Chris Hollo is self-unemployed

Join a trade association.  I know, this sounds way to simple of a tip to be any good, but it is something that will help your career.

No matter what you do for a living, whether it is creative, administrative or technical, there is a trade association out there for you.  You will find a group of like minded folks who not only do what you do, but they have the same issues, experiences and questions as you.  On their website (once you log in as a member) you may find forums, resource centers or blogs filled with information and resources that will help you move forward in your career.  Looking for a legal form like a model release, contract or delivery memo?  Need to know why your expensive piece of equipment that you just bought does not work on Wednesdays when it rains?  Want to see what others are using for their book keeping software?

Maybe you know all of the above and don’t have any questions, then you can join a trade association and give back by participating in the forums or by leading, volunteering or starting a local chapter of the trade association.

Some trade organizations are virtual in that they are web based and don’t have local or national meetings.  Others have chapters all across the country and have frequent meetings, workshops and seminars that you can attend in person.

Part of being successful is making it easy to be found.  You could be the best chimney sweep out there, but if no one knows who you are, you are destined to fail in business.  At last count, I can be found in 17 places online.  I am easy to find.  Most trade associations list their members in a searchable database as a member benefit along with a bio, images, credits etc.  As a photographer, I belong to ASMP and just two weeks ago, I got a call from a national magazine looking for a photographer in Nashville area.  That job paid for three years of my membership and all I had to do was make it easy to be found!

I know it’s not a big deal, but I take issue with being called a freelancer.  It happens all the time, and it goes something  like this:

“So what do you do for a living?”

Well, I am a professional photographer.  I shoot for magazines, companies and clients all across the country.”

“Oh, so you are a freelancer…”

It is just semantics, but the word makes me sound like a gypsy, who will take any odd job to earn some cash,  and that I will work for free or whatever I am offered.  I usually  counter by saying that I am a businessman who has owned his own company for over twenty years.  Now granted, most of the time, it does not matter and it’s not worth bringing up, but sometimes it is difficult to let it go.

Don’t be a freelancer.  If you have chosen to work for yourself, be a professional, be self employed, be an independent business person and above all, be the best creative you can be.

This is the first entry of my new blog called selfunemployed.biz.  It would have been a .com or .net but they are both being cyber-squatted upon and so are not available and besides,   .biz, while certainly not one of the big three in terms of domain name registration, seems perfectly suited for a blog of this kind.

What am I doing here?  I’ve been told by many photography consultants, my peers and other blogs and pundits that I need to have a blog.  I have started them in the past only to realize that I don’t have anything to say so what makes this one different?  On the subject of being self employed and dealing with everything from collecting payment, invoicing, dealing with cash flow issues etc., I am an expert.

Having been self employed all my life (my parents never had day jobs so I blame them…), I know what it is like to be busy as hell one week and dead the next.  I know what it is like when clients or prospects try to get more for less, leave out crucial pieces of information until it is too late, or change the scope of a project during the project.

Tune in weekly and we can start a dialog about what it means and takes to be…

self-unemployed!