First, let me state that I’m not an accountant, lawyer, financial advisor, or security professional. I’m a writing professional. I document things for a living. Writing professionals write product manuals, dosage guidelines, installation instructions, grant applications, maintenance procedures, proposals, and so much more. Wherever there’s information designed to inform and instruct, you’ll find a writing professional like me embedded in the process.
At meetings of the I-25ers, a group of independent information professionals located in and around Colorado, we often discuss how to stay focused. It’s getting harder and harder, with the many hats we wear and the ever-increasing rate of change in our lives and work, to make decisions about our businesses and carry them out.
Setting goals for the next 5 or 10 years provides focus in our lives and milestones for success.
AIIP hosted a free webinar featuring three renowned private investigators who spoke about their journeys in building and running successful private investigations businesses. The panel consisted of Marcy Phelps of Marcy Phelps & Associates, Michael Donaldson of Vindicatus, and Timothy Hardiman of Viceroy Investigation & Consulting.
Your local AIIP peer network could be one of the most effective strategic and marketing tools you have ever used. Here are a few of the reasons why:
Clarify Your Vision
Even though face to face ‘local’ AIIP gatherings have been overtaken by COVID-19 protocols, our need for instilling optimism and a sense of purpose through our local trust network of shared experiences and relationship building increases.
Grow Your Referral Network
AIIP members have long valued the benefits of this trust network that exists organization-wide. Because we weren’t able to gather in person for our annual conference in April as planned, we missed meeting one another in person to form or reinforce connections with folks who have skills that overlap or are complementary to our own, or get to know those who cover service areas that we don’t. Now, it is more important than ever to reinforce relationships at a regional level too. When we grow trusted network connections, it is a natural instinct to want to refer our colleagues to a business opportunity if it seems to be a promising match for another’s expertise.
Find Your Tribe
The common geographic element of groups like this can be a shared experience that serves as a springboard for some casual “get to know you” conversations. Even through uncertainty, connecting with other local AIIPers who speak our language can reassure or steady us, or surface some good old fashioned ‘hey, I thought of you recently when…”
Stay Top of Mind
Having a trusted referral network is what most successful AIIPers will tell you is marketing gold – their key to ongoing and lasting success. You can’t really develop that trusted referral network if you aren’t engaging with one another on a regular basis to see who’s overcoming what challenges, who is pivoting, who is trying something you’ve wanted to try, or who wants to try something with you to practice first before going live. Your local AIIP peers can be your sounding board, your cheerleaders, and your amplifiers. They can inspire, cajole and learn from your experiences as you do from theirs.
Build for Sustainability
Put your growth mindset into action. Take the initiative to get everyone together consistently. Look for opportunities to keep the conversations going. Invest energy into making fun and unique virtual get-togethers that you would want someone else to create for you. Find icebreakers or games to learn more about one another beyond the shared experience of being a solopreneur. Share what’s worked for you and what you now see in hindsight as a lesson.
The local networks that you cultivate now and over time will enrich your professional growth and business development in a sustainable and impactful way.
Liz McLean, principal, and founder of Knowsaic, uses her Library Science and Knowledge Management expertise to connect people and organizations to the know-how and know-who to learn and innovate for greater mission impact.
Most
AIIP members run solo businesses, so managing cash flow is vital at all stages
of business – from getting started to managing larger projects.
In the April AIIP member-to-member webinar Marge King shared her perspective on how independent info pros can strategically manage their cash flow.
In conversation with webinar moderator Mary Ellen Bates, Marge talked about key aspects of understanding and controlling cash flow and the necessity of knowing the relationship between breakeven point and optimum product pricing.
Have you ever had to negotiate your way through a Master Service Agreement (MSA)? AIIP member Ellen Naylor avoided that process until a couple of years ago. In this post she shares what she has learned from her experiences with MSAs.
Starting a business can be a daunting prospect, but you don’t have to do it on your own. Most communities in the United States have a variety of resources to support your business start-up process, many of which are free.
