Pseudo-self-employed

My personal primary goals are to find a career in which I’m most comfortable with and understand how my skill can be of importance to the business and how that business could better me in general.  Also know how far this career could excel you is important because a career should be a steady climb and learning process as well. What this unit and assignment taught is to look deeper into the situation because it always goes deeper. The surface is always the starting place but it shouldn't be the finishing place as well. Going along with the project I had to really think about how the firm itself would feel about certain situation, and how they made sense to me, but may not be the best for the business itself. If a career is only one-tier, meaning if you or superiors only see you befitting that one position it may not be the best. However if you only want that one position, no problem. Earning respect from your peers and superiors is a part of the process. Everything won't run as smoothly or progress in the manner you thought it would, but patience is key. Personally I want to excel and learn about the job as grow, and often that means starting from the base and working up to the position you desire. I also handle life in this manner by excelling when I feel I have surpasses my current status and can’t do anything more from this level. My computer and software savviness started from nothing but over time I’ve needed more and more powerful machines, and the same goes for editing and photography. Also understanding how you see yourself and abilities may not be how superiors and/or people with experience see you. My product is my knowledge and know-how, and that comes at a price, just ask the ridiculously priced Geek-Squad. The price comes along with whatever needs to be done and its difficulty.

With products I can be a very picky person, but it depends on what it is, for soap, which ever smells the best is sufficient enough for me, but something more expensive that will be used daily like a laptop will take months. First I think you have to know your niche or what you’re good at for me it photography, editing, and computer/electronic support. After finding my specialties I need to build a strategy on how to appeal to each market or one of its subsets. With subsets I’m referring to specific areas such as virus removal, and issue solver, rather than coding. Unlike products I can’t sit there and look pretty I have to present myself and/or work. So targeting for photography and parts of editing will be simpler than virus removal because there are dedicated websites for the first two services, and none I’m aware of for the others. I’ve been editing and shooting for years now so I already have web presences and targeting down pack. However, actual promotion of virus removal is difficult because you can’t showcase your skill(s) at different levels. The differentiation between the skills are clear due to them being mostly differently, while they all have a common source ,the computer, they’re all fundamentally different. Finally positioning, when working with other work and/or property, you want them to see you as a professional, however, you want them to see your work even more, which makes them repeat their service and possible spread the word.

Having an internet presence is one of the most important factors in E-marketing, so being on social media as much and as frequently as possible can really help you in the long run. As frequently I mean as multiple social Medias. So often I only see businesses cover the three basic social media principles, have your own website, be on Facebook, and be on Twitter. Having an web presences goes beyond simply having the social media you have to post on it and find others such as Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, YouTube, and Pinterest. Next I think I would work on myself to refine my skills, and attempt to find other areas that I have skills in to continue the growth and not be a one trick pony. In business in general I believe it’s healthy to be able to perform multiple tasks because it can help bring it cross over customers. Such as a Kroger, which is primarily a grocery store but the larger stores have jewelry stores and clothing aisles. In increasing skills sometimes that can cause friction because one may do better than the other, and I may have to let one go to cater to the other which could cause a loss in business on one side but an increase on the other. So prioritizing is something I would have to think about in the long run.

Considering the information given from the IMC and CRM, I could further develop a plan for myself by following the same system with different variation in the structure. Due to me being one person and my specific area I would only have to deal with one person or institution at a time.  There are time where dealing with multiple people or companies have collided but you look at the situation in a profession manner, in terms of which benefits you more, or which did you commit to first. All support falls solely on me, and if additional help is need I could hire someone for that specific task.  While extra help is necessary at time you have to remember, that you may think of yourself as a business, but you don’t have the expenditure a real big business does. Marketing yourself never gets old because you always find a new way to appeal to something or someone new. In my specific calling, playing to someone’s needs can land you the role, it’s also not as difficult for you to cater to one person in particular. In photography and editing, catering to one person’s needs is the name of the game. While you are the creator, you still have to take their insight into consideration because you also want to work as a team and possible again in the future. Because my hobby/profession deals mostly on the web and social media, keeping those update is a part of your daily routine. Interactions with past clients can often bring new work from them or others they’ve suggested. Also being out in public or events doing random work often get you noticed, which brings on different clients. If you treat yourself like a business it’s easier to understand how a business is ran, even though it’s many times more difficult. In my work it’s almost scary how fast you can go from being a one man show, to have an assistant, to owning a studio, then having other work for you. It isn’t as easy as it sounds but once you make a name for yourself, your quality is good, and the ball gets rolling, the only thing that can stop it is you.

Being pseudo-self-employed at one time I definitely kept track to what my customers thought of my work, who referred them, how did they find me, but I don't think I utilized that information properly. I believe it was due to me always on social media, constantly posting new work, always reaching out, and building a base. All of those things were keeping me busy so I didn’t have time to focus on the business aspect. When you first begin in such a solo business, you honestly don’t think of yourself as the business. You’re more worried with what it is you do and how to perfect that to excel. I was also younger at the time and didn't have the information I have today, and I was thinking on terms of how to better my craft instead of how to better my business. Now that I recognize the and somewhat understand how to read and use metrics. Also something I never performed on myself or my craft was a SWOT analysis, I honestly don't think I knew what it was back then. SWOT would’ve really helped me because as I mentally perform one now I see mistakes I made, both in my craft and the representation of myself. There were plenty of opportunities passed up because I didn't feel like I was ready, and I was in competition with everyone else in my field. Luckily from schooling I know my own personal SWOT now and its help me identify issues, advance and prepare for different steps I’ve taken and have yet to take. While I believe SWOT could be used for anything like personal issues to job searching, I have to work into my brain to keep using it. I also think it goes beyond knowing what you or the service, product, job strengths and weaknesses are, it’s about analyzing critical information and making the best decision.