I'm enjoying the journey as I redefine my business, priorities, projects, relationships and goals.

Over the last few months, I’ve had a slow time in my business. Rather than think of this as a shortage of income, I’ve seen this as a rare opportunity–a surplus of time. I’ve been investing this precious time in projects that normally never make the jump from my “good idea” list to the “to-do” list. It’s been an amazing time, a productive time, and one that has changed the way I look at, well, everything.

Rethinking Goals

It’s been so nice to be able to block out an afternoon to just think about things. To set aside a portion of a day without interruptions where I can focus on one thing and see it through to the end. Normally, I’m in the midst of producing deliverables for one set of client deadlines while I’m preparing for the next wave of deadlines about to hit. The goals for my business have been related to the work at hand: to produce quality products while reducing costs when possible, and to work as efficiently as possible.

With a little time, I’ve been able to take a step back from the daily business activities to ask myself bigger questions. Like what do I want to do now, which services do I want to promote going forward, and how do I want to leverage my current business to create the business I really want to run. It’s been a huge exercise is breaking out of the box of current thinking, to dream big dreams, and to set new expectations for the future.

I don’t want to make this sound like it was a simple process, that I simply blocked out an afternoon and suddenly had a new vision and goals for my business. Oh no. It’s been a process of looking back at history, sorting through the parts I have loved, identifying the parts that have taught me the most, and piecing together the lessons learned. It’s been a real process of discovery that continues today. But through this process, I’m considering new things: new services, new directions, new types of clients, new products to produce. Each baby step in a new direction gives me a new vision of the future, and I’m loving the process of seeing a new future for my business.

Rethinking Priorities

I have been self-employed for 15 years. During that time, I’ve been a pretty good employer to myself. I’ve constantly improved my own working conditions, and found myself more and more interesting work to engage me and develop my skills. But with some time to reflect, to look back on my history, I can see some glaring gaps.

For me, the perpetual challenge has been to find the work/life balance. Like most self-employed people, I seem to always be working. I’m not sure if working from home makes it better (no time spent in commutes) or worse (no barriers to working all hours). I mean, I’m writing this blog post at 3 am because I woke up in the middle of the night! Work is the first thing on my mind almost every hour I’m awake.

As I’m thinking about my priorities, I realize that I’m grateful that I love my work and I know it needs a high priority in my life. However, I’m ready to make a radical change in how to manage my daily living. I’m ready to set new priorities for my personal life so work isn’t taking up so much of my time and energy. I’m eager to embrace new priorities that give me more time to explore the world around me, to enjoy my friends, and to bring more people into my life.

Rethinking Projects

In the last 18 months, I’ve been volunteering on various community projects including Ignite Phoenix. I’ve been speaking at conferences and to community groups. I’ve spent time developing personal projects, things that are for me and my business instead of just doing client projects. It’s been invigorating to try new things, to learn new skills, and be a beginner in new disciplines. It has brought a spark back to my life that I hadn’t realized was missing.

Now, I want to make these non-client projects a permanent part of my weekly life. I have created a new way to keep track of things I want to try, and I want to have a block of time each week where I can work on them without any pressure from other projects on my plate.

I’ve also decided to drop a few projects from my life. There have been things I’ve taken on because I felt obligated, or because no one else had the skills to take them on, or because I had failed to say “no” when I was asked.

Rethinking Relationships

This has been a rich year for me to explore issues related to work and personal relationships. Some of you reading this, people who know me well, probably snorted at that last sentence because it was understated. I’ve had the grand opportunity to meet and engage with people who have pushed buttons that I didn’t know I had, people who have challenged me to the core to really put into practice the things I believe, and to take some big steps in how I manage myself and how I set boundaries with others.

It’s funny, because the outcome of this education process, this trial and error learning, has been unexpected. In some ways, I’ve learned to really be more open and more accepting of the differences in people. I’ve really grown in my ability to embrace diversity in the people around me. At the same time, I’m more clear than ever about the qualities I look for in the people who I choose to have in my life in my inner circles. So while my outer circles are expanding, my inner circles are tougher to join.

The greatest thing I’ve learned from this is how to keep my heart open even wider and keep it open with people who I had trouble embracing in the past. This has been the most gratifying part of my recent journey, because that is exactly the kind of person I want to be. And I see real growth towards that goal. It makes me feel grateful every single day for being a person who wants to have an open heart, and for choosing to experience my life in a way that teaches me how to open it even further. Everyone in my life helps me learn this lesson, which also makes me grateful for each one of you.

Rethinking My Business

As I process each of these things I’m learning, it is sending me off in a new direction. I’m definitely in the midst of a course correction. I am facing a different direction than I was a year ago, I’m thinking new thoughts, and I’m pondering new dreams. I have some ideas for how this is changing my business, but I won’t know the real impact until I have more time to travel down these new roads for a while.

In the meantime, I look at my website and I realize it doesn’t reflect where I am and where I’m headed, but I’m not sure how to bring it into focus. I look through my blog posts, and I don’t know yet how to articulate the changes I am making and what they mean for my business. But I’m patient. I know that with some time, with some new thoughts, with a handful of new projects, the vision for my business will unfold. Everything happens in its own time. I’ve been so amazed by the journey so far. I trust that when the future starts to become clear, I’ll be so happy that I’ve invested my time this way.

