Streetwalking, trolling and phishing: Getting the freelance gig

Getting yourself out "there" is a constant challenge for the full-time Techni-HO. Sure there are Social Media outlets like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. And of course we keep up blogs, journal articles, and public speaking events. But for day-to-day promoting yourself or finding other like minded "HOs" where can we go? In the realm of selling your time for money--Techni-ho fashion--word of mouth alone will not put food on the table.

Elance provides ways to create and manage your "e-presence" team

Elance offers a solution-and I hope they don't mind the allusion-to become your TechniPimp. As mentioned in earlier blog posts one of the downsides of going fully Freelance is not only finding the work and doing the work, but getting paid for the work. This also means negotiating and collecting fees.
Elance offers an online solution to many of those growing pains.

By offering a single storefront wherein "Johns" can cruise for talent, and the "Hos" can show their wares. Elance provides a method by which Techni-Hos and Johns can meet up, set up the commercial aspects of the job, and even ways to manage the project-by allowing for reviews of "Work-in-progress".

Start by creating a Free Account and first Free Job posting.

Looking for work? Sign up at Elance and search over 30,000 jobs today.
Find a world of talent online at Elance. Post your job today.

From there you can access all the of the services that Elance offers. As a contractor all the fees will be paid by the Johns as is right. The fees for the Johns to pay are very reasonable for role that they pay-as far as techni-pimps go very reasonable. 6.75%-8.75% as far as mark-ups go is very reasonable.




Unlike many contract houses they are not trying to get ungodly mark-ups on the talent the offer, after off the value-add for most contract houses is exceptionally disproportionate to the mark-up factors. I once worked with a Pimp who charged a 3x markup for a proposal that I wrote, filling a niche that I uniquely fit, with 0-zip-nil value add; when the client puked on the price they had the gall to tell me that my rate was too high.

Freelancing: Techni-HOs unite

In a recent post Seth Godin ("the Dip" Dude) covered a favorite topic here Freelancing and Value they provide. Sure we often reduce the bottom line (we have lower overhead than those who are part of the SYSTEM; but they often overlook the value of being from outside the mainstream and the passion that freelancers have for their chosen Vocation (just the fact that they live off it makes the a in avocation silent).


Hire based on passion when passion matters, if cost comes along for the ride even better.

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b31569e201310fbb6b13970c

Organizational dynamics, the Techni-HO and an awkward analogy about religion

Let's see if we can stir the pot a little bit.

I have noticed as i ventured from company to company interesting trends among the employees and employers of the various places i worked. This one I will call "Finding ones religion". When many a re born they enter into religion (not by their own choice but by the choice of their parent, community, or national standards). This is much like your first job. You have a traumatic and disorienting experience (birth=college graduation), and leave the isolated and protected environment you knew (womb=university) and enter the WORLD.

In this world you find shortly after birth a community of seemingly welcoming individuals. These individuals follow some sort of code, or tenets, or dogmatic teachings that as far as you know are the way of the WORLD. There is no other way, why would there be, this is how it is. For a great many people this world order is great, there is no reason to challenge it, and we work and work happily in this our natural born religion/company.

It may happen the over time we either leave the "church" or it leaves us (down sizing = excommunication, quitting = schism/reformation). Left without the grounding of this religion/job we are forced to find another way in the world. This new found job (born again = rehired) offers for us a new salvation from doom and destitution. And we welcome the new teachings of this place as mighty and righteous as it is clear that this is the path to salvation. Born Again.

Perhaps here we find long lasting peace and tranquility. However, for many the possibility still exists that we have not found our home. And again either through heretical thought or action, or ostracism by the organization we find ourselves out in the cold with neither faith nor community. Yet all is not lost and we again can find something to believe in (or at least something that we can latch onto). But now wiser and perhaps a little jaded we learn to live with the imbalances brought out by the dogmatic beliefs of those around us, we learn which ideas or thoughts will not spark heretical criticism, and we take what we can from the experience (nirvana, enlightenment, independence).

