Instigator Blog

You’ve just decided to leave your job. Or maybe you’re moonlighting. Either way you’re out there, offering your services to the highest bidder. Congrats!

The world of consulting and freelancing is a vast, mercurial place filled with all sorts of opportunities. But there’s danger lurking about as well. When you first jump into the game, eager for that first contract, you can find yourself in trouble with difficult clients, overblown projects, time constraints and more.

Here are 10 tips to help new consultants and freelancers get a headstart:

1. Set Expectations As Clearly As Possible. This is harder than it sounds. Clients are notoriously bad listeners. They want the moon, but they want to pay in loose change. Or they don’t quite know what they want but they want a super-accurate quote. Your job as a consultant or freelancer is to explain what you’re going to do and for how much and in what time frame as clearly as you possibly can. Write it down. Tell them. Repeat yourself. Write some more. Get them to sign proposals and specifications.
2. Get Money Upfront. Always ask for a percentage of the contract upfront - to be paid before you start. A decent amount is 25% or 33%, but even 10% of the contract in your bank account before you do a lick of work is better than nothing. You’ll have to ask for it to get it, very few clients will hand it over.
3. Make Sure Payment Terms Are Agreed On. There are two key elements when it comes to payment terms — (1) When you can invoice, and (2) When they’ll pay. Setup a payment schedule and make sure you know their payment terms. Oftentimes it’ll be Net 15 or Net 30 - which means they’ll pay an invoice in 15 or 30 days, but some companies have 45 or 60 day terms (which are not good for you!)
4. Get Expenses Paid For. Try and get the client to cover your expenses. The most common would be travel costs. There may also be specialized equipment needed to do a job, or other things you need to purchase. A web designer might need to purchase some stock photography, for example. If you can’t get this stuff paid for, consider increasing your contract price to cover any expenses you foresee.
5. Be Ready To Stop Work If You Don’t Get Paid. This is tough because it’s the start of a souring relationship, but you’re not a volunteer. You might consider having something in the contract/agreement that clearly stipulates work stoppages upon non-payment. Or, you leave it open-ended, at your discretion; but be mentally prepared and tough enough to tell the client, “No money, no work.”
6. Get a Testimonial or Reference During the Project. You don’t have to wait for the end of the project to ask for a testimonial or reference. Hit ‘em up in the middle, assuming things are going well and you’re getting positive reviews from the client. How do you get a testimonial? You ask. Sounds silly, but it’s true.
7. Track Your Time. Even if the client isn’t expecting timesheets from you, track your time anyway. Do it for your own understanding of how long things take. Do it so you’ll get more accurate at pricing projects (cause you’ll probably be lousy at it for awhile.) Do it in case a client demands justification for work you’ve done.
8. Don’t Ignore Client Communication. Managing and communicating actively with clients is critical to success as a consultant or freelancer. It’s not enough to do the work. They’ll want updates, status reports, etc. The more handholding you can do — without it consuming too much time and taking away from getting your work done — the better. A well-updated client is generally a happier one, even if you’re bringing them bad news, because they’ll feel on top of the situation and more in control.
9. Network Within the Organization. It’s always a good idea to inculcate yourself as deeply into your client’s organization as possible. If you’re hired by a District Manager, try and get introduced to her boss or other District Managers. The more connections you have the better. For starters it can lead to more work. It can also help in situations where your primary contact disappears - maybe they quit, get transferred / promoted, etc. Lots of opportunity is lost by consultants and freelancers when they’ve only got one contact in an organization and that contact is no longer in a position to hire them.
10. Document Everything. The more you track - in writing - the better protected you are in almost every imaginable circumstance. Miscommunications can be minimized and disasters can be contained by documented proof of what’s going on. As well, documentation is a valuable asset for setting clear expectations, defining goals and understanding project scope. Just write it all down.

Being a consultant or freelancer can be one of the most rewarding professional experiences. You’re an entrepreneur, growing a business. Opportunity abounds. You finally get to take your expertise and leverage it the way you want.

But it’s a learning process. Sometimes it can be a fairly steep learning curve, and you have to be prepared for that.

No matter what you do, you can’t create more time.

It’s why the idea of working smarter not harder is so popular. It’s why there are millions of productivity websites, blogs, books, guides and gurus. People argue over the semantics of “time management” constantly … can time really be managed? If you can’t control time, or stop it, or create more of it, how can it be managed? If a tree falls in the forest…so on and so forth.

When it comes to running a successful service-based business the key factor with respect to time is understanding how long things really take to do.

If you can get a handle on that, you can start to grow a more successful business.

And even if you think you know how long things take, measure it properly anyway. You’ll likely be quite surprised. People always underestimate how long things take. When you consider all the time involved in doing a project — closing the sale, client management, doing the work, testing, client review, customer support, etc. — it all adds up.