So, what are you doing to rethink your own life?

Related Posts:

• Where’s Your Tribe?
• Talking About Yourself
• Why I’m Optimistic In This Economy (Or What I Learned From The Dot Com Bust)

Download your copy of the free ebook 5 Truths About Working From Home.

Several months ago, I wrote a blog post on the five truths I’ve discovered about working from home. It was a great hit with my blog readers, so I decided I would turn it into an ebook. In the meantime, I was invited to speak at Laid Off Camp Phoenix, and spoke about this topic last week. Working from home has become such a popular topic these days. Many people are looking for non-traditional employment which often means working from a home office.

5 Truths About Working From Home Ebook

My latest ebook, 5 Truths About Working From Home, is ready for you! It covers these points:

• How to create a healthy and effective workspace.
• Building a success team to support you.
• Health tips for using a laptop computer.
• Overcoming the isolation of working from home.
• How social media helps you to stay visible professionally.
• Finding people to help you with challenging tasks.
• Why your daily schedule and routine are important.
• Coping with the downside of a zero commute.

In addition, I’ve interviewed four successful home-office workers who share their stories, their challenges, their tips, and their insights into making your home office situation work for you.

I’m happy to share this ebook with you. As always, let me know how you use this resource. I’m really interested to hear what information was the most helpful to you.

I hold the copyright to this ebook, but I’m publishing it under a Creative Commons license that allows you to print, copy, share, and publish it as long as you don’t change the ebook. For more information about the Creative Commons license, use the link to learn what you can and cannot do.

View and download your copy of the ebook: 5 Truths About Working From Home.

Everyone needs a little help during a job search.

Everywhere I turn, I talk to people who are looking for new job. Whether you were laid off, are underemployed, or just anxious to move on, you know it is a tough job market. You don’t need me to tell you that. What I want to do is encourage you. Sure, it’s tough, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find a great job that suits your goals and engages your abilities.

When you are looking for a new job, there are many layers of details that require your attention.

• Your goals drive your job search. Get clear about what kind of job is going to be a perfect match for you this time around.
• Your network helps you spread the word that you are available and sends you leads to help you focus your search.
• Your resume is your ticket for admission to the interview and hiring process.
• Your attitude determines how well you perform in each of the other areas.

Here’s my advice for how to start your new job search, or how to revitalize your search if you have been looking for a while.

What Do You Want?

Before you spend time on the other layers, spend some time thinking about the kind of work you want. What is your employment goal? And I mean something more specific than “I want a job that pays my bills.” Paying the bills is important, but if that is the only reason you take a job, you won’t find it very satisfying.

Really take some time to make an inventory list of the kinds of things you have loved to do in the past. It doesn’t matter if you were not paid for doing them. Figuring out what you love is the first step to finding work that you love, and a job that will engage you.

If you are not sure what you love or what you want to do, give yourself an assignment. Start keeping a list of things that make you happy, no matter what they are. If you catch yourself feeling happy, write it down. After a while, you will have enough information to start deciphering what makes you happy for work.

How can you tell if your job engages you? All jobs have icky parts, and there are days (or weeks) where you are not so crazy about work. That’s all normal. But for me, this is the acid test. How do you feel on Sunday night? I used to get the Sunday night blues when I was forcing myself to stay at a job where I wasn’t happy. When your job engages you, you endure the normal rough patches.

If you have a list of skills, things that you can do, ask yourself what do you want to do and emphasize that going forward. There is no point in getting job that mostly uses a skill that you don’t enjoy just because you can do it.

Who’s On Your Team?

Your network is the group of people who are supporting your job search. There are many types of people that can make up your team.

• Family and friends who encourage you to find work that you enjoy.
• Co-workers or past employers who serve as references.
• Mentors or coaches who help you work through your job search challenges.
• Recruiters who help to connect you to suitable open positions
• Peers who help spread the word that you are looking and send leads to you.

There are other team members who are not people who can help you, also. It’s important that you connect to these services during your job search, also.

• Job boards that allow you to post your resume for potential employers to review.
• Networking sites like LinkedIn that post your work history and recommendations.
• Social media sites where you can talk to your peers to get leads.
• Blogs and websites that provide practical tips and encouraging advice during your journey.

Make sure that you are reaching out and have everyone on your team that could help you.

Got Your Ticket?

Your resume is the most important item in your job search. And yet, most people would rather visit the dentist than rework their own resume (my apologies to the many outstanding dentists out there!).

If you feel any sort of negative feeling about your resume, or if your job search seems to be stalled right now, let me give you a little advice about resumes.

• There are trends in resume writing, just like there are trends in other things, like fashion. A resume that was perfectly solid 5 years ago may still be solid, but may also appear outdated when it lands in a large stack.
• Try on a new resume idea. Instead of thinking of your resume as your comprehensive work history, think of it as your invitation for an interview. It doesn’t have to tell the whole story. You can fill in the details at the interview. Maybe you can just include the relevant experience for the open position and shorten your resume considerably.
• Do you best to separate your sense of self-worth from your resume. Your resume is just a piece of paper. You are a fully dimensional person who can never be fully represented on a sheet of paper, no matter how elegantly written.
• Ask members of your team to review your resume. Be open to their suggestions about things to omit or reword, and ask them to find any typos or grammar errors. In fact, you might want to find someone with good language skills to help you edit your resume before sending it out.

