Hi Barnaby,
Thanks for your emails over the past few months and for your keen support ofself-employed consultancy. I would like to get your e-book but have a couple of questions for you.
I was originally an IT contractor here in the UK with Project Management of a large infrastructure setup being my last major role. The company went belly-up and my contract ended. This was back in 2002 and the IT market was dire so a colleague of mine and I set up an IT consultancy for small/home based businesses.
Over the years it's done OK but nothing marvelous as whilst we have done some nice consulting/project work for clients, a lot hasbeen fixing 'silly' problems and ordering items like network adapters and so on which results in very little profit and doesn't really feel like a consultancy. In this regard, we've been charging by the hour for work we do which to me smacks of being a 'virtual employee/contractor' without the benefit of continual hours being accrued?
I decided to leave the partnership in June this year because of my frustration described above and 'operational differences' with my partner and am desperately trying to get back into the normal job-world so as to stabilize cash-flow and give me a little breathing space to clear my head for a while.
I am however conscious that that move may well not be 'secure' so to speak and need to bear in mind that a successful home-based business might still have to be considered; (in fact I used to like the idea of being home-based but have found the admin, lack of contact, et al a real headache to deal with!) My questions therefore are:
1. Does your book address some of the issues I've described here; particularly, is an IT consultant something that you believe can be operated in the fashion your book is suggesting, (without becoming a low-key support person)?
2. I may well not find full-time work in a hurry so may have to retry the 'business' my way, would your book help and would you in fact recommend trying to do so?
3. Does the book cover areas of confidence and sales? The experiences over the last few years have given my confidence a bit of a knock and I've never really been a sales-y person which makes it hard to promote one's own business. (With the job-hunting however, my confidence is improving).
Dear S______,
Yes. It offers advice for going out on your own in a safe, secure way, with an "anchor" client and contract. Plus ways to promote yourself and get your first clients and projects.
My advice to you would be to definitely stay away from small businesses. They're great people... but cannot pay the type of fees that will give you a steady six-figure income. You need clients at medium-sized and particularly large companies. A good contact at a big company can lead to multiple projects during the year, plus great referrals to other people in his/her company who can use your services as well. The danger lies in becoming too concentrated in just one big company, which my book discusses. You become a de facto employee again, at great risk of losing everything.
If you have a solid skill set, and if you know there's a demand for the problems that your skills can solve, then the task becomes identifying people in large organizations who are involved with these types of issues.
Activities such as personal networking at association events, speaking, giving a workshop for managers (at medium to large companies), are good avenues for finding these types of clients.
My book focuses particularly on sales and marketing your services -- through easy, low-cost way such as simple sales letters, emails, referrals, etc.
As my book points out, you only need one anchor client to get started down a path that will ultimately give you far more job security (and income) than you could achieve as an employee.
If you're anxious about the future, I would recommend pursuing both directions at the same time (50% of your time devoted to each -- getting a full-time position as an employee, versus landing one solid client as a consultant).
Even if you land a full-time position, you should spend the next year thinking of how you can parlay the contacts you make in this job into a consultancy in the future. Sometimes being part of a large organization is a great launching pad.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
How much should I charge?
Hi,
I am not sure what I should charge, I hope I could get some guidelines from you but am still not sure. I don’t want to price myself out of the market but at the same time, do not want to under price myself and have the company take advantage 8 the reason I left in the first place).
Dear _____,
First of all, thank you for ordering the book. I appreciate it, and yes, would like to help you in any way I can.
The best answer for how much to charge is on page 35 of the book. In other words, think how much you want to earn each year and work backwards.
There's a simple formula for calculating your hourly rate. For example:
CALCULATING YOUR
HOURLY RATE
Target annual salary:
$100,000
48 work weeks per year
(4 weeks of vacation)
25 billable hours/week
(5 billable hours per 8-
hour workday)
48 weeks x 25 hours =
1200 billable hours per
year
$100,000 ÷ 1200 =
$83/hour rate
The key thing to remember is that you are not going to work every week of the year (especially living in beautiful Switzerland). And you are not going to be able to "bill" every hour of every day. There's what I call "slippage". Time spent on phone calls with clients or prospects. Chores you must do, such as billing, routine paperwork, etc.
You'll be working very efficiently if you can bill for 60-75 percent of your time.