Once you have a better sense of how long things are taking to do, you have the information you need to:

1. Improve productivity. You’ll discover the inefficiencies and be able to focus on eliminating them more quickly. Trying to attack productivity with a nuclear bomb is pointless; you need a laser-guided missile.
2. Analyze your cost structure. More than likely, as you get busier, and you see how long things are really taking, you’re going to look at raising your prices. Go for it. You should.

The result of being more productive and raising prices is more money in your pocket for less work. And in the service business that’s exactly where you want to be.

Image by pinoy bart

While looking at some contemporary rugs on the Home Depot website I came across a few comments that looked suspicious.

Let me preface this quickly — having communication features like comments and reviews on e-commerce sites is great. I often look at the reviews and ratings before digging into product details, because there may be some wisdom in the crowds worth picking up on. If 400 people say one wireless router is better than another, there has to be some value there. Same holds true for all kinds of products, including books. Amazon.com gets lots of people leaving detailed, valuable reviews. So what about rugs?

Well, here are the 3 comments that stood out for me, and you can decide:

Rug #1
“I was looking everywhere for a multi-coloured rug for a small budget–and saw this one online, went to home depot the next day to look at it and it is better in real life–love the fact that there is matching smaller rugs too.” - Sudbury gal, January 12, 2007

Rug #2
“My husband and I were searching for a new area rug, and we could not find anything we liked for a smaller budget. But then I found this rug online. I went to the Home Depot the next day to see it, and it was better than the picture! This rug is nice and dark, with lots of great patterns. We get compliments on it all the time! To find an area rug this size for this price is extremly hard, but we could not be happier with our purchase!” - Great rug, great price!, November 28, 2006 / By Small town gal from Saskatchewan

Rug #3
“My husband and I were searching for a new area rug, and we could not find anything we liked for a smaller budget. But then I found this rug online. I went to the Home Depot the next day to see it, and it was better than the picture! This rug is nice and dark, with lots of great patterns. We get compliments on it all the time! To find an area rug this size for this price is extremly hard, but we could not be happier with our purchase!” - Great Rug! Great Price!, January 5, 2007 / By Sally from Toronto

I suppose it could be the same person who made all three comments. It’s not uncommon for people to move three times in the span of three months right? So she was in Saskatchewan, then hopped over to Toronto, decided that wasn’t for her and moved to Sudbury…And of course she only identified herself as “Sally” while living in Toronto.

Something is amiss.

My first reaction was, “Someone at Home Depot is putting in bogus comments.” Is that possible? Would they bother?

I noticed very few comments in the rugs section; maybe someone at Home Depot decided to fill in a few holes and make the site look less dead.

My next thought was that it was an overzealous manufacturer trying to pimp their own carpets - but all three of the carpets are made by different companies.

So I’m back to wondering about Home Depot and whether they’d try and scam people by posting fake comments. Maybe its a coincidence or someone being stupid, but it’s definitely a mystery, and something smells distinctly fishy.

What do you guys think?

Giving good presentations is hard. Public speaking is a true skill that you can develop over time; a combination of art and science. Thinking about my upcoming presentation in May for SOBCon 07 - The Relationship Bloggers’ Conference, I can’t help but hone in on those words I know don’t belong.

• MAKE SOME NOISE!!! Unless you’re at the MTV Music Awards this isn’t much of a crowd pleaser. The key point is this: Know Thy Audience. Your audience should dictate your style, approach, the words you use, etc. If you can’t modify your pitch to your audience you’ll turn people off quicker than you can say…
• Um… The dreaded “um” is so commonplace in our speech we often overlook it. But when you’re standing in front of a crowd, selling ‘em whatever you’re selling ‘em (and don’t be mistaken: you ARE selling) too many “ums” shows a lack of preparedness and comfort.
• Did That Make Sense? Actually, it didn’t. And on top of that, because you had to ask me I’m so disengaged at this point that I’ve started playing a game on my BlackBerry. The key here: Practice. Do it in front of a mirror. Do it in the shower. Do it in front of others. Do it in public. If you present in front of friends and family who aren’t in your field of expertise and they get it, you’ve got yourself a winner.
• What Else Can I Show You? I don’t know, you tell me, that’s why you’re standing up there on the stage and I’m sitting here eagerly in the crowd. Presentations are stories - they need a beginning, middle and end. It doesn’t matter the setting, format or style of presentation/conference/meeting. If you’re standing in front of people and telling them something, you’re spinning a story. And that means it needs all the elements of a good one.
• I Guess That’s It. Well is that the end or not? You would know better than me. Blog professionals often talk about ending strongly, and the same holds true when giving a presentation. Even saying, “That’s the end” is kind of lame - your final point (and the entire presentation arc) should make it obvious enough, and you should be able to transition instantly into the next step - be it questions, slinking off the stage, hours of clapping…

So, I guess that’s it.

