Today we kick off our
summer content campaign,and it is dedicated exclusively to the art of pitching. This
is the topic where we get the most frequent questions so we thought it would be
a great subject matter to delve into for your summer enjoyment and education.
Instead of having us give
you information from outside the client/ candidate relationship, we are
focusing the campaign on concrete advice in two different ways and serving it directly
to you from the experts themselves:
Members who have gotten
jobs with different employers through our platform will talk about how they
look at pitching. They will share examples of their own winning pitches and
what they did that worked.
Clients will go through
pitches they received for the jobs they posted on our platform, discuss why
they hired the person they hired and what opportunities were missed in the pitches
they rejected.
To get started, this week
we are handing the reins over to member Carolyn Montrose Dub. She is a Second
Shift member who has gotten multiple jobs with different employers. We are
truly grateful to Carolyn for taking her time to share her wisdom and success
with the Second Shift community.
Last
week a freelance writer and coach I know posted this question: “In your view,
what’s the most surprising thing about freelancing?” The answer that
immediately came to mind was: “No matter how long you’ve been doing it – there
are still lessons to be learned!”
I’ve
been a part of the gig economy for 14 years this summer. It’s hard to believe
it’s been that long. You’d think that by now, I’d truly know every trick in the
book, but honestly, I learn something new with each engagement. There are
however, a few key lessons that I learned early on that have kept me in
business all these years. Whether you’re new to freelancing, or you’ve been at it
a while, I’m sharing those secrets here with you in hope that they’ll fuel your
success too!
#1
First
off, know that in the world of freelancing, all good things must come to an
end. My first client 14 years ago was one of my favorites. It was a growing
tech company founded by a group of smart passionate people, and they were kind
to boot! We collaborated to determine their greatest pains and developed
marketing solutions to address them.
Our
worked spanned a few years, and I truly thought I’d be working with them
forever. But my husband (a seasoned consultant) warned me that if they still
needed me after several years, I probably wasn’t doing my job. His viewpoint was
that a consultant is hired to fix a problem, and I needed to learn to get in
and get out! And… he was right.
Eventually
what we did together worked. This client grew and the time came for them to
build their own marketing team and take things in house. My job was done! I
should have been happy, but the problem was, things had been going so well with
this client that I failed to prospect while I was working with them.
LESSON 1: Prospecting is a permanent (and very
necessary) part of every freelancer’s job.
No
matter how well your business is going, do not take your foot off the gas
pedal. Create a marketing strategy and stick with it. I’ve kept mine pretty
simple – I commit to ‘touching’ a set number of contacts each week and I stick
to it. But no matter what marketing mix you decide on, it’s important to
continually be marketing yourself.
#2
Second,
understand that there really are no such things as bad clients! Have you ever
heard the statement: ‘There is no such thing as a bad child — only bad parents’?
Well, I have, and the last time I did it got me thinking: ‘There is no such
thing as a bad client – only bad freelancers’!
If
you’ve been freelancing for any amount of time at all, you are probably shaking
your head in disagreement right now. I get it – we’ve all had nightmare
experiences with clients. I used to believe that there were bad clients too –
until I really started to dissect my negative experiences and realized that my
clients weren’t the problem, my process was!
LESSON 2: If you qualify your clients, you
won’t have any bad clients.
Spend
some time thinking about the work you love to do and whom you love to do it
with. Establish your rates and stick to them. Write it all down. Build a
qualifying script and use it to screen opportunities. Don’t be afraid to turn
away a lead that doesn’t meet your criteria. Every time I’ve failed to do so –
It’s been a mistake. Nothing will put you out of business faster than not
qualifying your clients. And, I promise, there will be no such thing as a bad
client when you qualify your clients.
#3
Finally,
when it comes to freelancing, we are better together than divided. Freelancing
can be a lonely business. There was a time I felt so lonely seven years ago
that I almost packed it in and returned to cubicle nation. I had recently moved
across the country. My work back east was drying up and I had very few
connections in my new town. I was ready to throw in the towel when a single brunch
changed everything.
At this
brunch, I sat down next to the owner of an amazing little design firm in my
area. We hit it off and when she learned that I was a writer, it turned out that
she needed a writer! We embarked on our first project together soon afterwards.
Initially the client asked for a simple datasheet, but within a few weeks, we
realized that solution really didn’t meet their needs and we pitched a much
larger, strategic initiative to the client. We won that deal and have been
working with that client and many others ever since. It’s been some of the most
rewarding work I’ve ever done.
LESSON 3: You are not alone!