Once you have your target hourly billing rate, you simply estimate the cost of projects for clients by how many hours you think it will take you to complete them. Don't forget to "pad" each project with an extra 2-3 hours to account for unexpected changes, etc.
Here's another reason I recommend picking a target annual income and using this formula to set your hourly rate. You want to earn an income that makes YOU happy and gives you the freedom to live the life you want. Otherwise, what's the point of taking on the risk and uncertainties of being on your own?
Here's one more tip: If you're just getting started or re-establishing yourself in the marketplace after an absence of time, you might want to start with a more modest hourly rate, build up your clientele, and see what kinds of projects you're getting. Then, after a year or so and assuming business is solid, you can gradually inch up your hourly rate by $5 or $10 per hour to add significantly to your income without losing clients. It's a subtle change for them but a big jump for you. As one expert puts it -- you give yourself a raise.
I hope this helps and please feel free to email me with any other questions as time goes on.
Oh, and one more thing. If you haven't already signed up for my free ezine, please do so at www.outsourcing-yourself.com You'll get a few more bonus articles plus ongoing tips and great resources for building your busines.
All the best for success,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
I am not sure what I should charge, I hope I could get some guidelines from you but am still not sure. I don’t want to price myself out of the market but at the same time, do not want to under price myself and have the company take advantage 8 the reason I left in the first place).
Dear _____,
First of all, thank you for ordering the book. I appreciate it, and yes, would like to help you in any way I can.
The best answer for how much to charge is on page 35 of the book. In other words, think how much you want to earn each year and work backwards.
There's a simple formula for calculating your hourly rate. For example:
CALCULATING YOUR
HOURLY RATE
Target annual salary:
$100,000
48 work weeks per year
(4 weeks of vacation)
25 billable hours/week
(5 billable hours per 8-
hour workday)
48 weeks x 25 hours =
1200 billable hours per
year
$100,000 ÷ 1200 =
$83/hour rate
The key thing to remember is that you are not going to work every week of the year (especially living in beautiful Switzerland). And you are not going to be able to "bill" every hour of every day. There's what I call "slippage". Time spent on phone calls with clients or prospects. Chores you must do, such as billing, routine paperwork, etc.
You'll be working very efficiently if you can bill for 60-75 percent of your time.
Once you have your target hourly billing rate, you simply estimate the cost of projects for clients by how many hours you think it will take you to complete them. Don't forget to "pad" each project with an extra 2-3 hours to account for unexpected changes, etc.
Here's another reason I recommend picking a target annual income and using this formula to set your hourly rate. You want to earn an income that makes YOU happy and gives you the freedom to live the life you want. Otherwise, what's the point of taking on the risk and uncertainties of being on your own?
Here's one more tip: If you're just getting started or re-establishing yourself in the marketplace after an absence of time, you might want to start with a more modest hourly rate, build up your clientele, and see what kinds of projects you're getting. Then, after a year or so and assuming business is solid, you can gradually inch up your hourly rate by $5 or $10 per hour to add significantly to your income without losing clients. It's a subtle change for them but a big jump for you. As one expert puts it -- you give yourself a raise.
I hope this helps and please feel free to email me with any other questions as time goes on.
Oh, and one more thing. If you haven't already signed up for my free ezine, please do so at www.outsourcing-yourself.com You'll get a few more bonus articles plus ongoing tips and great resources for building your busines.
All the best for success,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Proofreading for Profits
Hi,
Can you give me some advice about how to get work as a freelance Proofreader without any previous experience?
Dear ____,
Thank you for your email and great question. Proofreading can be a great way to earn extra money as a freelancer. Especially if you are already working as a freelance writer or designer or simply want to work from home.
I use a freelance proofreader who charges between $30/hr. (for regular jobs) and $40/hr. (for rush jobs that require evening or weekend work), with a minimum charge of one hour. Other proofreaders charge by the page.
I’ve been working with her for years, and have recommended her to many clients, yet have never actually met her! We just fax or, more recently, e-mail a copy deck or PDF of the final designed piece to her and she sends us a marked-up version.
It doesn’t matter how many people look at a piece at my client’s organization or even if people who have never seen the copy take a look at it. This proofreader ALWAYS finds typos, omissions, facts to check and more. She may suggest grammatical changes, which we can follow or not, depending on how we want the copy to sound.
Now for your question – how to get started as a professional freelance proofreader.
