Restarting Your Business in a New CityUsing Your STC Contacts to Gather Information
I started my independent technical writing business in 1993 in St. Louis. I immediately joined STC, became an active member, and later was elected an officer. My contacts through STC helped me get my business going, so I figured STC contacts would help during my move.
Long before we definitely decided to move (remember, we were moving because we wanted to), I called and sent e–mail to several key people in the Rocky Mountain Chapter (Denver area), including the job referral manager, the CIC SIG (Contracting and Independent Consulting Special Interest Group) manager, and a couple of Denver area independents. I asked each of these contacts a few key questions:
- What is the market like for independents?
- Are companies willing to work with technical communicators on a 1099 basis and primaril offsite?
- What are the rates like? (Beware, this is always a sensitive topic; I asked for ranges.)
- How do you find your projects?
- Who else should I talk to now to gather information?
- May I e–mail you later with additional questions?
Think about what is important to you and ask about those topics. Also, use contacts from any other organizations you belong to. Many organizations have local chapters you can contact.
Rocky Mountain Chapter members told me very positive things in response to each of my questions. Everyone I spoke to was willing to talk to me and willing to correspond via e-mail if I had more questions. Someone told me about another local writer's organization and that gave me another networking opportunity.
I also contacted the Rocky Mountain Chapter membership manager to get on their mailing list. For chapters that get all labels for mailings from the Society office in Arlington, this may not work, but some chapters maintain their own membership database. The membership person told me about upcoming meetings and the chapter web site. She also sent me the last chapter newsletter.
Now I was armed with the contacts and information I needed, but I had a lot more work to do.