This summer, I’m interning for Katie McNamee’s consulting business, Elevate Online Strategy. Because LEAP is her second business venture with Kris Taylor, that means I’m also interning for LEAP! I am about halfway through my internship, and at this point I have a better feel for what it might actually be like to be a full-time consultant. As I’m continuing in my internship, I’m also starting to pick up some clients of my own and put some of the things I’m learning in practical use! That being said, some of my major takeaways from the last few weeks are personal attributes that make self-employment/consulting successful. Focus, knowing your worth, and asking for help/continuing to learn are areas I have noticed becoming more important!
Focus
Working from home on your own schedule has its benefits – some days you can wear sweat pants all day, or finish your work early to meet your friends for lunch. But it can also be filled with distractions. Netflix, pets, and mid-afternoon naps can sometimes get in the way of that big project you’re working on if you don’t plan your breaks wisely.
For me, I think it’s helpful to rank tasks in order of importance/most time to complete, start with the most important/time consuming task, and attack it with laser-focus. Then if you want to take an hour and a half lunch after your most important tasks are finished, so be it, as long as you come back and finish your smaller tasks afterwards. If you procrastinate the most important task for last, stress and lack of focus could make that task even more painful to complete.
Know Your Worth
Pricing your skillset and time is difficult to do, especially when you’re just starting out! But ultimately, you need to make money off your consulting/freelancing business (or it wouldn’t be called a BUSINESS). Therefore, you have to make sure you are adequately compensated for your time and effort.
One way to help determine your offering prices is to first determine your hourly wage. The easiest way to do this is to come up with your desired yearly salary, the number of weeks you want to work, and the hours per week you want to work. From there, you can play around with different numbers and figure out what you need to charge hourly to eventually end up with your desired salary*. Once you have an hourly rate in mind, you can put together package offerings for your clients based off of how many hours those tasks will require.
* Keep in mind that when you’re self-employed, you need to pay taxes quarterly OR yearly, which will be taken off that yearly salary you calculated.
Ask for Help & Continue To Learn
When you’re a consultant or freelancer, it’s important to always deliver the best possible work to your clients. A big part of this is being a knowledgeable expert in your field, and many times, that means keeping up with new technology and trends as they appear in the market place.
Therefore, continuing to educate yourself in your field is SO IMPORTANT! Networking, asking others for help in an area you struggle with, hiring subcontractors, taking courses, listening to podcasts, and reading books/blogs are all ways of continuing to learn about your industry and keep up to date with new trends. Since you’re on your own, self motivation is key to accomplishing these goals! Your boss won’t force you to go to that networking conference, you have to carve out the time to do it on your own.
To Be Continued…
As I learn more about being a consultant/freelancer, the more attractive it looks as a career choice! I’m excited to slowly build my own business while continuing my internship with Elevate Online and LEAP.
For marketing tips and tricks, look for Katie’s blogs on Elevate Online! Or if you’re wanting to become a freelancer or consultant yourself, check out LEAP’s resources that can help you prepare and plan. And of course, follow along in my next Elevate Online/LEAP Internship Blog coming soon!