STEP 1. First you’ll have to educate yourself about proofreading techniques. Proofreading is a lot more than just reading carefully. As you know, there are special “proofreader’s marks” which you will use to show mistakes and changes. And there are a number of special techniques to use. One is reading a document “backwards” after you’ve read it through the first time. At the very least, you’ll want to:
- Make sure the document has been spellchecked.
- Read the document aloud to check for complete sentences and flow of thoughts. - This also helps you find missing words.
- Make sure ideas are organized and in a logical order.
- Check that every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with the correct punctuation mark.
- Check that periods and commas are used correctly
- Apostrophes are used correctly for contractions.
- Quotations are punctuated correctly.
- That names of people and places have been capitalized.
- Each word in a title should be capitalized, except for: and, but, or, a, an, the, and prepositions that are less than five letters long (from, to, in, out, on, over, etc.).
- The first word of a title is always capitalized.
- Make sure the use of common homonyms (there, their, they're; to, too, two, your, you're) is correct.
- Check the accuracy of numbers used in newsletter articles.
- Numbers one through ten should be are spelled with letters. Numbers over ten are written as numbers unless they begin a sentence.
- Accurate abbreviations and acronyms.
- Book titles are italicized.
- Quotations are in quotation marks or italicized.
- You may want to eliminate the use of jargon and clichés.
You should probably do a google search on “proofreading courses” and invest in one course to learn the techniques from a professionally-accredited organization. Ideally, this should be a “distance learning” course that you can complete at home, via the Internet, at your own pace. It would also be good if it gave you some sort of certificate or designation, upon completion of the course. Here are a few resources you might want to check out:
Basic proofreading by distance learning:
http://www.train4publishing.co.uk/content/distance/basproof.htm
Writing trainers
http://www.writingtrainers.com/center/proof.htm
Many of the leading courses seem to be in Great Britain, which is not surprising, given the love of the English language and the popularity of shows and books on grammar in the U.K.
STEP 2. Once you’re trained and qualified as a professional proofreader, you’ll want to check out your competition. Do not be discouraged to learn that it’s a crowded field. Yes, you’ll have to compete for business. But the fact that there are many proofreaders also shows the ongoing demand for this service.
Check out how much they’re charging, how they promote themselves, what kind of clients they list, how they work, turnaround times, etc. You might as well model a successful proofreading business to get started. Here are a few websites to check out:
http://www.perfect-proofreading.com/
http://www.papercheck.com/
http://www.assistant-for-hire.com
STEP 3. Create your own simple professional proofreading website. Today you can create a simple website for $50 a year. For this tiny investment, you can have an instant business with a very professional appearance to anyone who’s thinking of using your services.
STEP 4. Promote your services. You’ll want to write up a bit of background copy that answers these important questions:
“Why should we use a professional proofreader?” Many people think they can just pass a document to “a fresh set of eyes” and catch mistakes. But, as you now know, a professional proofreader will always uncover more than an amateur.
“What could happen if we don’t use a proofreader?” One of the biggest challenges is convincing people they should really take the time and spend the money to do it right. But the horror stories of people who failed to proofread should help convince them otherwise.
I know of one case where the word “savvy” was misspelled “saavy” and an entire seminar mailing had to be reprinted at a cost of more than $10,000. In another case, the toll-free phone number for a direct mail promotion wasn’t checked. The mailing went out and all the calls went to a wrong number. The entire campaign – tens of thousands of dollars – was completely wasted, simply because of a proofreading oversight.
I’m sure your friends, colleagues and clients have their own horror stories that they can share with you to really help build your case for professional proofreading.
“What makes you so good?” The answer to this, of course, is your special training, certification, your reference materials, and, as time goes by, your experience for a wide variety of clients.
Finally, you will want to hand out or email your background document to prospective clients. This information will also form the basic content for your website. You’ll build on it over time, with articles, client lists, testimonials, etc.
And you’ll start promoting your business through your email signature, writing and posting articles online, emails and mailings to businesses in your area, pay-per-click advertising and more.
Best of all, you can often do this work part-time, nights and weekends, until you build up a clientele. Or full-time from home, with great flexibility. It’s a good way to earn extra income.
Regards,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Can you give me some advice about how to get work as a freelance Proofreader without any previous experience?
