Re: How to become a "Contractor" not a "Sub-Contractor"
11. Differentiate yourself. Why are you better than Hall Kinion. What can
you do that they can't. Clients need to understand why they should hire
you (a small company) rather than a large, respected agency.
Far be it from me to blow my own horn (mild, self-effacing person that I am ;-> ), but I think that what I said in my article "Your Own Best Ad" on the Techwr-l site bears repeating: the best way to differentiate yourself is cultivate a reputation for professionalism and reliability. These are rare traits in the contracting world, and if you leave behind a few satisifed clients, you'll soon have no trouble making a living.
Peter Newman suggests marketing yourself as a specialist. There's probably more than one way to be a successful contractor, but, with respect, I would suggest that specialization is something to consider after a few years as a contractor. In the early years (or months), you may be too much in need of a pay cheque to be a specialist.
Also, many jobs open to contractors are with new or small companies. These companies prefer a generalist, because they aren't in a position to hire specialists for everything. So far as I'm concerned, some of these jobs are the most interesting ones around.
It isn't easy. If 60+ hour work weeks are not appealing to you, I wouldn't
recommend going at it alone. Stick with agencies.
Before anyone is scared away from contracting by this comment, let me point out that this work week is only necessary if you are interested in your corporation being a success as opposed simply to earning a living.
One of the biggest appeals of contracting is that you can be as busy as you want to be, instead of as busy as the boss wants you to be. I've worked 80 hour weeks as a contractor, but I've also worked 10 hour weeks when I wanted a bit of a rest. For that matter, I've also had month long vacations just because I felt like it.
But, overall, I've made an extremely comfortable living. One of the reasons I'm reluctant to go to full time work is that, although I never live up to anything like my income, I wouldn't like the reduction in pay. For that matter, I'm not sure that I'd want to work that hard; I seem to work no more than 85 percent of the hours that salaried writers do while receiving (in some cases) over twice the money.
It's easy to lurch continuously from job to job as a contractor, especially at first. There's always the fear that your present job will be your last. However, once you reach the point where you know that you can find work in a week or two, you learn that you can afford to take the time off.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
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