Looking for a Job?

Recent comments on my Job Search series from about a year and a half ago suggest that with the current high unemployment, job seekers could benefit from this information today.

If you’re seeking employment, I encourage you to read the entire  series. Those posts include practical and detailed information about resumes, cover letters, and job interviews.

I’ve been an entrepreneur or freelancer for most of my working life so my personal experience of looking for a job is limited. However, I hired many employees during my business career, so I understand hiring from the employer perspective. One of my clients is a career transition coach, and I have worked with her on resumes, cover letters, and job interview preparation for many of her clients in addition to individual clients of my own. I know this advice works.

As important as it is for you to know how to write a resume (or hire me or someone like me to do it for you), it’s even more important that you have the right mindset.

Here are seven tips to help you succeed in your job search:

• Realize that the job search is a process. You may have to submit many resumes to get one interview. Then you may have to go through interviews with several companies before you find a serious prospect, and you may have to go through several interviews with one company before you get the job. Generally the process is longer for jobs at the top executive levels, but you’re not likely to get hired immediately for any job.
• Remember that employers want to know what you can do for them. They aren’t going to hire you because you need a job but because you can solve a problem for them. Always think and present yourself in terms of what you have to offer.
• Understand that most jobs aren’t advertised. Network constantly and research the industry and companies you are interested in to find the hidden unadvertised openings.
• Stay in job search mode wherever you are. Be prepared to tell everyone you come in contact with what kind of work you seek and how you can contribute to an employer. Even when you’re not talking, always act as you would if your ideal boss might be watching you—because he or she could be.
• Recognize that networking is a two-way street. Often job seekers make contacts strictly to get help; help others first, and they’ll be more apt to help you. The more people you help, the more people you have willing to help you.
• Remain positive and confident. It’s easy to get discouraged when you’ve been out of work a while and all you hear on the news is how bad the economy is. But you’ll more attractive to employers, happier, and more successful if you remember past accomplishments and expect future successes.
• Smile and say “Thank you.” Smiles are contagious and make everyone—those who smile and those who see the smiles—feel better. We all like to be appreciated, and many job seekers don’t put forth the effort to show appreciation. Thank everyone who gives you a lead or a referral and everyone who interviews you—even if you don’t get the job. Hand-written notes are rare and will make you stand out among job seekers. And when you stand out in a positive way … you just might get that job!

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Freelance Rates Survey Results

 A few weeks ago, I discovered that freelance editing rates is the most popular search term people use to find this blog and the most popular post is How Much Will It Cost? Average Freelance Editing Rates. I decided to update the information in a new series and created an online survey to gather information.

The results of the survey are available as a PDF download. Only 45 people responded, and most of them were writers rather than editors. I’m not sure how statistically significant the results are, but political polls make headlines with only a thousand or two responses representing millions of voters.

The report includes the following:

• The data as compiled by Survey Monkey: each question with the number of responses and the corresponding percentage for each multiple choice answer
• Comments submitted on each question
• A summary of the results by the length of time the respondents have freelanced—the time frames were compressed in the report because of the small number of respondents
• Charts showing the breakdown for the length of time (5 or fewer years, 5 to 15 years, and more than 15 years) and for the kind of freelancer (writer, editor, writer-editor)

Highlights of the results:

• There is a wide range in freelance prices, from less than $5/hour to more than $150/hour.
• The results are skewed toward less experienced freelancers. Nearly 1/4 of the respondents have freelanced 1 to 5 years part-time; more than 15% have freelanced less than 1 year part-time.
• More than half are primarily Web writers; only 1 is an editor only; 7 are writer-editors.
• Regular clients and referrals are the primary ways the respondents find work, but other sources are also important.
• About 22% charge an hourly rate; an equal number charge by the project.
• Three respondents charge less than $5/hour. Two charge $100 to $125/hour, and one charges more than $150/hour. The most popular rate is $20 to $30/hour.
• Rates seemed more closely correlated to length of time freelancing than whether the freelancer is part-time or full-time. All those charging less than $5/hour are part-timers who have freelanced less than 5 years. The writer who charges more than $150/hour is also a part-timer (10 to 15 years as a freelancer).
• Nearly 2/3 require clients to request a quote and do not post their rates.

I’m not a statistician; in fact, I’m not even good at math. Let me know if you find an error in the report.

Look over the survey results. Do you think the numbers have any statistical validity? Did anything either surprise you or validate your current ideas about freelance rates? Is there anything in the results useful to you, either as a freelancer setting your own prices or as a client wondering how much work will cost? Please leave your thoughts in a comment.

In the next installment in this series (in a week or two), I’ll discuss how to go about setting prices.