Are You Feeling Great About You?

It’s normal to feel nervous when you are putting yourself out there for a new job. The real trick is to figure out how to use that nervousness to help you prepare for interviews and land the job. Here’s some tips about how to feel great about yourself in between your job search activities.

• Look at yourself in the mirror and say truthful things to yourself, like: “I always give 100% to my jobs and that makes me a great employee” and “I bring many talents and gifts to each job that are not captured on my resume.” Get specific about these things. Say them over and over until you feel yourself growing more confident.
• Write a favorite inspirational quote on a piece of paper or sticky note and put it where you can see it last thing before you walk into an interivew, or before you start looking online for jobs. One of my favorite quotes is “Whether you think you can or think you cannot, you are always right” by Henry Ford.
• Find that one upbeat friend to be your job search buddy. This is the person to call when you feel doubts. The trick is to avoid talking about your doubts, but instead, ask your friend to remind you about all of the great things about you. After a few minutes of hearing these things, you should be back on track.
• Focus on the company during the interview. Ask your interviewer what challenges they face, what skills are critical for the position, and other details about their situation. This gives you an opportunity to focus your statements on how you can help them, instead of just talking about yourself in a random way. When I focus on how I can solve problems for other people, I stop being nervous.

Resources

Here are some of my favorite job search resources. Use these to start building your own non-person support team.

1. Blog post: “Use LinkedIn To Your Advantage” on From the Crow’s Nest.
2. Blog post: “Write A Love Letter To Your New Job” on From the Crow’s Nest.
3. Blog post: “The Rumors Are True: Hiring Managers Use Social Media To Evaluate Job Candidates” on From the Crow’s Nest.
4. Blog post: “Resumes For The Text-Messaging World” on From the Crow’s Nest.
5. Blog post: “5 Truths About Working From Home” on From the Crow’s Nest.
6. Blog post: “Staying Positive Through A Layoff” on The Positivity Blog.
7. Online article: “10 Things To Do The Day After You Are Laid Off” on U.S. News and World Report.
8. Online article: “When Your Job Hunt Is Stalled” on U.S. News and World Report.
9. Work and job search advice from Working Girl.
10. Advice for getting unstuck and setting yourself free from The Fluent Self.
11. Advice for leaving your job to start your own business from Escape From Cubicle Nation.

Did this help? Drop me a comment. Feel free to add your own resources in the comments as well. Times are tough, the more we can help each other, the better we all are!

Finding the answers to hard questions takes more than clicking your heels.

How would your life be different if you could take money out of the equation?

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself for the last few months. And the places I’ve traveled as a result of that question have been quite interesting.

Money Crunch Redefined

Like many small businesses and freelancers, I’m experiencing a slow down. My clients are dealing with challenges, and as a result, they are slowing down the work to me. Even contracted work is being delayed. Some projects are smaller than the original scope. While I’ve added a couple new clients, the projects are smaller and perhaps further apart than usual.

At first, like everyone else, I reacted to the financial impact of the situation. And then I realized, there is another way to see this, a different way to frame my situation. I took money out of the equation, and when I did this, I realized I had a totally different kind of situation. For the first time in many years, I actually have extra time!

I’ve been so fortunate for many years to have great clients with growing businesses. This has kept me busy, in fact, often busier than I prefer to be. It’s also meant that I’ve had to sideline some of my own projects. I’ve kept a list of projects I felt were important to my business, things I needed some large blocks of time to pursue and develop. And guess what?! I’ve got that time now.

Time Surplus Advantage

After I redefined my current situation, I stopped worrying about money and felt empowered to spend my time wisely. After all, I’ve got a backlog of projects for my company, and I don’t know when my situation will change. I feel so much appreciation to have this window where I can devote chunks of time to my own projects. In fact, I’ve been working long days and long weeks to squeeze out every minute of time for my projects.

The reason for this is simple. The process of working on these personal projects leaves me rejuvenated, and triggers new ideas for even more exciting projects I want to tackle. My business life is juicier than it’s been in many years. I have a new joy for my work.

In the process, time has become the most valuable asset for my company, not finances. As I watch what’s happening now, I’m left with a new desire. Going forward, when my client work picks up again, I want to make sure that I have enough time to spend on my own projects. My creativity needs to be unleased more often like this. The sense of momentum I feel as I complete my own projects is like a sudden avalanche. I love the way I feel about my work. And I want to always stay in this space.

Re-evaluating Money

All of this causes me to rethink my attitudes and feelings about money. I believe I have very healthy habits and attitudes about money to begin with, and this exercise is only making them better.

When I started thinking about what motivates me, and I decided to take money out of the equation, I was left with some ideas to ponder. First, I know that money isn’t really going away. Many of the goods and services I need each month require cash transactions. But beyond that, what good is money, anyway?

