Advice – Page 146 – Steven Savage

Choose How To Be Shaped In Adversity

July 24, 2010 by Steven Savage

In the Great Recession there are always tales of people's grandparents or parents or relatives in the Great Depression. There's always someone discussing what influence those tough times had on their family.

There's also historians discussing issues even further back. They discuss earlier recessions and earlier social changes and what people learned.

it appears one of the booming business in the Great Recession is talking about what people in past times of economic crisis learned and did. So here's a lesson to take away from that.

You're going to be shaped in adversity, so choose how you're going to be shaped. You're gonna get the adversity anyway.

Your Fannish Job Search

July 17, 2010 by Steven Savage

So you want that extra experience in fandom for your career. You want to hone your skills doing something you like so you can someday get paid for it. You want to learn while having fun.

Of course you want these things, but how do you do it?

Simple. Start a fandom job search.

Fansourcing and Networking

July 14, 2010 by Steven Savage

"Fansourcing" is a term I use for calling upon your fellow fans, geeks, and otaku for your various business, career, and personal ventures – designing your business cards, helping with your website, and so on. It's something I strive to practice because it helps friends, builds relations, and lets me call upon considerable talents.

However, Fansourcing is not just something you can practice for yourself. You can help others with it – and it's a great way to encore networking

Know someone working on a website? Refer the people that do your online portfolio or con website to them. You help out both friends – and help them get to know each other.

Know someone trying to get a book done? Hook up that person who edited your self-published book with them. Everyone wins. (I of course speak from experience here).

Don't just think of it as a chance to put together two people who need each other. Sure that's good and all, but you also have a chance to help people use and develop that all-important job skill of networking. You can encourage them to build connections by showing them how it works – by helping do some fansourcing.

So next time you find someone looking for some help and realize you can fansource some efforts for them, remember you're not just helping two people get some work done (or find work). You're teaching the value of networking.

– Steven Savage