Dear ____,
Thank you for your email and great question. Proofreading can be a great way to earn extra money as a freelancer. Especially if you are already working as a freelance writer or designer or simply want to work from home.
I use a freelance proofreader who charges between $30/hr. (for regular jobs) and $40/hr. (for rush jobs that require evening or weekend work), with a minimum charge of one hour. Other proofreaders charge by the page.
I’ve been working with her for years, and have recommended her to many clients, yet have never actually met her! We just fax or, more recently, e-mail a copy deck or PDF of the final designed piece to her and she sends us a marked-up version.
It doesn’t matter how many people look at a piece at my client’s organization or even if people who have never seen the copy take a look at it. This proofreader ALWAYS finds typos, omissions, facts to check and more. She may suggest grammatical changes, which we can follow or not, depending on how we want the copy to sound.
Now for your question – how to get started as a professional freelance proofreader.
STEP 1. First you’ll have to educate yourself about proofreading techniques. Proofreading is a lot more than just reading carefully. As you know, there are special “proofreader’s marks” which you will use to show mistakes and changes. And there are a number of special techniques to use. One is reading a document “backwards” after you’ve read it through the first time. At the very least, you’ll want to:
- Make sure the document has been spellchecked.
- Read the document aloud to check for complete sentences and flow of thoughts. - This also helps you find missing words.
- Make sure ideas are organized and in a logical order.
- Check that every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with the correct punctuation mark.
- Check that periods and commas are used correctly
- Apostrophes are used correctly for contractions.
- Quotations are punctuated correctly.
- That names of people and places have been capitalized.
- Each word in a title should be capitalized, except for: and, but, or, a, an, the, and prepositions that are less than five letters long (from, to, in, out, on, over, etc.).
- The first word of a title is always capitalized.
- Make sure the use of common homonyms (there, their, they're; to, too, two, your, you're) is correct.
- Check the accuracy of numbers used in newsletter articles.
- Numbers one through ten should be are spelled with letters. Numbers over ten are written as numbers unless they begin a sentence.
- Accurate abbreviations and acronyms.
- Book titles are italicized.
- Quotations are in quotation marks or italicized.
- You may want to eliminate the use of jargon and clichés.
You should probably do a google search on “proofreading courses” and invest in one course to learn the techniques from a professionally-accredited organization. Ideally, this should be a “distance learning” course that you can complete at home, via the Internet, at your own pace. It would also be good if it gave you some sort of certificate or designation, upon completion of the course. Here are a few resources you might want to check out:
Basic proofreading by distance learning:
http://www.train4publishing.co.uk/content/distance/basproof.htm
Writing trainers
http://www.writingtrainers.com/center/proof.htm
Many of the leading courses seem to be in Great Britain, which is not surprising, given the love of the English language and the popularity of shows and books on grammar in the U.K.
STEP 2. Once you’re trained and qualified as a professional proofreader, you’ll want to check out your competition. Do not be discouraged to learn that it’s a crowded field. Yes, you’ll have to compete for business. But the fact that there are many proofreaders also shows the ongoing demand for this service.
Check out how much they’re charging, how they promote themselves, what kind of clients they list, how they work, turnaround times, etc. You might as well model a successful proofreading business to get started. Here are a few websites to check out:
http://www.perfect-proofreading.com/
http://www.papercheck.com/
http://www.assistant-for-hire.com
STEP 3. Create your own simple professional proofreading website. Today you can create a simple website for $50 a year. For this tiny investment, you can have an instant business with a very professional appearance to anyone who’s thinking of using your services.
STEP 4. Promote your services. You’ll want to write up a bit of background copy that answers these important questions:
“Why should we use a professional proofreader?” Many people think they can just pass a document to “a fresh set of eyes” and catch mistakes. But, as you now know, a professional proofreader will always uncover more than an amateur.
“What could happen if we don’t use a proofreader?” One of the biggest challenges is convincing people they should really take the time and spend the money to do it right. But the horror stories of people who failed to proofread should help convince them otherwise.
I know of one case where the word “savvy” was misspelled “saavy” and an entire seminar mailing had to be reprinted at a cost of more than $10,000. In another case, the toll-free phone number for a direct mail promotion wasn’t checked. The mailing went out and all the calls went to a wrong number. The entire campaign – tens of thousands of dollars – was completely wasted, simply because of a proofreading oversight.
