Never Had a Real Career

by Doreen
(New Haven, CT, USA)

I graduated from an Art school with a diploma in Commercial Art. I got a textile painting job out of school, had photography shows, started various small businesses which never became financially successful.

Graphic design, Faux Finishing/Murals, Greeting Cards & Thirts I designed & marketed, Web Design are some jobs I've held.

I have also been on my own cleaning houses PT for 20 years while doing these other project businesses on & off. I get some jobs from each but nothing really financially substantial. I do change my interests often because I see the businesses not going anywhere & I lose interest. I often gain interest in them & do projects here & there.

How do I have a real career? I like doing different types of businesses, they all are creative. I seem to never develop any of them to a successful level because of lack of clients. The only one that has worked somewhat is the housecleaning.

I am interested now in local SEO for small business. I can even be a reseller for SEO web/design companies. My problem is finding enough clients to really succeed.

Advice?

Response from Carl: Thanks Doreen. From what you mention above, two common elements seem to be:

1. You lose interest in what you're doing after a period of time, perhaps indicating you need a job(s) that is varied and keeps your interest by evolving and changing.

2. You seem to be entrepreneurial and like working for yourself. At least some of the positions you refer to have a sales element, too.

I wonder if - as you mention yourself - the real problem is that you have an idea of how much money you'd like to earn and when you take a new job that you see potential with, you take it but then lose interest when you realize after a period of time that perhaps the job isn't as lucrative as you'd like and never will be. Alternatively it might be that the job simply doesn't keep your interest after awhile as you also refer to.

Another common point - or at least concern - that you have is when working in sales-related roles, you appear to believe you'll have a problem finding new clients. Certainly in sales related roles, this is something you could face on an ongoing basis.

If you're going to stay in a sales environment, one of the things I've found works best when finding new clients (certainly in some industries more than others, such as service industries) is that referrals are often your best source of new clients. A client sees the good work that you do and then refers you to someone else. In my personal life I can think of a real estate agent and a basement finisher both of whom were referred to me, both of whom I've referred to numerous other people who they've then received business from.

If you're going to stick with a sales-oriented career, you're probably going to have to realize that frequently switching jobs isn't the way to build up a good business, quite the opposite. It's usually sticking with one type of business, building up a clientele and building up a good reputation that counts. Of course, all of these things take time and won't necessarily happen overnight.

Carl