They are
so many resources to collaborate with in the freelance world. Whether you
prefer to network online or in person or engage formally or informally, there
is a place to do so. I was so happy to find the SecondShift last year. It’s
place where I can find both qualified leads and qualified resources to
collaborate with. Whatever type of work you do, remember that there is a
community of like-minded individuals out there experiencing many of the same
things that you are experiencing. This doesn’t have to be a lonely business!
In
summary, a lot has changed since I started freelancing 14 years ago. Technology
has made it easier than ever before to find opportunities, but locating work is
only one piece of the puzzle. Winning business requires a unique set of
processes and procedures that set you apart from the competition. Creating your
own rules is key to reaping the rewards of the ever-expanding gig economy.
We love a good podcast here at The Second Shift and one of our favorites is Start-Up. Alex Blumberg started his podcast about starting a podcast media company around the same time as we started The Second Shift; in fact it wouldn’t be too far fetched to say that in many ways it functioned as a roadmap for us. To this day we often refer to lessons learned from Start-Up about raising money, time management, communication and growth strategies.
Start Up is now in its 5th season and they recently aired an episode (May 12th Episode 4) titled Running a Family and a Business that we cannot recommend enough. In it Alex’s executive coach Jerry Colonna speaks with Cisse Cocoa founder Diana Lovett about her issues with working parent guilt. We are huge fans of Jerry’s work on the show and in this episode he masterfully frames the inner dialogue of many working parents in a truly thoughtful manner. They talk a lot about time away from kids and feeling like you are failing at both family and work– it hit home in a very personal and emotional way. Run, don’t walk, to the Apple Store and download it now—you won’t regret it.
Three years ago my partner
Gina and I hit on an idea to build a marketplace connecting women with deep
expertise to companies looking to fulfill project-based work. We had no formal background
in recruiting or business development—I am a former journalist and Gina comes
from marketing—and neither of us had any tech experience at all, but we knew we
had a great idea and we had enough confidence to take the risk that it could
work.
There have been many, many
days since then that we have questioned why we ever thought that we could do
this. There were moments when we wondered if anyone would take us seriously.
But ultimately we decided from the start to live by the motto, “Fake it ‘til you
make it” and it has served us well.
So much has changed since
then—we now run a tech company for gig workers! When we started I thought
sending someone an invite to a meeting meant a handwritten note. Back then, I
couldn’t tell you Lean from Agile. What Gina and I did have was the courage of
our convictions and the comfort in knowing we had a good idea and could figure
out the rest.
This idea of having the guts
to go after your dreams is the same for us as it is for the women in our
network. In our case, our product is our expert talent pool. Our members,
however, have to sell themselves, and we know that’s not easy. As anyone who
works entrepreneurially will tell you, getting good work is not as easy as
hanging a shingle on LinkedIn and getting business cards printed. You must
think like a salesperson and consistently look to sell your best product—you—at
the right place, and at the right price.
Not everyone is good at this
game, but there are ways to get better at it, starting with the ground rule
that nobody can do it better than you. Here are my tips to help gig workers and
entrepreneurs increase their presence, apologize less, and win more business.
Get Out There!
Nobody is going to find you
if you are not out there making yourself known. Go to networking events in your
area. Join Facebook groups for your industry. Use LinkedIn as an inexpensive
way to connect with peers and ex-colleagues. Let anyone and everyone know that
you are available and interested.
Be Strong!
Women often feel diminished
when they step off their career path. It is hard to go from the corner office
to working on your laptop at Starbucks. Never apologize or excuse the choices
you make in your life. Instead, own them and sell the experience as a positive point
of differentiation.
Stay Positive!
It may take a while to close
a deal or get your career back to where you left off. Those are the facts. Being on your own is
demanding and unpredictable. Get used to it, and realize that what you are
getting in terms of life balance more than makes up for the uncertainty.
Tread Water!
Let’s face reality. If you’ve
been out of the workforce for some time, you can’t cherry-pick your way through
projects. Just because you were a high-level strategist does not mean that you can
get gig work at that level. You may have to lower your expectations and take
what’s out there to keep your resume and skills fresh and sharp. Sometimes you
take work to just keep working.
Brush Up!
It is easier than ever to
take classes online and learn a new skill or keep your existing skills fresh.
There are You Tube videos for everything—for example, Gina built our first
website after watching tutorials.
With all these resources, it’s
truly possible to create a working life that incorporates flexibility, freedom
and meaningful work. Just remember to always think of yourself as a valuable
product, stay positive, and be adaptive enough to close deals.
And when the going gets
tough, don’t let the negative voices in your head win. Be like Gina and me—just
put on a smile, look strong and confident, and then become a master of quickly
learning what you need to know!
