#18906
Protect Yourself: Write a Contract 
For independent consultants, contractors, and business owners, operating with contracts is paramount to your success. Contracts permit you to define the project, how it will be completed, and how you will be paid. They offer methods of restitution should things not proceed as planned or anticipated. Contracts also demonstrate how serious you are about yourself and your client, and make a profound statement about your professionalism. Contracts are not to be taken lightly. Never go it alone; always have a competent lawyer review and provide legal advice when writing a contract or before agreeing to any terms dictated by your client. This paper presents a number of terms and conditions for your consideration.
Maggiani, Rich. STC Proceedings (2002). Careers>Consulting>Legal
#10052
For consultants and independent technical communication contractors, keeping your eyes and ears open will go a long way toward keeping you busy.
#27577
Your requirements will assist you in delivering a software solution that meets your users' needs. You can find all sorts of templates and formal processes for requirements of various kinds, and while they are useful, the biggest problem I've found is that most people confuse defining the need with proposing a solution. As soon as a requirements document contains any part of 'how we're solving this', you've crossed the line into presupposing that you already know what the problem is and can stop listening.
Ferlazzo, Ellen Lawson. Sprezzatura Systems (2002). Careers>Consulting>Specifications
#24917
Rules of the Game: Contract Consulting and Negotiating Skills
A panel of experts will discuss how negotiating with vendors, business partners, peers, or employees can turn differences to mutual gain. Whether the technical communicators finds professional fulfillment and financial success from permanent or contract employment, as an employee or as a manager, the panel will offer suggestions, rules of thumb, and examples of how to optimize success in the work environment. The perspectives offered will be from the viewpoints of the consultant, the contractor, and the organization. Two papers, “Successful Contract Consulting” and “Negotiating Rules for Technical Communicators” provide background for this panel.
Currie, Cynthia C., James T. Currie, Laurie Modrey, and Emily A. Sopensky. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Consulting>Collaboration
#20109
Rural Telecommuting: Making It Work for You
Employees and independent contractors working at home are freed from the need for proximity to their company by modern communications tools. The path is open to consider locating your home office away from urban areas. This workshop describes some of the many issues one person considered and faced while moving to a rural office-home three years ago. Find out what worked, what didn’t work, what the surprises were, and how to evaluate and plan for your move.
Johnson, Norton R. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Telecommuting>Consulting
#19585
Schmoozing for Profit: Choose Your Event Carefully, then Start Working the Room
Two short years after the fortunes of many high-tech companies have all but dried up, Peter Zvalo discusses how schmoozing can ease the challenge of marketing technical documentation services.
Zvalo, Peter. Writer's Block (2002). Careers>Consulting>Marketing
#13265
Before you get too deeply into establishing your firm, you will need to surround yourself with business professionals who have seen all this before. Putting time and research into the process of selecting these professionals can lead to trusting business relationships that will last for years. Web design firms can count on needing at least an accountant, an attorney and a bank. Corporations will also need a registered agent if they are incorporating outside the state where the business is conducted. Some portions are repeated between professionals since the processes of selecting them are similar.
Kramer, Scott. List Apart, A (2001). Careers>Consulting>Web Design
#13189
When you establish yourself as an independent contractor or consultant, you must choose the type of legal entity that your business will be. The decision to incorporate should not be made without first understanding the implications. In making this decision, some issues to consider are taxation, liability, control, and simplicity.
Flanders, Melanie G. STC Proceedings (2001). Careers>Consulting>Management
#30552
Six Tips for Consulting Success 
How do you get on a consulting agency's 'call-me-first' list? The tips provided in this article are a good place to start.
Gotsill, Gina. Intercom (2007). Careers>Consulting
#19527
So You Want to Get Paid on Time? Here's How to Make It Happen
'I love everything about being self-employed--except for waiting to get paid! My paychecks never seem to arrive on time. Sometimes my clients forget to send my invoices to Accounts Payable or the invoices get misplaced; other times the process just bogs down and takes forever. Whatever the reason, I'm stuck waiting for checks that don't come.' This article addresses the question: How can I get my clients to pay on time?
Fugate, Alice E. TECHWR-L (2003). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#28799
You've got thirty seconds to sell your work to the well dressed nemesis who's paying you. Handle the next few moments gracefully, and the project will be one you can be proud of. Flub an answer, and you can kiss excellence goodbye. Are you prepared? Can you deliver?
Sleight, David. List Apart, A (2007). Careers>Consulting>Business Communication
#20366
Starting a Business: Advice from the Trenches
Did that last 'fire your boss' spam push you over the edge? Do your wish-fulfillment dreams revolve around letterhead, legal entities, and avoiding arrest for tax evasion? If you’re crazy enough to start your own business, Kevin Potts wants you to learn from his mistakes.
Potts, Kevin. List Apart, A (2003). Careers>Management>Consulting
#21243
Successful Contract Consulting
Many technical communicators are venturing into the world of independent contract consulting. Some have taken the bold step on their own initiative and others have been unwillingly pushed out of the corporate nest. In today’s working environment, numerous technical communicators have found that the key to professional fulfillment and financial successful is contract employment.
