Tips for building your business in down times
By Doug Florzak

 

My, how different things are from the year 2000! Back then, human resource professionals were complaining that they couldn’t get enough workers. Consultants were booked up, and things looked great. But what defines a peak is the valleys on either side, so an economic downturn was inevitable, helped along by the events of September 11, 2001.

 

If you’re a free agent, these times are tough enough to make you question your decision to start your own business. But, remember, many employees in "secure" jobs are getting laid off. Unlike them, free agents have many potential employers, and the situation can change instantly with one phone call. So, what do you do in the mean time?

 

Here are 10 tips for continuing to build your business during down times:

 

1. Continue networking

Since the majority of a free agent’s business is through word of mouth, you should be networking regardless of the economic situation. Keep attending appropriate professional meetings. It may seem like an added expense when you don’t have any money coming in, but it’s a worthwhile investment. Also, schedule informal lunches with your closest colleagues. Use this opportunity to develop relationships that can pay off with a referral or team project.

 

2. Build a relationship with selected agencies

Agencies are also feeling the pinch, but they have marketing people beating the bushes for projects. You will receive a lower rate than you would get for a direct client, but at a time when projects are hard to find, you can leverage their marketing workforce by developing a relationship with one or two key agencies. Schedule meetings with selected agencies, even if they don’t have a project available right now. You can get an idea of how they operate, get a sample contract, and find out if they have any potential projects in the pipeline. The fact that they’ve met with you personally can put you at the top of their list when they do have a project.

 

3. Update your résumé

In a down economy, competition is tougher, so a polished résumé is even more critical. When you’re busy, you might not have time to update your résumé with recently completed projects and accomplishments. Use your down time to update your paper and electronic résumé. Consider creating a digital résumé or brochure on a CD-R or Business Card CD-R so you can stand out from the crowd.

 

4. Check online job boards

Online job boards such as guru.com, freeagent.com, and monster.com have job search sections that cater to independent contractors. If you don’t have a profile or résumé on any of these outlets, add one to as many as possible. If you previously added one, update it to reflect your recent activity. Use the search engine in these job sites to look for any available projects. If available, sign up for email alerts from any sites that offer to contact you if a project fitting your requirements becomes available. Before you take a job through any of these sites, make sure you understand their requirements. Some of the sites charge a fee to the free agent for projects booked through their site.

 

5. Update your website

Maintaining a website is extremely time-consuming. Use your downtime to create or update your website as an online brochure. Add any new project history or accomplishments and check your links to see if they still work. When you complete your changes, send an email broadcast to your old clients and colleagues announcing changes to your website. This gets your name before them for a valid reason.

 

6. Gulp! Do cold (and warm) calling

Cold calling is the Achilles’ heel of most free agents. Most of us (myself included) don’t like the risk of rejection that comes with picking up the phone and calling 50 companies you never spoke with before and asking if you can provide services. However, given enough calls, cold calling does work, and even if you don’t get a project right away, you can get your name in front of a potential client who may remember you in the future. However, you don’t have to start with a list of contacts you don’t know. Try calling your old clients to see how they’re doing. I call this "warm calling". It’s possible they are so busy trying to put out fires that they haven’t had time to call for help, and you may hit them just at the right time.

 

7. Offer special discounts

If all else fails, you can offer a special discount on your rate. You could offer either a discount available only to your old clients or a special "new client" discount. If a budget-conscious department manager shelved a project because she thought she couldn’t afford to hire an outside consultant, this may make it more tempting to do the project now. However, make sure you put a time limit on your offer. You must make it clear that this is a special, time-limited offer and not a permanent reduction in your rates.

 

8. Write articles

Use the extra downtime to enlarge your circle of influence by writing articles. Any articles published in professional magazines or websites establish your expertise and act as subtle advertising for your business. You can even make money writing articles, but consider exchanging first serial rights of an article for an enlarged "resource box," with more detailed information about you and your business, at the end of the article. Compare the value of this against the advertising rates of any major publication, and you will see that this is an excellent trade-off.

 

9. Retrain yourself

Downtime is an excellent time to tackle the tutorial for a new piece of software, enroll in a class at your community college, or attend a seminar. If you’re willing to spend a little more money, consider paying for a certification class in one of the tools you use for your business. After you pass a certification class, the vendor usually provides a logo that you can add to your business card and other materials to signify your expertise.

 

10. Donate your services

Finally, consider using your downtime to do pro-bono work for your favorite charity. You can provide services or products to a local charity and add the work to your résumé when you’re done. Your work may even be tax-deductible, but check with your tax professional to make sure. However you do it, just remember, at times like these, sometimes you get more when you give more.