What does this have to do with being a techni-HO? Being a former trainer (and a damn good one at that) i tend to speak in analogs; this is no exception. These i hope can serve as archetypes for learning how to deal with those we work with/for out in the world. There are the neophytes (those born into religion/company), the born-again, the pilgrims, and the missionaries. Techni-HOs tend to be missionaries, who after years of pilgrimage will amass the wisdom of the Buddha and be able to bring the light to the neophytes. But their really is nothing more difficult than the born-again who believes they have seen the world and know what time it is.

we'll see where this takes us? (actually just me, since nobody really reads this blog)

What I learned as a Techni-HO (10 lessons of independent consulting)

Lesson 1: If I have a blog and want to get traffic you need to make lists and publish them
Lesson 2: The Win-Win is a lie, but go ahead and make the most of it
Lesson 3: there is value in being a HO
Lesson 4: there is value in having a techni-pimp
Lesson 5: Guarantee your work (with smart provisos)
Lesson 6: Selling time for money is tiring, better if you can sell someone else's time (pimping)
Lesson 7: A failure is sometimes the answer that the customer is looking for
Lesson 8: In the valley of the blind the one-eyed man is king
Lesson 9: The power of "WE"
Lesson 10: Coming up with 10 items for an advise blog is harder than it seems

I will admit that I did not really think this list out too well at the onset. But with the knowledge I gleaned from perusing the top sites at Alltop.com I saw that the most forwarded and shared blogs tried to simmer down the complex into list. So, that is what i will attempt. It is truly as sad intro for what I really wanted to blog about which was lesson 2: the win-win lie.

The Win-Win lie
Is that controversial (hope so, that also drives eyeballs to the site)? It seems that people, myself included have at one time or another espoused some situation as a Win-Win scenario. However, the terms of the Win-Win are very rarely completely level. I think it is more a Win-settle-for-what-we-let-you-have scenario at best. Additionally, I have learned that you can't trust the people who offer Win-Win too often.

My friend Gregg Wilson-whose wisdom and guidance I miss tremendously-put it the best.

You get three offers to play poker with some acquaintances. The first player says "let's play some cards. Sure we'll play for money, but it's just for fun. I'll win some money, maybe lose some. So may you and everybody else. It'll be fun for all". The second player says "Let's play some poker. You and I can take these other guys money. If you and I stick together we could make a killing." The third player says "we'll play some cards, I want to win and so do you. I'm gonna do what it takes to win, and so will you. If you can clean me out, if I can I will clean you out too." Who do you trust?

 Player 3. He is the only player whose intentions are clear and honest. The other two "Win-Win" offers are not to be trusted, as the underlying theme of poker and of life in the business world is "me first". Anything else is dressed up "me first". 

 That being the case, I am not saying that Win-Wins are bad entirely. On the contrary they are a wonderful tool, but we need to know that going in and we need to be the ones who can define the terms underlying the "win-win" lie. You see the last player in that example of Gregg's did in fact have a "win-win" in his description. After all if he did in fact clean you out, you may learn something of value that allows you more wins later. If you clean him out, he too will probably not let that happen again and he does benefit. The key to the win-win is the asymmetrical value proposition. You offer something of value for the other parties, that you in return get what you value.

Successful win-wins will offer the most value for each participant without depreciating the other. As a consultant you most likely have skills and knowledge that may not be fully adding value to you. After all being an independent supply chain, or lean enterprise, or (insert specialty here) guru is really not that rewarding or profitable. However, your knowledge and expertise when sold as a techni-ho to willing participants gives you a chance to make a living, and gives them what they need--most likely for the short term with all the perks of working with consulting whores like you. That is a win-win. Chances are the value of your applied knowledge will net them large savings or improvements, at a scale that far eclipses your meager project rate. In the meantime that knowledge offered you know potential for gain until you sold it. You both win just different things.

Where the win-win gets really messy is when forming allegiances, alliances, or partnerships. There the win-win is not properly asymmetrical, as most of the time this potential partner is willing to "share" some of the win with you in return for your assistance. Beware this win-win. As it can turn parasitic in the long run; it is very similar to playing cards with either Player 1 or 2 for while they may be willing to share some winnings with you they will eventually need/want to have all the chips. The skills and talent offering would have to be completely independent and complimentary for this to work. And most of the time somebody does get burned.

As a moral of the story, I hope this is the takeaway. Win-wins are useful little lies, if we are the ones who define the terms. Otherwise, you will be getting the short end of the stick.

Techni-HO?

A "techni-HO" is a "technical whore". Why do we call it "techni-HO"? I hope you are here because you are some sort of technical professional--i.e. engineer, accountant, designer, programmer, etc--and you are thinking of going out on your own to be a consultant. I also assume that you wish to charge for your technical services. Ergo, you are a techni-ho; technical-sluts give it away.