Kidding.

Public speaking is the sort of thing that makes grown men cry, and buckles people to their knees. We all know it’s daunting, which is all the more reason to master the 4 Ps of Presentations:

1. Prepare. You might not need a word-for-word script, but prepare something. Make sure your story is compelling, entertaining and worth listening to.
2. Practice. You need to practice. Even veteran presenters practice. Make sure you at least read it out loud a few times to develop a good rhythm.
3. Pronunciate. You need to speak clearly. There’s no room for mumbling in a presentation. Let me toss another P in there - Project. Speak clearly and firmly to get your point across.
4. Participate. You should always try to engage your audience. The sooner they feel like they’re part of what you’re doing, the better.

100 years ago companies started putting job ads in newspapers. They still do, although much less.

That’s because they’re putting those same job ads online. The Internet took hold offering hundreds of places employers could post their job ads.

So what?

Compare a job ad from 100 years ago to a job ad today and they’ll look almost identical. The buzzwords have changed, but the format, style and general dullness have not.

Here are 9 signs the online job market is broken:

1. Companies can’t differentiate themselves. Almost every online job ad looks the same. There’s a few reasons for that. Online job sites don’t offer any way for companies to stand out. And employers look at what everyone else is doing and do the same thing. Job ads are written by HR departments, which means they’re buzzword-laden and generic. “Unique offerings. World-class team. Fast paced. A leader in…” Oops, sorry about that. Did you fall asleep on me?

Wait, I’m not finished. “We need 5 years experience in Java. 2 years experience in HTML. A university degree in something relevant.”

I love this: “The people that we continually seek are highly motivated, bright, and growth oriented.” As opposed to unmotivated, stupid and stunted?

2. Job sites like Monster.com are loaded with too much spam. When looking for work, the two best opportunities are through recruiters or anonymous companies on Monster.com. Right? Too much junk, too much spam and no way for a candidate to get through it all easily.
3. Jobster.com now offers free job postings. They couldn’t figure out how to get people to pay for them, so they offered job postings for free. My take: They should be free. They’re largely worthless.
4. Niche job boards don’t offer enough. Niche job boards are a response to the massive job sites out there. That’s a sign people realize the job market is broken. The problem is that niche job boards aren’t the answer. We’ve seen plenty of niche job boards spring up. At least they’re targeted, but the job ads are still the same, boring stuff.

   And now, anyone can put up a job board on their site or blog. Companies like JobCoin and JobThread make it insanely easy. But so what? What’s the difference? Where’s the advantage?

5. The best candidates aren’t surfing job sites looking for work. The top talent doesn’t spend time surfing job websites for fun. They’ve already got jobs. They’re busy. And even if they find themselves unemployed, you can be sure they don’t spend much time surfing for work. They know how to stand out, and they’re busy making that clear through referrals and their network of contacts.
6. It’s too easy for candidates to apply. Technology is a wonderful thing. There are millions of examples of technology making our lives easier. When it comes to applying for a job, it’s now too easy. Someone can apply for hundreds of jobs with a few mouse clicks. Boilerplate cover letter, standard resume…click, click, click, click. And don’t forget, “references made available upon request.”
7. It’s too hard for employers to assess talent. The result of everyone on the planet applying for every single job is that employers spend insane amounts of time filtering resumes. And in a global marketplace where you know nearly nothing about the educational institutions or companies in foreign countries, it’s almost impossible to pick out the best candidates. Employers do what they can to filter out the crap. And they’ll catch most of it, but not all of it. And they’ll lose some good ones in the process.
8. Companies use the services because they’re there, not because they work. Job websites continue to make money because they’re there. Not because they work. Employers are at a loss for what to do. They’ll try anything. And they’ll keep trying it by default. It’s almost automatic. You’ve got a job opening, you go through the routine: post on the job websites, ask your friends, hit up a job fair or two, etc. You can just picture the HR people asking themselves, “We know the job sites don’t work, but what if, just this one time, we miss a killer candidate by not posting?”
9. Lots of money and time is going into the online job market space. The job market is hot. SimplyHired. Jobster. itzBig. Indeed. CareerBuilder. In July 2006 it was announced that Jobster took $18 million more in financing (hitting around $50 million.) Lots of money, lots of energy.

   And let’s not forget - people are talking about the problems in the online job market. Steve Poland wrote: Online Job Hunt 10 Years Later - Still Sucks.

My good friend, Austin Hill, is looking to hire people for his new startup company, dubbed “Project Ojibwe.” He’s looking for a Python Wrangler. Instead of just telling you what he wants (and boring you with the same job ad everyone else is writing), Austin filmed a video job ad. He’s trying to show you want he’s looking for.