Appearing to Exist (LtB 3)

“This guy with a free zoom account and a gmail address says he can fix our problem. Let’s write him a five-figure check to find out!”. Starting out with KEI, I want to make it easy for people to feel comfortable–excited even–to work with me. The pitch above… isn’t that. With 20 years of work in the field and zero years of track record as a business, how do I make KEI look like the good investment it is?

I love (LOVE) when a natural moment appears to drop some bit of early sociology into the conversation. The bit I’ve tossed out most over the years is WI Thomas’ “If men define situations as real, then they are real in their consequences.” You can see how this comes up a lot…especially these days. With a very specific consequence in mind (agreeing to work with me), I set out to help people join me in defining KEI as real.

NOTE: it might sound like this is all mimicry/signaling/play-acting. It is only kind of those things. As always,  the signals of legitimacy in a field are socially constructed and sometimes also functionally important.

I thought back to the many times I was on the other side of the table. What were the things that helped me make the case for a consultant/sub-contractor/partner?

Here’s what I did (and didn’t) do. 

Corporate online presence

Immediately after I started talking to folks about consulting gigs they asked if I had a website. I had a space for one thanks to my naming process. I’ve been around enough web launches to be certain that no one is ever going to enter some search string into google dot org, find me, then reach out to start a project. There isn’t enough SEO in the world. What I wanted was a second step people I’d already met and talked to could take…just a place to send them (and for them to send their friends and colleagues. I played around in square space and google sites. I took a look at the shopifys of the world that build for ecommerce (not likely!). I went with Wix in the end. It presented the shortest road from blank screen to decent looking, functional site. I could turn off nonsense I didn’t care about. I can add most conceivable things if I ever need them. I like that it integrates an old-school blog content management system for stuff like this. It adds carrying costs and means I don’t have to navigate hosting or very much code.

Custom email domain

Having a domain meant it was easy to add on email from that domain. I had already been surprised by how many things don’t work with a general consumer email address (I’ll save that for the tech post). I also think that it adds an extra layer of polish to have email/website/persona align. I used a google back-end to set up email/office suite/cloud storage/calendar/9 other things I don’t use. There is carrying cost and lock-in with it, but set-up was dead simple and it works fine. I will say that right now about 60% of my KEI work happens on my personal gmail. And that is ok–no wrong doors.

Phone number with a good area code

I got my first cell phone in 2002 when we moved to North Carolina. That has been my number since. For a long while I had a google voice number with a 202 area code (DC). I let it go when they started charging a monthly fee for them. In-bound calls are so rare in this day and age where I haven’t (yet) seen a downside to just having one phone and one number for life and for work. My (already huge) volume of call and text spam hasn’t changed appreciably since I put up the website with my phone number.

Physical space

I thought really hard about getting (minimal to mail drop) office space. Shingle to hang out. Nameplate on the door. I decided not to. The main reason is that I love working remotely and opting into some place I’d have to pay for–and worse have to occasionally go to–felt like a huge own goal. An office makes sense if there is a team with integrated tasks that is all there, working in physical space. Nothing felt like a bigger waste of resources than commuting to downtown DC everyday to call people who’d commuted to downtown Manhattan. 

I also considered having a dedicated mailing address (without the office space). I looked into maildrops and PO Boxes. Neither seemed worth it for the minimal amount of non-junk mail I expect to receive. And it’d be another place to visit periodically.

Testimonials

I’ve had some fun pull-quotes from colleagues, clients, and partners over the years (getting called the “Statistical Muscle the project needed” might still be my favorite. The website template that I used had a place to layer them in. I didn’t take that option, though I know them to be effective. Partially I didn’t want to reach out to someone on day zero and put them on the spot to recommend a barely extant service. Partially, I feel weird about giving KEI credit for work that I did on behalf of former employers with the help and support of brilliant colleagues. I’ll probably add them once I have KEI projects completed.

Bank account

Like with testimonials, recognition from and interaction with respected institutions can bolster legitimacy. It is a strong signal that the entity managed to clear formal regulatory hurdles in a highly regulated industry. I went with a credit union I did not already have a banking relationship with. Fun misadventure–while working through the credit union’s Know-Your-Customer obligations we discovered together and in real time that my middle name was misspelled on my Virginia Driver’s License and had been for all four years I had it. I like the extra friction between personal and KEI funds and the records that transfers throw off. Added bonus-the debit cards look different so I don’t accidentally pull the wrong one. I don’t have the whole thing tuned up super well yet so I do have pretty big lags between when someone pays KEI and when I have the proceeds of my “owner’s draw” available to spend. I think I could shorten down to a business day or two, but right now it is upwards of a week of business days. 

Insurance

I don’t know any researcher who has ever used their insurance (very open to the story, def know plenty of other professions with…robust…insurance use) but it felt good from a practical and signaling perspective. I ended up buying General and Professional liability policies. It is good to have a safety net. It is good to be able to offer them proactively in contract negotiation. I found it funny that several insurers had a selling point of getting you documentation in very short time horizons…lots of folks scrambling, apparently, to get right with contract terms. There were a bunch of coverages they wanted me to consider that didn’t feel necessary.

Setting the rate

Price, for better or worse, signals quality. The rate my former employers billed for my time…I couldn’t. And I shouldn’t, when you hire me, you just get me. I don’t come with all of the extras that make a place like MDRC worth it.  I will write more another time on how I came to the exact numbers of my price sheet. Suffice it to say it is a fair wage that reflects my work, the cheapest I’ve been to work with in a long time, and I hope provides good value for my clients.