Learning What You Need to Know

If I talked about the freelance business and said, "writing aside," you might think that wouldn't leave much, other than the usual business activities. But there is at least one other thing: what you need to do the job. You might have experience in a half dozen or more different types of writing, in a few industries, and with a set of software tools. But what do you need tomorrow and next week, month, and year? Requirements of clients change over time, and the best way to keep the business coming in is to anticipate them:

• By the time most writers have heard of something, such as blogging or wikis, you start to face significant competition.


• When few people can provide a service that comes into demand, they can generally get a premium price, thanks to the law of supply and demand.


• Keeping ahead of trends gives you the appearance to clients and prospects of someone in-touch and knowledgeable.

That's all well and good, of course, but how are you supposed to get the inside line on what is coming up? Simple - you do some research, and here are some places to start by seeing what people are talking about early on:

• Job Sites Whether you choose Monster.com, Craigslist, or anything inbetween, you'll find at least some entries from technology adopters that mention things you've never heard of before. Do a web search for the terms, and pay attention to the ones that are a technology, particularly when mentioned only a handful of times in ads. That means they are past the curiosity stage but not yet in wide acceptance.


• Tech Blogs Forget magazines, as by the time they cover something, it's usually old hat. Slashdot.org is a great place to see what the technical literati are looking at, as are Ars Technica, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, and Techdirt.


• Industry Sites If you write about a given industry, whether as a corporate writer or doing consumer or trade journalism, check the online sites devoted to it. When you first start seeing mention of technologies, that's evidence of the beginning of the adoption curve, which means it's time to move into high learning gear.


• Conferences If you have a chance to hit a technology trade show, go and chat with people. Ask what they find interesting, even if there is little being done commercially with it yet. Also look at the exhibits and see who is touting cutting-edge technology, which may also be a clue.