Getting a website up and running.

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It is essential these days that the bricklayer uses every means at his disposal to find work, and one of the ways that you can increase your chances considerably, is to put up a simple website and optimize it for the search engines.

Lets face it the days of the yellow pages are almost over and people are increasingly using the internet to find tradesmen (and women) so if you haven`t got a web presence where you can showcase your expertise then you are deader than the dodo. I know that if any bricklayers are actually reading this (and maybe there are one or two:) then they will be saying "but i`m a brickie not a f****ng web designer".This may well be the case but it is a good idea to get some kind of a website online so that you get your share of the pie.These days you have to learn to market yourself and with all the free stuff available online, it need not cost the earth to do it. If you go to ebay and type in websites for sale you will see some fantastic bargains from top class web designers who are looking to establish themselves and will do you a pukka job for very little money.
There are a lot of free places on the net where you can get free publicity for your particular area of expertise and you get to write a brief description of the services you offer.The following are what is needed to get yourself online

1. A domain name: Cost about $9 a year. Go to somewhere like Name.com or Godaddy.com and look for something relevant ( such as www. brickpointerinlondon.co.uk or www.londonbrickie.co.uk or variations thereof eg.www.london-brickie.co.uk) It is essential that the name is relevant because when someone searches for brick pointer in london or london brickie, your website will have a better chance of showing up than if your domain name (ie. website name) was "my dopey website.co.uk":)

2. Hosting:This can be as low as $5 a year if you use ebay. Just type in hosting into the search box. A lot of the hosting provided on ebay comes complete with its own simple website builder and this is a fantastic way to learn the ropes very cheaply and it means that you can easily make changes to your website in future should you wish to do so and not be at the mercy of a web designer. Just have a bit of patience here and you will reap the benefit for years to come

3. If you do not want to go down this road then you can avail yourself of the many free websites on the net such as blinkweb, geocities or blogger.com where you can have unlimited
free blogs and setting up is just a 3 step process.They will host it free of charge and here again you will have access to a simple to use website builder, where you can practice away to your hearts content until you are eventually happy with your masterpiece. Make sure that you put in the keywords that you think your customers will be using to find you, such as brickie in north london, brick pointing specialist,bricklayer etc. as the search engines love it when your content is both targeted and relevant.

As with anything in this life there is a learning curve, but if you just spend a half hour on the computer 3 or 4 times a week you will not regret it and that phone will ring a lot more often,.. even if there is a recession.

Hard Times For Brickies!

The Recession officially came into being last week and as if we needed telling the general public are tightening their belts and cutting back on everything but essentials, so the poor old bricklayer is once again sidelined and finding it hard to get enough work to survive. When I logged into Mybuilder.co.uk it was brought home to me how much competition there is now for work and for some of the jobs posted there, there were about 30 tradesmen tendering, as compared to 3 or 4 this time last year.. A lot of younger married brickies with big mortgages are going into steadier jobs(if they`re lucky) with the old reliables such as London Transport and British Rail hoping to ride out the recession and return to the building sites again when times are better. So how can we increase our chances of getting work?



1..Use the internet to your advantage by putting up a simple website and optimizing it
for the search engines. This is not as complicated as it sounds and will be of enormous help
to you in the coming months and years ahead.

2. Be very professional in all your dealings with customers and always turn up on time.

3. Again remember to use all the free advertising on the internet to get your message out there
All it takes is a little time and patience.

4. If you have any qualifications such as City and Guilds etc make sure it is firmly stated on
your website.This tends to inspire confidence in you as a tradesman.

5.Ring up your local newspaper and haggle with them for a rock bottom price on your advertising or any special deals they might have. Get friendly with them and you will save a fortune.

Remember even in recessions there will still be work for people who are willing to up their game and put some extra work into marketing themselves.It will mean going outside your comfort zone but the rewards will be well worth it.
While these simple steps will not guarantee that you will become a millionaire while everyone else goes under it may just dramatically increase your chances of getting steady work in these difficult times.

Effects of efflorescence on Bricks?

Effects of Efflorescence on Bricks?
Efflorescence is that white powdery looking substance that appears on some brickwork This can be unsightly in new brickwork and some people try to take off the white deposit by applying more water to it in the hope that it will lessen its effects. Instead of getting rid of the efflorescence it actually makes it worse and the best way to get rid of it is with a scrubbing brush,no water, and good old fashion elbow grease.
How would efflorescence damage masonry?
Continual saturation with soluble salts, can cause deterioration of
masonry, if the materials are soft like stone, soft blocks, and non British Standard bricks
This continual wetting with ground water or water high in soluble salts can
make the materials susceptible to frost attack also the salt crystals can
build up inside the masonry expanding as the frost water molecules do,
destroying the face.
Water molecules expanding within the face of the masonry will make the
face breakaway and flake, leaving the masonry unsightly and over a long
time unstable.
Lime mortar will be affected, as the soluble salts will attack the lime the
chemical reaction between the soluble salt and the lime creating sulphates
that weakening the mortar.
With face stone work particularly stone containing limestone, the soluble
salts will cause a chemical reaction between the soluble salt and the lime
creating sulphates, leaving the masonry susceptible to atmospheric attack
from acid rain and frost etc