It’s been quiet around this blog! Believe it or not, I am actually home for a few weeks. Last weekend I participated in the annual Pikes Peak Writers Conference – this time as a faculty member. I taught a three-hour “prequel” class to the conference – on the nuts and bolts of nonfiction writing – as well as a workshop,”Working Your Work Into Your Writing,” designed to inspire creative ways to work for oneself as a writer and consultant.
A few days later I had to take my Mac Air into the Apple Store for a repair. It was held hostage until last night!
It was a bit challenging to get writing assignments done this week – yes, my files are in a couple of clouds, but it just didn’t feel the same, trying to write them on an iPad. I was able to get our weekly meal plans sent out – a bit later than usual, and my monthly video didn’t include the fancy touches I usually add when using my movie-making program. I did manage to get the weekly Real World Vegan Meal Plan newsletter out (Why we use soy, gluten, and oils and avoid counting calories) as well as my monthly vegan tips newsletter (Want umami? Fire up that grill!), too.
Tech troubles were an interesting reminder that self-employment means no IT department. That’s a downside.
But the numerous upsides makes it all worth it.
Today I thought I would share the three main points that guided my workshop last week with entrepreneurial writers who are considering self-employment consultancy.
- What do you know how to do right now? This really is the first step. My first consultancy gigs had nothing to do with veganism or health and wellness. They were, however, writing and strategy assignments focused on skills and expertise from 25 years in the nonprofit and higher education sectors. Those first non-passion assignments provided the revenue I needed to grow my passion resume.
- What’s your passion work? What do you want to really do? If you want to teach people how to cook, but you don’t have a resume or references to support getting hired, now is the time to become a student of your hobbies. Take public cooking classes. Take food writing workshops. Volunteer to sous chef for a cooking instructor you admire. This is a way to gain experience that ultimately will build your resume and make the case for hiring. Skills and education are great. So is getting people to talk about you. So:
- Network. Tell everyone you know what you want to do. Some of the best opportunities come from the most unexpected places and people. Simply by talking about my work on my personal Facebook page, I now have private coaching clients referred by high school and college chums whom I have not seen in 20+ years. Sharing my dreams with colleagues led to someone who knows someone who knows someone who could hire me for a year to brainstorm positive food messages in social media. Attending conferences directly resulted in
- My first book deal
- Representing a brand for six months at vegetarian festivals
- Being invited to serve as faculty at a writing conference
- And much, much more.
To start a viable consultancy practice you really do need to know what skills and experiences you have that can demand a decent hourly rate (and how to package those skills and your services). To build a consultancy practice in which you are compensated for doing your heart’s work, build your skills and make experiences by studying that which you love. To grow and sustain your consultancy practice: network, network, network.
Is self-employment for you?
The pros: freedom, joy, variety, and working your personal mission / passion.
The cons: unpredictable income streams / frequency, feeling isolated, new expenses (health insurance, liability insurance, rent, marketing, etc.)
For me, the pros far outweigh the cons. And as a highly structured pragmatic planner, I outlined my business vision / mission, multi-year goals / objectives, and realistic annual revenue / expense expectations. That planning laid the groundwork to a successful business (now three years old!).
Are you considering a career change to focus on your passion? Tell us about it in the comments. Perhaps we can all jump in to support you and your dream!
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You can find my other pieces on how to Professionalize Your Passion here. If you’ve been thinking about taking a leap into your professional passion take a look at my career coaching strategy. I might be able to help!
2 thoughts on “Professionalize Your Passion: Is self-employed consultancy for you?”
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Hi! I’m an editor and technical writer. I’ve gone from freelancer to full-time employee, and now I’m transitioning back into freelancing again. I really admire the business you’ve created and your courage in taking the leap!
Thank you, @nichollecarriere:disqus ! Good luck with your transition back to freelancing. I often wonder what it might be like to go back to working for someone else and it’s a little scary (scarier than working for myself! ha!).