About Smashing Self-Employment
Hello,
my name is Karl Craig-West and I started Smashing Self-Employment to help small businesses grow.
I do this by sharing business growth tips and ideas on my YouTube channel and by providing my marketing expertise on a freelance basis.
If you need help with business growth I can offer access agency-level marketing expertise without you having to pay the agency level fees.
But what makes me qualified to do this?
Well, I’ve been self-employed (on and off) since I was 19 years old when I started a little property maintenance business.
I’ve had some great success, plenty of failure, made loads of business mistakes and learned loads of stuff along the way.
In 2008 the training business I owned at the time failed (thanks to the global financial meltdown) and I had to declare bankruptcy. That wasn’t fun.
However, my next venture (a web design business) went on to win awards for “most innovative small company” and “fastest growing marketing agency” in 2015/16.
We created a marketing plan that enabled us to double our month-on-month sales in just under a year and put us head-and-shoulders above the competition.
In 2017 I published the book Smashing Self-Employment which has since become a small-business best-seller.
You can buy a copy here : https://amazon.com/SSEbook
I sold the web design business in 2020 (along with an events business I’d recently bought) ahead of a move from Leicester in England to Auckland in New Zealand and now I’m in Fiji.
So, if you’re self employed or running a small business, and would like some help with marketing, then get in touch and we’ll arrange a call to see how I can help.
Email: karl@smashingselfemployment.com
Call: +64 272 647 222

Karl Craig-West
Freelance Marketer and Marketing Trainer
Latest Articles to Help You and Your Business
8 great reasons to use Youtube in your marketing
You should definitely use Youtube in your marketing because it’s the unsung hero of social media marketing. Find out why in this post & video
9 Top self-employment tips from a successful social media marketing specialist
And this episode of the Smashing podcast Libby Langley shares self-employment tips and what you can do to make your life and business better.
Why you should keep in touch with customers and contacts
It’s almost a given that you should keep in touch with customers and contacts in business. However, many small...
3 simple ideas to help you and your business flow
3 simple ideas to help you and your business flow! Check out these simple, but powerful, ideas that can help you get more customers and get more done.
Why you shouldn’t be into every marketing channel
You don’t have to be into every marketing channel to reach customers. Read this post (& video) on how to make marketing work by doing less.
Top business tips from a successful self-employed graphic designer
In this blog post and podcast episode we interview Clare McCabe of Purple Star Design where Clare shares her top tips for being in business for nearly 20 years and becoming a successful self-employed graphic designer.
How to take a holiday when you’re self-employed
It can be very stressful to take a holiday when you’re self-employed. Largely because the business is your thing...
The best bit of marketing advice EVER!
This simple bit of marketing advice has helped me and loads of my clients seriously increase marketing results. In...
Do this if you want to get more done!
When you’re self-employed it’s important to focus and get stuff done. So here’s a simple idea that will enable you to get more done.