bigato's journal
Re: bigato's journal
Bigato,
I had this post written last night but the power went out due to the large storm we had in Toronto. Here is my second take.
I have done a little bit of consulting in my short time on this planet. The key things I learned was that I could usually sell my next job by doing a good job on the current one and getting referrals. A good job means under promise and over deliver, everybody loves that and will most likely give you a good referral. Most new people in consulting will promise anything to get the work, which turns out to be a nightmare of time and money wasting for you. Another key thing is to never ever ever do work for free unless it's for a family member or someone you would trust like a family member. Even then they should probably be paying you, you are family after all!
I did some free computer work, starting my little technology consulting business, for my parents neighbour who was into geology. I helped him set up his old computer, get his microscope working on it, training, advice etc. Instead of paying me anything for the hours upon hours of time I spent on his computer he gave me some rocks. They weren't even his "top of the line" rocks that he kept in glass displays, they were the throwaways he kept in boxes in his basement. He literally paid me fools gold for some work. He also talked my ear off about everything under the sun because it wasn't like he was paying me hourly to do the work. He didn't give me a referral either. I then did work for another guy in the neighbourhood. He asked what my rate was and I told him 15 bucks an hour because that is what I made in my dishwashing job times 1.5 at the time. He told me my rate was $50 an hour and even that was a low price. He was a sales/marketing consultant and he said he has charged upwards of $300 an hour to meet with someone for a couple of hours. I set up his computer, home network etc. I have done a ton of work with this guy since and he has given me some good referrals and marketing advice.
When you are giving your work away people will often treat you like an intern, treat your work like a kids school project and treat your time like it was infinite. If you do a bad job they will still bad mouth you to people and impact your reputation. I suspect part of the reason for this is that people think they get what they pay for and if you charge nothing ...
On the other hand if you charge market or higher rates your customer will want to get right down to business and, unless they are rolling in cash, will generally spend a very small amount of time chatting. Do a good job and your work will be respected and used because they will want to get a return on their investment. Get a referral and you can do more work and charge normal prices for it. IF you do a bad job your will tarnish your reputation but you can always give them a discount and go and fix your error, they might still give you a referral for your willingness to give them a break.
I could see how providing a contractually confidential one time discount to your customer starting out would be a good wedge into the market, but don't do free work ever if you are trying to break into an industry.
Well that's my advice, it's free so take it for what is worth
I had this post written last night but the power went out due to the large storm we had in Toronto. Here is my second take.
I have done a little bit of consulting in my short time on this planet. The key things I learned was that I could usually sell my next job by doing a good job on the current one and getting referrals. A good job means under promise and over deliver, everybody loves that and will most likely give you a good referral. Most new people in consulting will promise anything to get the work, which turns out to be a nightmare of time and money wasting for you. Another key thing is to never ever ever do work for free unless it's for a family member or someone you would trust like a family member. Even then they should probably be paying you, you are family after all!
I did some free computer work, starting my little technology consulting business, for my parents neighbour who was into geology. I helped him set up his old computer, get his microscope working on it, training, advice etc. Instead of paying me anything for the hours upon hours of time I spent on his computer he gave me some rocks. They weren't even his "top of the line" rocks that he kept in glass displays, they were the throwaways he kept in boxes in his basement. He literally paid me fools gold for some work. He also talked my ear off about everything under the sun because it wasn't like he was paying me hourly to do the work. He didn't give me a referral either. I then did work for another guy in the neighbourhood. He asked what my rate was and I told him 15 bucks an hour because that is what I made in my dishwashing job times 1.5 at the time. He told me my rate was $50 an hour and even that was a low price. He was a sales/marketing consultant and he said he has charged upwards of $300 an hour to meet with someone for a couple of hours. I set up his computer, home network etc. I have done a ton of work with this guy since and he has given me some good referrals and marketing advice.
When you are giving your work away people will often treat you like an intern, treat your work like a kids school project and treat your time like it was infinite. If you do a bad job they will still bad mouth you to people and impact your reputation. I suspect part of the reason for this is that people think they get what they pay for and if you charge nothing ...
On the other hand if you charge market or higher rates your customer will want to get right down to business and, unless they are rolling in cash, will generally spend a very small amount of time chatting. Do a good job and your work will be respected and used because they will want to get a return on their investment. Get a referral and you can do more work and charge normal prices for it. IF you do a bad job your will tarnish your reputation but you can always give them a discount and go and fix your error, they might still give you a referral for your willingness to give them a break.
I could see how providing a contractually confidential one time discount to your customer starting out would be a good wedge into the market, but don't do free work ever if you are trying to break into an industry.