With the exception of my first female
manager, I have not had the opportunity to be inspired by the women I have
reported to in my career. Many have been so concerned with their own
ladder-climbing that they ignored the effort and talents of their teams.
Now before you click off my post, I
don’t share this to bash my own kind but rather to provide a wake-up call. A
genuine leader inspires, leads by example, is compassionate and flexible. She
is a coach – someone her team can count on when the chips are down or when the
elusive work-life balance is just that – elusive. She looks not to promote
herself but her team for in doing so, she will be elevated. It’s called karma.
A leader knows her capabilities and
is unafraid to admit her weaknesses. Being authentic is critical because in today’s
environment, millennials can spot a fake a mile away. Encouraging collaboration
not competition is how a team succeeds. A baseball game is not won solely by
the pitcher but by those in the outfield, behind second base and even those on
the bench cheering.
She is not created by textbooks or
TedTalks, but by experience, self-reflection and self-knowledge. One should not
be promoted into leadership solely for accomplishments but rather by the amount
of people scrambling to leave positions they love to work for someone that
inspires them. That’s the clue that this person is a leader.
“When you know better, you do better.”
Get to know yourself and your team. Lead as you would want to be led. When you
are able to let go of the leader “title” and embrace the true meaning of
leadership, then and only then can you be inspiring.
Upon graduating college, I was hired at the New York Stock
Exchange where I worked for over three years. It was a riveting, fast-paced
journey but ultimately one I didn’t feel passionate about. I had always longed
for a career in retail marketing, but quickly realized that a pivot from the
financial world wasn’t going to be easy. I interviewed with many renowned fashion
brands, but continually received feedback that my experience on Wall Street
just wouldn’t apply.
Determined not to give up, I found that the lessons learned
from my childhood horseback riding teacher would give me the confidence needed
to persevere. For much of my youth, I competitively rode horses, and my coach
Ruth had profound influence on me. She was, and still is, a remarkable woman of
true grit and gumption, and nearly a second mother to me. Ruth embodies a woman
with the utmost loyalty to herself, her beliefs and her dreams. The multiple
times I was thrown off a horse, Ruth gave me the courage and determination to
get back on right again – a metaphor that has extended into my adulthood many,
many times.
When faced with the initial rejection by the fashion
industry, it was the tenacity that Ruth imparted on me that kept me going. As
the old saying goes, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I ultimately pursued
my MBA in marketing to better position myself, after which I was hired by my
dream retail brand and had a decade-long career with. When my daughter was born
in 2016, I immediately knew I wanted a more flexible career that allowed me to
be with her each day. Again, the self-belief that Ruth showed me gave me the
fortitude to create this new lifestyle for myself, at which point I found The
Second Shift. Today, working with Jenny, Gina and the other women of The Second
Shift, I am surrounded by the same moxie that I so admire in Ruth, and am proud
to instill this strength in my daughter as she grows.
After graduating from a recognized school with a not-so-recognized major (a B.A. in Individualized Study: The Role of the Poetic), I found that opportunities were limited and my ideas about what I wanted from ‘a career’ were even more so. I ended up continuing with the types of roles I had held while in school (administrative and operational), and felt that deviating from a past job description was way too much of a risk. I had trouble focusing on what I wanted or what I liked, and instead made all of my decisions according to what I thought I could get.
It wasn’t until I took my first position with The Second Shift that this began to change. I was hired for a traditional ‘Sara’ role in operations, but because we were a small start-up team, I was exposed to and assisted with all aspects of the business. I had always had an interest in tech, and as we worked on the second iteration of our website with some incredible female technologists (Michelle Pae, a Product Management Consultant and Heather Moore, the Co-Founder and Senior Engineer at Citizen Code), I found myself completely inspired. With the support of The Second Shift team, I went back to school to learn how to code and haven’t stopped coding since. I now work with The Second Shift in product management and web development, and with another start-up as their data visualization engineer. I am working flexibly, loving what I do, and building products and services that I am so very proud of.
This is why my #Wominspired role models are all of the women I have met and worked with at The Second Shift – women who have decided to focus on what they want for themselves and what they want to see in the workforce, rather than letting their pasts and traditional modes of working define how they operate. I feel so lucky to work with this team of talented, experienced and innovative women, and know I wouldn’t be where I am today without their encouragement, persistence and all-around awesomeness. Thank you!
I was put in touch with Deb Newmyer through a mutual friend and immediately realized how much her personal story and her amazing book would resonate with Second Shift members. Deb truly understands the vagaries of a working woman’s career path. She is a big shot producer who took time off to stay-at-home with her of 4 children, and then returned to Hollywood and became a renowned author. Her book Moms for Hire: 8 Steps to Kickstart Your Career is a well-researched workbook for women re-engaging in the workforce or changing career paths, which is something that she clearly know a lot about.
