Info-entrepreneurs, represented by the Association of Independent Information Professionals, stand out as innovative, forward thinking, and client focused information professionals.  This series of posts delivers future ready solutions and strategies from current and past presidents of AIIP.  As industry thought leaders they have much to share about staying ahead of the curve and delivering cost effective solutions to clients worldwide.  In this insightful series of postings readers will learn how to create a job for life by listening for opportunity, watching for changes, stretching to acquire new skills, finding a balance, planning for the long term, and drawing on your strengths. — C.S.

by Cindy Shamel

My livelihood depends upon successfully engaging a target market willing to pay cash money for my products and services.  Today I have an established client base, but sustainability requires strategic and ongoing monitoring looking for gaps and opportunities.  To maintain or increase revenue, I systematically seek to balance my client base with the proper mix of products and services.  Sometimes this means identifying a new target market to serve with existing services.  Other times it means developing new products or services for an existing clientele.

How do you identify new target markets or services to offer?  Track, watch, lurk, and pay attention.  As Susanne Bjorner suggested in yesterday’s blog post, insight often “comes when observing an activity, industry, or practice far removed from the area we are working in.”  Here are a few of the resources I use to keep the ideas flowing.

Track the Trends – It Keeps You Ahead of the Game

Follow ReadWriteWeb for insight and analysis about the internet industry.  Launched in 2003, RWW has become “one of the most popular technology blogs in the world.”  Reading this blog regularly could help you manage client expectations, develop new products or services, and anticipate the “next big thing.”

MarketingProfs delivers a range of marketing resources including five articles each week written by experts from all across the marketing field.  The site offers case studies, how-to articles, guides and reports.  This site helps me stay on top of marketing trends and tools.

Watch for Weirdness – It Helps You Think Laterally

Boing Boing delivers a steady stream of pointers and stories about technology, gadgets, science, business, and at their own admission, weirdness.  Boing Boing offers up a world outside the information profession, helping to trigger new ideas.

Lifehacker offers “tips, tricks, and downloads for getting things done.”  You never know what kind of work related idea might spring from a Lifehacker tip or trick.   Keep an open mind. Recent postings included “Ask a dumb question to spark a conversation with a stranger” and “The best web browser for Android.”  Surely I need not elaborate on the value here.

Lurk on LinkedIn – It Facilitates Learning from Others

What are your LinkedIn connections saying?  Find out by going to your LinkedIn Home page.  One of my connections just posted something about 70,000 students flocking to a free online course in artificial intelligence.  Do I need to offer online training?  Are students a good target market?  Should I start paying attention to artificial intelligence?  Maybe.

Are there LinkedIn Groups with members who might shed light on my clients, products, or services? No doubt.  One of my “industries of interest” has a group with over 25,000 members.  Hmmm, better check the buzz and see what they’re saying.

Pay Attention to Your Peers – It Provides Food for Thought

Stephen’s Lighthouse by Stephen Abram provides stimulating and innovative thinking in matters related to the information industry.  As the tagline says, “Illuminating library industry trends, innovation and information.”  Stephen’s blog includes lots of graphics, embedded videos, news, polls, and no end of content to get you thinking.

Phil Bradley’s Weblog, coming out of the UK, presents information from another perspective.  Phil says his weblog is where librarians and the internet meet.  A recent posting included something about Easy Notecards, a free educational tool for students and teachers to create, study, print and share interactive note cards.  Hmmm, that gives me an idea.  Gotta run!

Cindy Shamel has operated a business providing information services since 1998.  She served the Association of Independent Information Professionals as president in 2003-2004 and the San Diego Chapter of SLA in 2009.  In 2006 AIIP awarded her the Sue Rugge Memorial Award for mentoring.

by Risa Sacks

“Future ready” for me has always been about discovering, learning and using the best tools for finding information wherever it lives, and connecting to the ‘information holders.’

Primary Research

I specialize in “Primary Research” – finding answers that don’t already appear online. My job ranges from interviewing experts to learn the information in their heads, to digging in archives for some obscure piece of paper. While the initial search is to find what answers are available online, the next level of online search focuses on new ‘sources’ for information and how to reach them.

Some examples of being ‘future ready’ over the past few years include finding information in the many new places it lives, using new tools to reach out to the experts identified, and communicating with them in the manner they most prefer.