I discovered that I want money because I think I can trade it for things that will make me happy. That might not seem profound to you, but it is to me. Money has no value itself. It’s greatest value to me is what I can trade it for that will make me happy. In other words, money is the middle man. What if I could find a way to be happier without that middle man?

Asking New Questions

Let’s take that classic female love of shoes as an example. Let’s say that one thing I love to spend money on is new shoes. If I take money out of the equation, what happens to random and often unnecessary shoe purchases? They won’t happen. But can I find a way to transfer my love of beautiful shoes to something that doesn’t require money? Something that will fulfill me and yet not require money? It’s still a question, but I’m sure I’m going to figure out an answer.

So rather than tell myself I can’t buy new shoes, I’m asking myself a question: what is it about the shoes that I love, and what  can I substitute that gives me the same joy without requiring money?

It seems like a brilliant strategy to me. What do you think?

If your job requires you to have a resume, you need to be on LinkedIn. It’s the best place to post your resume no matter what type of job you perform. Even if you don’t use other social media tools, you should learn and use LinkedIn.

If you need a crash course on LinkedIn and how it works, check out this introductory video from the fabulous people at Commoncraft.

Online Job Search History

Previously, the large job boards like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com were the primary resource for recruiters who were looking for candidates. However, as companies cut back on expenses, the high costs of searching through the resumes on these sites became a budget trimming target. At the same time, LinkedIn appeared and provided free access to the same type of information. Today, recruiters use LinkedIn to find appropriate candidates, and not just while they are in the office. Many recruiters access LinkedIn remotely from their smart phones and mobile internet devices.

When it first appeared, LinkedIn was seen as the job search area of the social media realm. Common wisdom said that if you were corporate and looking for a job, you should post your resume on LinkedIn. That’s still true today, but what’s changed in the range of people who can benefit from being on LinkedIn. Now, small businesses and freelancers also gain visibility from being on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn’s Value

Use LinkedIn to keep you connected to people you know.

Like other social media applications, LinkedIn provides its members with a range of communication tools. However, these are not the reason I’m suggesting you put your resume on LinkedIn. I already have existing ways to talk with people and I don’t need yet another messaging service to monitor. Perhaps you are the same way.

LinkedIn’s greatest values are:

• You can define a professional network of people you know. Other social media tools, like Facebook, may include professional contacts, but they also include people you know in other ways.
• You can post a copy of your resume in one place. Having a single copy of your resume means that updates are quick and easy, and everyone always has your most current resume.
• You can collect recommendations from people who know your work. Each time someone reviews your resume, they can review the recommendations you have received. This is like having an online reference during a job search.
• You can point people to your resume with a customized web address. This means that you can share your resume simply by using your profile’s web address, which you can customize to include your name.
• You can research your network to find people. Using the power of your network, you can find someone within your network who can help you answer many types of questions.
• You can use your existing network connections to get introduced to new people. The best way to meet someone who can help your career (or hire you) is through a personal recommendation. LinkedIn shows you who in your network provides the connection for getting introduced.

Resume Strategy

The trend today in job searching is to have a one-page resume that you customize for each position. In the past, your resume was a complete and detailed history of your work experience. Today, a resume has become more of a calling card. It emphasizes how you fit a current position’s requirements so you can get invited in for an interview. It provides a laser focus on the experiences that make you a perfect fit for the open position.

So, if your resume isn’t your complete work history, where does that information belong? In your LinkedIn profile. With your work history and education available  on LinkedIn, you add the web address of your profile to your resume. This way, potential employers or clients can review you work history if they want to see more than you provide on your resume.

LinkedIn Tips

Here are my tips for using LinkedIn.

• Decide your connection policy. LinkedIn recommends that you only link to people you know. That’s a good policy. I also link to people I’ve engaged online in a significant dialog or met at an event. I don’t connect with strangers.
• Customize the link to your public profile. It’s much friendlier for other people use when it is customized.
• If you want recommendations, give recommendations. Be generous and give recommendations to the people in your network that you can recommend. They don’t have to be long, but they should be specific and focused.
• Ask for recommendations. People are busy, and it probably won’t occur to anyone that they should write a recommendation for you. When you finish a project, ask your boss or client to post a recommendation on LinkedIn for you.
• Complete your profile to 100%. You don’t have to fill it out completely the first day, but set a deadline to complete it. You’ll be glad when the details are all there.
• Focus on your accomplishments, not your responsibilities. People are interested in what you have accomplished and what you can accomplish for them. Use statistics and give examples. Often, you can rewrite a responsibility into a accomplishment with just a little thought and effort.
• If you have a blog, use an application to pull your latest posts into your profile. This showcases your blog to the people who check out your profile.
• Update your profile as you accomplish more things. Keep your profile current, and add details about professional events you attend. Review your profile every month to make sure you have the most current information posted.
• Share your LinkedIn public profile web address. Put it on your resume, your business cards, your website, and your blog. In fact, put it everywhere you do business.
• Join groups to find people you already know. Most colleges have alumni groups, cities and regions have groups, and professional organizations have group. Don’t hesitate to invite old friends and co-workers to join your network.
• Check for people you know in each of your connection’s networks. Most likely, you have one or more people in common with each of your connections.
• Post a professional picture on your profile. If you don’t have one, hire a photographer to take a head shot or a portrait that you can use for your online presence. It’s worth the money it costs!
• Backup your connection information. Use the export connections feature to pull your connection data out of LinkedIn and import it into your contact management or address book program.
• Check the LinkedIn blog for new features and smart strategies. They provide tips and information about new features. Check it regularly for updates.