This is such a meticulous and comprehensive book– part step by step guide, part inspirational pep talk, part interactive boot camp. As a first time author, how did you pull this off??
I pulled it off by never giving up. Sheer determination was my truest ally. During my off-career stretches, all I ever wanted was to hop into a bookstore and find an upbeat guidebook that would show me a path back to employment. I found nothing that spoke to me or to the hidden talent pool of smart and capable moms I saw everyday as I waited in that carpool line. So I sat down, researched every self-help guru available, interviewed scores of working women, wrote and re-wrote until Moms for Hire: 8 Steps to Kickstart your Next Career became 235 pages of tips & worksheets, life slices & female cheers….all wrapped up in a pretty flexible cover.
You have re-invented yourself throughout your varied and successful careers. What’s the best advice for women looking to switch gears or focus on one aspect of a skill set?
Start by making the following two lists:
What are you most passionate about? How do you best want to spend your day?
What’s your talent? Your expertise? Your most transferrable skill?
And then hold your two lists) side-by-side like a Venn diagram. Hopefully, enough items on these two lists coincide with each other. And from there, create more lists:
Who do you know? What is your working network? Create a list of all your former colleagues, alumni, acquaintances and social media connections.
Create a habit of making a regular to-do lists. Every morning, write your daily do list, and every evening, make a ritual out of crossing off accomplished tasks
Mostly, keep at it. All of life’s best accomplishments happen in increments. Look for the best route. And when you find yourself frustrated and asking “are we there yet?”…keep going.
Your book focuses specifically on women re-entering the workforce after a career pause but many women in our membership who full time freelancers/ consultants face the same issues What lessons can be taken for all working women?
Across all generations, the truest & simplest clue to career satisfaction is also the most clichéd: hunt for a job you love and eventually occupational happiness will be yours. If you can hold on to passion for the work, rewards will follow. Not every opportunity will match up with your domestic realities, but the best way to find occupational happiness is to know what you want, what you excel at and what your family needs from you.
I really like Step 5 – be the ideal candidate and the practical advice for selling yourself and your experience. This is a really critical step don’t you think?
Honestly, there are no gimmicks to finding a job-you’ve got to dig deeply, work a few new muscles, and devote an-hour-every-day to boldly show off your most attractive self. The single most valuable tool in finding your next career is determination. Keep at it and eventually an offer will be yours.
Pay it forward is a core concept of The Second Shift – we all rise and fall together. This section really speaks to the need for women to help and encourage each other. Why did you include this section?
Okay, it’s a sad fact:
There are not enough Woman in Board Rooms — only 10.6% of Fortune 500 Companies.
There are not enough Women in Director’s Chair—only 7% of the top 250 Films.
There are not enough Women in the US Congress — 19.6% in 2016 US Senate & House
There has never been an American Woman in the White House.
In truth, there are just not enough women actively engaged in the workplace and we need to work together to fix that.
The Mommy Wars will always be a challenge.
Oh, that Mommy Fence. Nearly every day, I am shocked to witness the un-sisterly divide between working moms and stay-at-home moms. A staggering amount of mis-understanding and self-righteous territory grabbing happen on both side of the fence. Balancing it all is an awesome goal, but it is very close to impossible.
The gig economy is here. We’re living in a time in which
temporary positions are common and organizations of
all sizes are contracting with independent workers for short or long term
engagements.
In fact, a recent study showed 51% of executives expect to hire more
freelancers in the next 3-5 years. Businesses that are set up to
work well with contingent labor have a definite advantage—they can hire quickly,
onboard easily and effectively match skills to demand to drive productivity. In
short—they are agile! The most successful tech companies in the industry, including
Apple, Google, and Facebook, are set up to work with the professional gig
economy—are you?
At The Second Shift we help
high-growth start-ups, Fortune 500s, and many companies in between hire and
deploy expert talent from our network of vetted professionals. As a marketplace
that not only provides freelance talent, but
also utilizes resources from our pool to power our own growing business, we
have a particularly in-depth understanding of what it takes to maximize agile
talent. In our experience, the following five factors can make or break your success
in the gig economy:
Your Hiring
Process: There are few very specific details that should be
addressed before your organization even thinks about hiring freelance talent. These
details include:
A Vendor Agreement –make sure that your
business is set up to work properly with independent contractors and vendor
approval is given to platforms such as The Second Shift. Establishing the right
foundation ahead of time will tremendously speed up your hiring process.
A Management Plan – an understanding of who
will post the job, who will participate in the interview process, who will make
the final hiring decision and who will extend the offer is key to landing the most
in demand resources.
