How to be a compensated connector

It seems more and more people are becoming part of the gig economy, either part-time or full time, and?1099 docs are no exception. ?Many are becoming consultants, advisors, speakers, bloggers, social influencers, infomediaries and coaches. I'm one of them.

I get compensated as a connector by:

1. Advising and consulting or being a member of a company management team
2. Referral fees
3. Writing blogs
4. Authoring or editing books
5. Public speaking, keynoting
6. Teaching
7. Coaching
8. Equity interests
9. Startup partner or cofounder
10. Strategic partnerships
11. Side gigs
12. Board director
13. Writing newsletters

Stop networking and start connecting.

Connectors are more likely to get promoted and win bigger bonuses. In one study of M.B.A. students, those who acted as brokers between cliques were twice as likely to get the best job offers upon graduating.

Your networking journey should go from who you know, to who knows you, to how you can connect those who don't know each other.

The key is to give before you ask.

Most physicians don’t go to medical school and endure the rigors of residency with the intention of only working part time when they get into practice. These days, however, an increasing number of physicians are doing just that. Part-time physicians now make up 21% of the workforce, compared with 13% in 2005, the recent Cejka Search/American Medical Group Management Retention Survey found. And among those part-time physicians, the fastest growing segments are men approaching retirement age and women in early to mid-career. This data suggests that the old stereotype of the hard-driving, perennially exhausted physician who always puts patient concerns before personal ones, spending little time with family, is waning.

Here are some tips on building a consulting business ?and the?pros and cons of doing it.

Building a network has a lot of tangible and intangible benefits. The most obvious tangible one is you get to make more money and meet a lot of interesting people you can help, and , given the pervasiveness of social media, how many people are in your electronic Rolodex simply depends on how much time you want to spend clicking buttons. These days these?kinds of people are called social media influencers.

The one thing?you don't want to do is be a yenta, ?a gossip or complainer that has a negative connotation.?The correct term for a Jewish matchmaker is?shadchanit?for a woman,?shadchan?for a man. A two sided market, like a dating service, is common in sickcare and by being a connector, you can help people and make a few bucks on the side. Examples include matching physician entrepreneurs with startup founders, creating innovation ecosystems matching stakeholders with other stakeholders and investor networks matching investors with entrepreneurs.

However, in addition, to the intangibles,?you can monetize your network either directly or indirectly. Here's how:

1.?Build network value and trust, not numbers. ?As noted, almost anyone can post big follower numbers, but, when it comes to asking for something or getting people to pay you, that depends on trust and the depth of the relationship

2. Find out what a your potential clients need. Like all products and services, the value of your network is user defined. For example, some will pay you to be an advisor because they think you can connect them to your network, open doors or make introductions to people who might want to use their products, help design them, finance them or provide strategic direction. Others want your help to find talent for their emerging company. Others want help finding a job. When they get it, they usually don't forget to dance who brung 'em.?Here are the 7Ms of being an advisor . ?Some might want you to be an?innovation mercenary.

3. Don't expect payment to come immediately?Building your network should be a long term investment , not a way to sell something once someone joins your LinkedIn network. For example, you never know who might be interested in investing in your startup venture or product 3 years from now.?

4. Define your interests. Don't expect payment to come to you directly in the form of cash. In exchange for your acting as a maven, connector, or salesperson,some will donate or give money to a charity, organization or third party you support or barter for products or services in exchange for your help.

5. Remember, charity begins at home. Being a compensated connector means asking for and negotiating the amount and terms of how and how much someone is willing to compensate you. Some will agree to success fees.?Others might pay you in options or other forms of equity. A regularly scheduled cash payment is another option.

6. Be sure you disclose and make transparent conflicts of interest, particularly if you have a stable of clients in your network portfolio

7. Walk before you run. There are escalating levels of engagement. Use uncompensated ways to test and prove your value that might result in more compensated involvement e,g, agreeing to connect someone to another on social media with an introductory note.?Advisory roles can be informal, where you look out for threats and opportunities and send a "heads up"?to someone who should know, or more formal, i.e. serving on an Adviory Committee or Board, which would be compensated.

8. There are many ways to?participate in the sick care gig economy . Don't be surprised when one gig leads to the next since nothing succeeds like success.

9. You can do this any time during your career, from the first day of practice to?your first day or rewire-ment.

10. Having Plan B should be part of your?10/20/30 plan

11.Another way to make money is to blog. ?

12.?Here are some tips on how to be a coach or consultant ?either as part of your portfolio career or an encore career.

