Skip to main content

1099 solo representation

 If you work solo, you have a lot more control over the types of clients you work for and the types of projects you want to work on. Of course, this depends on the availability of work. If it's not readily available you may need to accept what the market bears.

If you already have knowledge of one or more industries, this would be a good place to scout out opportunities. Let's say you used to work for a food cart. You were a cashier and then a cook and got to know a lot about your customers. Based on this you did some marketing as well and introduced new choices for the menu. 

You could take this idea and produce instructional content for this industry. You'd need to market it to the food cart owners as well as individuals wanting to enter into this opportunity. Social media would be a great asset in this case.

Is the idea of striking out on your own to set up shop as an instructional designer something you've ever imagined? What do you think are additional considerations?



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Smartsheet: an alternative to Microsoft Project

For years Microsoft Project dominated the market for project management software. It has a steep learning curve and is an expensive per seat cost. I was a technical writer for a small software company that used MS Project for the three project managers and myself. While I enjoyed learning about the science of project management from them in our meetings, I discovered that using the software was not that intuitive. I plugged in the tasks and timelines for several projects only to discover how challenging it was to have to refactor dates. It seemed to mess up the entire project such that I just stopped using it. It was more time consuming setting it up and refactoring it than just inputting status to show our progress. It looks like a better option is SmartSheet which is used by many major companies. You can sign up for a free trial to get familiar with it. The more you can learn about tools to manage instructional design projects, the more likely you are to be considered for the team. T...

Apps for Instructional Designers in Higher Ed

  As an Instructional Designer in Higher Education your tasks will range along the ADDIE model: Source: https://hortmonvera.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/addie-instructional-model/ A peer in my graduate ISLT program also works for the University. Her tasks in instructional design are determined by the department she works for. This is her second assignment as an instructional design assistant. Some of her tasks include testing links to multimedia content, checking library references, and proofreading and editing content. She graduated from the program recently and was promoted to Instructional Designer 2. In this role she uses apps like PowerPoint to create the videos and recordings that accompany these. She also uses Camtasia by Tech Smith to make similar content. However, this tool takes some skill to use, which impacts the Design and Development stages. Are you working in Higher Education or planning to as an Instructional Designer? Which apps are you currently using and which o...

The U.S. Distance Learning Association

 The USDLA is the oldest organization for distance learning   https://usdla.org/   They conduct research and have weekly podcasts as well as local/state chapters. Are any of you members or planning on becoming a member? Higher Education is one of the specialties I'm considering, so I want to check out this organization. However, this organization is not limited to just Higher Education -- their members include corporations, healthcare, and government. This past week they held their annual conference. They also offer a certification for universities to demonstrate their adherence to the 91 standards of the organization. Maybe this is something you would propose to a future university team to consider. Here's their monthly podcast about the future of distance learning: https://inkandescentradio.com/series/distance-learning-roundtable/