Consultants, Freelancers, Lend Me Your Ears

Do you ever read something that seems to haunt you?

I woke up in the middle of the night in cold sweats thinking about this one. I read a Seth Godin post over the weekend, and, as usual, his words struck a chord. This time, however, I could not just post a tweet and go on about my business. I was struck by this one line:

Employees and freelancers that produce more than they cost are worth hiring.

Too often, it seems, that we can hide behind rationalizations for what we do. We paint these pictures with huge self-congratulation, but at the end of the day, are we producing more than we are charging?

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Jeremy Floyd

Jeremy Floyd is the President at FUNYL Commerce. Formerly, he was the CEO and President of Lirio, Bluegill Creative, a marketing and communications firm in Knoxville, Tennessee. In addition to managing the digital strategies, Floyd was an adjunct professor for the University of Tennessee Chattanooga MBA program teaching digital strategies and social media. Floyd blogs at jeremyfloyd.com and tweets under the name @jfloyd. Jeremy is licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee and holds a law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from MTSU in English and Philosophy.

  • One of those statements you hope everybody is asking themselves constantly, eh? 😉

    This is why I like value-based fees (versus hourly) in the style of:
    * Alan Weiss
    * David Winch
    * Ron Baker
    * Jonathan Stark

    Done properly they shift the dynamics of projects and client relationships tremendously. Far more than simply having a different “fee strategy” would suggest. It’s not about the fees, it’s about the intense mutual emphasis on the results, “pushing back” to really understand where the client is coming from (and wanting to go) instead of just understanding the surface tasks/goals, and standing behind what you do by accepting responsibility for the impact your work will have.

    -jr