Keep moving (and other tips for upcoming advocacy consultants)

For the last two years, I have been supporting several organisations in the field of digital rights as an independent expert (aka consultant aka freelancer). In my case this happened naturally: While I was taking time off after an almost 10 year-long position, I kept being contacted by different people to do small jobs here and there: a training for Russian activists, a revision of a digital rights strategy for a large international organisation... At some point, two organisations (almost at the same time) offered me certain stability, both as an external consultant. It was easy to jump to the pool, because the pool was full with fresh water.

It was a learning curve going through tax issues, learning how to do a proper invoice (and when to add VAT or not) and other things that scare most people who are considering becoming self-employed. In my experience, a good accountant should take care of all of these things so you can focus on the work you do. I barely spend anytime on admin work apart from some consultations with my accountant from time to time.

What works for me:

• Experience and contacts are the right hook: Organisations contact me because of my 15+ year experience (or 20 if you go beyond EU/digital, I am that old). I could not have done this when I started because I would not have the credibility, experience and network that my clients benefit from.

• Each client is your only one (sort of): When dealing with a variety of clients, I use the same rule someone told me when I was starting to work as a lawyer: Defend each client as if it was your own parent being on trial. In my daily work, I put the jersey of each client and I work as a strategic partner. I always try to do the best for them, whether they are hiring me for a few hours, for a one-time speaking event or for longer projects.

• How to represent different organisations in different topics: My rule is to not represent in public more than one organisation for the same topic. For example, I do not meet the same MEPs on the same topic with two different "hats". That would be quite odd, even if the messages are aligned. If I meet someone for different topics, the rule of presenting myself as a consultant works well enough. I am not neither the first nor the last person in Brussels representing different clients.

• Who to work for: As an independent expert I can choose with whom I work. For now I have only worked with CSOs, think tanks and trade unions. I am not vehemently opposed to working with companies, it just did not happen. However, were a company interested to collaborate with me, they should be aligned with my values and not create a conflict of interests with my existing clients. Big Tech, data extracting companies or companies engaged in spyware, mass surveillance, etc... are the obvious red lines (they are also probably not interested in me anyway). I have a soft spot for cooperatives or socially-aligned companies where workers are respected and, ideally, they run the companies themselves.

• How to deal with different "hats": When the context allows it, I introduce myself as an independent consultant, and I say that I am in that meeting on behalf of X. I keep my EU transparency register as updated as I can (organisations change priorities often unexpectedly, and consultants are the first to fall) and I have a personal website where I mention what I do and with whom I work or worked. My current clients know with which other organisations I currently work with, and often they benefit from contacts, overlapping projects or from intelligence I gather for others. I have to admit that working with several groups at the same time in the non-profit sector is unusual. It is, however, the business (more profitable business than mine) of many public relations/lobby companies working for my usual adversaries out there, though.

• Delivering strategic advice, not just pdfs: I don´t think my value is in (just) preparing pdf or other deliverables for my clients, even though they obviously need reports, amendments... you name it. In addition to that work, I also take the time to tell them when I see a strategic risk, a management mistake or funding opportunities. It may not be "on my pay grade", but I cannot provide good support if I don't take each organisation's work as if it was my own (this is linked to the previous point). I have often (politely) suggested to Directors that I believed their strategy was not correct. You can think a client does not pay you to contradict them, but I think otherwise. I would not be doing my work professionally if I was not honest with them about what I think is the best path forward.

• Keep moving: Even if you feel financially safe with your current of number of clients, you need to keep moving and meeting new potential leads: Organisations change priorities overnight (and as a consultant you will be the last one to know) or they may lose funding suddenly (and you will be the first one to fall). You need to keep several organisations in your client list to not have dependency on just one or two sources of income.

• Just go to that event even if you think it not may be worth it: In my experience most clients will get to you via personal contact, not Linkedin blogposts. An anecdote I often mention is how I was invited to speak at an even on a topic I did not know much about. I tried to delegate the task to others, but everyone refused. The organiser insisted me to come and I did it as a favour and because I support their values. The room was largely empty, and I felt I was wasting my time. However, next to me was a director of an organisation with whom I had worked in the past in my previous role. He was speaking before me. I mentioned I was a freelancer now, we exchanged business cards, and we still work together almost 2 years after that. A potentially "waste of time" (for freelancers, each hour not invoiced is working for free) became a solid relationship that opened other doors.

• Colleagues, not competitors: I treat other consultants doing similar work as potential colleagues, not as competitors. Sometimes I may need an extra pair of hands. Sometimes I have advised potential clients to first contact another person because I thought she was better for the task. I put the organisation's interest ahead of my own financial interests, even before they hire me. Now, we are moving forward and creating a network of expert consultants in complimentary fields so we can provide strong support to large organisations and funders who may need a wide range of expertise that they or their grantees/members do not have in-house. For now, we are calling ourselves Integrated Impact: https://www.diegonaranjo.eu/integrated-impact The amazing team is composed of Beatriz Mallén Muñoz Paola Verhaert Xavier Dutoit Justus Römeth Julia Krzyszkowska and Katarina Bartovicova . Quite a dream team if you ask me!

• Keep knocking on the same door: Sometimes you know you are a good match for one organisation, but they do not have the budget or the time to hire you. I kept suggesting ideas to work together to an organisation I was quite keen to work with. I received polite rejections, several times, mostly linked to budget constraints. After many (but not spammy) attempts, my request came at a time when the organisation needed my work and we are still working together several months after that.