I’m sure your friends, colleagues and clients have their own horror stories that they can share with you to really help build your case for professional proofreading.
“What makes you so good?” The answer to this, of course, is your special training, certification, your reference materials, and, as time goes by, your experience for a wide variety of clients.
Finally, you will want to hand out or email your background document to prospective clients. This information will also form the basic content for your website. You’ll build on it over time, with articles, client lists, testimonials, etc.
And you’ll start promoting your business through your email signature, writing and posting articles online, emails and mailings to businesses in your area, pay-per-click advertising and more.
Best of all, you can often do this work part-time, nights and weekends, until you build up a clientele. Or full-time from home, with great flexibility. It’s a good way to earn extra income.
Regards,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Becoming a Website Designer, Part II
Hi,
I just posted a more detailed article answering a previous question from a subscriber about a fast, easy and low-cost way to become a website designer.
The ability to create simple, attractive and functional web pages is a highly marketable skill. There is a huge and growing demand for websites and web content, especially for smaller organizations who often can’t afford to hire a full-service web design firm.
For details, check out: http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/becomingawebsitedesigner.htm
All the best,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
I just posted a more detailed article answering a previous question from a subscriber about a fast, easy and low-cost way to become a website designer.
The ability to create simple, attractive and functional web pages is a highly marketable skill. There is a huge and growing demand for websites and web content, especially for smaller organizations who often can’t afford to hire a full-service web design firm.
For details, check out: http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/becomingawebsitedesigner.htm
All the best,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Monday, May 09, 2005
Interested in learning website design
Hi,
When you state that website design work is a good choice for earning freelance income. Is it necessary to learn beyond HTML and so on? The resources that you recommend for learning copywriting and webdesign sound very impressive. However, I was wondering if there is a cheaper way of learning these skills.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Hi ______,
Thank you for your email regarding learning HTML and web design.
If I were in your shoes, the best investment I could make would be learning how to use a key piece of software for creating websites. By far the best software package I keep hearing about in the What You See Is What You Get category (WYSIWYG) is a program called Dreamweaver, by Macromedia. With WYSIWYG web editors, you don't have to know HTML. You simply type and drag and drop and cut and paste your way to build a web page.
I believe versions are available for both the Mac and the PC, so if you are PC-based and learn the program, you'll still be able to communicate with the Mac world, which is the dominent platform for the graphic arts community.
You can learn about Dreamweaver at: http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/?promoid=home_prod_dw_082403
Any of these programs have far more features than you can possibly wrap your mind around at first. The trick is to use the tutorials the software comes with, plus any free online tutorials (do a google search) and teach yourself how to do simple, competent web pages at first. Then you can gradually learn about other features, as you need them. As you surf the web, bookmark sites you like or designs you like, and keep them in a special folder.
There's nothing better than learning by doing. So build your own website as you learn Dreamweaver. If you have Internet access (which you obviously do), your Internet provider already gives you from 5-10 MB of web space as part of your subscription. So you can build your first test site there, at no extra charge. Once you're confident enough, you can build your own business site, with your own domain name, and promote your services as a web designer. I recommend using www.godaddy.com to both register your new domain name and host your site. It can cost less than $50 a year to both register and host your site!
And finally, purists and experts still suggest that you at least become somewhat familiar with HTML, even if you use a WYSIWYG editor that hides all this HMTL stuff. Many of them go in and "tweak" their web pages by hand, using HTML, to get exactly the look they want.
There are some free tutorials available to learn about HTML. Try:
A beginner's guide to HTML: http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerP1.html
And http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/
The ability to create attractive, simple and functional web pages is a highly marketable skill. Once you have created your own site showcasing a few examples of your work, your first prospects will probably be small businesses, consultants, and retail establishments in your area. Then, with experience, you can move into working for larger companies. Another benefit -- you can eventually do work for anyone, around the world, from your home office.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
When you state that website design work is a good choice for earning freelance income. Is it necessary to learn beyond HTML and so on? The resources that you recommend for learning copywriting and webdesign sound very impressive. However, I was wondering if there is a cheaper way of learning these skills.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Hi ______,
Thank you for your email regarding learning HTML and web design.
If I were in your shoes, the best investment I could make would be learning how to use a key piece of software for creating websites. By far the best software package I keep hearing about in the What You See Is What You Get category (WYSIWYG) is a program called Dreamweaver, by Macromedia. With WYSIWYG web editors, you don't have to know HTML. You simply type and drag and drop and cut and paste your way to build a web page.
