are things looking up?

The 'end of the recession' was hyped up over the weekend, so that yesterday's growth figure of a measly 0.1% seem rather disappointing. So the question is, what's really happening in business and how is it affecting the consultancy and freelance market?

Our fee rate survey seems to be showing some pressure on rates with many consultant reporting clients asking for work to be done for free or very low rates. But on the upside, conversations with contacts in the recruitment industry suggests that the marketing and advertising industries have suddenly started hiring. This suggests that businesses are starting to feel more confident and are looking to marketing to build more sales as the economy picks up.

We've certainly seen a pick up in projects coming to Skillfair, ranging from marketing advice for small businesses through associate requests in business advice/HR to experts in cryogenics!

All of which suggests that now is a good time to start thinking about your own marketing activity. If you're not currently occupied then use the time to check your strategy and get networking, if you're busy maybe you should consider taking on a specialist to help you market yourself so that you don't hit a bad patch when current projects finish.

Whatever size your business, there's a marketing specialist out there who'll be able to help - for some pointers to the kind of activity you should consider, take a look at http://www.skillfair.co.uk/content/757/Need-help-with-marketing-.aspx or for more anecdotal stories about marketing try http://blog.asmartbear.com/

Do you join for business or to socialise?

There's been a lively discussion on the Skillfair LinkedIn group on the reasons people join different networking organisations or professional institutes. Some people have joined to get access to insurance or meeting spaces whereas others are more interested in developing their specialist skills.

What seems very clear though, as one member put it,

"There is no doubt that those independent consultants who ‘put themselves about’ – i.e. proactively network in their local/regional business community, will do far better than those who just sit back and hope business will come to them."

 So even if your choice isn't perfect it will be better than doing nothing!

 

How much should a consultant charge?

The initial response to our fee rate survey has been stunning - well over 500 responses in the first day. If you've not had time to fill it in yet, please do - the more response we have the better. We're interested in hearing from clients about the kind of extra help they commission and how much it costs - as well as from consultants, advisors, freelancers and interims of all kinds.

One interesting feature that's already emerging is that a lot of people have been asked to do work for free or for very low rates in the last year. Your responses to this seem to be split depending on the reason, with many of you quite comfortable with providing help for little return to charities or to small businesses who are struggling, but with much less sympathy for larger concerns or middlemen trying to maintain high margins in the face of client pressure.

Freelancers always get through!

Chatting to my optician today about the snow and how much disruption it's caused  - it turns out that he's a freelance locum, working for several opticians in the area - and at each shop he's been the only person to turn up on the days when the snow was heavy.

As he put it, "I don't get paid unless I work, so it takes a lot to stop me getting through!". Coupled with the fact that so many consultants and freelancers are well set up to work from home I think those businesses that make good use of them will have suffered much less over the last few weeks.

What do you think?

Time for self-help?

As it's the start of a New Year and the end of the 'phony war' in UK politics, I was going to talk about the impending election this week - but the weather and all the stories surrounding it have made me think that we should regard politics & economic ups and downs as just another form of weather. In snowy weather it pays to clear your own path and in difficult economic conditions I think our best tactic is to go out and help ourselves, and if possible do something to help the other businesses we're in contact with. So if you do nothing else this week, come up with 1 action you can take to get involved in some business activity, join a networking group, volunteer for a committee, offer a small business some free advice or training - whatever works for you. It will keep you busy, generate activity and make you feel better too!

Next week we'll be sending out our annual fee rate survey, and we'd like to ask for your help in getting as many people as possible to respond. A number of our partner organisations, including IBC, IMechE & PCG, will be sending the survey out to their members, if you have contacts in any other groups or professional bodies who might be able to do the same we'd like to hear from you. If you can help, please email us or give us a call.