Noel Lynne Figart

When deciding on what to do to generate income, I’ll offer the following suggestions:

• Services tend to have a better hourly rate than goods.

A lot of people get hung up on an hourly rate.  Beyond making sure you can support yourself working a reasonable number of hours (no more than 50), I don’t get tied up in a knot about it.  However, if it’s important to you, it’s important to keep in mind.  I do earn considerably more per paid hour on direct client work than I ever did in any other job.  But I almost never have a full work week of directly paying work.  Few people who are self-employed do, unless they’ve become employers themselves.  I can’t teach you much about that, as I’m moving Heaven and Earth to stay a one-man shop.  But later chapters are going to deal with the ratio of paying work v. non-paying work.

• If you can sell something more than once, do it.

Classic example would be a magazine article.  You sell first serial rights to the piece, then it’s yours to flog around in other place.  Short story anthologies where the story originally appeared in a magazine are another good example.

If you develop a course, certainly try to teach it more than once!

• The less you can invest in materials, the better.

Keep your overhead down.  There are things you will want to spend plenty of money on, sure.  You want your tools to be as good as you need them to be.  But don’t be too seduced by the shiny.  No one gadget is going to be the Perfect Tool to Make You Rich. You were born with that one.  It’s between your ears.

There’s a difference between the shiny nifty gadget and the useful tool to do the job.   Learn that.  I could theoretically do my job on a dial-up Internet connection, but it would be like trying to cut wood with a blunt saw.  The high-speed Internet connection isn’t a nifty gadget, but a genuine tool.   A netbook, as cool as it would be to have a computer I could tuck into my purse, is just a shiny gadget since I’d have to have a more powerful computer for some of my work, anyway[1].

• If you know something useful and can be engaging, teaching classes are a great way to generate some income.

People like to learn whether or not they’re autodidacts.  Whether it’s how to sew, how to do something specific on a computer or how to assemble food as art, there are probably people who want to learn how to do it.  If you create a once-a-week course in something, your local community center might be willing to offer it.   While not necessarily an enormous money-maker, it’s cheap advertising.  It gets your name and business out there, and associated in people’s minds with fun, usefulness or both.  It also combats the natural isolation of being self-employed without an office to go to.  Never underestimate that!

• Put your life experiences to good use.

Everyone has life experience.  Yes, even you!  You may think you’ve lived a completely ordinary, pedestrian life.  I’ll let you in on a little secret:  Most lives feel that way when you’re taking it a day at a time.  Rock stars spend more time waiting on tour buses, or practicing music than they do performing, you know.  You and your life is a unique perspective and you’ve got genuine value to offer, so start looking for it!

Exercise: I Done Did This!

Okay, time for another exercise!

I’d like you to spend some time thinking about everything you’ve done in your life.  Screw the Seriously Impressive stuff.  What have you done that’s normal and pedestrian as well as what’s impressive?  We so often undercut the value of the stuff we see as normal and pedestrian, when it turns out people are willing to pay you for it!   For me, a good example would be writing a blog.  My God, talk about dailyness at its peak!  Yet, I really do make a fair portion of my income writing blog entries on the most amazing range of subjects.

So, sit down and make a list of at least fifty things you’ve done — earned a Girl Scout badge, written to your Congressman, made a meal for twenty people, volunteered at your church (list what you did), made a martini…  It doesn’t matter as long as you hit fifty items.

We’ll be building on this later on.  But the principle and the though pattern that I really want you to grok, and I mean drink it down into your soul, is that you’ve done useful things that people need and really will pay you to do!

And be prepared next week for a very long series on self-management.  It’s the second most important lesson you’ll learn.  (The first is to be willing to ask people to pay you to do stuff!)

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[1] Though if everyone reading this wants to club together and buy me a netbook, I wouldn’t say no to it…

Necessary sK1lZ: Learn How to Learn

This is a biggie.    To be able to make a living without a job, not only do you have to be able to think outside the box, but know that what was outside of the box a week ago has just found a bigger box!  You will need to be able to have the confidence that you can learn new skills relatively easily and well.

I strongly recommend practicing learning new things on a regular basis.  Take classes as often as you can.  If you have a ferret brain, this is your chance to let it go wild.  You can pick anything you want to know how to do.  Learn to knit, learn to make bouillabaisse, learn how to program in LOLcode, learn how to install plumbing or the history of kimono-making in Heian Japan.  For the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, don’t waste your time trying to decide if this is a useful thing to learn.  If you become fascinated with the effects of left nostril inhalers on modern culture, go for it and dive in!   You may or may not ever use it professionally, but keeping your mind flexible is crucial.

I’m only 40, so I’m hardly a Wise Old Woman, but I’ve been around enough to have learned that time spent learning something almost always pays off at some point.

Necessary sK1lZ: Administrivia

Remember when I said one of the things I’m good at is systems building.  That’s true.  It’s a strength, but when it comes to self-managing, it’s also a terrible weakness[1].  I’d much rather plan out a system than deal with its execution.  My favorite moment in writing a new piece is to open my word processor to outline view and write the outline for the it.  Visualizing the flow of the work is all kinds of fun.  As much fun as planning is, and as necessary as it is, it is also necessary not to get bogged down.

