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Been there, burned out, got very corporate-sick. Now I'm trying to break my services into highly specific niche jobs, things you can do in just 1 or 2 days: Fe

Been there, burned out, got very corporate-sick. Now I'm trying to break my services into highly specific niche jobs, things you can do in just 1 or 2 days: Fewer responsibilities, almost no sale cycle, fixed price, advance payments, easier to make the client happy and, most of all, the rediscovered joy of doing what we really like to do, solving problems. You still have to market your service, but it's easier to sell since it's supposed to solve a very specific problem.

doozersnoozer 9y ago
I’m interested in what kind of problems you are solving for your clients. I always thought complex/fun problems take a bit longer. That has some disadvantages though: the longer you work for a client, the more knowledge you have. You may end up having the responsibility to keep supporting whatever you implemented. In my case you then end up with a few bosses (instead of one boss as an employee). I would much rather go in, do the job, and get out again.
tra1001 9y ago
I too am very interested in the kinds of niche jobs you do. Or rather how I might be able to break down what I do similarly.
- achairapart 9y ago
  Find a niche is the hardest part, indeed. Some people call it “Positioning”. Well, I don’t think it’s useful for you what I’m currently experimenting with, I bet it’s far more interesting how I found it. I will share some thought that helped me a lot, your mileage may vary: 1) Think about something you can do really well, and that you can do in 1 day. Look at your past proposals, find that single task where you think you can make a difference or remember that problem you solved so elegantly. The “1-day” thing is completely arbitrary but keep in mind that the shorter it is, the better chances you'll have to test and sell it. 2) The task should be something that a fair number of people need (even if they don’t know it yet). Listen to your clients, try to remember what they asked more often in your past projects. Listening and frequency are key here. 3) The task doesn't need to be anything extra innovative or super revolutionary, actually, it should be something very simple. Think small! For me, the biggest challenge was to fight my own ego. I think I’m very good in some areas of my expertise. In 10+ years of freelancing, I ran this race to the bigger project, the bigger client, the bigger challenge, the bigger reward. At some point, I had problems explaining why my solution was so much better and the best one for the client, who only wished someone solved his silly problem and didn’t give a damn about it, best price aside. Remember, burn out come mostly out of frustration. I felt I was tricked into playing the wrong game. Then, I found that bigger isn’t always better, many times it is just… bigger. Again, this is just me with my own story and my own experience, your situation may be different. 4) Once you find it try it out. Fast. Share it with your clients and colleagues. Make a 1-day mvp or landing page and throw some Adwords on it, leave the details for later. Don’t overthink it, don’t overdesign, don’t over-engineering, don’t over-anything, just test your idea. My rule of thumb is that if something works, it will work since day one. At least you will receive some genuine positive interest almost immediately. Other notes: - You will still do freelance work on ordinary projects. Your idea will act as a bait, some clients will be very happy and will ask you to solve more of their problems. Hopefully, this time it’s in your hands to choose the right project and the right client and not the other way around. - Again, you will also find ways to upsell more complex solutions with the right clients. Well, I think I'll stop here, sorry, if I had more time I would have written a shorter comment. Just hope some of this will help.
akulbe 9y ago
Like the others, I'm curious as well. It would be great to have a model like that, at least it sounds like it at this point. :)

doozersnoozer 9y ago

I’m interested in what kind of problems you are solving for your clients. I always thought complex/fun problems take a bit longer. That has some disadvantages though: the longer you work for a client, the more knowledge you have. You may end up having the responsibility to keep supporting whatever you implemented. In my case you then end up with a few bosses (instead of one boss as an employee). I would much rather go in, do the job, and get out again.

tra1001 9y ago

I too am very interested in the kinds of niche jobs you do. Or rather how I might be able to break down what I do similarly.

achairapart 9y ago
Find a niche is the hardest part, indeed. Some people call it “Positioning”. Well, I don’t think it’s useful for you what I’m currently experimenting with, I bet it’s far more interesting how I found it. I will share some thought that helped me a lot, your mileage may vary: 1) Think about something you can do really well, and that you can do in 1 day. Look at your past proposals, find that single task where you think you can make a difference or remember that problem you solved so elegantly. The “1-day” thing is completely arbitrary but keep in mind that the shorter it is, the better chances you'll have to test and sell it. 2) The task should be something that a fair number of people need (even if they don’t know it yet). Listen to your clients, try to remember what they asked more often in your past projects. Listening and frequency are key here. 3) The task doesn't need to be anything extra innovative or super revolutionary, actually, it should be something very simple. Think small! For me, the biggest challenge was to fight my own ego. I think I’m very good in some areas of my expertise. In 10+ years of freelancing, I ran this race to the bigger project, the bigger client, the bigger challenge, the bigger reward. At some point, I had problems explaining why my solution was so much better and the best one for the client, who only wished someone solved his silly problem and didn’t give a damn about it, best price aside. Remember, burn out come mostly out of frustration. I felt I was tricked into playing the wrong game. Then, I found that bigger isn’t always better, many times it is just… bigger. Again, this is just me with my own story and my own experience, your situation may be different. 4) Once you find it try it out. Fast. Share it with your clients and colleagues. Make a 1-day mvp or landing page and throw some Adwords on it, leave the details for later. Don’t overthink it, don’t overdesign, don’t over-engineering, don’t over-anything, just test your idea. My rule of thumb is that if something works, it will work since day one. At least you will receive some genuine positive interest almost immediately. Other notes: - You will still do freelance work on ordinary projects. Your idea will act as a bait, some clients will be very happy and will ask you to solve more of their problems. Hopefully, this time it’s in your hands to choose the right project and the right client and not the other way around. - Again, you will also find ways to upsell more complex solutions with the right clients. Well, I think I'll stop here, sorry, if I had more time I would have written a shorter comment. Just hope some of this will help.

akulbe 9y ago

Like the others, I'm curious as well. It would be great to have a model like that, at least it sounds like it at this point. :)