I've gotten a few moonlighting projects through friends and family but I'm exhausting that circle of contacts and want to pick up more small side projects come fall. I'd like to hear what strategies people have used to "market" their moonlighting efforts to a larger potential client pool while not making it blatantly obvious to their full time employer that they're fishing for side work.
get those projects for friends and family built...
keep in regular contact with the contractors what worked on them, most likely your jobs will come from them.
If I were your I'd get clarification on your office moonlighting policy. Friends and family is one thing, actively pursuing side work is another and may be a conflict of interest. If you are serious about this you should be clear about your intentions, go part time at your work, or go out on your own entirely.
If I were you I'd get clarification on your office moonlighting policy. Friends and family is one thing, actively pursuing side work is another and may be a conflict of interest. If you are serious about this you should be clear about your intentions with your boss, go part time at your work, or go out on your own entirely.
what you do on your own time is really none of your employers, i've always thought this, even if there is a policy against moonlighting. the policy is there to ensure you don't screw up all the office jobs while doing your stuff in the office, so as long as you don't do that, it shouldnt' matter.
just apply as consultant to adds, that's what i did and now i'm full time consultant...
Unfortunately the lawyers screwed that up for us. If you did a side job and something went bad to the point where your client decided to open a suit your firm would be named as well and if you used any of their resources (computers, printers, software, specifications…) their professional liability insurance could be on the hook.
You should check with your employer on this and see if you can have a waiver of liability drawn up that all your side-job clients would need to sign that you would provide to your firm.
What you do on your own time can very much affect your employers. The biggest reason to have a policy against moonlighting is because moonlighting can expose the office to legal problems if the employee is negligent on the side project.
There is considerable precedent for a company's errors and omissions insurance being accessed if it can be shown that the moonlighting employee did business from the company's offices. This can take the form of meetings after hours at the parent office, e-mails being sent or received from the company's servers, or phone calls being made or received from the office.
No matter how hard the moonlighting tries to avoid doing this, the fact is that architecture often needs to be practiced during daylight, business hours. Sooner or later, the moonlighter will get that phone call at the office, and then they put the office at risk if they screw up on the project.
Listen, almost everyone does freelance work. It is how most offices are started, it is how our office started. the only answer is to make sure that your freelance clients realize the importance of referrals and to market yourself to the contractor and subcontractors.
In the beginning, it is just about being scrappy. Let everyone know what you do (without selling) and be scrappy about getting whatever work you can. Over time you will build a referral network that will do the marketing for you and you can start your own practice. That is what worked for us.
Our firm has been approached several times by employees who have moonlighting opportunities. We generally don't object unless the work could be construed to be in conflict with our interests or the interests of any of our clients. We think work of this nature is important to professional development and we don't want our employees skulking around in secret when such opportunities arise.
We make it clear that the work cannot have a negative impact on the employee's performance and that none of the office's resources may be used to perform the work. We require the employee to have a written contract with the client (which we review - and, if necessary, help the employee write) and we require the employee's client to agree to language in that contract stating that the client understands that our firm is not involved in the project, that our firm is not supervising the employee's work on the project, and that our firm will accept no responsibility whatsoever for the project. This approach has the blessing of our attorney and our E&O carrier - so far, we haven't had a bad experience.
What you do on your own time can very much affect your employers. The biggest reason to have a policy against moonlighting is because moonlighting can expose the office to legal problems if the employee is negligent on the side project.
Can you avoid exposing your firm by having your moonlighting client sign an agreement or acknowledgment? This agreement could state that the client is aware that the services provided are provided by you and not your firm and will not hold your firm liable.
Anyone have any experience with this? Anyone have a company moonlighting policy they could share?
What you do on your own time can very much affect your employers. The biggest reason to have a policy against moonlighting is because moonlighting can expose the office to legal problems if the employee is negligent on the side project.
Can you avoid exposing your firm by having your moonlighting client sign an agreement or acknowledgment? This agreement could state that the client is aware that the services provided are provided by you and not your firm and will not hold your firm liable.
Anyone have any experience with this? Anyone have a company moonlighting policy they could share?
aceclubs: Our staff's "moonlight" clients haven't seemed to object to what we ask our staff to obtain. However, you never really know what some people understand. What's really important is that we have an affirmative indication (in the form of a signature) that says the client understands that our firm is not involved in the project and that we're not supervising the designer's work.
Our policies apply across the board to all employees -- part time or full time -- unless there's a specific reason to make a differentiation, such as with eligibility for benefits.
