Middle of the week here. How have you been doing so far? This morning over coffee & my daily reading I found this gem of an article on +SEOmoz written by +Lindsay Wassell.
While SEO isn't my industry and I know just enough to be dangerous (and outsource…) her breakdown of work in the search industry parallels my own in social media tech and community. Generally there are three options of 'how' to work – in-house, agency or independent. I have been in the independent category for the last 12 years. Each side looks to have greener grass – or dead spots….
If you have decided to follow along with this exercise of working to change habits and break out of routines to find new work thinking about which piece of the 'pie' you live in helps. How? Well, start thinking about finding people that work in other parts of your industry and connect with them for leads for project work. WHAT??!!
I work on my own as a freelancer basically. I have many contacts in my own industry that live in the agency and in-house positions. Sometimes they have overflow or project work (that's how I get the majority of my work – from other agencies or in-house teams) so I get the referral. Sometimes my other indie friends get work they can't take on or is out of their genre of expertise. Sometimes I get leads outside of my expertise – I don't usually handle non-profits or finance / pharma clients as a freelancer.
Figure out where you are, what your piece of the pie has as a weakness – and then see about working with others that have that as a strength.
How's it going so far??
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In-House, Agency, or Independent: What's the Best Gig for You?
There are three main roles in the search marketing industry: you can work in-house, at an agency, or as an independent consultant. What role are you in today, and is it the right one?
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so very good
For a fiction author, there's very, very little in the way of "in house" and the only thing you could consider "agency" might be agent representation.
Thanks for your thoughts +Lynette Young. This is the first time I've heard the term 'indie' used like this. Can't wait to use that!
+Nobilis Reed – You're right. This can be hard to tie to some industries. What types of roles are there for a fiction author? I would guess that it is almost always, 'indie'.
I'd say for me, working in-house has been rewarding, limited, AND exhausting. At a small organization you wear a lot of hats, and it can become a little like agency work, without the fun and creative freedom.
+Lindsay Wassell These days, for fiction authors, you have the following roles:
"Traditional" or "Legacy" published – Probably has an agent, makes a pittance on each sale; struggles to balance writing with PR/Marketing work. Doesn't have to worry about hiring people for covers, layout, and editing.
Small-pubbed – Probably does not have an agent, sells few and gets a reasonable share of each sale; struggles to balance writing with PR/Marketing work. Usually doesn't have to worry about hiring people for covers, layout, and editing.
Self-pubbed – Absolutely no agent, gets a huge share of each sale; struggles to balance writing with PR/Marketing, business management, and either doing or hiring people to do covers, layout, and editing.
This isn't so much a hierarchy as they are separate ladders. On the top of each of these ladders is a very small minority of people who sell enough that the weaknesses inherent in their ladder aren't so weak.
3 leads for new projects. 1 of those leads is from an existing client who has another project. Still waiting on a stalled project launch too. So there is a very real possibility that I will have multiple project launching in the next few weeks.
one agent .