Hey, I read the news.  I know that the national / world economy is headed to heck on greased skids.  But my clients haven’t received the notice that business is supposed to be bad.  Yes, one particular client, a very large particular client, has been managing its way through some difficult times.  And I know that the unemployment rate is Way Too High.  And I know that between the War and the Economy Obama has almost burned through all his charisma.  But over here?  Our long-term clients are reinvesting in growth.  Our new clients are seeing bright and shiny opportunities.  And our consultants are starting to feel the love again.

I’m a member of a group called Vistage International, a networking / professional development group for CEOs, and one thing I’ve learned from the group is that the successful and heroic leader is the one who can see a way through that no one else can see.  Honestly, some days I’m not sure I can see three months into the future.  But as long as I’m connecting the right consultant with the right opportunity and following through to make sure the match is right — I’m solving the best possible type of problem.

Business at High Tech Connect is up, up, up and, apparently, we aren’t the only one. Online freelance marketplace Elance just released its Q4 2010 highlights and is reporting both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter growth — during a quarter that is normally slow.

For the fourth calendar quarter of 2010, Elance reports employers spent $27M through its service for freelance work. Compared to the previous year, that’s a 44% increase.

As if that isn’t impressive enough, here’s the kicker: Growth from Q3 to the normally slower Q4 was 11%. Let’s be sure we see that: During Q4, normally the slowest quarter of the year, the spend on freelancers through Elance grew 11% compared to Q3.  Thanksgiving? Christmas? Bah, Humbug! Perhaps Dickens’ Christmas Carol gets turned upside down this year and the best gift we could get is the chance to work.

At High Tech Connect our consultant placement business is booming — so much so I had to cancel my planned Week Off this week. (It’s far more fun to make magic for my clients than tackle neglected closets and household repairs.)

“Rene’s advice, given in one of my most relevant courses in grad school, stayed etched in my mind months after her guest lecture. I admired her savvy business initiative, sheer talent, and sincere willingness to help those of us on the job hunt. I reached out to Rene following the lecture and immediately implemented the suggestions she made for my resume. After three months aggressively pursuing job opportunities in a struggling economy, I was hired by the company at the top of my list. Thanks to Rene and High Tech Connect for the tips for success!” — Yara Souza, Associate for Corporate Practice at Burson-Marsteller, San Francisco

Congratulations Yara! We’re so proud of you and confident you’ll have a wonderful career.

Take a look at this link and you may want to share it with friends. With the current economy, most people are contemplating options and working on safety nets to ensure their survival. Thank you, Wall Street Journal, for giving everyone reliable, practical guidance.

The Wall Street Journal describes a real crisis for millions of freelancers in this country. Nearly half of all independent sole proprietors struggle to get paid by clients. Even projects that have been approved for payment.

What follows is an excerpt of their article, “Freelancers Fight to Be Paid.”

About 40% of freelancers had trouble getting paid in 2009, according to a survey released in mid-April by the New York-based Freelancers Union, a 135,000-member organization for independent contractors across the country in fields such as media, technology, and advertising. It was the first year the group asked the question on its member survey. And more than three out of four freelancers said they’ve had trouble getting paid over the course of their careers over the course of their career, according to organization.

The problem could become more acute as independent contractors emerge as a more central piece of the work force. The financial crisis and the resulting high unemployment thrust many professionals into the ranks of freelance workers, which may continue to grow despite signs of an economic recovery.

Littler Mendelson, a San Francisco-based employment law firm with 49 offices nationwide, predicts that in 2010 half of previously eliminated positions filled will be filled by contingent workers—such as independent contractors, freelancers, and temp workers—accounting for as much as 25% of the work force nationwide— based on client interviews and a survey conducted by a staffing analysis firm.

Since independent contractors aren’t covered by most federal employment laws, they don’t enjoy the same legal protections on wages as permanent employees, says a spokesman for the Department of Labor. If a permanent employee doesn’t get paid, federal or state labor departments can fine companies and even prosecute company executives. But independent contractors often have to turn to the court system, in most cases small claims, if they go unpaid.

To some, small-claims court can be more trouble than it’s worth, says Sara Horowitz, executive director of the Freelancers Union. Depending on the state, it will cost about $50 to file a claim and it can take months for a case to be heard. Even if a freelancer wins, small-claims judgments must be collected by the plaintiff.

Read the entire article here.

Mine Your Address Book: See who you already know who might be available. They might not have the exact skills and experience you need, but you already know them and may be familiar with their work. Keep in mind however, if the project is mission-critical, it’s usually not worth it to “try” someone just because they are available right now.

Post to a Free Job Board: Free is good. But you still need to screen for out-of-work wanna-bes who are applying to any and all posted jobs. KIT List and Craigslist are two examples of free job listings, but don’t be surprised if unemployed engineers who worked with marketing are responding to your post for marketing help.