Sep 28, 09 7:08 pm ·
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Moonlight marketing
I've gotten a few moonlighting projects through friends and family but I'm exhausting that circle of contacts and want to pick up more small side projects come fall. I'd like to hear what strategies people have used to "market" their moonlighting efforts to a larger potential client pool while not making it blatantly obvious to their full time employer that they're fishing for side work.
get those projects for friends and family built...
keep in regular contact with the contractors what worked on them, most likely your jobs will come from them.
If I were your I'd get clarification on your office moonlighting policy. Friends and family is one thing, actively pursuing side work is another and may be a conflict of interest. If you are serious about this you should be clear about your intentions, go part time at your work, or go out on your own entirely.
If I were you I'd get clarification on your office moonlighting policy. Friends and family is one thing, actively pursuing side work is another and may be a conflict of interest. If you are serious about this you should be clear about your intentions with your boss, go part time at your work, or go out on your own entirely.
what you do on your own time is really none of your employers, i've always thought this, even if there is a policy against moonlighting. the policy is there to ensure you don't screw up all the office jobs while doing your stuff in the office, so as long as you don't do that, it shouldnt' matter.
just apply as consultant to adds, that's what i did and now i'm full time consultant...
Unfortunately the lawyers screwed that up for us. If you did a side job and something went bad to the point where your client decided to open a suit your firm would be named as well and if you used any of their resources (computers, printers, software, specifications…) their professional liability insurance could be on the hook.
You should check with your employer on this and see if you can have a waiver of liability drawn up that all your side-job clients would need to sign that you would provide to your firm.
What you do on your own time can very much affect your employers. The biggest reason to have a policy against moonlighting is because moonlighting can expose the office to legal problems if the employee is negligent on the side project.
There is considerable precedent for a company's errors and omissions insurance being accessed if it can be shown that the moonlighting employee did business from the company's offices. This can take the form of meetings after hours at the parent office, e-mails being sent or received from the company's servers, or phone calls being made or received from the office.
No matter how hard the moonlighting tries to avoid doing this, the fact is that architecture often needs to be practiced during daylight, business hours. Sooner or later, the moonlighter will get that phone call at the office, and then they put the office at risk if they screw up on the project.
Listen, almost everyone does freelance work. It is how most offices are started, it is how our office started. the only answer is to make sure that your freelance clients realize the importance of referrals and to market yourself to the contractor and subcontractors.
In the beginning, it is just about being scrappy. Let everyone know what you do (without selling) and be scrappy about getting whatever work you can. Over time you will build a referral network that will do the marketing for you and you can start your own practice. That is what worked for us.
Good luck.
I too think you ought to come clean with your employer... Best getting their blessing before going further.
Our firm has been approached several times by employees who have moonlighting opportunities. We generally don't object unless the work could be construed to be in conflict with our interests or the interests of any of our clients. We think work of this nature is important to professional development and we don't want our employees skulking around in secret when such opportunities arise.
We make it clear that the work cannot have a negative impact on the employee's performance and that none of the office's resources may be used to perform the work. We require the employee to have a written contract with the client (which we review - and, if necessary, help the employee write) and we require the employee's client to agree to language in that contract stating that the client understands that our firm is not involved in the project, that our firm is not supervising the employee's work on the project, and that our firm will accept no responsibility whatsoever for the project. This approach has the blessing of our attorney and our E&O carrier - so far, we haven't had a bad experience.
Can you avoid exposing your firm by having your moonlighting client sign an agreement or acknowledgment? This agreement could state that the client is aware that the services provided are provided by you and not your firm and will not hold your firm liable.
Anyone have any experience with this? Anyone have a company moonlighting policy they could share?
Can you avoid exposing your firm by having your moonlighting client sign an agreement or acknowledgment? This agreement could state that the client is aware that the services provided are provided by you and not your firm and will not hold your firm liable.
Anyone have any experience with this? Anyone have a company moonlighting policy they could share?
aceclubs -- you might want to read the post immediately above the one you wrote !
BlueGoose, thanks for sharing.
Have you heard anything from the moonlighting client side? Do they understand what they are signing?
Same policy for part-time employees?
aceclubs: Our staff's "moonlight" clients haven't seemed to object to what we ask our staff to obtain. However, you never really know what some people understand. What's really important is that we have an affirmative indication (in the form of a signature) that says the client understands that our firm is not involved in the project and that we're not supervising the designer's work.
Our policies apply across the board to all employees -- part time or full time -- unless there's a specific reason to make a differentiation, such as with eligibility for benefits.
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