13.?You will also need to determine your fee ?and you won't make as much gross income as a freelancer as you probably work fewer, more flexible hours. There are three parts to your revenue model-how, when (vesting if options) and how much you get paid. There might be times when working for options or equity alone might be unattractive, but there are reasons for doing it anyway. For example, it might help achieve your purpose later in life, you connect to others involved in the project who might want to pay you to do something else, you like the vision and mission of the client or company and it keeps you involved.

14. When it comes to being an influencer,?there is actually too much of a good thing. ?A microinfluencer is someone with 1,000-10,000 followers. Why? "People connect with microinfluencers because of their authenticity and honest perspective. They feel as if they are a person just like them. And with authenticity at the core of what brands desire, they've started looking more toward smaller influencers with higher engagement rates."

15.. What should you charge for all this??Of course, it depends, but you should play a little hard to get.

16.?Decide when to walk away. ?Base the decision on value and compensation i.e. the cost benefit

17. Get paid to speak. If the person inviting you refuses,?then here are some options. ?If those are not valuable at your stage, then decide whether the benefits outweigh the tangible and intangible costs. The same applies to writing articles on social media or journals.

18,?Here is how to make money writing a technology entrepreneurship blog

Here are more things about being an influencer you should know.

Models include compensation in cash and/or equity, project-based compensation, success fees for accomplishing certain benchmarks, and periodic payments for participating in meetings or events

Be sure to negotiate your compensation. ?Here is a no BS Guide to startup options.

For a start, take your cash compensation and divide it by 250(which is the number of billable days after factoring in vacations, sick time, and typical downtime) and then add 25%–50%. Then take that figure, compare it with the rates you’ve gotten from your network, and find a middle-ground number you can float as an experiment and then adjust based on feedback from potential clients.?

In most instances, you will be paid in cash, equity or a combination of the two. Be sure you have some kind of?advisory service agreement ?that defines the scope of work.

?Here are four things to keep in mind to become more comfortable charging what you’re worth.

14. Advisors can be informal or formal. Informal advisors are connectors or others in the community who offer themselves as pro bono resources. Formal advisors get paid to do specific things the role as an advisor to the CEO or the Board of Directors or as a member or leader of a more formal advisory board.

15. You might be offered a contingency, referral or success fee, depending on how much business you refer that results in a sale or contract for someone or the company. In addition, beware of?illegal finder arrangements when it comes to raising money. ?Here are some other problems with the?"I eat what you kill" model.

16. Be sure you get paid on time.?Here are some tips on how.

17. Volunteer to work for a nonprofit that satisfies your interests. It is a fast way to get connected to another big community where you can offer and leverage your skills while you are giving back help you create more personal brand equity.

18.?Here are some more tips on how to make a living being a solopreneur

19.?When you consider speaking engagements, define your goals, the likelihood you will achieve them and whether the cost/benefit (travel and honorarium offered, or not) is worth your time and effort.

20.?As you develop your personal brand, be sure to promote it.

21.?Be sure there is a cultural fit

22. Write and speak about your area of expertise . Start doing it for free. Then, once you have developed your personal brand, start charging for your services.?Here's how much to charge.

Here's how to convert free subscribers to your newsletter to paying ones.

23. You won't need a lot of money to get, keep and grow customers. Here are some tips on?how to get clients for your consulting or advisory services.

24.?Learn how to build realtionships with potential clients .

25. Create opportunities where you can be a guide or advisor to people who work in other industries, like?telecommunications, IT, media, ?investment banking or training and development who are interested in expanding their products and services to the sickcare industry and need you to help them navigate the turbulent waters.

Here is how to negotiate your compensation package. Ask open ended questions using the right words.

Here is a tool to help you create your personal business model and build your personal brand.

NB: These techniques do not include sending a blast email to 25000 Linkedin connections or Facebook ads asking them for business.

The value of your network depends on the end user perception of how you can help them and solve their problem. In some instances, scarcity creates value whereby connecting to key people or decision makers and filtering the gate keepers is the goal. For others, "wearing their sneekers" as a key opinion leader means the more people who see them on you the better. In other words, how and how much you get paid will correlate with your brand equity and your negotiating skills. As someone recently told me, you can't buy genius by the hour. You should get compensated for results, not face time or clock punching.

Here is how some people have created single person million dollar businesses.

If you are a manager, it helps to be a connector too.

?An old Chinese saying comes to mind that when you’ve made it 90 percent down the path, you’re halfway to your destination.?That last 10 percent of making the right connections is the other half of your journey.?

AI agents are the latest tool to help you be a better connector or replace you.

Social media increasingly is a part of everyday life. Why not make a few bucks doing it while you are sipping your latte reading this? Stop complaining and?start Merching.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the?Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack and Editor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship