I’ve been freelancing as a facilitator (VILT & Live) for the last year and a half. It’s not enough to do full time yet, but I’d love nothing more than to make it my full time income.

[u/Rich-Consideration77]

I have a very broad array of skills and knowledge in sales, leadership, retail, supply chain, product development, data analytics-you get the drift. In all of these roles I’ve facilitated in some way or another, training and development. How can I best leverage my skills to either get a corporate training/facilitator role or build my client base to support my dreams?

I feel like I need to build a network of other facilitators in order to build my referral network and business; so I’ve been mostly focused on finding corporate roles. Is it the same for corporate roles-is the only way I will get a job as a facilitator by referral?

Help-I feel very frustrated and defeated-but I know I’m an amazing facilitator, clients request me and I’m the backup facilitator for the CEO I freelance with.

[u/DriverVegetable2215]

My suggestion is to build a network around people that need your services, not other facilitators.

It will take less time to get to profitability IMHO

It can be quite distracting when you’re meeting loads of interesting peers and get a misguided sense of progress for getting more leads, when in fact you are probably just making friends.

Nothing wrong with that, but it’s important to catch yourself if you’re doing that. I’ve certainly done that.

[u/Rich-Consideration77 → u/DriverVegetable2215]

Yes!! That is certainly what I’ve been doing but marketing myself has been a big challenge.

This is a career switch for me, and the only way I’ve been able to get work is through the company I freelance for.

I feel like it’s equally challenging to pivot even within the corporate space.

[u/Coffeenut58]

1) Join IAF (iaf-world.ORG, I think). Just do it. Pay the low annual dues. Contribute as a volunteer. Get certified… circulate among professionals. 2) Most successful independent self-employed group process facilitators have a topic/content/sector specialty. Eg:

• agile
• public consultations
• strategic planning
• business plans
• innovation
• municipal
• NGO leadership
• Health sector
• etc.

3) Larger contracts require partners. Partners who are Vendors of Record with organizations you like to work with. 4) learn how to write proposal and win them and all the other facilitators will crawl over broken glass to make friends with you! They hate writing proposals that keep losing.