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.
Think in conversion rates
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I support a People Analytics team, and one of the metrics the team looks at is the hiring conversion rate. You can calculate this a few different ways, but one way is to count the total number of candidates who accepted your job offer, divided by the total number of applicants. If there were 100 applicants and 10 accepted a job offer, the hiring conversion rate is 10%. [Note: Realistically, the denominator would be the number of offers you made, but I digress.] This allows the organization to estimate how many applicants they need to get the number of new hires they need. If the conversion rate is 10% and they need 100 new hires, they need at least 100/10% = 1,000 applicants. When pursuing 1099 opportunities, you should think the same way. If you think you'll have a ten percent conversion rate, you need 10 "leads." Leads can be a job or job offers, warm contacts, or cold contacts Your ten leads may look like this:
Out of those 10 leads, maybe 1 turns into a 1099 gig, for a 10% conversion rate. This may seem obvious, but it's easy to get discouraged if you put all your hopes into a single lead. If you think in terms of pipeline and conversion rate, you get more desensitized to things not working out and can focus on just getting more leads. Remember, to get to one 1099 gig, you start with ten. If you're interested in learning how to get your first solo 1099 federal sub-contract, check out my book: |
I'm Dale, the author of Going 1099
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.
Rocky was a 1099 If you're a decently skilled employee in the government contracting world, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to go 1099. The main differentiator I've seen between people who claim they want to go 1099 and the people that actually do it, are that the people who pull it off are just a little more aggressive (assuming they are equally skilled, in desirable fields, etc.). The successful ones "pester" their network a bit more, negotiate a bit harder, and push to go 1099 for...
Offering half a muffin can often be helpfulvia X When you're trying to go 1099, you're largely focused on what you want. Imagining getting what you want is highly energizing and motivating, so it's easy to focus our energies there. But it's important to focus on what you can do to help others. For example, when you network with people, see if there are ways you can assist them. Maybe they have a friend looking for a job in your field, and you can meet them for coffee and make an introduction...
Treat Yo Self ... to non-billable funvia Reddit One of the fun parts about going 1099 is find opportunities to increase your billable rate. My own billable rate progress sent from something like $85 -> $100 -> $110 -> $115 -> $160 ->$180 per hour over an eight year period. Those early rate increases made a big differences. Actually all of them made a big financial difference. But the thrill of bumping up your rate wears off quickly, and then you're left with figuring out how to make your work...