Here is a wonderful webinar from my friend Jay Baer with his 22 tips for using LinkedIn.

LinkedIn: 22 Ways to Dominate from off madison ave on Vimeo.

Your Turn

What have you found effective with LinkedIn? Share you experience in the comments.

You must express how your services solve your client's business problems.

If you are a small business or a freelancer, you have to promote yourself. For some people that comes easy, but for others, it takes some effort. If you already do a great job promoting yourself, you can stop reading now. I won’t have anything helpful for you in this post.

But if you are one of the crowd of people learning how to promote yourself, I have something here that can help you take the next step in your self-promotion journey.

Self-Promotion Obstacles

There are a lot of reasons why promoting yourself and your business may not come naturally to you.

• You are naturally shy so you don’t like to point out even the obvious things about yourself.
• You are unsure of yourself and so you don’t speak because aren’t sure what to say.
• You are confused about what other people find valuable about your services.
• You are reserved and you want your work to speak for you.
• You are waiting for someone else to speak for you and recommend you to the world.

But the reasons don’t really matter. What matters is that you find a way from where you are today to where you want to be. And that means overcoming these obstacles.

Self-Promotion Mis-steps

Before jumping into what you can do, take some time to look around you. Ideally, you are looking for people whom you feel are doing it right. When you find something brilliant, borrow it. But while you are looking, also take note of what doesn’t work in your opinion.

Here are the two things I most often see people do that make me cringe.

• Describe yourself from the inside. Have you ever landed at a website and couldn’t figure out which of the website menu options contains the information you want? Guess what!? That isn’t your fault. The person who wrote the website copy wrote about the company from the company’s perspective. They didn’t think about you and what you were looking for when they designed the structure. You are not an insider. That’s why you couldn’t figure it out.
• Describe what you do with a label. Lots of people give themselves labels instead of describing what they do. What’s the first thing that crosses your mind when someone says they are an “expert” or a “visionary” or a “thought leader?” I can tell you what crosses my mind–what the heck does an expert or visionary or thought leader actually do, and why do I need one?

Self-Promotional Strategic Thinking

Here’s how I go about describing my business and my services, and what I do to help my clients express themselves better to their clients.

1. Make a list of the things you deliver. After you finish delivering your service to a client, what do they have to show for it? Is it a tangible product (a document, a file, a logo, a website, etc.), or is it an intangible product (a change in the way the client thinks or acts)? Or is it a combination of both types? Do this for every service you offer.
2. Review your delivery item list. Is your delivery list the size of Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe inventory, or do you specialize in just a few things? Neither one is right or wrong, it’s just one aspect of your business. It’s something you should know and understand about your business.
3. Clump your delivery items into solution sets. This is especially important if you have a lot of delivery items. Are they logical groups that you deliver together? The key here is not to group them by their characteristics but to cluster them they way a client might order them as a group. For example, rather than group together french fries and onion rings (as side options), group together a burger, fries and a drink (the way people order them). If you are graphic designer, you might group together a logo, business cards, and letterhead combination as an identity kit solution set.
4. Write a list of reasons why a client might ask you for each solution set. Put yourself in the client’s shoes, and figure out what business situation drives the client to need your solution set. For my company, a client might want an online help system because they are taking a new product to market. Or, they may have an existing application that overloads their customer service and they think an online help system will cut their customer service costs. Really be creative here because this is where you start to connect to your potential clients.
5. Turn the list of reasons into a list of client problems that you can solve. Again, put yourself in your potential client’s shoes. Imagine a potential client sitting at her desk with problems swirling in her head. Talk about her problem the way way she would talk about it. In my example, a potential client might have the problem of a customer service budget that needs to be cut, and he might decide an online help system could be the solution.
6. Summarize what you do from the list of client problems that you solve. At the core, every small business or freelancer is a business problem solver. That’s right. If you client didn’t have a problem, they wouldn’t need you or hire you. They might hang out with you over coffee, they might tweet and email and Facebook you, but that’s not the same as doing business with you. Your clients have a problem that causes them pain, and they are paying you to make it go away.
7. Publicize what you do to the world. Update your website, all of your social media sites, and your business cards with your updated business services description. Create your new elevator pitch. And prepare for the avalanche of new clients.

Are you ready to try this on your own business now?

Finding Your Voice

I continually redefine what my company does. Partly, this is because I change the services I offer. As I evolve, as I have new experiences, I shift my interests and have new software tools available to me. As a result, my services change. But the market is always changing, too. What clients need today may be different in 6 months or a year. Or they may have new buzz words that describe the same old things. Either way, you have to stay in touch with your potential client industries and know how to present yourself ot them.

After you complete this process for the first time, it gets easier. After a few years, it becomes second nature. With a little practice, you will be talking about your business and your services like the  seasoned professional that you are.

Life is more rewarding when you are engaged in the process.