Pay for an Ad: Professional organizations like PRSA and IABC have national and regional chapter job boards. But Bill Warren, former president of Monster.com, one of the leading internet job search sites, admits most employment websites are too expensive for clients and aren’t fruitful for applicants. Warren is starting from scratch on a new job search concept. The problem: it’s still an automated web-based system that relies on exceedingly busy clients to narrow the search using technology.

Search LinkedIn: You can do a search based on job titles and keywords in your geographic area, but it still takes time to check the availability of each candidate. Verifying the accuracy of their achievements and experience is also a daunting, time-consuming chore. And are you ready to bet your career on the consultant who says they wrote amazing speeches for C-level execs?

Call an expert to find your expert: Clients want to work with the absolute right people, not just a keyword match. And there is no software yet that can detect real human chemistry or B.S. Clients call high-touch agents like High Tech Connect who understand the difference between internal and employee communications, white papers and tech briefs, and ITIL, SOX and SaaS. Reputable agencies also take care of work statements, background checks, taxes and insurance; offer employee benefits and ensure timely and accurate payment to freelancers. And you only pay if the agent finds your perfect match.

Many expert consultants sign with agencies because they appreciate being able to concentrate on their projects without the administrative headaches and payment hassles. High Tech Connect is proud to represent 1300 of the nation’s best marketing and communications professionals — and to work with outstanding clients from coast to coast.

If you want to focus on your core business and can’t afford the time to find a perfect consultant on your own, drop us a line.

High Tech Connect’s Michelle Stewart and René Siegel are proud to be the Silicon Valley market champions, and will participate in this virtual event via Twitter. HAPPO “market champions” like High Tech Connect will help by retweeting and connecting job seekers on Twitter with potential employers in their specific market.

Leading up to Feb. 19, job seekers are encouraged to develop creative blog posts, pitching themselves to prospective employers and sharing via Twitter during the event on Feb. 19 using the hashtag #HAPPO. Please join us and help spread the word so we can get more people working.

These are the winners in the 11 categories:

1. Entrepreneurship and small business. Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur by Pamela Slim.
2. Leadership. Maestro: A Surprising Story About Leading by Listening.
3. Management. The Four Conversations: Daily Communication That Gets Results by Jeffery Ford & Laurie Ford.
4. Marketing and advertising. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith.
5. Sales. A Seat at the Table: How Top Salespeople Connect and Drive Decisions at the Executive Level by Marc Miller.
6. Finance and economics. False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World by Alan Beattie.
7. Biographies and narratives. The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, the Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals by Frank Partnoy.
8. Current interest. Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin.
9. Personal development. Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life by Rodd Wagner & Gale Muller, Ph.D.
10. Innovation and creativity. The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking Is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger L. Martin.
11. Big ideas. What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis.

And most of our friends believe their tried/true skills and decades-old experience will catapult them back into the black when The Recovery arrives. What they fail to recognize is the world, especially the world of marketing and communications, has already changed. The rules, the players, the influencers, the tools, the teams have all changed.

Press releases are gone, replaced by social media releases optimized for Google. Marketing events can accommodate a worldwide audience without a conference room, catering, AV and signage. Executive speeches can be modified in real-time based on Twittering audience members. Grass-roots Facebook groups give companies more visibility into their customers’ minds than ever before.

So, where do you start? If you’re like me, you attend a few local seminars, webinars and read a lot. But I found these speakers only frustrated me and made me feel guilty. They told me what I needed to do, and how awesome things would be if I did them, but then I was left to figure it out all by myself. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, RSS, newsreaders, Digg, Delicious and several hundred other newfangled things. Shyeah, right.

Thankfully, I have an awesome friend named Brian Johnson. Brian is a PR god with a knack for the newfangled. His real talent though, is identifying exactly what I need and SHOWING me, using plain English. I ran back to the office and showed the High Tech Connect gals what I had learned. And soon we knew more about social media than most people.

We decided instead of waiting and praying for the phone to ring, the responsible and brave thing to do was “upskill” as many of our clients and consultants as possible, so they would be wildly successful in the New Economy.

Lemonade from lemons.

We’re extremely proud to present our first High Tech Connect Social Media Crash Course. This is a one-day, hands-on workshop for seasoned professionals to learn just the few tools and applications they need to catapult ahead of their peers. http://www.htconnect.com/events/social_media_crash_course.html

I hope it goes well. I hope the attendees will have fun and erupt in “Ah hahs!” I hope this will be the start of many more sessions. And I hope when everyone is back to business, doing marketing again and spending money on great talent, that they will remember the fun, forward-thinking folks at High Tech Connect.