I believe versions are available for both the Mac and the PC, so if you are PC-based and learn the program, you'll still be able to communicate with the Mac world, which is the dominent platform for the graphic arts community.
You can learn about Dreamweaver at: http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/?promoid=home_prod_dw_082403
Any of these programs have far more features than you can possibly wrap your mind around at first. The trick is to use the tutorials the software comes with, plus any free online tutorials (do a google search) and teach yourself how to do simple, competent web pages at first. Then you can gradually learn about other features, as you need them. As you surf the web, bookmark sites you like or designs you like, and keep them in a special folder.
There's nothing better than learning by doing. So build your own website as you learn Dreamweaver. If you have Internet access (which you obviously do), your Internet provider already gives you from 5-10 MB of web space as part of your subscription. So you can build your first test site there, at no extra charge. Once you're confident enough, you can build your own business site, with your own domain name, and promote your services as a web designer. I recommend using www.godaddy.com to both register your new domain name and host your site. It can cost less than $50 a year to both register and host your site!
And finally, purists and experts still suggest that you at least become somewhat familiar with HTML, even if you use a WYSIWYG editor that hides all this HMTL stuff. Many of them go in and "tweak" their web pages by hand, using HTML, to get exactly the look they want.
There are some free tutorials available to learn about HTML. Try:
A beginner's guide to HTML: http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerP1.html
And http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/
The ability to create attractive, simple and functional web pages is a highly marketable skill. Once you have created your own site showcasing a few examples of your work, your first prospects will probably be small businesses, consultants, and retail establishments in your area. Then, with experience, you can move into working for larger companies. Another benefit -- you can eventually do work for anyone, around the world, from your home office.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Friday, May 06, 2005
Some advice for working from home?
Hi,
I wonder if you can give some advice?
I really want to start working from home and wonder if it would be possible to learn a skill and then become a freelancer over the internet?
I am interested in writing, computers, web design, computer programming, proofreading, or anything that can be done at home. What do you recommend?
Dear ______,
You have listed some great choices for earning freelance income.
I would personally recommend freelance copywriting or website design work (HTML and creating web pages). There is a huge demand right now for people who know how to write effective sales copy, or who know how to write quality content (articles, profiles, case studies, white papers) for the Web, or who can design and create attractive and highly functional pages for Web sites.
Mind you, don't think of this as a get rich quick scheme. It's a job, or even better, a small business that you will start in your free time and grow into a second income stream and perhaps a full-time freelance income some day.
They all require study, practice, hard work and most importantly -- a natural interest or passion. Because if you like what you're doing, you'll find it much easier to put in the hours learning your craft and practicing it.
Here are some resources I'd recommend:
Michael Masterson's Accelerated Course for Six-Figure Copywriting
The AWAI Secrets of Writing for the Internet course
The AWAI home study course on Graphic Design
You can also visit my Website and see other work from home opportunities at http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/selfemployment.htm
To get an idea of the kind of projects you could pick up and work on at home, visit:
www.workaholics4hire.com
http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/jobopportunities.htm
I hope this helps and I really encourage you to try it! Doing what you love... having your own business... being your own boss... and gaining more control over your own life... is one of the most satisfying and fulfilling ways to earn a living.
Regards,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
I wonder if you can give some advice?
I really want to start working from home and wonder if it would be possible to learn a skill and then become a freelancer over the internet?
I am interested in writing, computers, web design, computer programming, proofreading, or anything that can be done at home. What do you recommend?
Dear ______,
You have listed some great choices for earning freelance income.
I would personally recommend freelance copywriting or website design work (HTML and creating web pages). There is a huge demand right now for people who know how to write effective sales copy, or who know how to write quality content (articles, profiles, case studies, white papers) for the Web, or who can design and create attractive and highly functional pages for Web sites.
Mind you, don't think of this as a get rich quick scheme. It's a job, or even better, a small business that you will start in your free time and grow into a second income stream and perhaps a full-time freelance income some day.
They all require study, practice, hard work and most importantly -- a natural interest or passion. Because if you like what you're doing, you'll find it much easier to put in the hours learning your craft and practicing it.