That said, there are administrative tasks that are absolutely necessary to running a business or organization.  It’s why a competent administrative assistant[2] never starves.

Now, if you’re going to be a one-man shop, you probably won’t want to be hiring an employee.  That’s okay to a degree.  But, since we’re talking sK1lZ, I have to ask, do you know how to:

• Choose a business form? If not, talk to an accountant or your local small business association.

• Set up a file system? It should be limited to one file drawer when you start out.  If it’s more than that, you’ve got something too complex that you won’t use.  I will answer one email from you about this if you need advice.

• Do taxes? Plenty of self-employed people just suck it up and hire an accountant.  I cannot in good conscience advise you do to otherwise.

• Choose what business equipment is right for you? This is really going to vary depending on what you do.  I’m a writer.  I could work from a smartphone if I absolutely had to.  In practice, it’s a laptop with a wireless connection.  When you start working for yourself and deciding what goods and services you’ll offer, take into account.

Many people tend to develop their own Baker Street Irregulars gang of “go to” people when they want to make sure they know what they need in a particular category.   Most of those same people are Irregulars for their friends, too.  It evens out and is useful.  Being a knowledge junkie, as well as being willing to pass on bits of what you know (barring giving away competitive secrets.  And I assure you I’m actually not here) is a good thing to do in working for yourself.

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[1] It often seems to me that weaknesses wind up being out of proportion strengths.  Since I have no sense of proportion at all…  Well, you get the point.

[2] I actually dislike the term “Administrative Assistant” because these days the admin does the job that was truly what a secretary did back when we started using names like “Secretary of State”.   The name for the copy and file person was “clerk”.

No, no, don’t run and panic.  I’m not asking you to turn into Leisure Suit Larry here, nor am I saying that you have to learn to schmooze and be manipulative. You don’t. I’m a cranky misanthrope who hates too much contact with people and I manage it, so you who are probably a nice person who finds human company pleasant can do okay.

The point a lot of people miss, and it’s an easy one to do, is that sales is not about convincing people to do what they don’t want to do.  That’s nasty and manipulative.  You don’t have to be nasty and manipulative to sell well – rather the opposite.

The point of selling is to find out what the potential clients wants and provide that.  When you learn to sell, you’re going to be able to show the potential client why you are the best person to help them out with what they want and need!  Real sales is actually about being helpful.  You can feel okay with being helpful, right?

It also means you have to believe in your product or service.  Make sure you’re utterly convinced of the value of what you do.  Don’t ever say, “Oh I just clean houses,” or  “Well, the writing I do is trivial.”  A clean house is valuable, and not everyone in the world can write clearly.  These are needed skills!  If you have a skill or a talent, you can be sure that there are millions of people in the world who don’t have it, but do need the fruits of it.  Value that; show your potential client that it’s valuable.  Many people will agree, and be willing to buy it.

It’s not Personal, It’s Just Business

While you’re learning to sell, another thing you’ll need to get your head wrapped around is that “No” is almost never personal.   I’m not gonna say rejection is fun, but being told “No” in a business situation is not a personal rejection of you as a human being.  Be willing to blow that off.

It’s partially a numbers game.  Depending on your field, you may get “no” between ten and one hundred times before you get “yes”.   For individual marketing, such as responding to Requests for Proposals (RFPs in contractor parlance), a ten to one ratio of nos to yeses isn’t too shabby.  For a series of cold calls or a direct mailer, you’re looking at more like a ratio of one hundred to one.

Exercise: Practice Asking

Okay, here’s another exercise for you.   If you want to be self-employed, you’re definitely going to have to learn to be assertive.  You may find it difficult to believe, but just the habit of asking for what you want may make the difference between success and failure in being self-employed.  I know it sounds goofy, but it’s true.

For the next week, practice asking for stuff.  It doesn’t matter what, just ask.  I do want to caution you that there’s a difference between asking and demanding.  Just ask. “Please” is always good and smiles accessorize great with most requests.  Ask if you can get a discount on something in a store.  Ask someone in your household to take out the trash.  Ask if you can do someone a favor.  Ask someone out on a date.  Write your Congressman and ask her to vote a specific way on a bill that’s coming up that’s important to you.  Think of things to ask for – big things, small things, it doesn’t matter.

What will matter is how you feel when you ask, and how you feel when you get a response.  Are you scared to ask?  Does it feel worse if the person says no?  Do you feel a sense of relief if the person says yes?  Keep a record of how you feel, what was going on around the situation, and the outcome.

The goal here is not necessarily to try to get as many people to say yes as possible.  You don’t need to worry about that in the early stages.  Let it be a numbers game at first, and a scattershot.  You want to be in the habit of simply… asking for what you want.  It’s not about demanding and it’s not about being upset at being told no.  It’s about being willing to step up to the plate and ask and take that risk.

