Update & The Experience of You
Hope this finds you at the end of a great week!
I noticed buds on some trees and flowers starting to poke through the soil here in the Midwest which makes me smile.?
I also noticed one of my favorite Independent Talent reports from Business Talent Group pop up in my inbox, which I am going to cover in an upcoming newsletter.
If you want to read it for yourself here’s the link: 2022 High-End Independent Talent Report
When you sign up for the report you will get a follow up email to the latest “Skills Index” which tracks the most in demand skillsets over the past few years.?
Like any economic report, the data can be a bit cumbersome.
If you prefer to wait a couple weeks for the Cliff Notes overview of what this means for higher skill set independent workers don’t worry…
I have you covered… ??
Market Update
Another week, another crazy schedule of calls, Zooms, and an actual IHF lunch…
IHF is my new Trademarked acronym for “In Human Form” and holy cow is it ever the best!
I spent a lot of my in between time consuming articles, podcasts, and white papers on the Future of Work / Independent space and this week a couple things became crystal clear:
So, what does that mean to you as an Independent Consultant or a worker in general?
It means leverage…?
In order to understand how much leverage you have you need to assess the specific market for your skillset.
In general, the LOWER the supply of a skillset equals MORE leverage.
But tread lightly Padawan… One thing you need to be careful of as you approach a company for an increase in rate/salary or concessions on what “hybrid” means to your schedule is not going too far.
Too much pressure/expectation turns the other party off.
Even if you have leverage in the short run, when the market turns the other way are the people / companies you negotiated with going to remember your prima donna-ness?
Personal brand is as important as nearly anything else you bring to the table in the career game, especially as an Independent.
Which brings us to the topic of this week’s Next Gig newsletter: The Experience of You.
Your Personal Brand
Most higher skillset Independent’s are in their mid-to-late career and spent the last 15+ years as permanent employees in 1-3 organizations.?Within the ecosystem of your company, you likely built relationships on a personal level and through your work product.
For most consultants I meet, they were always the internal employee who became the “project person” when something popped up like a system installation, M&A activity or a broken process needed to be fixed.
When you start out in the world of independent consulting, your personal brand to date is only going to get you so far and is limited to those who interfaced with you in the past.
One of the heaviest lifts you are going to face in the beginning of your independent journey is to educate the market (clients, network/referral partners, intermediaries) on YOU.
Prior to going on your education tour you need to do three things:
These are the three ingredients that will help you bake a delicious cake for market consumption…
领英推荐
Now that you have the market salivating, it’s time to focus on reducing friction in the process of working with you.
Reducing Friction
To reduce friction in the process of working with you as an Independent, you need to look at the interaction points with clients and third parties:
Each one of these interaction points is an opportunity to enhance your personal brand by making it easy for your client or third party to work with you.
The easier you are to work with, the greater your leverage and the more opportunities will come your way.
Remember, when a client or intermediary comes to the market for project / interim talent, they need it yesterday.?
If you are a consultant who doesn’t have an update profile, or hasn’t communicated your availability, you are going to lose out to the consultant who have their act together.
Those with the lowest friction…
If working through Intermediaries is your main strategy in sourcing work, you will be able to demand a higher hourly rate if you are the easiest consultant to work with in their pool.
And everyone at the intermediary will want you working for them… ??
If going direct to clients is more your jam, the easier you make it to work with you, the more work will come your way from the client and their referrals.
Reducing friction in the process of working with you makes life better for the client which equals more leverage for you over time.
Fair warning, you will need to invest a good amount of time to optimize your profile, pitches and processes, but the good news is once you build, it is much easier to maintain.?
The Experience of You
When you are out on your own as an Independent you have a tremendous opportunity to design an experienced around you.
It is a slight shift in thinking from your corporate days when the focus was on the Mission, Vision, Value and experience of working for a company there to serve clients.
If you think about your favorite customers or vendors, what was it about the experience working with them that elevated their status?
Did the best customers you worked with get favorable terms??More of the entertainment budget? Potential joint venture consideration?
In order to optimize the Experience of You in the market for Independent talent take a look at your interaction points and find ways to make it easier (and a delight!) to work with you.
?This small investment WILL pay huge dividends over time via higher billing rates, more referrals and reduced bench time.
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Thanks for reading and if you have any comments, questions, or witty commentary (!) please let us know in the comments below.
All the best!
~?Roger
Roger Lumpp?spends his working hours hunting opportunities for independent workers in the Chicago market. He is the creator and host of?The Next Pro Gig Podcast?which empowers independent/freelance workers of all disciplines with the tools, frameworks, knowledge and ideas to help them thrive in their careers as independent prof.?He firmly believes WORKERS will gain more and more control over the independent employment conversation as we move into the “future of work” and is fully committed to helping aspiring, new and tenured independents maximize their go-to-market strategies to find their next gig, FASTER.?