About a month into my driving career, I had to learn to drive a standard transmission. The only car I would ever have a chance to drive was an early Honda Civic 5-speed. That meant I had to master the stick, or stick to my bike. Fast forward all of these years, and I’ve driven a series of 5-speeds exclusively until about a year ago. I’d have a 5-speed today except the new RAV4 only comes with an automatic transmission.

I love driving with a standard transmission. I love the feeling of being engaged in the driving process. I could hear and feel when it was time to change the gears, and felt myself Borg with the machine. In fact, I took great pride in my ability to changing gears so smoothly through city traffic that no passenger heads nodded due to momentum shifts. I loved it.

My 5-Speed Career Path

In my workaday world, I’ve been driving a standard transmission for 15 years, ever since I started working for myself. I love reading the signs of my clients, the marketplace, and my own interests to navigate the landscape from sweet spot to sweet spot. The acceleration isn’t quite as smooth in this realm, and I frequently shift gears in a way that causes my head to bob. Thankfully, my neck is flexible, and I haven’t caused anything near whiplash. But I love the feeling of being so engaged, of being responsible for things that many people don’t embrace, and knowing that my successes (and failures) fall squarely on my own shoulders.

In the last few months, I’ve been navigating some downhill roadway and blind curves. I’ve been using engine breaking to adjust the momentum of my movement, and have been paying more attention than usual to things around me. I’m in a heightened state of awareness, not knowing when a glimmer in my peripheral vision might be that brass ring I’m scouting.

At the moment, my heightened awareness gives the effect of being in slow motion. It seems as if time is nearly standing still as I engage the engine in response to the terrain. I know that I’m going to suddenly find myself on a stretch of open road, the spot in the valley where the next mountain top beckons to me. The forces of inertia will push me through the low spot and help me accelerate as I push the motor to start our ascent.

I’ve been through similar landscapes in the past, after all. I understand the basic mechanics of the journey. I love the process of engagement.

What’s Next?

I’m very curious to see what appears next in the road for me. I have some idea based on the things already on my plate, and the ideas tickling my imagination. My desk is covered with index cards where I’ve scribbled bits of ideas, slices of vision I’ve captured, possible projects and new directions for me. What’s exactly next for me is a surprise, but one that I’m patiently waiting for time to reveal to me.

In the meantime, I have the joy of the process, the satisfaction of engagement, and the confidence of my faith in the unfolding of the world around me. I’m about as happy as I can be right now, or in any moment of the journey. And isn’t that what it is all about, Alfie?

Your job may feel like a prison, but take the time to develop a good escape plan.

Last night, I received an email from a talented man in the Phoenix technical community. He was looking for my advice about whether he should quit his job and start freelancing in this tough economy. I take request like this seriously. I remember when I stood in that spot in my own life, wondering if I had the necessary chops to take on self-employment.

Over the years, I’ve been asked for this kind of advice regularly, and I’m pleased to say that the quality of my advice has improved over the years, although my basic message remains the same.

Letter To An Employed Friend

If you have a job and you are wondering the same thing, here’s my advice.

Dear Employed Friend,

I certainly relate to your feelings that you want to quit your job and start working for yourself. That’s what I did almost 15 years ago, back when freelancing was for writers who wrote for magazines and not for people in technical careers. Working from home? Almost unheard of.

If you know this is what you want to do, it’s what you need to do. The first bit of advice I would give is to follow your own heart. No one else can tell you what is best for you, anyway. You have to figure it out for yourself.

When I decided to jump, I spent about a year getting things ready. I paid off my credit cards. I saved money. I turned around the way I thought about things. I stopped taking a regular paycheck for granted. I researched insurance options. I came up with a rough business plan and marketing strategy, which just means that I figured out what services I could sell and who is most likely to buy them. I made a list of the specific companies in town who might hire me.

I figured out what it cost me to live each month at a minimum. I figure out two numbers, one without cable TV which I figured I could sacrifice if necessary. I researched how much money self-employed people pay in taxes (it’s more) and how often it must be paid. Then I calculated how much I would have to earn each month to cover my minimum expenses and pay my taxes. I figured out my hourly rate, and how many hours a week and month I had to work to pay the bills. Then, I figured out the amount I could earn each month after paying my taxes if I could manage to sell all 40 hours a week, every week of the month. That was a reality check.

Then, I started figuring out how to start a business in Arizona. I made a list of the steps I would have to take to register a trade name with the state and a DBA (doing business as) name with the county. I asked about a business checking account at my bank. (Turns out, if a client writes me a check made out to my business name, my bank won’t deposit it in my personal account. Who knew?) There’s some nuts and bolts things like this that you have to figure out to stay on the good side of the government, including the IRS.

I’m not qualified to walk you through all of these things. I’m always happy to tell you what I do, what I’ve done (because it changes all of the time), when I got an accountant, when I got an attorney, etc.

There is someone who can help you. Pam Slim. Have you met her? She’s got a blog, Escape from Cubicle Nation, and her book comes out shortly. She’s full of brilliant advice. I’d recommend you start by reading her blog, from the first post to the last one, with a pen and notebook to make a list of what you need to do.