Currie, Cynthia C. and James T. Currie. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Consulting
#24301
Successful Independent Consulting Workshop
To succeed as an independent consultant, technical communicators must master basic business concepts. These include properly setting up the business, marketing, and understanding basic contracts. When setting up their business, independent consultants must consider the legal form of their business, required licensees, insurance, retirement plans, and industry going rates. Marketing methods are divided into passive and active techniques. Independent consultants must know how to market to two main channels: agencies and direct clients.
Florzak, Douglas. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#18760
Successful Independent Consulting Workshop
To succeed as an independent consultant, technical communicators must master basic business concepts. This workshop focuses primarily on the set up and marketing of a technical communication consulting business. When setting up their business, independent consultants must consider the legal form of their business, required licensees, insurance, retirement plans, and industry going rates. Marketing methods are divided into passive and active techniques. Independent consultants must know how to market to two main channels: agencies and direct clients.
Florzak, Douglas. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Consulting>TC
#28194
Surviving Life as a Contractor 
One of the biggest temptations as an independent is to watch the money roll in and just focus on the number in your bank account. If you are incorporated, then you know the importance of strict accounting; out of that number, you have to take into account corporate taxes as well as personal income tax. However, if you are a sole proprietor or undeclared, you only have to take into consideration personal tax withholdings and the other associated costs (insurance, retirement, etc.), right? Wrong. In both cases, it's important to set aside a portion of your earnings in a savings account for rainy days.
Torres, Derek. TECHWR-L (2006). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#29915
Surviving the Project from Hell
What was supposed to be a six-week out-of-town technical writing assignment became nine months of torture. Mired in poor planning, wasteful spending, unbearable working conditions and internal politics, the project resulted in bankruptcy for one company and unused user documentation for another. I survived the project by seeking ways to keep up my personal morale. This included regular exercise, organizing special dinners with co-workers and involvement in local activities.
Utz, Dana. STC Proceedings (2002). Careers>Consulting>Case Studies
#13529
Technical Communication Consulting as a Business 
To be a successful technical communication consultant requires expertise in two critical areas: technical communication and running a small business. The main reason many technical communicators (and many technical professionals in general) fail as consultants is that they focus exclusively on the first aspect and neglect the second. As employees, they are accustomed to keeping current with new and emerging trends in technical communications. However, as employees they have never needed to learn or maintain currency with the myriad of issues involved in running a small business. It requires a balance of both aspects to be successful as a consultant or a contractor.
Poe, Stephen D. Technical Communication Online (2002). Careers>Consulting
#23776
The Technical Communicator as Strategic Consulting Partner
Service-based. Needs-based. Relationship-based. Trust-based. These are the types of relationships that can exist between you and your clients. As a technical communicator, you will likely have relationships at the service and need-based levels, perhaps even at the relationship-based level. To truly have bottom line impact for your client, however, you need to have that trust-based relationship. How do you get to the trust-based level? This paper describes the role of the technical communicator as strategic consulting partner, a trust-based relationship for sure, and provides some practical approaches to getting there.
Currie, Cynthia C. and Kristen J. Erickson. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Consulting
#15217
Trends in Technical Communication: An Independent's View
Responding to articles from a previous issue of Intercom, Frick reacts to professional trends that affect her independent consulting business.
Frick, Elizabeth A. 'Betsy'. Intercom (2000). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#18581
Usability Consultants Tapped to Untangle Web Sites
Having a beautiful Web site with all the latest sales technology won’t help your business if visitors can’t find their way around. But how can you fix navigation problems when exploring your Web site seems as confusing as tracing a single strand in a plate of spaghetti?
Wagner, Mitch. BtoB (2002). Careers>Consulting>Usability
#29289
User Assistance Walkthroughs: Helping Best Practices Emerge
In my previous job as a UX designer, I learned the value of collaborative design walkthroughs. During walkthroughs, the UX designer would step through a user scenario--using the wireframes or mid-fidelity prototypes--with a cross-disciplinary team comprising product management, other UX designers, business analysts, developers, product testers, and technical communicators.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2007). Careers>Consulting>Design
#23123
Vetting Clients For Peace of Mind
Landing a new client is a great thrill -- unless you discover he or she is dreadful to work with or fails to pay you promptly -- or pay at all. Here are some questions designed to help you prevent nasty client surprises before the hard work begins.
Adams, Eric J. Creative Pro (2004). Careers>Consulting
#10548
What Makes Those Damn Clients So Difficult?
You know the old saying: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The same holds true in dealing with clients. Oh sure, Atilla the Hun is out there, but he or she is an infinitesimal minority. (If you're at that point, see Firing Atilla the Hun.) In actual fact, most of those downright ugly client situations stem from a host of reasons other than the client themselves: lack of planning and communication, poor listening skills, over-promises and unmet expectations, over-confidence and lack of self-confidence, and lack of motivation--on either side. Another reason why some clients can seem so difficult to deal with is because they're people. Sound silly? Believe it or not, it's often overlooked when our main focus is 'the project,' the work at hand.
Cummings, Wanda. Digital Web Magazine (2000). Careers>Consulting
#26238
What to Do When a Prospective Client Doesn't Respond to Your Proposal
These days, it seems to be the way more and more very busy people are simply saying 'Not right now.' So what do you do about it? Do you leave the ball in their court and just sit around waiting for them to hit it back? Of course not.
Benun, Ilise. Usability Professionals Association (2005). Careers>Consulting
