Web Worker Daily

In college, and grad school, I mostly hung with a crowd in which everybody shared the same interests, hobbies and field of study. I know that a lot of college faculties are beginning to move towards a more interdisciplinary approach, because it more accurately reflects what students can expect their post-school life to be like. College professors tend to be somewhat protective of their disciplines, however, so progress is moving faster in some areas and at some schools than others. The result is that a lot of people in the workforce have a pretty narrow view of what the word “colleague” means. It’s important to broaden that definition and cultivate relationships with people in other fields. Here’s why.

Who Do You Consider a Colleague?

Especially for freelance web workers, defining a “colleague” can be a complicated matter. Is your stakeholder a colleague? How about the project sponsor for the contract you’re working on? More likely, you consider people doing similar work in similar fields to you colleagues, over and above people that you work with directly, who are responsible for entirely different aspects of a given project. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re a web worker, then you know the importance of constantly examining, reassessing and adding to your existing skill set. A successful online entrepreneur is almost always a extremely adaptable and eager to learn. As 2009 dawns, complete with continued economic unrest, this will be equally, if not more, true.

Targeting your professional development, however, in a preemptive rather than reactive way, is not always easy. Usually freelancers and consultants just roll with the punches and learn what they have to depending on client requirements. A little forethought, though, can go a long way to making you the applicant of choice before any contracts are awarded.

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A lot of us who make our money working from home or telecommuting have our fingers in a number of different pots, so to speak. In fact, very few of the remotely employed depend on a single stream of income or project. The trouble is finding enough components to make up a financially and personally rewarding whole.

When I think about projects, I always separate them into two categories: revenue generating and non-revenue generating. A non-revenue generating project is almost always going to be a professional development activity, although revenue generating activities can be classified as professional development as well.

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