I understand being frustrated and wanting to jump right now. But I can tell you that you are trading in one set of problems that you know for another set of problems that you don’t yet know. I’m not saying you should stay put. I can’t imaging going back. The second bit of advice I would give is this: spend some time researching what you need to do. Give yourself some time to get prepared. Start working really hard on your exit plan and your business setup plan. The benefits from waiting until you do this are amazing, and can make the difference between being successful and failing. Seriously. This is true in every economy, but is even more important when things are tough.

I don’t know where you work or anything about your work situation. If you tell me it’s unbearable, I believe you. If you say its toxic and killing you, I believe you. But if you start working every spare minute outside of your job on your escape plan, you can walk in there with a different outlook for a while. You can say to them (under your breath, of course):  “You don’t own my soul. I only came to work today because it’s part of MY plan to make a better life for ME. You are serving me today, and every day that I still come in here I’m one step closer to leaving. When I’m good and ready, I’m going to launch myself from here and do my thing my way. So bring it on. I’m in control and I’m up for the challenge because I know it will end very soon.”

A few more practical things you can do: Find the holes in your pocket and save money. Cut back on the things you consider normal expenses today. Cut your TV viewing, gaming, and other recreation time to 6 hours a week. (I watch only 4 hours of TV a week myself.) Spend your time and your money on your escape and setup plan. Get used to working more than 40 hours a week, because when you don’t have billable client projects to work on, you have business things you must do. Some of them are not fun, but they are all necessary and feed the machine that will allow you to be self-employed.

Give yourself the best launch you can. You will never regret the time you invest in yourself.

I wish you all the best!

Your Turn

If you are self-employed, or if you have worked as a freelancer, what advice would you give my friend? If you are wanting to become self-employed, what do you think of this advice? Let’s open up this conversation and see what we can learn together.

The dream of working from a home office is very different from the reality.

Many people dream about the freedom of working from their home from the confines of a corporate cubicle. Maybe you are one of them. You may be thinking that the world would suddenly turn upright if only you had that sort of flexibility and control over your working life.

I have worked from my home office for nearly 15 years. I’ve worked from home through several moves and different space configurations. I love working from home. While I can’t imagine going back to a cubicle, I also know deeply the challenges that face the home-bound worker. So here are my five truths about working from home.

I’ve written a free ebook called 5 Truths About Working From Home that includes the information from this blog post, additional information added for my presentation at Laid Off Camp Phoenix (August 2009) and interviews from successful home-based workers. Download your copy.

Truth 1: Your Work Space Matters

You may be sitting right now in your cubicle with visions of sitting on your patio with your laptop sipping iced tea and listening to the birds. Or you may be dreaming of lounging on your couch with your feet up typing away on your laptop with a frosty mug of something else beside you. If you start working from home, you can spent part of your time doing both or either of those things. However, you will find that those pesky birds make it impossible to conduct business calls while outside, and it is difficult to type while lounging on the couch.

At the office, they provide you with a space free from distractions. You most likely have a desk with an appropriate chair in front of a computer. There are good reasons for that. You need to consider the ergonomics of your work location. After all, you don’t want to end up unable to type because of some repetitive stress injury that you could have prevented. You need a set up designed for the range of motion of a human body. You need a desk and a chair that comply with the ergonomic standards. Don’t skimp on your chair, either. You don’t have to go all out and purchase your own Aeron chair, but you do need a good office chair with some adjustable parts.

Set up your office in a quiet space where you can work without distractions like television or game consoles. It’s hard enough to concentrate without the temptation of other activities calling to you every moment. Place a phone within reach. A file drawer helps you organize your work and put things away when you are not working. Keep a stash of office supplies tucked into a nearby drawer.

Truth 2: It’s Lonely At The Home Office

You know that pesky office mate who talks too loud on the phone. Or the one who slurps her coffee all day long? You are going to miss them. Well, maybe not exactly those people, but when you work from home, you are going to miss the interaction of the office. And if you are a highly social person, it will drive you crazy.

Human beings are social animals, and when you work in the seclusion of your home, you eliminate the opportunities to have a short conversation at the coffee machine, or randomly running into someone on your way back from the bathroom. No one pops his head over your cubicle wall and invites you to lunch. It’s just you. Alone. Inside your four walls. Even the most hermetic can go stir crazy.

With tools like Twitter, it’s much easier for home-based workers to find random conversations and make them fit your schedule. However, you also must schedule time to get out for lunch with friends, to meet someone for coffee, and to talk on the phone to balance out all of the alone time.

Truth 3: You Must Be A Jack or Jill Of All Trades

You take on all sorts of jobs in your home office.

You know that nice computer they provide at the office? The one connected to the network that automatically backs up your work every night? You’re going to miss that. At your home office, you are not only the worker bee, but you are the IT support person, and the whole IT staff. Computer problems? That’s on you. Figuring out how to back up your files and making sure that happens? That’s on you.

Maybe you are a computer geek and those things don’t phase you. You still have to clean the office, dust your desk, vacuum the floor, and maintain the space around you. That invisible janitorial crew that comes in nightly? That’s on you.

