In Chris Voss' book about negotiation, Never Split the Difference, he writes about a technique to help get people to respond to e-mails. -- "There’s nothing more irritating than being ignored. Being turned down is bad, but getting no response at all is the pits. It makes you feel invisible, as if you don’t exist. And it’s a waste of your time. We’ve all been through it: You send an email to someone you’re trying to do business with and they ignore you. Then you send a polite follow-up and they stonewall you again. So what do you do? You provoke a “No” with this one-sentence email. Have you given up on this project? The point is that this one-sentence email encapsulates the best of “No”-oriented questions and plays on your counterpart’s natural human aversion to loss. The “No” answer the email demands offers the other party the feeling of safety and the illusion of control while encouraging them to define their position and explain it to you." -Chris Voss, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It -- I've used this technique and variations on the technique to move things along on 1099 stuff. If you're trying to get a hold of a prime PM who keeps bowing you off, fire off an e-mail that says "It sounds like you don't want to move forward, is that wrong" or "It's looking like this is going to be impossible, is that incorrect?" While it doesn't work every time, it has a higher than expected success rate. And if the person doesn't respond to THAT e-mail, you just move on. Try it out the next time you are stuck and trying to move things forward. You'd be surprised how often it gets you unstuck. If you're interested in learning how to get your first solo 1099 federal sub-contract, check out my book: |
Going 1099 is a book that teaches you how to become a solo federal sub-contractor and gain control of your working life, earn more money and unlock more free time. I wrote it because quite a few people have asked me how they can become a 1099. I figured it was best to write a single book that I can send them and that I can share with others who are interested. This newsletter goes out Monday - Friday and covers topics that will help you succeed in starting and maintaining successful 1099 career.
This is a 1099 who maximizes billable hoursSource I'm currently in Portland, OR for a little over two weeks. Taking long vacations is one of those great perks about going 1099. But people who go 1099 can get a little antsy about planning vacations, because every hour they're on vacation is an hour they're not billing. You are "losing money" As a 1099 in the government space, you have the benefit of getting longer term, stable contracts while also having flexibility in terms of how much...
Me aging out of analytics skills I never cared all that much about analytics. I just happened to stumble on it and had a moderate interest in automating tedious stuff in Excel. Turns out this was valuable to my company and government clients, so I was able to use these skills to become a 1099. But because I am not super interested, I don't care to keep improving my skills beyond necessity. The problem is, there are people (many of whom are younger) who are SUPER interested in this stuff! They...
I had to leave Dunder Mifflin and go 1099Source I recently joined the board of my daughter's Co-Op pre-school as the treasurer. I attended my first informal board meeting as the member and gave a short update about finances. Then, I listened to the other members' updates and the various complaints they had and I was...so bored! The feeling was familiar to me. It was the same feeling I've had at most work meetings I've participated in, particularly as a W2 employee. The company wants me to...