Category / business startups job search bubble

by Diane Tate

G+ Deja Vu All Over Again?

A quick Google search on “Pinterest growth” emits the latest Silicon Valley effervescence (yeah, recommended Googling that too ;). It’s true that rarely a day passes when I am not notified of at least 2 or 3 new “followers” on the service. And for some reason, I feel compelled to “follow back” out of courtesy. At least, I used to. Now the follows come so furiously that I’ve lost track.

Which feels like Google+ Deja Vu All Over Again. After the whackamole frenzy of adding G+ Followers my own Circles, I also soon stopped, exhausted and scratching my head at why it was even meaningful.  But Google was quick to assure the world that in its first month, it attained 40 million users.

Um, and…what is usage? Turns out this can constitute simply clicking +1 at the end of any story. Because this feeds back to your Google+ page, this means you are a Google+ “user.” At least, to Google+ and the blogging that perpetuates these frothy myths. Continue reading →

by Diane Tate

CLMs

According to one of my favorite sources of information, Urban Dictionary…:
CLM: Career Limiting Move

Something that you do at work, that will get you fired, or end your career very soon.

Cut to scene at work this Monday.

CLM #1
Failure to toggle quickly enough out of Lexulous during pre-Thanksgiving Day at the office

CLM #2
Boss: “What games are we gonna pick for this Bowl Game promo?”
Me: “I dunno. We want to go early but what is the “Mountain West” division? The “WAC”? Wha – teams like from SPOKANE or somewhere play in those right? FAIL.”

(Boss is from Spokane).

Happy Thanksgiving – here’s to a job I not only love, but have! 😀
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by Diane Tate

What was it that McNealy said about dog food?

I wrote this post up for a friend who told me he’d pay me $75 for a blog submission.

But I did it before doing any kind of SOW….

Keeping Cash Flow Positive when Contracting

“Full-time, home-based freelancers and independent contractors in the U.S. are expected to increase by 200,000 workers to 11 million by the end of 2009, says Ray Boggs, a vice president of IDC, Framingham, Mass., a market-research firm; he sees another 200,000-worker increase in 2010.”

– “The Five-Second Commute,” The Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2009

The life of a freelancer has its pros and cons. One not often cited, however, is getting paid in a timely fashion. Small businesses often have their invoices put aside or ignored because they do not enjoy the support of legal or collections departments, or (and) service other small clients with their own cash flow problems.

One way to address this is to include very clear deliverables in the Statement of Work (SOW). Clear milestones, and using phases for the work, help clients and providers spread out the work and payments, and be on the same page with respect to deliverables and expectations.

An SOW should list out:

  • Clear work deliverables
  • Milestones/due dates for these work deliverables
  • Process for iterating / accepting the deliverables
  • Payment terms (e.g. hourly, or how much is to be paid for the retainer at which milestone, etc.)

Setting expectations clearly up front not just about the work but about the payment helps you meet your cash flow obligations and build a solid foundation for growing your business.

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