The Edge

Director's Spotlight

New Benefit and Survey News

--New Benefit (and limited-time discount): At NAIWE, we are constantly looking for products and services that will provide value and enhance productivity. We recently found a service that will assist you when you're having computer difficulties. This service is a computer help line where computer technicians are trained to diagnose and resolve a wide variety of problems that happen with PCs, MACs, e-mail, wireless networks, Blackberrys, iPhones, the Microsoft Office suite and more! You can see the Scope of Service in the Member Area of the website for more details.

How It Works – Call a toll free number that's just for NAIWE members and receive unlimited computer support Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST.  Call as often as needed for as long as needed. For more challenging problems, technicians will connect to your computer remotely to solve your problem. [Note from Janice: I had a major server problem fixed remotely in this way a couple of weeks ago, and it saved me hours of frustration!]

Cost –NAIWE has negotiated an exclusive, members-only price of $120.00 per person, per year.  The standard retail price for this service is $249.00 per person, per year. 

Sign up NOW and save even more! Any member who signs up for this service by Saturday, March 7, 2009 will receive the exclusive "Words Matter" rate of $99.00 per person, per year.  When signing up for this service, please enter coupon code, WMWEEK09 to get your discount.

I'll be talking with Tim McMullen, co-founder and managing partner of the company that is providing this service for members, in a teleseminar during Words Matter Week. We'll talk about the service and there will be plenty of time for you to call in and ask questions at the end. You'll see his bio and photo up on the Words Matter page in a couple of days.

--Survey: We are still analyzing the results of the January survey, "What do you want most?" and will be posting a detailed article soon. For now, you may get a quick overview of the results of the ranking portion at Survey Monkey . The password is  naiwe0109surveyx.

Featured Success Strategy

Freelance Advantages in a Sluggish Economy

By Peter Bowerman

CNN.com: “MORE BUSINESSES USING FREELANCERS”

Mainstream News Outlet Confirms What Most FLCW’s Know, But Still Love to Hear!

We established Freelance Commercial Writers (FLCW’s) have long known the serious bottom-line advantages to a company of hiring freelancers: no salaries, benefits and vacation; they pay for only what they need, when they need it; fresh “outsider” perspectives; and access to a wide range of talent. If you’ve ever heard me speak live about our field, that rap takes center stage. It’s crucial to establish the self-interest as a way of explaining why it’s no fad. 

An alert reader sent me a link to a CNN.com article that underscores this reality – good news in these uncertain times.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/01/14/freelance.nation/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

According to one quoted expert, “More companies are using freelancers because their businesses are becoming more project-based.” Economic uncertainty has companies shortening their vision from long-term initiatives (which would argue for full-time employees) to the next business cycle, which would drive short-term project work. Makes sense. And given that economic uncertainty, the piece points out, it’s easier to get sign-off for shorter, less ambitious projects than to hire a new employee.

One thing I noticed years back when we went through a similar contraction was this: while many companies gravitated by necessity to the freelancer model, they came to appreciate the advantages of it so much that even when things did turn around, they continued to hiring freelancers. It was an efficient model for ANY economy.

Sure, says the article, it can work the other way as well: the very flexibility of the freelancer model allows for quick, no-cost scaling-back (i.e., you stop hiring as many freelancers). Not to mention that laid-off employees can turn freelance (a great strategy for any newly pink-slipped – or soon-to-be – readers looking to build a FLCW business), which doesn’t help the existing freelancers.

On balance, we freelancers stand to benefit handsomely in a down economy. But the key to capitalizing is professionalism and teaming. Be buttoned-up in every aspect of your business, and be prepared to team with other creative pros (especially graphic designers), when the opportunities arise, to deliver the same end-to-end solutions they’ve grown accustomed to getting from higher-priced agencies or employees charged with managing projects from start to finish. You CAN eat well in these times. Many are.

(C) 2009 Peter Bowerman