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Milspouse Notes
| Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 |
| Force Multipliers |
| By Sue Hoppin |
| Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 12:39 |
| I had an interesting dilemma awhile back - an extreme case of writer's block was standing in the way of getting paid work. Even though my personal consulting website has been up and running since the end of January, the consulting page sat empty. Even if companies or organizations wanted to hire me, they had no idea of knowing what I could do for them. Talk about a disconnect!
I have no problem writing articles on the military lifestyle and even wrote a book on the topic, but when it comes to writing about myself and my capabilities, I kept drawing a blank. I don't know how many times I sat in front of that blank computer screen trying to string together enough words to illustrate my abilities. No such luck. It wasn't until five months had passed that I realized I had long passed the ridiculous phase. It was time to find some help.
One of the greatest lesson of going out on my own has been the knowledge that for those tasks that are outside of my area of expertise or comfort level, I can reach out and hire contractors. I mean, it makes sense. I'm working with a very talented Air Force veteran to maintain this site, why wouldn't I look for help with other tasks? So, I went back to elance.com where I found my database help and posted a proposal looking for a copywriter. I found a fellow military spouse who has a background in copywriting and PR. We worked together to flesh out my capabilities and I had that page up in no time. Now, the site is finally fully functioning as a business site. Not only was it money well spent on some great content, I was helping another military spouse with her business. Total win/win situation.
Lesson learned - don't be afraid to ask for help. Bringing on contractors to perform tasks is actually a lot more reasonble than you'd expect. If anyone is looking for a great copywriter, I used Tiffany Silverberg, a navy spouse. You can find her profile on elance.com. If you want to check out her work, look at my consulting page on www.suehoppin.com. |
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| Friday, Jul 02, 2010 |
| It Takes a Village |
| By Sue Hoppin |
| Friday, Jul 02, 2010 10:16 |
| We all know about the value of spouse groups for family support, so why is it that we don't extend this same mentality to our job search? I think one of the most demoralizing and isolating exercises anyone can ever go through is that new job search or any kind of career transition. What's helped me get through is a small group of friends who are always there to offer their support. In addition to ad hoc phone calls and informal coffee meet ups with different folks, three of us actually have a monthly phone call where we share our successes, frustrations and any issues we may be facing.
As military spouses, we should really know better than to try to tackle the job search on our own. We don't even think about moving without reaching out to a sponsor or a more experienced spouse. Why would we think that our careers are any different?
Personally, I know enough to know that I don't know near enough! I love that I can tap into the knowledge base of my two friends and contribute my own knowledge to help them work out their issues. Our calls started as a way to share what we were all doing, but as our businesses started to grow, they have organically grown to a venue for us to connect one another to additional opportunities and contacts. Being in business for yourself can be incredibly isolating at times, so it's great to know that I have that support system out there. Try it out for yourself. My friends are actually not even located in the same area and one isn't even a military spouse, but that's the great thing about technology - your mastermind group doesn't have to be local. Put together a small group of trusted friends with a common goal and get that support system in place. |
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Mission Statement
