For quite a few years I’ve had this back-pocket plan of someday leaving the corporate world for the freedom of being an independent marketing communications (commonly called marcom) consultant. I want to be able to stick my tongue out at the notion of “over the hill” by enjoying this great big beautiful world with my lovely wife Holly and bouncing not-so-baby boys Bryce and Gavin. That might mean going on month-long trips every summer and it might mean making it to every single one of their volleyball matches and judo tournaments, I don’t know yet. I just know that to live that life I’ll need two things: 1) Money. 2) The flexibility to earn that money working on my own terms…where and when I want to work.
I like to think I’m pretty good at marcom (actually I think I’m really good…humility is not one of my gifts, sorry) and I actually enjoy it. As such I know I’ll eventually be able to earn a good living on my own terms while doing something I like very much, i.e. helping people and companies better communicate and interact with their markets and customers. In particular, I think marcom consulting is right up my alley because of my versatility. I am confident writing anything from ad copy to whitepapers, designing everything from logos to full on web sites, and building some pretty sophisticated web sites.
To be clear, this is NOT what I’m doing at this time.
I’m extremely happy in my position at Solace Systems. I get to work on fun projects for a fantastic manager as part of a great team, and I feel like I’m adding real value to a marketing and sales engine that is bringing to market some of the most compelling technology I’ve been around. This is Phase I of GBarr the MarCom Guy: moonlighting. My goal is to replace middle-of-the-night hours spent in front of the TV or playing video games with productive and satisfying marcom work. Doing so will help me build out my portfolio and skillset while establishing relationships with clients and fellow consultants. And, yes, bring in a few extra dollars during these tough times.
It should be an interesting ride, please keep me in mind if you need, or hear about somebody who needs, high-quality marcom work (brochure, logo, business card, web site, whatever) at a great rate.