Don’t get mad at a negative response, ‘kay?  Part of this is to practice not taking no personally.  If you’ve been fighting with your kids for years to make sure they take out the trash on the night before the garbage collectors are supposed to pick it up, that’s too emotive a situation to be using for this practice.  If you find you feel upset at any no, examine that.   To be successful in the self-employment game, you’ll need to figure out how to stop doing that!

You need something valuable to sell – be it your ability to make jewelry, your skill with words, your skill with a needle, your ability to make herbal remedies…  That’s the first step.  Thing is, friend, it’s just a first step.  That skill is a tool just as much as a hammer or a ladle.  It means nothing unless backed up by knowledge and the will to use it.  Notice that I said knowledge and will.  Being self-employed is as much of a skill set as knowing how to be a chef.  You’ll need to work on that part or you’ll be screwed.

Remember when I said in the last post that you’d need to figure out 20 things you were good at?  Okay, you did it, right?  You didn’t because you know what you want to do, anyway?

<sighs>  I’ll wait.  You’ll need to do this even if you think you know how you want to make your living from home.  ‘Cause, friends, you do not want to get stuck on one idea.  That’s how most people fail.

Here’s my own list:

1. Writing
2. Knitting
3. Being funny
4. Baking
5. Sewing
6. Planning
7. Jollying people along
8. Figuring out technical material
9. Building systems
10. Swimming
11. Being snarky
12. Learning new material
13. Improvisation
14. Languages (Human or computer)
15. Reading
16. Making complex information understandable
17. Thinking outside of the box
18. Getting people excited about their own goals
19. Anthropomancy (see item #11)
20. Finding Useful Information

Of course, I’m good at more than twenty things and so are you.  That was what came off the top of my head.  If you have to think really hard about this, you’re taking it too seriously or being too modest.  For the record, please don’t map “good” to “world class”.  If you’re world-class at something, great.  I’m not world-class at anything, and I don’t sweat it.  I’m not an Olympic athlete or a major world figure, so I don’t have to be, either.

The reason this is so important is because if your goal is to make a living without having a Real Job, you’re going to need to be flexible, and you’re going to need to know your own skills.  When I started out, I figured I’d do a lot of Virtual Assistant work, with some writing thrown in if I were Really Lucky.  I’ve had one VA client and earn over 50% of my living writing.  When I was tossed a chance to teach classes in computer applications, I gave it a try, even though I’d crashed and burned at my last try, was terrified of letting this person down and had the worst case of stage fright before that class that I’ve had before or since.   But I’ve gone on to be a popular teacher of computer applications.  Those things I’m good at (snarkiness, explaining technical material simply, being funny, inspiring people) are all things I apply to teaching.

I was not wedded to any one way of making money, nor was I insistent that I had to do it in a certain way.  I was flexible and open to whatever came along.  And let me tell you, serendipity has already led me some places I hadn’t expected to go!

How do you do this? You need to ask yourself The Question.

The Question is:

What goods, services or talents can I trade for money?

Look back at that list of things you do well.  How can they apply?   Let’s say you’re really organized and understand the efficient use of space.  Maybe applying those skills to people who need help organizing their lives would be a good thing.  But even if you chose “professional organizer”, there’s dozens of ways to go about it.  You could offer a personal service where you come into their homes and get your hands dirty in the closets with them.  You could offer an online service where they take pictures and you make recommendations, laying out the necessary steps.  You could give seminars on the principles of organization.  Notice how many different ways there are to approach that single thing.

That’s the way you need to be able to think to make your living without a job.  What might someone pay me to do or make?  What am I good at that could be valuable to someone, especially on a short-term basis?

Barbara Winters, author of Joyfully Jobless, recommends that you create three or four income streams – jobs/services/whatever that will each bring in about a week’s worth of income a month.  I do something similar, simply because I’m not comfortable with all my income coming from one place.   You don’t have to, nor should you be, wedded to making your living in any one specific way.  Certainly I’d never set out to become a computer instructor.  It’s merely serendipity that I found out I love doing it!  I’d keep up with it even if I were making a decent living off of royalties from a best-selling novel with a big movie deal.

I can’t answer The Question for you.  In fact, while I can throw out ideas, the ones you generate for yourself are the ones that will be infinitely better than anything I can give you.  You know yourself, your talents and your life situation better than I do.  If dogs frighten you, a suggestion to take in dog-boarding clients is not going to be the best way to go.

Speaking of dogs…

I highly encourage you to hunt up Robert A. Heinlein’s “-We Also Walk Dogs”.  The service mindset of the corporation described in the classic science fiction short story is exactly the mindset you need to figure out ways to generate income for yourself.

But there are skills that are universally necessary to anyone who is self employed!  Next week, we’ll talk about some that are both universal to the self-employed and either learnable or things you can outsource.

As an exercise this week, I’d like you to brainstorm ways that your talents could be turned into goods or services.  Don’t be “realistic” here.  Brainstorming isn’t useful if the editor is turned on.  Try for at least 30 ideas, no matter how goofy.