The Hardest Thing About Being SelfEmployed
Being self-employed isn't easy. Not only do you have to develop, market, and deliver professional services at a very high level, you also need to accomplish all of this in relative isolation. http://bit.ly/moneymaking263
The majority of self-employed consultants, coaches, and trainers run their businesses from a home office (often a spare bedroom). And although this saves on overhead and eliminates the headaches of commuting, it can be lonely, de-motivating, and discouraging - especially when business is challenging. Making matters worse, a large percentage of self-employed professionals are introverts. John Feldman, in an article in Forbes Magazine says, "Spontaneous conversation and self-promotion are typically not areas in which introverts excel." So even though we introverts prefer working alone and charting our own fiercely independent path, it takes a tremendous amount of effort to "get out there" and put our business messages in front of prospective clients. Maybe I make it look easy, but it's not. In the early years of my business, I did a lot of networking and speaking out of necessity. I wasn't the greatest at it, but ultimately found a way to make it work for me. Then I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right information that allowed me to grow my email list and put an emphasis on promoting my business online. In 2002 I literally "moved to the woods" in Boulder Creek, California (90 minutes south of San Francisco) where I've been happily running my business for the past 16 years. I rarely travel anywhere for business and meet all my clients by phone or video conference. And email is my preferred communication medium. A perfect set-up for an introvert like me. However, I've tried not to hold this up as some kind of ideal business model for selfemployed people. If you haven't built a big email list or if your clients are in large companies