If you have ever done any contract work or had to actually work with customer requests you will probably get a good laugh out of Clientcopia. I recommend the top 20 list.

It’s one thing when a client is just not knowledgeable about what you are doing for them, I mean that is why they are paying you, but when people get pissy they need to be let go quickly.

Example:

Me: “What’s your email, sir?” Tom Smith: “Tom Smith… t-o-m-s-m-i-t-” Me: “Tom Smith, got it..” TS: “And it’s all together, ok? No spaces. And don’t use any capitals, do you hear me? All in lower case!” Me: “Yes, tomsmith in all lower case. Got it. And your email provider, sir?” TS: “Huh?” Me: “The part after the @ sign.” TS: “What sign?” Me: “Sorry, I mean what does it say after your name?” TS: “Well, it’s this… a inside a bubble…” Me: “Yes, that’s right, the @ sign, and after that?” TS: “It says hotmail… not m-a-l-e, not like a hot man.. h-o-t-m-a-i-l.” Me: “Got it, mail as in e-mail.” TS: “Not e-mail, hotmail! You’re not using capitals on that, are you?”

On LinkedIn Answers there was a question looking for an alternative word to use for Consultant. I too have wondered this, because I can see how the word “Consultant” can spell out Unemployed and it is just an easy way out of the conversation. When I was working in the mortgage industry I was a loan officer, loan consultant, senior loan officer, etc, but never just a consultant. I am now, by the nature of my work, a consultant even though in a lot of ways I do the same as in California, just a different industry.

When I saw the question I thought back to this weekend, someone asked me what I was doing now and I said I was working as a consultant after I moved back from California. People asked where in California, but not what I was consulting on. I think I might go with “Technology Consultant” as my title, it brings a little more shape to the word consultant and then they are more likely to ask what type of technology. Here is a good quote from LinkedIn.

I understand exactly what you’re saying. People in the technical and production domains seem to be the most likely to have the negative connotations of the word ‘consultant’ jump into their mind whenever they hear the word. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any other word that could replace this term, though there is a crying need for terminology that could differentiate between the different types of consultants.

Consultants do perform a very essential function. I’ll try to explain this through an example: To learn a form of exercise - in ascending order of how much money you would spend - we could read a book, watch a video, go to the neighborhood gym, or hire a personal trainer. The personal trainer, being the most expensive, would also be the most effective.

In my opinion, hiring a consultant is the equivalent of hiring a personal trainer, as only this option - provided you’ve selected the right consultant - can provide a solution perfectly tailored to your needs!

- Vikas Dhawan

I agree with that. When I was in the gym everyday I did a lot of research to get a good program for myself, but with all the information out there it can be difficult. I did a decent job and there was benefit in what I learned for the future, but my most effective choice would have been to hire someone that has spent years studying and following what is going on in their field.

The same applies for what I do, sure you can learn how to do everything I know how to do, but I have spent years working with various operating systems, thousands of software applications, a dozen or so programming languages, and just the general expertise you pick up through time. You could also hire at company @ $80/hr, but you can hire me to do the same job for $50/hr.

The word freelancer was also brought up, but the definitions linked it to someone trying to fill gaps, not someone who specializes in working on projects under contract.

What do you call yourself? How do you react when someone says they are a consultant? What would you rather hear come out of their mouth as a job title for consulting? Just a few questions I have.

I just started using my LinkedIn profile that I have had for forever. From what I hear some good things can come out of LinkedIn. beCamp added a few connections to my profile and I am at 90% completion on my profile, I just need to call in some recommendations to complete it. If you are LinkedIn and want more connections add me to your network from my profile page, put me down as a friend.

I finally remembered to look up the 2007 gas deduction and I discovered the deduction is up from 44.5¢ to 48.5¢, which is great news. I am in the 25% tax bracket and with the mileage per gallon I currently get I am more than breaking even on my gas. So to any consultants not writing off their standard mileage you better start, it really adds up.