Being an internet professional can be tough, especially when is becoming such a large industry due in part to recent technological advances. Competition among other internet professionals is real, so you need to set yourself apart from the crowd in order to get the jobs you deserve. We need to learn how to better market ourselves and use our skills and hobbies to an advantage.
Creating an internet presence can be a daunting task, so this week we spoke to www.NMIPA.org user, Paul Reid. Paul is a writer and telescope enthusiast, who has told us he used to take any freelance writing gig under the sun as long as it paid. Now, after his recent stroke of genius (more on this below), he is only being offered high paying positions in his niche area, astronomy. Paul said he tends to enjoy taking writing gigs that are in the field of astronomy because he already feels as though he is a passionate expert on the topic, so he can infuse a lot of creativity into the writing and go above the call of duty. We asked him to explain how he stood out from other freelancers.
We met Paul over a short coffee break. He is currently in the midst of revamping the websites of the 39 New Mexico , so you can assume he’s a pretty busy guy. Paul stated that once weekly he takes his kids out to show them the constellations with his telescope and it has become a bit of a tradition. During a particularly slow time for him when he couldn’t seem to land any gigs, he asked himself how he could get more involved in writing for his hobby.
Paul sent out an email blast to local astronomy retailers, schools, , museums and any companies in the area that were invested in astronomy and telescopes to invite them to a free catered stargazing event for kids on behalf of his freelance company, Paul Reid Writes. He wrote up an itinerary, booked a caterer and crossed his fingers that someone would RSVP. He figured that he had been a semi-professional guide for his family for years, so why not try it out on the general public?
Paul stated he had some interest, but not as much as he had hoped. A week before the event was due to set place, Paul reached out to a local telescope shop owner and asked him to partner with him. The telescope shop owner, William Burns, helped Paul by shouting out the event on his own website in exchange for some free freelance work. William apparently is a beloved figure in the telescope world and his stamp of approval per se got the community excited.
A group of 17 children (plus their parents) attended Paul’s stargazing event, which was quite an achievement in Paul’s eyes because he was expecting nothing. He had an assortments of available for observing so that no one really had to wait in line. Luckily for Paul, he did an excellent job at hosting a stargazing night and everyone left with samples of his work. He stated that the very next day he had gotten a call to shake up the astronomy content of a couple museums out in California. Following that, he received word that the was interested in him writing content for all the state funded planetariums.
Paul urges all of you reading this right now to be bold and be different. At first, he thought he was going to make a fool out of himself, but figured he had nothing to lose. Fortunately, his night was a success. What can you do to make yourself stand out in the internet crowd? Is there something you could do to possibly take your business offline?