Here are some resources I'd recommend:
Michael Masterson's Accelerated Course for Six-Figure Copywriting
The AWAI Secrets of Writing for the Internet course
The AWAI home study course on Graphic Design
You can also visit my Website and see other work from home opportunities at http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/selfemployment.htm
To get an idea of the kind of projects you could pick up and work on at home, visit:
www.workaholics4hire.com
http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/jobopportunities.htm
I hope this helps and I really encourage you to try it! Doing what you love... having your own business... being your own boss... and gaining more control over your own life... is one of the most satisfying and fulfilling ways to earn a living.
Regards,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
I'm not a professional anything...
Hello Barnaby....
I am not a professional anything. I am a house cleaner and want out.
Is there any way a person that is not from the corporate world can do what you do since I have no history to point people to in the business world.
I love to write but haven't found a way to make money doing it yet.
Was wondering if your book can help me.
Thanks
Hi ______,
And thank you for writing. It's an excellent question.
In your case, I would recommend that you invest a little money and time in developing a marketable skill that will allow you to earn a very good living working for yourself. This could be:
- Copywriting (direct marketing, online or web writing, or content development)
- Resume writing
- Graphic design or web design
- Virtual assistant work (see http://www.virtualassistants.com/ for details)
My website, www.outsourcing-yourself.com has a "Resources" page with Career Change and Training Opportunities that list several courses you can take to learn these new skills.
Or... you could even decide to upgrade your current work and start your own housecleaning business. This would involve finding others to do the actual cleaning... building a network of both customers and cleaners... marketing your business and meeting with customers. There's a demand for reputable and good cleaning people. Who knows, you could even expand your business to include other household help services. As our population grows older (as it is), seniors will need more help at home. This is a growth area.
I hope this helps and I wish you the best of success!
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
I am not a professional anything. I am a house cleaner and want out.
Is there any way a person that is not from the corporate world can do what you do since I have no history to point people to in the business world.
I love to write but haven't found a way to make money doing it yet.
Was wondering if your book can help me.
Thanks
Hi ______,
And thank you for writing. It's an excellent question.
In your case, I would recommend that you invest a little money and time in developing a marketable skill that will allow you to earn a very good living working for yourself. This could be:
- Copywriting (direct marketing, online or web writing, or content development)
- Resume writing
- Graphic design or web design
- Virtual assistant work (see http://www.virtualassistants.com/ for details)
My website, www.outsourcing-yourself.com has a "Resources" page with Career Change and Training Opportunities that list several courses you can take to learn these new skills.
Or... you could even decide to upgrade your current work and start your own housecleaning business. This would involve finding others to do the actual cleaning... building a network of both customers and cleaners... marketing your business and meeting with customers. There's a demand for reputable and good cleaning people. Who knows, you could even expand your business to include other household help services. As our population grows older (as it is), seniors will need more help at home. This is a growth area.
I hope this helps and I wish you the best of success!
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
I don't have 10 years of work experience
Question. I don't have 10 years of work experience I just went from college student to housewife how can your book help me? I just enjoy writing.
Hi B,
That's a wonderful question, and thank you for sharing it.
First, I'm not sure this is the right book for you. It's really designed for people who've spent 5-10 years and have an immediate marketable skill.
But don't despair. There are plenty of opportunities for you.
The first -- and hardest step -- is for you to envision what you would love to do, and what you would love to write about. If you feel passionately about a subject, then reading about it, researching, writing, and committing yourself to building a business around in for the long term won't feel so much like work. It will be a joy.
Let's say you're interested in parenting. You could research and write articles on a freelance basis for parenting magazines, websites and newsletters. Or you could decide to start your own Internet website as a highly-focused site centered around parenting. Selling your own books, ebooks, offering free articles, links to other parenting-related sites, and earning money promoting affiliate products.
This is just an example. You'll have to figure out what interests you the most. My point is, there's a demand for content out there, which you can fill.
If you're interested making a LOT of money from home, then you could try a home-study course in copywriting or resume writing. My website has a listing of several great courses. Just visit: http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/selfemployment.htm
They cost a lot more than my ebook, but they're an investment in your future.
I hope this helps. Let me know what you decide on.
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Hi B,
That's a wonderful question, and thank you for sharing it.
First, I'm not sure this is the right book for you. It's really designed for people who've spent 5-10 years and have an immediate marketable skill.
But don't despair. There are plenty of opportunities for you.