Updated 12/3/09 with two points:

• I have become extremely busy and don’t have time to devote to the research and writing needed to continue this series right away. The series will resume  in January.
• One question I did not ask that I should have was where the freelancer was located. Someone suggested that I can look up the IP addresses of the respondents and correlate them to a country. I will attempt to do that when I have more time. Perhaps that will give a better picture—$5/hour is less than minimum wage in the US but is respectable pay in some parts of the world.

photo credit: pinguino

Freelance Rates Survey Ends Next Week

I’ve been running a freelance writing and editing rates survey for several weeks but haven’t had a great deal of response. My goal is to have statistically significant information for my two-part series scheduled for the third week in November.

The survey is anonymous, quick, and easy. There are only six multiple-choice questions:

How long have you freelanced part-time or full-time?

What kind of freelancer are you—writer, editor, both?

How do you find freelance jobs?

How do you price your work—hourly, project, bid, etc.?

What is your standard hourly or word rate?

Do you post your rates?

An optional seventh question gives you the opportunity to add comments and further information.

If you are a freelance writer or editor—part-time or full-time—and have not already done so, please take the survey by Wednesday, November 12. Then come back the following week for the series on pricing, including the results of the survey.

Freelance Rates Survey Reminder

I’m planning a series on freelance writing and editing rates. Freelancers want to know what others charge, and potential clients want to know how much to expect a project to cost.

As mentioned in a previous post, I am trying to collect real-world data from freelance writers and editors through a short anonymous online survey.

There are only six multiple-choice questions:

How long have you freelanced part-time or full-time?

What kind of freelancer are you—writer, editor, both?

How do you find freelance jobs?

How do you price your work—hourly, project, bid, etc.?

What is your standard hourly or word rate?

Do you post your rates?

An optional seventh question gives you the opportunity to add comments and further information.

The more responses I get, the more valuable the information will be. If you are a freelance writer and/or editor (part-time or full-time), please complete the survey and encourage fellow freelancers to do the same.

Freelance Rates Survey

Recently I wrote that freelance editing rates is the most popular keyword phrase that brings visitors to this blog. When I realized that one post on this subject has more than 300 visitors per month, I decided it was time to write more on the topic.

For an upcoming series, I would like to have some feedback on how freelancers price their writing and editing services.

I have compiled a simple anonymous survey that asks the following questions:

• How long have you freelanced part-time or full-time?
• What kind of freelancer are you—writer, editor, both?
• How do you find freelance jobs?
• How do you price your work—hourly, project, bid, etc.?
• What is your standard hourly or word rate?
• Do you post your rates?

There is an optional question to share any additional information that you think will be helpful. The survey should take only a few minutes as the six questions are all multiple choice.

Click here to take the freelance editing and writing rates survey

Please take the survey yourself and pass the link to every freelancer you know. The more responses I receive, the more accurate the information in my series will be.

Freelance Writers Appreciation Week

Just like last year, Kristen King at Inkthinker brought Freelance Writers Appreciation Week to my attention. Visit her blog this week to read posts about what she appreciates about being a freelance writer.

I appreciate many things about being a freelancer, most of all, being able to work from home on my own schedule doing what I love.

Secretaries get flowers from their boss on  Secretary’s Day. What do freelancer writers get during Freelance Writers Appreciation Week? Our clients don’t even know about the event, but I’m blessed to have clients who appreciate me even when it’s not a special occasion.

To all freelance writers, here’s a hug of appreciation.

Barter—Part 4: How Does It Compare to Cash?

Question from a reader: Would you ever perform a service for “trade dollars” when you can get an equivalent amount of “real dollars”?

Answer: Of course, if there is a choice, cash is usually preferable. However, I have accepted trade dollars when I could have been paid in cash. For example, the writer who was originally referred to me by a trade exchange periodically has trade dollars to spend. I always accept trade at those times because he would not be my client if the trade exchange had not referred him to me. Any time I get business from the trade exchange, I accept trade dollars from that person/company for future business. Also there are times that I am trying to build my trade dollar balance for a specific purchase (such as when I needed extensive and expensive dental work) so I would choose trade dollars over cash dollars.

I first joined a trade exchange more than 20 years. I was quickly hooked on barter and have been happily trading ever since. Just like cash business, sometimes I want more trade business … and sometimes I have more than I handle. A milder version of the notorious feast or famine cycle of freelancing. But, like freelancing, I would never give up bartering.

This whole series resulted from an e-mail exchange with a reader who wanted to know more about barter. If you want to know more, ask your questions in comments so everyone can read the replies. Even if you don’t have questions, read the comments—there are excellent ideas there from readers.

