Librarian of Fortune

Erin Callan, the former CFO of Lehman Brothers, writes in the New York Times of March 10 about her choices to devote all her energy to her job. 

I didn't start out with the goal of devoting all mof myself to my job. It crept in over time. [...] I did not know how to value who I was versus what I did. What I did was who I was. [...] Even at the best times in my career, I was never deluded into thinking I had achieved any sort of rational allocation between my life at work and my life outside.

I find it heartbreaking to read these kinds of regrets. One of the best reasons I have for being an info-entrepreneur is that I can balance all the parts of my life. Maybe not perfectly, but I know that I am in control of what choices I make, and that balance is possible.

Ready-to-use information graphics

[Guest post from Marcy Phelps, Phelps Research]

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Displaying data in a visual format adds impact and brings clarity where words and spreadsheets often fail. Charts, graphs, and maps make it easy to identify patterns, trends, and clusters and transform the numbers into insights. Rather than create my own graphics for my research reports, I often save time by heading to sources that do the work for me. Here are a few of my favorite sites for data in ready-to-use visual formats:

Eurostat provides options for customizing and downloading European economic, demographic, and other data in graphs and maps. After selecting a data set, follow links at the top of the page for non-tabular formats.

The Data section of The World Bank's website contains global statistics in map and graph formats. The By Country and Indicators sections include the most options for and the easiest route to visual formats.

American FactFinder offers mapped U.S. demographic data from the Decennial Census, American Community Survey, and other Census Bureau products. From the Table Results page, click the Create a Map button.

And keep an eye on The Data Visualization Gallery from the U.S. Census Bureau. Part of an effort to increase the use of visualization in making Census data available to the public, this site will eventually expand their coverage.

You can find more sources of ready-to-use information graphics at MarcyPhelps.com. Do you have any to add to the list?

 

Transparency - a radical policy

As anyone who has ever played Buzzword Bingo knows, the business world is awash with the concept du jour. If you hear about synergetic incentivizing to reinvent viral blogospheres while leveraging so-lo-mo platforms, you've gotten a dose of today's business buzzwords.

Recently, I have been reading more about trends to bring transparency into business, and I can hear the gears grinding in offices everywhere. "OK, I know how to synergize dynamic action-items and maximize back-end convergence, but how can I spin transparency?" Exactly. Unlike most other business buzzwords, the word transparency has a clear (sorry!), real-world meaning.

I was recently coaching an info-entrepreneur who was experiencing a slow time in her business. She got a call from a client who offered her a several-month project at half her normal hourly rate. As anyone who has run a business knows, she had several choices.

• She could take the job, resent that she is being paid half of what she normally makes, and hope that she can juggle any other projects in during evenings and weekends.
• *She could turn down the project and focus on finding clients who can pay her regular rate.
• She could be transparent with her client and negotiate a third option.

My client took the route of transparency. She told her client, "As you know, my normal rate is $XXX an hour. Right now, my workload is pretty slow so I am interested in taking on this project. However, I would like to revisit this discussion in two months. At that point, I expect to be busier with clients who pay my full rate, and I would like to have the option to renegotiate my rate for this project. I will work as many hours as I can in the next two months; you get my services at a discounted rate and I get a bump in revenue." 

My client got the project and now both she and her client benefit. has an incentive to give my client as much work as possible for these two months, ensuring that my client has a steady, if limited, income stream. My client has the option to continue the work after two months at her regular rate, and her client knows that she is receiving high-end services at a significant discount.

What would radical transparency look like in your setting?

Consultant vs. contractor

Alan Weiss, of whom I am a groupie, just published a quote that rocks my world. The full article is in the June 2012 issue of Balancing Act.

If someone pays you for your wisdom and advice, you're a consultant—a "brain." If someone pays you for your work and delivery, you're a subcontractor—a pair of hands. Both constitute legitimate and respected work, but the former can charge based on value delivered and the latter can charge only on time spent on the job.

More stats from info-entrepreneur survey

An aspiring info-entrepreneur contacted me recently to ask for some additional analysis from my 2011 Info-Entrepreneur Report: insights on information businesses (BatesInfo.com/2011survey). While the report included some information about people who have part-time businesses, she wanted to know more about owners of part-time businesses who have a net income (i.e., profit) of at least $20,000 in 2011.

Here’s what I learned about that group:

• They averaged 20 hours/week on their business
• Of those who gave their age, 1 was 30-39, 4 were 40-49, 6 were 50-59 and 3 were 60-69
• Two-thirds have MLS degrees
• They had an average of 20 years of professional experience before they started their business

 She also asked about the income for info-entrepreneurs with under 10 years of prior professional experience. I compared the income of full-time businesses whose owners had 10 or more years of prior experience with those whose owners had under 10 years of prior experience.