The first -- and hardest step -- is for you to envision what you would love to do, and what you would love to write about. If you feel passionately about a subject, then reading about it, researching, writing, and committing yourself to building a business around in for the long term won't feel so much like work. It will be a joy.
Let's say you're interested in parenting. You could research and write articles on a freelance basis for parenting magazines, websites and newsletters. Or you could decide to start your own Internet website as a highly-focused site centered around parenting. Selling your own books, ebooks, offering free articles, links to other parenting-related sites, and earning money promoting affiliate products.
This is just an example. You'll have to figure out what interests you the most. My point is, there's a demand for content out there, which you can fill.
If you're interested making a LOT of money from home, then you could try a home-study course in copywriting or resume writing. My website has a listing of several great courses. Just visit: http://www.outsourcing-yourself.com/selfemployment.htm
They cost a lot more than my ebook, but they're an investment in your future.
I hope this helps. Let me know what you decide on.
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Friday, January 28, 2005
The best time to make your move
Feeling a sense of frustration with a friend of mine who's big company was sold to an even bigger company, and now he's looking for a job.
After 25+ years in the workforce, he's got the skills to create his own consultancy and build a substantial client list. Instead, he's networking, working with headhunters, etc., waiting for some new job to come along.
He doesn't know it... but he's closer than ever from finally breaking free of this cycle of looking for a job... getting a job... and having the job disappear through no fault of his own. A little bit of networking... a few contracts and he could be earning more money, on his own schedule, with the ability to scale back gradually when he gets closer to retirement.
For one-person operations like us, only one or two projects can keep us busy all week. With a few tools like time tracking software and a simple web site, presto, he's in business.
This is the perfect time for him to try it out and get the satisfactionof the working on the projects instead of dealing with the bullshit of company politics.
For now,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
After 25+ years in the workforce, he's got the skills to create his own consultancy and build a substantial client list. Instead, he's networking, working with headhunters, etc., waiting for some new job to come along.
He doesn't know it... but he's closer than ever from finally breaking free of this cycle of looking for a job... getting a job... and having the job disappear through no fault of his own. A little bit of networking... a few contracts and he could be earning more money, on his own schedule, with the ability to scale back gradually when he gets closer to retirement.
For one-person operations like us, only one or two projects can keep us busy all week. With a few tools like time tracking software and a simple web site, presto, he's in business.
This is the perfect time for him to try it out and get the satisfactionof the working on the projects instead of dealing with the bullshit of company politics.
For now,
Barnaby Kalan
www.outsourcing-yourself.com
Friday, January 07, 2005
Welcome
Will this be the year you finally gain a little more control over your life... or earn some extra income by "Outsourcing Yourself"?
Right now, someone close to me is going through another job transition. Through no fault of his own, his company was sold to a major competitor. Many positions, including his own, went "poof." At 55 years of age, how likely will he be to find another high-paying position in his prime location? (He doesn't want to move from California and I don't blame him.)
Yet with one small contract project under way and a few nibbles on other ones, he's closer to making the transition to independent professional than ever before. Imagine, at 55, making the same or even more money, without a commute, with the freedom to schedule your life as you want, once you get established. And as a self-employed professional there's one more thing he could look forward to... the ability to "ease back" gradually into retirment when he feels like it. Work hard for a few months... earn some dough... take a month off to relax or travel. Start on a new project after that. Doesn't that sound like a more sane way to live and work at that age?
Until next time...
Barnaby
Visit www.reliancemarketing.com for more details about Outsourcing Yourself.
Right now, someone close to me is going through another job transition. Through no fault of his own, his company was sold to a major competitor. Many positions, including his own, went "poof." At 55 years of age, how likely will he be to find another high-paying position in his prime location? (He doesn't want to move from California and I don't blame him.)
Yet with one small contract project under way and a few nibbles on other ones, he's closer to making the transition to independent professional than ever before. Imagine, at 55, making the same or even more money, without a commute, with the freedom to schedule your life as you want, once you get established. And as a self-employed professional there's one more thing he could look forward to... the ability to "ease back" gradually into retirment when he feels like it. Work hard for a few months... earn some dough... take a month off to relax or travel. Start on a new project after that. Doesn't that sound like a more sane way to live and work at that age?
Until next time...
Barnaby
Visit www.reliancemarketing.com for more details about Outsourcing Yourself.
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