When You Are Your Own Client, Who Are You Going To Make Fun Of At The Bar?

Should your blog have a business? Jim Coudal shares insights into the adventure of transitioning from client services to product creation.

Coudal, Jim. List Apart, A (2005). Careers>Freelance>Consulting>Web Design

Working Through Agencies: Independence or Indentured Servitude?

Many contractors get their starts through job shops or employment agencies. But are agencies on the path to independence or just trading one employer for another? Working through agencies has its pros and cons. Whether an agency contract or two might suit you and fit well with your business plans depends as much on your temperament and your expectations and goals as it does on the agencies you work through and the kinds of assignments you take on.

White, Tom. STC Williamette Valley (2002). Careers>Consulting

Your Clients are Going Global: Can You Keep Up?

As more companies conduct business globally, their printing needs often involve more foreign language translation and typesetting. Being able to meet such growing needs may give your business a major competitive advantage. So, have you considered adding translation and typesetting to your printing offerings? The one-stop convenience may be a major draw for businesses that have frequent dealings overseas. They will most likely choose a printer that can handle everything rather than dividing the work up for several printers to handle. So what do you need to do to get started?

WTB Language Group (2004). Careers>Consulting>Publishing>International

Your Own Best Ad: Promoting Yourself as a Contractor

Most contractors can't afford the time or money to advertise. If they can, there probably aren't many places where an ad would reach potential clients anyway. By default, then, your reputation as a contractor rests on your behavior at each job. Leave a happy client behind at the end of each job, and you'll soon start a word-of-mouth campaign that will keep you employed the rest of your working life.

Byfield, Bruce. TECHWR-L (2008). Careers>Consulting>Freelance>Marketing

Technical Communication and Consulting: The Flat World Alignment Paradigm, or Why Technical Communication Consultants Have Nothing to Fear from Offshoring    

In support of the IEEE Professional Communication Society's 50th anniversary conference, this paper suggests ways in which the technical communication profession can ensure its sustainability throughout the next 50 years of business evolution. This paper seeks to present a compelling argument directed at conventionally-employed technical communicators that a paradigm shift towards consulting employment is in their best interest - and in the technical communication profession's best interest. Because of exposure to many and varied companies and methodologies, technical communication consultants tend to have more wide-ranging and current skills that they can offer to companies over their peers who work in conventional employment arrangements. For this argument, this paper will look at how technical communicator consultants can make significant contributions to business by comparing the attributes of technical communication consultants to the attributes of the untouchables defined and discussed in The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, the maverick analysis of the globalization phenomenon by Thomas L. Friedman.

Davy, D. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2007). Careers>Consulting>Outsourcing>Offshoring

Draw the Line: When and How to Stop Giving Away Professional Advice

People are unabashed about asking for web advice and help related to blogs, social media, networking and other web work because they don’t regard it as a specialized service the way they do with medical and legal expertise. I’m not saying giving away freebies is always a definite no-no, but I do think that as web workers we need to start reinforcing the value of our work by drawing a line between friendly advice and working for free. Here’s how I’m trying to create that demarcation.

Etherington, Darrell. Web Worker Daily (2009). Careers>Consulting>Advice

Consulting By Business College Academics: Lessons for Business Communication Courses    

This article briefly reports on my very preliminary attempt to explore consulting by business academics. I began with a simple question: What lessons might BC instructors draw from the consulting practices of business academics? I interviewed three professors at the business college of a large Midwestern university who also consult on the side: Erin Dawson (a pseudonym), an associate professor of marketing; Thomas Chacko, a professor of management; and Sri Nilakanta, an associate professor of management information systems (MIS). Additionally, I leafed through the marketing plan Erin had written for her client, a local boat manufacturer. Below, I briefly discuss my main preliminary findings.

Dave, Anish M. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Careers>Consulting>Industry and Academy>Ethnographies

Getting to No

A bad client relationship is like a bad marriage without the benefits. To avoid such relationships, or to fix the one you're in, learn the five classic signs of trouble. Recognizing the never-ending contract revisionist, the giant project team, the vanishing boss and other warning signs can help you run successful, angst-free projects.

Hoy, Greg. List Apart, A (2009). Careers>Consulting>Collaboration

Freelance Contracts: Do’s And Don’ts

Drafting a contract that covers you, and doesn’t just enumerate information, is more than important: it is a must. Freelancers do not have the benefit of a legal department dedicated to protecting their interests with a watertight contract. Nevertheless, a freelancer’s contract must be comprehensive, concise and clear. It should outline the scope of the job, scheduling demands, the expectations of both parties and more.

Bowen, Robert. Smashing (2009). Careers>Consulting>Freelance>Contracts

How To Identify and Deal With Different Types Of Clients

In business, being able to read people and quickly get a sense of who you’re dealing with is an invaluable skill. It turns your encounter with a client into an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the upcoming project and how it will need to be handled. It is one of the building blocks of a professional relationship. In today’s digital age, the arena has shifted to the Web, and the online office space that most freelancers inhabit limits personal interaction. Though sussing out a client’s personality via online communication is difficult, it still remains an invaluable tool in your arsenal.

Bowen, Robert. Smashing (2009). Careers>Consulting>Correspondence>Collaboration