Consulting Update

First I'd like to say I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. I guess I've been pretty busy. I promise to try to post more often! Here's an update in my consulting world.

1. Conference success - For my first client, I'd been working on a conference that took place in July, so that kept me pretty busy for most of the summer. Thankfully the conference went well and there was a lot of positive feedback, so client #1 signed back up for a full year of consulting for their 2015 conference.

2. New staff - The first client also hired someone who could possibly change the amount of work that I do for them outside of that conference. He is still new and the jury is out on how things will go, but again it looks like they will keep me on for the foreseeable future.

3. New client - Just after the July conference, I signed on to do some work on a temporary basis with a new client as a subcontractor, to see how things would go. So far so good, and it looks like he wants me to continue to work with him. See #7 for more details on this.

4. Short beach trip in August - Each year I go to Ocean City for a long weekend. It was good to get away, but not enough time. See #6 below for more details on that.

5. Finding balance - It seems like just 2 clients wouldn't be that much work, but I'm working on basically 2 big projects for each so I feel like I am sort of maxed out right now time-wise. It's been a little stressful and challenging trying to balance the work and deadlines of all these projects and keep everyone happy. I guess this is the work of the consultant. Hence, I had to . . .

6. Cancel my vacay - Due to impending deadlines for both clients, I cancelled a much-needed vacation to Puerto Rico at the end of September. The timing just didn't work. I lost a friend in the process as she was very upset that I didn't go, though it was for a work trip that she had to take anyway, so I don't know why she was such a bitch about it. But I have to make a living, and being self employed sometimes means making tough decisions about personal time.

7. Unexpected trip - Client #2 had a family emergency the week that he had 2 back-to-back conferences that were very important. He asked me to step in and go in his place, and schedule-wise it worked out so I was able to pitch in. He was very grateful, perhaps cementing new opportunities with him. I am not usually able to be that spontaneous, so I was glad it worked out and the trip was very successful. As a consultant, it looks good that I am a reliable back up and can step in with little preparation time and do a good job.

8. Other freelance gigs - In my copious free time (ha ha), I have helped a neighborhood association create an online survey, cat sit for a friend, and helped another friend launch a Kickstarter campaign for her music. We are now working on a PR campaign to promote the Kickstarter project.

9. I've been working on my business name, logo, website, etc. but it's slow because of working on the actual work. This is a frequent complaint of small business owners! I will get there soon, which is good, because you always need to be prepared and market yourself in order to stay in business.