on your iYosh profile... one feed for new Xbox games, another for all your shoes, maybe another to record all your new buys for an upcoming holiday. You can add to your product history at any time... photo's, video, reviews, tips etc... Your friends can post their comments or maybe even recommend items you hadn't even though of.
Then when one of your friends is looking for a new item (a mobile phone), they simply type it in our search engine and they are presented with all the phone reviews made by their friends. It's quick, easy and above all... based on the trust.

Of course it does a lot of other cool things too... but thats for later! I have been working with several top e-tailers to develop an e-tailers application. This will be something that interacts with your own consumer app, providing you with lots of money saving offers as you shop.

I currently have a prototype of the consumer application. I'm currently going through the process of securing equity investment. Hopefully the competition will allow me to meet some fantastic people who will help me to do this.

I will keep you all posted as we develop.

Oh and I keep getting asked what iYosh means. Well the urban dictionary meaning is 'derived from a Japanese word meaning an enthusiastic affirmative'. For some reason my friends use it all the time when they get excited about something. So thats where it came from.

Emma.

Hello all!

Welcome to my very first blog entry for the Ifwecanyoucan Challenge! I must admit that I'm feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement. I'm not sure where to start.

Well my name is Emma Reilly, I'm 28 and from Newcastle. I would consider myself to be a quiet but friendly person. There is only one thing that is important to me above anything else in the world: my family. You've probably seen already that I suffer from social anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder. These conditions have proven to be a bit of a challenge over the years. I've had loads of set backs, days in hospital thanks to medication withdrawel and days where I felt like I just wanted to die. But they've been there throughout and have always kept me going. I'm doing this for them because they deserve it more than anyone on this planet.

They're the reason why I'm here today. I remember sitting looking at my computer screen one day. I had the idea for iYosh in my head. It had been there for about four years but I'd never had the confidence to go out and doing anything about it. I just sat down one night and just started doing a few designs in Photoshop. My mam came in the room and asked what I was doing. So I showed her my iYosh homepage and user profile design and talked her through how it would work. I think her exact words were 'go for it kid'. She seemed quite excited by it (and my mam doesn't normally get excited over anything technical!).

Since being featured in the paper last week (and yes, my mam has photocopied it several times and sent it to every member of our family!) things have just gone mad... but in a good way. I have two very important meetings lined up with some of the countries leading entrepreneurs, I'm off to the Thinking Digital conference tomorrow and the Entrepreneurs annual conference next week. Not bad for a girl who had a panic attack when she had to go out and buy a stamp.

So why should you vote for me?

Quite honestly this experience has been the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. Already the support of the ifwecanyoucan team has been incredible and the doors it has opened so far have been fantastic. I'd be happy to walk away with my head held high in four weeks as a runner up.

But I also want this more than anything. I have never seen my family and friends so proud of me. I don't want to sound all soppy, but I want to be able to create a business that everyone can be proud of. I was recently told that I was mad to build a web business in the North East. "You should be in London" I was told. I think thats rubbish. I think Newcastle could quite easily rival, if not better, any web 2.0 company. We have the services, the expertise and the ambition.

If you have any questions then please get in touch. Plus check back often... I'll keep you all updated on the progress of iYosh.

For now,

Emma.