Barter—Part 3: Who Does It?

Question from a reader: What percentage of small business owners would you say uses a trade exchange? And what is the typical small business owner’s perception of the concept? I ask because at first, I really thought it was a stupid idea. I mean, who wants to go through the hassle of bartering (and pay real cash fees too!) when you can get hard cash! But now I see that the system is actually quite slick.
You have people who want to get some ancillary revenues out of their business, at relatively small cost and effort. And once you get the trade dollars, you really want to spend it quickly, because that enhances your cash flow. This dynamic actually greatly enhances the velocity of transactions in this little ecosystem, and creates liquidity!

Answer: I think a lot of businesspeople have the same reaction as you did until they learn more about barter. Although I don’t have any firm idea of the percentage of small businesses that engage in bartering through a trade exchange, my guess is that it is relatively small because most don’t understand its value.

However, I believe a large percentage of small businesses barter directly from time-to-time because they understand the value of trading goods and services rather than spending cash. The problem with this approach, however, it that two businesses needing each other’s goods/services in the exact same amount is rare so businesses who are willing to barter don’t often find a match for their needs. They may be reluctant to pay fees to a trade exchange because they don’t realize the trade exchange will bring them business—they think only in terms of how they’ve done direct trades and don’t understand that the trade exchange is a third party “matchmaker” and banker.

I know that once a company gets involved in bartering, they usually do far more than they originally expected. I belong to two trade exchanges, and there are many businesses that are members of both to get more trade business.

Of course, bartering is generally more advantageous to service businesses because they don’t have to spend money for products to sell (though their time and/or labor costs are certainly expenses). Barter is great for freelancers during those inevitable slow times—and often trade clients are willing to wait longer for a project. Businesses with very small markups usually don’t barter, because it’s not cost-effective for them to pay the trade exchange fees from their small profit margin. I think you will find a much higher percentage of service businesses belong to trade exchanges than the percentage of businesses in general.

And while small businesses certainly predominate in trade exchanges, some large companies, including major corporations, also barter. They may offer specific items—such as overstocked inventory or older models—rather than offering their complete line, but if the trade buyer is not determined to have the latest model, he can get a good deal.

You can learn more at the Web sites of the two trade exchanges I belong to: Alamo Barter Corporation  and ITEX. You can also find a good definition of the barter industry in an article at Barter News; scroll down the left column to the article: Wallach Offers Definition Of Barter Industry.

You can also do an Internet search for “trade exchange,” “barter exchange,” “how barter works,” or similar terms and find lots of explanations at sites of various trade exchanges.

Be sure to read the comments on the posts in this series to find interesting and helpful information.

Barter—Part 2: What Is the Benefit?

Question from a reader: One of the examples that you used [in Trade Exchanges] was that you had some “used plants” that you sold for half price on “trade.” However, why couldn’t you just sell them for half price, except get cash? It seems to me that cash is always better than “trade dollars,” because you can use cash anywhere, and it is not restricted to this very specific circle.

So is the benefit of a trade exchange simply a way to tap into a pre-existing pool of relationships in order to source new business (sort of like Facebook pre-internet)? Or is there something more?

Answer: The value of trade exchanges is that they bring new business that you wouldn’t ordinarily get. One of the rules of all trade exchanges I know of is that you cannot convert a cash customer into a trade customer—the point is to find new customers.

On occasion, I tried to sell used plants for cash. However, the time and costs involved in doing so made it far less profitable and far more work than selling them on trade. I had to store the plants until we had enough to have a sale. We did not maintain a retail operation—our business was strictly putting plants into commercial businesses and maintaining them for the clients. We had a relatively small greenhouse, large enough to store inventory to replace plants for our clients promptly but with no extra space to accumulate used plants. Then there was the labor involved in maintaining them, advertising costs to get customers to come out to buy, and staffing to work the sale. We were not set up to sell from our greenhouse—most of our staff worked out in the field caring for plants at client locations. Our office and greenhouse employees weren’t skilled at sales, and waiting on customers took them away from their primary duties.

Selling used plants for cash was not profitable for us, and until we started selling them on trade, we simply threw the plants away. The replacement cost was built into our pricing, and the plants had been already been expensed. However, we found that selling used plants to trade customers for trade dollars gave us additional income that was pure profit. We didn’t have to warehouse the plants for long periods of time—the trade customers understood we weren’t in the retail business and didn’t expect a large inventory of used plants. We kept a small section of the greenhouse for used plants, and our trade broker kept trade exchange members aware of the availability of these plants. Since we had customers buying used plants only occasionally and one at a time, our warehouse or office staff could handle the sales without significant interruption in their normal duties. If we ever had a significant number of used plants, our trade broker would notify trade exchange members, and we could get rid of them quickly. Selling used plants for cash involved more time, effort, and expense than we made; selling used plants for trade dollars gave us income from something that would otherwise have been thrown in the trash.