Finding information where it lives

We all know that long gone are the days where all we had to consider were printed materials. To identify people who might fill in the blanks, expand information found online, clarify, add levels of richness and nuance, I now need to search the blogosphere, tweets, video and audio feeds, power point presentations, discussion boards and specialty groups to name a few of the places information now ‘lives.’ An Addictomatic search (www.Addictomatic.com) brings information from Twitter, Bing News, Google Blog Search, Truveo Video Search, YouTube, Flickr, Blinkx Mainstream Vid News; Wikio, Twingly Blog Search, Yahoo Web Search, Friendfeed and Ask.com News…you get the idea.

Posting a request on specialty groups within LinkedIn, Google, etc., and discussion lists in SLA, BusLib, Association of Independent Information Professionals (aiip.org) brings help and recommendations from targeted convocations of experts – whether it’s green tech or durable medical equipment sales. And all in very real time.

Seeing a YouTube video of a Chief Medical Officer helps me evaluate that he comes across as believable, caring, conscientious and competent – just what I’d want in recommending an expert witness. Providing the video link to the law firm clients also helps their selection process.

A LinkedIn search can find me telecommunications experts from Nepal to Namibia, or coal mining maintenance personnel within 25 miles of the zip code of a specific mine in Montana.

Reaching out to experts and sources

Once I’ve identified possible experts, new tools help reach out to them. Anything that provides a point of connection, as opposed to a completely cold contact, is useful.

Though I have a number of issues with LinkedIn and it’s far from perfect, I’ll use it for several examples. Recently posting requests to LinkedIn Groups for Durable Medical Equipment and Hospital Infection Control not only identified experts, but also provided entrees – “tell him I sent you”, “I’ve been in the field for 20 years – drop me a note if I can help” and “feel free to give me a call.”

With LinkedIn, if I link to 10 people and each of them has 50 connections, I have second level connections to 500 people, and if each of those have 50 connections, all of a sudden, my universe of third level connections is 25,000 strong. I can contact them using ‘inMail’ or just mentioning that we are LinkedIn connections seems to provide a level of legitimacy to my request.

Communicating

For ongoing and in-depth communications, we can Skype, text, video conference, and webX, as well as using the trusty traditional telephone. The world is totally mobile, so talking from airports or the beach is common. With my ‘smart device’ I can snap and send a picture or video of the shack that’s the supposed ‘branch office’ of the potential merger partner, or show clients close ups of documents that I find on a distant site. 

One World……Many stories…Future Ready

While I don’t know what the future will bring, I know it will include new tools to help identify relevant people, new ways to contact them and new methods for starting and continuing meaningful communication with them. 

In today’s world, information is constantly expanding – at the same time we are more connected than ever. A fruit seller in Tunisia can spark a revolution across a region. A doctor at the Mayo clinic may help diagnose a child in a remote African region. Every day we see increased evidence of the global interconnectedness of economies and lives. Including a variety of people and viewpoints is critical for us to provide more complete answers. So as information professionals, ‘future ready’ will help us continue to increase our ‘range’ and ‘grasp’ as we keep on reaching out.

Risa Sacks is a freelance researcher who provides primary research services to companies, research departments and other researchers. She can be reached at risa@risasacks.com, or, of course, by phone at 508 852-8686.

by Nora K. Stoecker, Rio Grande Chapter

Future Ready Toolkit

This post is from SLA’s new Future Ready Toolkit. The Toolkit was constructed by SLA members who have drawn upon substantial professional experience and alignment research to help you hone your skills in a way that is relevant and global. The toolkit is collaboration, alignment, adaptation, and community put into action.

To quote Kim Dority in Rethinking Information Work: a Career Guide for Librarians and Other Information Professionals (2006), finding a job is a matter of persistent effort, lots of research, and ongoing colleague connections.

Social media or other emerging technologies, used in partnership with traditional job search methods, will play a strong role in your job search by providing opportunities to grow and strengthen your network, enhance your professional visibility, and supplement your research efforts.   In addition you’ll be putting yourself in the same space as recruiters and potential hiring managers.

Let’s explore how.

5 ways to use social media in your job search.doc

Nora K. Stoecker, MLIS.  Senior Information Researcher/Analyst.  Nora is a 32-plus year veteran of the world of work, with an early 14 years in human resources and a recent 18 years as an information professional both as an employee and a freelancer.  She is a long-time active member of SLA.  You’re welcome to contact Nora at n.stoecker@nksinfoservices.com.