Rachel Levy: Social Media & Marketing

Note: This is a version of a post I made on the Wall Street Journal online blog on April 8, 2009.

I have been doing some consulting work while looking for a job. Doing this has several benefits. The most obvious one is that it helps with my mortgage payments and other expenses during this recession. Unfortunately, the economy is continuing to decline and is not expected to recover for another few months (WSJ, 4/2/09). The second benefit is that it keeps me current in marketing and social media, as I talked about in my latest WSJ post. It also helps fill a gap in my resume. So, rather than showing that I have been out of full-time work since July, I show that I have been doing some consulting. And, finally, it allows me to fill a need for companies, who are oftentimes understaffed after layoffs. And, of course, these connections could ultimately find me my next job!

One of the things I like about consulting is that it is flexible, so I can usually do the work when and where I want… even at 3am if I so choose! I can intersperse it with looking for a job to break up the monotony of my day. But, the flexibility is also it’s downside. The job search is my priority; it’s hard to balance that with trying to follow up on leads and do work that can make me some money in the short-term.

One of the other challenges I face is making consulting financially worthwhile. While you are collecting weekly unemployment benefits, you can’t also receive payment for work in that week. So, taking on a consulting project must be financially worthwhile in order to give up my unemployment check. This is especially tough to reconcile when you also factor in that the hours I’d be consulting are hours spent away from my job search. I was also lucky in that I did a lot of consulting work when I was still under my severance agreement and not collecting unemployment. Or, when I have worked very hard on a consulting project for a couple of weeks, and taken a few weeks off from collecting unemployment. This allows me to stretch my eligibility for benefits, in a recession where no crystal ball can assure you of when you can obtain a full time job.

At this point, I have many more leads than closed business, but I think I’m on the brink of getting a few more clients. I have been finding leads in a variety of ways: networking, Twitter, Facebook, my website, LinkedIn, CraigsList and even a few full time positions turned consulting. Networking is a broad and vital area for me, and includes attending networking events, talking about what I’m working on with people I know, and occasionally sending out mass emails to people in my address book. I have learned that I never can anticipate where a lead might come from. One of the clients that I’m closest to closing, came from someone I hadn’t talked to in a couple of years, who moved to Chicago, and thought of me for a friend’s business when she received my email. Twitter has also been a great source of leads as, inherently on Twitter, people are getting to know me, the information I provide, what I’m thinking about, and the way I think. I have had a few people approach me for marketing and social media consulting, just by seeing me on Twitter.

I have also done a few projects pro bono. While doing pro bono work obviously doesn’t bring in money, it does help keep me current and fill a gap in my resume, as I mentioned earlier. Recently, I taught a class at TDC on “Social Media for non-profits.” Writing this blog is also unpaid, but helps keep me active, and thinking. I am also the founder of a project called BostonTweetUp, where we promote Boston area Twitter events by using weekly videos, a calendar and a Twitter account. So far we are not making any money doing this, but it raises my visibility in the community, shows my social media skills, and is something new to talk about in an interview.

So, overall, taking on consulting work while I’ve been out of work has been great to keep me current, make new connections, have something to talk about in an interview, and hopefully make some money while doing it!

What do you think?  Do you have any ideas to find consulting work?