Sorting the mail, keeping the printer stocked with paper, and having enough pens? That’s on you. Figuring out what internet connection is the best economical strategy? That’s on you. Calling when your internet connection acts up, when your lifeline to the world is gasping for air? That’s on you. Answering the endless stream of nonsense phone calls that come in all day? That’s on you. Signing for the UPS packages? That’s on you.

Figuring out how to do all of these distracting things while still accomplishing your work? That’s on you, too.

That place where you stopped to pick up breakfast, grab a quick lunch, or an afternoon snack? That’s probably your own kitchen. And all of that heating and air conditioning your enjoyed in the office? You pay for that now.

Truth 4: You Run The Show

You set the schedule and structure for your day and work.

Do you have one of those bosses (or co-workers) who loves to point out that you were ten minutes late today, or that you took a long lunch? You may dream of being the master of your own schedule by working from your home office. With some limitations, you do get to decide when you start your day and when you take lunch. You can decide if you start work at 6 am or noon, or if you take part of the afternoon off to catch a ballgame. All of those are the upside of working at home.

The greatest challenge to working from home is that you have to provide your own schedule and structure. Yes, having options is nice. But when you have nearly unlimited options, how do you decide how to spend your time as the minutes click past you each day? This is especially hard for people who like having structure and schedules, and nearly impossible for people who thrive on the pressure to meet goals. It’s a whole different situation when you are the one creating the structure and goals that you must meet. It’s hard being on both sides of the schedule.

An effective home worker usually ends up setting up a schedule almost identical to the one they loathed while in the office. A set starting time. A set lunch time. A set ending time. It turns out, without a schedule, it’s nearly impossible for most people to get things done.  Until new home workers figure out this truth and create their own schedule, they flounder. Add to that the influence of Truth 2 (It’s Lonely At The Home Office) and the built in distractions from Truth 1 (Your Work Space Matters), and you have a recipe for non-work, if not disaster.

Truth 5: You Don’t Work At Home, You Live At Work

After working from home for a while, after I mastered the truths 1 through 4, I faced my greatest challenge. Being a driven personality and being engaged by my work, I soon found that I was working all the time. One of the nice things about working outside of the house is that you know what is expected of you in each space. At the office, they expect you to crank out work. At home, you have chores, but your time is your own. (Unless you have kids, then the home game is totally different.)

I found myself thinking about work from the time I got up until I went to sleep each night. Because of that, I found myself back in the office all throughout the day, not just during my working hours. Weekends became additional working days. Innocent tasks, like stopping at the computer to check my email turned into work sessions. Check Twitter? I get pulled into work from something sitting on my desk.

I had to create a physical barrier between me and my office. I put up curtains to separate my den from the rest of the house. Curtains closed? I can’t go in there, not even to check email or chat on Twitter. I had to find another way to get myself online from other rooms of the house (hello mobile devices). This is still the biggest challenge I face with my work situation. I have to go on vacation to actually walk away from work.

Conclusion

The bottom line is this: The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence. Before you jump that fence, realize that you are trading one set of problems for another, and make sure you are prepared for the challenges of working from home. It’s a great life, but it won’t solve all of your working life problems. Happy working!

It takes time and careful thought to balance your personal and work lives.

On Wednesday, I spent some time at Gangplank, the co-working space in Chandler, Arizona. While waiting for my Ignite Phoenix meeting to start, I had some time to chat with a friend, another small business owner. After getting caught up on the details of our week, the conversation turned to the real challenges he faced this week. Specifically, he is struggling because his business is booming, which is always great, but it leaves him little time for his personal needs.

I can relate to that. One of my new years’ revolutions involves turning around the way I schedule myself day-to-day and week-to-week. It’s a complete shift in my routine, and sometimes a change that big takes a while to settle in. Until last month, I’ve scheduled my work and then squeezed in my personal events. Starting last month, I build the framework of my schedule around my personal events, and filled the remaining time with work. At least that is what I’m striving to do.

In theory, a schedule built either way should result in an identical calendar. But in practice, I’m finding it much more difficult to put myself first in the calendar. In January, I fell back into my old habit more days than not. I have a routine, a rut, of scheduling business first, and considering myself after that. The problem with this strategy is that work expands to fill the available time. I end up with little time for myself, and only blocks of time that I’ve really walled off. Sometimes, small tasks like grocery shopping get delayed until the fridge is nearly empty in my old system. My vision going forward is to really evaluate my personal needs first, to see what I need to take care of myself and keep my life running smoothly, and block of that time in my schedule first. I’m making progress, I’m more aware of my schedule and my personal time needs than I was before I started this.

Being self employed and working from home adds another layer to the challenge that everyone faces in finding a balance between work and their personal life. One truism of running a home-based business is this: You don’t work from home, you live at work. Add to that mix a strong drive to accomplish things, add a dash of over-achievement, and you get an idea of how my life can go if I’m not careful. I struggle some weeks to take an entire day off over the weekend. I’m not complaining, I love my work and I love being so engaged by my work. I’m trying to find a new balance for myself, to be kinder to myself in my life, and to put myself first in my life.

So, what about you? Do you have a good balance between your work and personal life? If you do, what is the key that helps you keep things in balance? And if you don’t, what do you feel is the one thing that trips you up? I’d love to hear from you.