An Onboarding Process – A plan for introducing
your freelancer to your company and your processes (including the process they
need to follow to get paid) is key to avoiding confusion and ramping up productivity.
Your Statement of Work (SOW): The benefit of hiring an expert freelancer
is that you are hiring a true professional. Once you’ve clearly communicated
the task, they should instinctively know the best way to get it done. Establishing
a detailed SOW that outlines expected deliverables, deadlines and performance
metrics is key to laying groundwork for success. The Second Shift automatically
prompts our experts to fill an SOW out once they are hired and clients must
approve before work can begin.
Your Plan
to Manage Politics: Managing internal politics with existing
employees can be tricky when new talent is brought in. Explaining up front that
a consultant is being brought in to augment their skills and support a
particular demand, such as coverage during a parental leave or much needed
expertise for a new business pitch will enable you to proactively address any potential
hard feelings and ensure positive participation.
Your Communication
Approach: Establishing your preferred method for open
and consistent communication with your team and expert before you begin any
work together is key. Does your team already use a tool like Slack or Trello?
If so, be sure to get your freelancer up to speed on your preferred method of
communication during the onboarding process. If not, have an open discussion
regarding what communication methods have worked best for them in the past and
agree on the best way forward.
Your
Feedback Loop: Once a project is done, freelancers want to
know how they’ve done. If you’ve had a positive experience, let them know by
taking the time to formally review them. You’ve successfully on boarded this
person, trained her on your culture, and created a win together, so why not to
maintain a friendly relationship and the ability to take advantage of hiring
her again in the future?
The gig economy is in full swing. It may be tempting to
rush in, but taking the time to examine any inefficiencies in your current
hiring and retention processes is key to being sure you hire the best talent for your needs. Share
your experience working with agile talent by leaving a comment below. Follow
our blog for out next post covering tips for engaging
freelancers from a Second Shift member who frequently works for both our
clients and us.
One of the many ways that tech innovation is impacting the global work force is the introduction of “agile” talent acquisition and management. This model enables project-based hiring in coordinated, rapid-change business environments to increase overall productivity and efficiency. When companies hire and manage talent in a fluid environment, teams deliver better work, faster.
Having proven successful in the software development world, the agile approach today is spreading across a broad range of industries and functions, and companies both large and small, are moving away from traditional employment models. In the Global Human Capital Trends 2016 survey, which included more than 7,000 responses from firms in 130 countries, 51% of executives indicated they expected to hire more freelancers in the next three to five years. And by some estimates, the number of employees who are independent contractors, consultants, freelancers, Second Shifters—whatever you want to call them—now equals 20-40% of the workforce, and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.
An agile talent management strategy incorporates the speed and coordination of fluid methodologies for any type of workforce need. For example, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) came to The Second Shift to hire a market research expert to augment their existing team and help guide a new business pitch. The Second Shift expert they hired for the project was able to work remotely with their team on a comprehensive market analysis based on decades of specific industry experience. Companies that think outside of the traditional employment model gain a competitive edge because the agile approach enables them to:
• Staff up and down with experts as needed • Hire the best talent from anywhere in the world • Institutionalize fresh perspectives and voices • Reduce overhead costs and risks associated with full-time hires
The Second Shift is uniquely positioned to work with businesses to expand their flexible talent pool and create a nimble and innovative workforce. Acquiring talent via our platform provides access to a strictly vetted network of active professional women with a minimum of 10 years expertise in all aspects of marketing and/or finance.
When you work with the Second Shift to hire agile you:
• Enhance Profitability: Hiring on-demand talent helps achieve more in a shorter time frame, and increased productivity = more money!
• Gain flexibility: You’ll find our members from the East coast to the West and anywhere in between, and available for all types of flexible work. Whether you are looking for an in-office resource to cover a 3-month parental leave or a remote employee to conduct a one-week market study—we’ve got you covered.
• Increase your speed to market: Once you post a project, you will immediately begin to receive pitches from qualified resources. From there, the unique structure of our marketplace allows for seamless closed communication to manage project scope, pricing and final payment.
• Tap into top innovators: The Second Shift matches vetted talent with your specific business challenges, and each member of our network has 10+ years of experience in their field working for top global brands and Fortune 500 Companies. When you need a rock star, we have one for you. Post a project now!
Today’s most innovative companies including, About.com, Microsoft and XO Group partner with The Second Shift to identify and engage on-demand experts to fill critical project-based roles—and you should too! Share your thoughts on adopting an agile talent management strategy by leaving a comment below. Watch for out next post covering tips to ensure success with agile talent.