The trade exchange is a way to tap into a specific group, like your Facebook example. However, more than that, trade brokers are actively promoting trades. If I am looking for something in particular, they will try to make it available on trade, and they actively promote my products and services to other members. Just like my used plants, they help companies move specific merchandise—last year’s model when the new models come out or an item that is overstocked. Trade members always expect to pay full price—no sales or discounts, so it’s better to get the full price in trade dollars than a deeply discounted price in cash. (Selling used plants for half price does not contradict this because they were used and usually sold for less than half the price of a “new” plant.)

The ability to spend trade dollars only with members works to the advantage of members. Once members have accumulated some trade dollars, they want to spend them—building up a large balance in trade dollars is bad for cash flow. So sellers have a market that has money (trade dollars) to spend and an incentive to spend it (because they can’t pay their rent or utilities with that money and don’t want to build up a huge balance they can’t use).

The seller is always in complete control of what and how much they trade. In my plant business, for example, I offered plants and standard containers as well as maintenance service for full trade. Anything that I did not normally maintain in inventory (expensive brass containers, for example) required cash. Trade exchanges want their members to be successful so they continue as actively trading members so merchants set the terms of what they offer on trade. However, the trade exchange does want this spelled out so they can tell members what is and what isn’t available—no surprises for a customer expecting to buy on trade and being told they can’t.

Members can also go on standby and not accept any trade business. If a business makes a very large trade sale, they may go on standby for awhile until they spend down their trade balance. Maintaining a balance of trade and cash business is important. Trade business should never be too large a percentage of business or create cash flow problems. It should be an addition to business and help with cash flow.

Also, for big ticket items (the specific amount varies among exchanges), the seller can accept part trade and part cash.

The key to successful trading is to join an exchange that has members offering products and services that the individual or company wants or needs. Services are usually more readily available than products because a professional who has any open space in their calendar can generate income from time that would otherwise be lost as far as income is concerned while merchants have to spend cash for product inventory. My doctor, dentist, and CPA are trade exchange members, and I have used the doctor and CPA for more than twenty years—all on trade. However, my husband has a favorite mechanic and won’t let anyone else work on our cars, so we don’t use any of the mechanics available on trade.

Most trade exchanges have lots of advertising available because once the minute is gone, the radio station has lost its income potential. Once the newspaper is published with no advertising on a page, there will never be another opportunity to sell advertising in that issue. So advertisers are motivated to accept trade dollars for unused time/space (and they almost always have some time/space that is unused). Spending trade dollars on advertising to generate cash business is a wise investment.
Trade business can also lead to cash business in other ways. One of my current clients was referred by a trade exchange for book editing. I edited the first few chapters on trade, then he ran out of trade dollars. I have since done tens of thousands of dollars of business with him in cash. I have also had trade clients refer cash clients.

The contracts state that members should do their own due diligence, take bids if appropriate, and choose products and services on trade in the same way they would cash. However, on the rare occasions (maybe two or three in close to 30 years) when I have had a dispute with a supplier on trade, the trade exchange has mediated and resolved the problem.

Note added 8/25: Be sure to read the comments in this series—Rita shares how individuals as well as businesses can barter effectively as well as creative ideas for folks who think they don’t have anything to trade.

Barter—Part 1: What Is It?

A few months ago, I received an e-mail from someone who had read my post Connecting – Part III: Trade Exchanges. He asked several questions that I thought others might find interesting. In this post, I’ll discuss what barter/trade exchanges are, then in subsequent posts, I’ll answer the questions.

Just about everyone has heard about the ancient practice of bartering. The farmer would pay the doctor with a chicken or the carpenter would repair the lawyer’s house in exchange for legal work. However, it’s not often that two businesses need each other’s goods or services in the same amount. Trade exchanges, also known as barter clubs, make bartering possible for almost everyone. The trade exchange acts both as a matchmaker and a banker—finding goods and services for members and maintaining records of the “trade dollars” or “barter units” members spend and receive. The exchange charges a transaction fee (in cash) for providing the service; most exchanges charge a one-time, annual, or monthly membership fee as well.

Often businesspeople find bartering attractive because they think they don’t have to pay taxes on trade income. Unfortunately, that is a misconception. Trade income is taxable exactly the same way cash income is. However, if you spend trade dollars for business expenses, the expenses are deductible just as if you had paid cash.

In the next installment, we’ll talk about the value of being a member of a trade exchange.

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