Tell me your views

[MarillionFan]

Checked and there's loads of childish posts left in this thread. Go back and do it properly lad.

Cough. Modding. Cough. Inconsistent. Cough.

(He needs to remove every other post to make us all look professional)

I would also like to hear RH's views on the subject.

[XLMonkey]

I'd like to find people willing to talk to me (for inclusion in the article) about this topic including how you differentiate yourself without closing off potential channels of work and how you pick, evolve, develop and refine your niche.

Welcome, Carol. The thread seems to have gone fabulously off topic already. Par for the course...

For what its worth, I used to think that promoting myself as a specialist in one particular niche was a good idea. However, the more time I spend working for myself, the more I think that pigeon-holing is the client's job, not mine.

Most people like to categorise others ("he's a detail person", "she's great with difficult customers") as though they are only good at one thing, and one thing alone. In reality, if you are working for yourself, then you will almost certainly be able to do a whole range of things. A developer can also be a business analyst. A project manager can also be good at communications, or finance, or any one of a dozen other things.

My experience is that you need to continually resist the urge that clients have to pigeonhole you. You have to continually remind them that you have all sorts of skills and abilities that they may not be aware of, so that they will think about using you for the next project, even it isn't exactly the same as the last one.

My job is to appeal to the widest possible group of potential clients - just enough to make them interested in speaking to me. The question of whether I'm the right person to solve their problem comes afterward - and that's where differentiation matters.

[suityou01]

Welcome, Carol. The thread seems to have gone fabulously off topic already. Par for the course...

For what its worth, I used to think that promoting myself as a specialist in one particular niche was a good idea. However, the more time I spend working for myself, the more I think that pigeon-holing is the client's job, not mine.

Most people like to categorise others ("he's a detail person", "she's great with difficult customers") as though they are only good at one thing, and one thing alone. In reality, if you are working for yourself, then you will almost certainly be able to do a whole range of things. A developer can also be a business analyst. A project manager can also be good at communications, or finance, or any one of a dozen other things.

My experience is that you need to continually resist the urge that clients have to pigeonhole you. You have to continually remind them that you have all sorts of skills and abilities that they may not be aware of, so that they will think about using you for the next project, even it isn't exactly the same as the last one.

My job is to appeal to the widest possible group of potential clients - just enough to make them interested in speaking to me. The question of whether I'm the right person to solve their problem comes afterward - and that's where differentiation matters.

[NickFitz]

Could whoever it was please repost whatever it was I responded to in a manner that has been deemed (by one person) to be childish, so I can repeat my response? I could just repost whatever it was I said, but it would be lacking context, which would make it look childish

Seriously, RH, do you honestly believe that responding to a journalist from the national press requires us to behave as if we were in the headmaster's office? I've met journalists from the national press on many occasions, and although they tend to be very nice people, they ain't all that

[d000hg]

Could whoever it was please repost whatever it was I responded to in a manner that has been deemed (by one person) to be childish, so I can repeat my response? I could just repost whatever it was I said, but it would be lacking context, which would make it look childish

Seriously, RH, do you honestly believe that responding to a journalist from the national press requires us to behave as if we were in the headmaster's office? I've met journalists from the national press on many occasions, and although they tend to be very nice people, they ain't all that

Stick it to The Man, Nick

[cojak]

And she probably gave up reading after page 2 anyway....

[EternalOptimist]

Hi. I am an old sweat at this contracting malarky.

The question about specialisation vs generalisation is one that I think about a lot. My job is to maximise my profit, so if I get it wrong , I fail. so I think about it a lot.

My approach has been to remain as flexible as is possible, whilst reducing costs and delivering a top product.

that means zero expenditure on re-training and only going for work that I can deliver 100%, whilst at the same time retraining on the fly in order to solve particular problems.

My analogy would be journalism (because you are familiar with that). If I were an expert journalist and my field was Sports and I was looking for a job. There are no sports jobs, but a cracking job comes up for a finance leader writer. I would blag the interview then become a finance expert by the time my first deliverable was due. I would be 100% confident that I could achive this, and I have a track record to prove it.
If the job as to be an editor, or a production manager, I would not even bother applying.

so I am a specialist in being a generalist.

[suityou01]

Hi. I am an old sweat at this contracting malarky.

The question about specialisation vs generalisation is one that I think about a lot. My job is to maximise my profit, so if I get it wrong , I fail. so I think about it a lot.

My approach has been to remain as flexible as is possible, whilst reducing costs and delivering a top product.

that means zero expenditure on re-training and only going for work that I can deliver 100%, whilst at the same time retraining on the fly in order to solve particular problems.

My analogy would be journalism (because you are familiar with that). If I were an expert journalist and my field was Sports and I was looking for a job. There are no sports jobs, but a cracking job comes up for a finance leader writer. I would blag the interview then become a finance expert by the time my first deliverable was due. I would be 100% confident that I could achive this, and I have a track record to prove it.
If the job as to be an editor, or a production manager, I would not even bother applying.

so I am a specialist in being a generalist.

bulltulipter

[MarillionFan]

bulltulipter

The term you are looking for is 'Blagging it'

[suityou01]

I can't wait for Carol's feedback to this thread. Seriously.