I found it interesting that those with under 10 years of prior professional experience were more both more likely than their more experienced colleagues to be earning under $20,000 as well as earning $60,000 or more. This certainly goes against the belief that people in the first half of their career should not consider starting a business! My hunch is that the key to profitability isn't in the number of years you have spent doing whatever you did before, but rather whether you spent that time keeping on top of your profession, building your network, and learning to take a strategic perspective.

What are your thoughts about these numbers?

When conversations go bad... was there informational inequality?

One of the many insights I have gotten from my partner, and one that has helped keep my relationships with people solid, is to take 100% responsibility for any conversation. Not 50% and not 150%.

That sounds strange to most people; shouldn't each person have 50% responsibility? Actually, that means that no one is entirely responsible for their own participation. Instead, I take 100% responsibility for what I say, in whatever manner I want to say it, and I am entirely responsible for however I feel - no one can "make" me feel happy, scared, angry or sad.

Likewise, I can't take any responsibility for the other person's reactions. I have no idea what triggers her, or what her mood is right now, or whether she has 10 other things on her mind. It's her job to show up 100% on her end. If that means saying that she doesn't have time now, or that she feels angry, then it's her job to speak up.

Taking that into account, I have become more aware of how to communicate in ways that make it easy for others to take in what I say. That doesn't mean taking responsibility for the other person's reaction. Rather, I have started considering whether there is any "informational inequality" between us. I might have a background in whatever we are talking about, and the other person may not, for example. In that case, I can cut to the chase and blurt out "We really need to do it this way. Trust me on this." And I will probably get some resistance. Fair enough; that would be my first reaction.

Alternatively, I could say "You know, I did a survey about that last year. One of the things I learned was {such-and-such}. And I realized that my initial assumptions about {whatever the other person probably thinks} didn't reflect reality. So that led me to thinking that we probably need to do ..."

The difference is that I paused to consider what the other person might not know, and to ensure that we both know the same things. If it turns out that we disagree about the underlying assumptions, at least we have identified the problem without anyone sounding like a playground bully.

When you I hear yourmyself thinking "I am surrounded by people who have no clue what they're talking about", I take a moment and think about what specifically I know that others may not. What are their underlying assumptions? Do I share those assumptions?

Yes, my inner Eldest-Child/Know-It-All isn't happy, but I find that a lot more gets done through the less-direct approach.

Learning About a Market

Are you considering starting your own professional services business? Do you already have a business but want to expand into a new area? If so, how are you deciding whether to go into a particular area of business? Gut instinct? Years of experience?

I encourage new business owners, and anyone who is considering expanding into a new area, to conduct some interviews with people already in the field to test their assumptions about what’s involved in starting their practice, especially during the first year or two. Whether you are a business analyst, a life coach or a grant writer, there are certain questions that will help you figure out if this is an area in which you will thrive.  Be sure to talk with people who are already successful in their field, not others who are also in the beginning stages of their business;  the point is to learn from those whose choices have kept them successful.

What to ask the experts:

• What was the biggest challenge during your first year in business?
• How did you get each of your first five clients? How did they learn about you?
• What do you think is the biggest challenge right now in your field?
• What piece of advice would have been most helpful during your first year?

And if you really want a reality check,

• What would it take for me to make $X {your salary/income goal} after a year?

You may not like the answers; my coaching clients sometimes tell me how surprised they were after interviewing several long-time entrepreneurs, and learning what challenges and hurdles new entrants into the field face. Well worth the time invested in making the calls!

Info-entrepreneur survey report is out!

Every few years, I conduct a survey of people who own their own information businesses, also known as info-entrepreneurs or independent info pros. I just finished my 2011 survey and it's available at BatesInfo.com/2011survey. Highlights:

• 40% of long-time info-business owners have salaries of $60K+
• 70% of info-business owners in their first 3 years make under $20K.
• Two thirds of part-time info-businesses make under $20K.

I also asked the respondents what words of advice they had for new info-entrepreneurs. Here's a word cloud of their responses:

I also asked what would help their business the most; here's the word cloud.

 

These reflect what I see -- new info-entrepreneurs have to see themselves as a business and focus on clients, and most info-entrepreneurs know they need to focus on marketing and getting new clients.

21 tips for consultants and entrepreneurs

Alan Weiss, whose Kool-Aid I drink regularly, just came out with a fabulous list of 21 pieces of advice for the new (or re-focusing) consultant/entrepreneur. Based on my own experience, he's spot on, and I appreciate his get-to-the-point approach. Highlights for me:

 4. Call everyone you know. Explain your value and ask for business AND referrals.

 13. Never  be afraid of losing business. It’s the quickest way to lose business. Instead, focus on boldly acquiring business.

 14. Invest in marketing and in your own development. You cannot cut your way to growth or reduce you path to success.

 21. ALWAYS price based on value, never on time units.

 

Getting Your Emails Opened

I just published the latest issue of my Info-Entrepreneur Tip of the Month. This one looks at all the ways that you can ensure that people don't open your email (and some ways to increase your odds).