Going Solo

Finally! My open stage video from LIFT08 is online, which isn’t too bad given the slight hiccups surrounding the open stage videos, isn’t too bad.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8270350768335569204]

Here is a copy of my preparation notes, including a short bit I missed out. (The video is on Facebook too.)

If you haven’t done it yet, you should also check out the two interviews I gave about Going Solo during the conference.

Update, 21.02.08: the open stage speech video is online!

Unfortunately, we have no idea when my open stage speech video will be available. I guess this shows you why it’s always better to attend events rather than rely on technology to give you second-hand access to them. For those of you who didn’t attend my speech (because they weren’t at LIFT, or because they arrived too late on Thursday, well… I can only say I hope the recording is not lost and will surface at some point. (Let’s say “it’s complicated”.)

I was interviewed at least four times after my speech, and I’d like to point you to two videos which are online — and are, in my opinion, pretty good 🙂

First, my friend Robert Scoble caught me off-guard on Qik:

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.477534&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Then, Nicolas Charbonnier did a really nice interview of me with his HD camera. I can’t embed it here, but you should head over to techvideoblog.com and watch it there. (Maybe I’ll stick it on YouTube or something later on.) Third time lucky — thanks for insisting, Nicolas: I said “yes, later, not now” the first two times he approached me. I’m glad we did it!

Watch my interview by Nicolas Charbonnier about Going Solo:

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ud4b1RQYPtE]

In other news, registration is working (yes! people are actually signing up!) — be sure to pass the word around so that your friends don’t miss the Earlier Bird discount (only until this week-end).

Here’s a little status update — because although a lot is happening and things are making good progress, it’s mainly progress. So it looks like nothing is happening (from my point of view), but in fact, we’re getting close to some really exciting stuff.

• Registration: I’m working on setting up the registration site right now (it’s a tad more complicated than I expected), but it shouldn’t be very long. If you want me to inform you directly when registration is open, just leave a comment.
• Design: we have pretty badges and a logo now, and the design of this site will shortly be adapted to the new visual identity. Dealing with the whole design issue was em way more complicated and painful than I anticipated (there’s stuff to blog about there, later maybe).
• LIFT08: as I mentioned my open stage speech at LIFT08 was received very positively. Many people came to ask me if it was still possible to register (yes it is, once registration opens!) and I’ve had promising discussions with a bunch of interesting (possible) partners. A little overwhelming but very exciting.
• Pricing: pricing was a headache, like many other things. I want to write a more detailed blog post about this, but basically, you can say events fall into 3-4 categories, as far as pricing is concerned. (1) free (most barcamps and unconferences) or (1b) a small cover fee ($20-$50), then (2) “affordable”, meaning “not cheap, but which can be afforded”, and (3) high price events with fees around/above 1000€ or more (TED is $5000). Going Solo is in category (2), meaning some may find the price expensive, but I’ve done what I could to ensure it was an amount that can be paid by freelancers.
• Audience: there’s been some confusion about who this event is for, and I want to blog about it in more detail. In the meantime: it’s open to everybody (we’re not refusing anyone) but the content is geared towards freelancers or very small businesses somewhere in the internet/tech industry. I personally think that any freelancer or small business will find it invaluable.
• Programme: in addition to Stowe Boyd, Suw Charman, and Martin Roell, we now have a fourth confirmed speaker. Laura Fitton will be in Lausanne on May 16th to speak about how taking care of your online presence will help people find you. (I’ll find a better way to phrase that later.) I have roughly half my speakers, so now is time to go back to the programme drawing board, sort out who is going to talk about what, and look for people to talk about the specific topics that are still uncovered.
• Partners: I don’t yet have the fancy PDF to hand out to prospective partners, but it’s near the top of my priority list (up there with all the rest, hehe). As I said, things look good on the partner/sponsor front, particularly after LIFT08. Possible media sponsor found, looking for others. “Packages” (I don’t like that name) for Gold, Silver (etc.) partners have been defined, so don’t hesitate to contact me about it. As soon as the presentation PDF is ready I’ll create a special “Partners” page.
• Video: from what I understood, there was some miscommunication between LIFT08 and Nouvo, who filmed the talks, and the open stage talks have not yet been edited and put online. It will happen (the tapes are safe) but I don’t know when. In the meantime, you should read my speech notes and watch the interview I gave Robert Scoble.

Now, I’ll go back to fiddling with CSS and setting up the registration site 😉

Thanks for your positive reactions to my open stage speech at the LIFT08 conference. It’s really encouraging! If you’re at LIFT08, come and say hi and pick up a Going Solo moo card. I bought three boxes of them, so there should be plenty for you.

If you missed my speech, you’ll be able to see it online once the video is up (or so I understood), or you can read my preparation notes on CTTS.

I wanted to open registration for LIFT08, but decided it was better timing to do it just after. See stay on the lookout this week-end or early next week! There will be a special discount for LIFT participants.

The LIFT conference is taking place in Geneva in a couple of weeks. Attendees are allowed to submit speech/workshop/discussion proposals. This is my proposal for an “Open Stage” — a 3-5 minute speech. It explains quite a bit of the spirit behind Going Solo, so I’m reproducing it here.

I thought becoming a freelancer would be rather easy: 18 months ago, when I quit my day job, the phone was almost ringing off the hook — and it seemed just magical that people were willing to pay me to do stuff that was so much fun.

That is, until I realised that I had to start thinking seriously about how much I was charging. Was it enough? Was it too much? How could I tell? Some people told me I was horrendously expensive, while others accepted my quotes so quickly I thought I should have asked double. I didn’t really know where to start.

Luckily, I had a few friends in the business. I mentioned my “how much do I charge?” problem — a bit timidly at first, but then with more assurance when I realised that they, too, were facing similar issues (or at least, had faced them at some point). “No, you’re not too expensive — you can charge at least this much!” “Look, here is how you figure out your daily rate…”

It didn’t make things easy as pie, but at least I wasn’t alone facing those issues (and the following ones) and I could benefit from others’ wisdom. That’s what communities are about, isn’t it? Soloists work alone, but actually need each other to collaborate on common projects projects or simply to share experiences and offer one another support.

There is a lot more to freelancing than doing the stuff we’re good at and passionate about. And there is a lot to say about this “business-y” stuff. It first really hit me when I was asked to go and give a talk about being a blogging consultant in Serbia a few months ago. People actually thought my story was interesting and inspiring!

So, when I started thinking about organizing events, I decided that the first one had to be for freelancers: Going Solo. The idea is to find the soloists with the best experience to share, and have them speak about it.

How do you fix rates? How do you close deals? Find new clients or help them find you? Deal with taxes? Find a balance between work and the rest of life? Adapt to the different kinds of clients you have? (I’ll share a tip or two I’ve learnt when I give my speech.)

I think these are questions all freelancers bump into at some point, and I want to offer people working solo or in very small companies the opportunity to firewall a day “off” to think about these issues and educate themselves about them in the company of those who have been “there” before.

If you’re coming to LIFT (and you should!) remember to keep an eye open for my Open Stage, and come and talk to me! I’m going to order Going Solo moo cards… very soon.