Jo Duxbury – South Africa’s Freelance Expert
May 23, 2008 by Jamaal
Last year I had the privilege of participating with Jo Duxbury, and others, on the VeloCITI business programme. Jo runs Freelancentral – a website that serves freelancers looking for work, as well as companies who are looking for freelancers. The website boasts a very sophisticated portfolio directory – for the freelancers, and a job placement section – for companies and agencies. Freelancentral is focused on the design and creative industries.
Jo has grown the company substantially, and is fast becoming the freelance expert in South Africa. She has worked in marketing, advertising, and business communications since 1995. She has worked locally and in London, giving her a broad base of knowledge and experience. I met with Jo yesterday and we discussed some interesting business ideas and strategies.
Unfortunately there is a local perception around freelancing, and that is that freelancing is for people who can’t find a full time job. This cannot be further from the truth. Jo says that some people in full time design and creative positions actually wish to enter the realm of freelancing, due to it’s competitiveness, the huge demand, and the rapid growth it offers.
Jo is perfectly positioned to be a great asset to the freelancing industry. Her knowledge and experience puts her right there at the fore, and I think she’s going to make big waves in South Africa. Freelancing, and outsourcing in general, is in it’s infancy stages in South Africa, and the business community still needs to adopt this fully. The move in that direction is inevitable though. With the increasing benefits of technology the landscape of business remains to adapt and change.
If you’re in the freelancing business or want to be, contact Jo at jo@freelancentral.co.za – I’m sure it will be a good move for you. I see Jo as a key player on “The Long Tail” of web-related businesses – and I look forward to seeing the impact she makes in South Africa.
You can view Jo’s LinkedIn Profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/joduxbury.
Thanks Jamaal for the great vote of confidence.I’m looking forward to lots of collaborations with you!
Same here. I think there’s a lot of opportunities, and I think that if we focus we can really produce great synergies. Maybe we should mind map our ideas (see my recent post on mind mapping applications).