Having not lived in NI for that long, I'm not sure if it is normal or not, but I've started seeing more and more cars parked up on verges with for sale signs on them. 6 months ago, there was the odd one and now they seem to be all over the place. Has anyone else noticed this and is it normal? I'm wondering if there are some desperate people out there looking for quick sales or some such?

Yes - there seems to be loads in Castlewellan - including the twin minis. Even cars driving about with big for sale signs on them. I wondered if you followed it home to buy it.

Yeah, I drove through Castlewellan today (on the way back from a positive meeting with Invest NI - will keep you all posted! ) and the verge was lined with them. On the way out of Downpatrick to Belfast, there must have been 4 the other day too.

I've seen people putting a for sale sign in their cars before, but never seen them parked up on random verges with signs on them before!

lol @ following them home though - that would freak them out I bet!

Stop me and buy one!

What sort of business are you starting Traktion?

I'm still keeping it under wraps at the moment, but it's to do with providing content via mobile phones. My main business is web development, but if this project takes off, it promises new and exciting challenges!

The project is in the final pre-release stages, so I should be able to shout about it from the roof tops soon!

EDIT: wine induced typos!

Coolio - I was talking about just that the other day; to more than one person actually. Think it could be the way forward. Not sure how advertising to be hit with recession looming... but bound to be ways to make it profitable. Survival of the fittest and all that. Good luck with final stages!

Actually, I did read a few things about advertising NOT being hit in recessionary times - and just went looking for some such article:

http://www.mactech.com/adsales/recession_marketing/

"When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise."

That's a reassuring link! IMO, I think if the idea is good enough, it should be profitable at any point during the cycle. No doubt I'll be discovering this the hard way one way or another, but Invest NI seem to be able to offer quite a lot of help in assisting with project development. The lady I had the meeting with actually said I should have approached them earlier as they could have helped out - now they tell me! D'oh!

I think mobile tech is going to be a real big growth this year, now the handsets are getting more and more capable. The telocs seem to be waking up on a few fronts too.

Either way, I'll be pushing forward with the project and should be launching within a month, if everything goes according to plan!

Totally agree - if the idea is good enough, and the execution is good enough, that's enough. It's only in times of easy money any fecker can make it. I may be contacting you about content myself at some point..! And could feature you on my website too - let me know if/when you're set up for private messenging.

But not tonight - you've wine to drink, and my neighbour's just offered me free food in return for a car favour - toodle-pip...

Good stuff - will re-read this thread tomorrow!