Well that's my advice, it's free so take it for what is worth
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Re: bigato's journal
Agree, agree, agree! Free work will sap your life force.BlueNote wrote: don't do free work ever if you are trying to break into an industry
Re: bigato's journal
Agree! Best consulting gigs are usually repeat customer and referrals. Keep doing a good job and you will soon build up your network.
Don't ever do anything for free -- it devalues your worth in the eyes of the "client."
I learned this the hard way.
Don't ever do anything for free -- it devalues your worth in the eyes of the "client."
I learned this the hard way.
Re: bigato's journal
The management consulting I do is a little different, but the sales work is still similar. I agree with Bluenote do not give away your work...completely.
What I would do in your position is figure out the appropriate hourly rate. Let's say it is $50/hr for this example (could be $300/hr for all I know). You identify someone that could use both strategic IT planning (what you are currently doing for free) and actual IT work (what you plan on charging for). The strategic planning will take rougly 3 hours and the actual IT work will take 40 hours (I'm assuming the actual IT work takes way more than the planning). I would quote my correct hourly rate of $50/hr, but only charge 1 hour for the planning if I was trying to get in the door. This way the value your planning work, you won't shock them when you charge for the actual IT work, it's cheap enough to get you in the door, and is less likely to screw you on a future client who hears about your "free planning."
Giving away work is a tough road to go down. Especially in the service industry.
What I would do in your position is figure out the appropriate hourly rate. Let's say it is $50/hr for this example (could be $300/hr for all I know). You identify someone that could use both strategic IT planning (what you are currently doing for free) and actual IT work (what you plan on charging for). The strategic planning will take rougly 3 hours and the actual IT work will take 40 hours (I'm assuming the actual IT work takes way more than the planning). I would quote my correct hourly rate of $50/hr, but only charge 1 hour for the planning if I was trying to get in the door. This way the value your planning work, you won't shock them when you charge for the actual IT work, it's cheap enough to get you in the door, and is less likely to screw you on a future client who hears about your "free planning."
Giving away work is a tough road to go down. Especially in the service industry.
Re: bigato's journal
Enjoy your new house Bigato!
Re: bigato's journal
Living in such a quiet environment, I wish you and your wife good homesteading bigato, and good crops!
Re: bigato's journal
@ bigato, glad to hear you're going to charge a market rate for your time. I don't know how long you've been charging nothing for your work but don't be surprised if people are pissed about it. It is well known that raising prices pisses people off because price is often used as a mental short cut to determine the value of things. If you were perceived as being a 'freebie' before then you may be perceived as a gouger by charging a market rate. Nonetheless it will pass with time as you prove your worth.
Re: bigato's journal
How they blocked and how you did it?
Re: bigato's journal
Don't worry, nobody here is doing what you do as far as i know.bigato wrote:They were using the user agent string from my browser. Please just don't spread the word around in detail, because if a lot of people start doing it, they'll find a better way.
BTW, what a lame way to block your acess.
Re: bigato's journal
I'm paying R$50,00/month for 1Mb here. Net.
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Re: bigato's journal
@bigato:
If how you handled the forum migration is an indication of how you work in your day to day job (ie. initiative, problem solving, ownership, etc) I have no doubt your career will take a very successful path.
People in hiring positions eventually recognize those types of intangibles and it ends up creating opportunities that were never there in the first place.
Good luck bigato!
If how you handled the forum migration is an indication of how you work in your day to day job (ie. initiative, problem solving, ownership, etc) I have no doubt your career will take a very successful path.
People in hiring positions eventually recognize those types of intangibles and it ends up creating opportunities that were never there in the first place.
Good luck bigato!
Re: bigato's journal
Good luck bigato! I'm crossing my fingers.
Re: bigato's journal
Sounds exciting! Is there anything specific you're doing to prepare for your interview?
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
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Re: bigato's journal
Good luck @bigato!
Whether it is this opportunity or the next, I have no doubt that you will achieve.
Whether it is this opportunity or the next, I have no doubt that you will achieve.
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Re: bigato's journal
Excellent!
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Re: bigato's journal
Happy for you.. Congrats!!!
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Re: bigato's journal
The fist bump greeting is performed.
I'm going long bigato stock, upgraded analysis from outperform to strong buy.
I'm going long bigato stock, upgraded analysis from outperform to strong buy.
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Re: bigato's journal
Congratulations So what is your plan for your new and old house in your old city?
Re: bigato's journal
Best of luck Bigato.
So what ever happened to the plans of the small farm in the mountains, living in a small house, raising food.
Did I dream that?
would you care to bring your readers up to season 2/ current plans of "Bigato's journal"?
best wishes,
anomie
So what ever happened to the plans of the small farm in the mountains, living in a small house, raising food.
Did I dream that?
would you care to bring your readers up to season 2/ current plans of "Bigato's journal"?
best wishes,
anomie