Apparently they can. While browsing Google News one night, I ran across a press release written by someone using a free press release service. Hmm, I've always wanted to write a press release and so I kept a note of that site for future reference.

Well, just for fun tonight I wrote a press release. Let's see if it will be picked up by Google News.

http://pressroom.prlog.org/nica-elke/

Take a look at that and let me know what you think in the comments.

I am a software developer. I make my living working with businesses to help them automate and improve their business processes. To tell you the honest truth, I make a decent living at it, paid more than the national average wage.

Outsourcing is now standard practice in my industry. In fact, other industries such as call centres, and even television animation have gotten into the act. I heard that the television show The Simpsons is drawn by several teams in India. American artists don't even work on that show any more.

So why am I not scared of outsourcing?

Well first, I do believe the practice has had some impact on my income. My hourly rate could be a lot higher if my talents were scarcer. There is a competition between the amount I make ($X) and the amount an Indian programmer will charge ($X/10 sometimes).

In order to justify the difference, I have to prove my value. Am I worth more than 5 to 10 Indian programmers? In terms of pure code output, no, of course not. 10 programmers can outcode me.

My value comes in the things I can do that a offshore programmer cannot. Is an offshore programmer going to understand every facet of a company's operations (technical and business)? No, generally you give them one task to perform and they do it. Work has to be packaged up.

Is an offshore programmer going to take vague requirements ("I need a daily report on yesterday's activities...") and turn it into exactly what the client needs? No, generally they need specific and very detailed requirements. Work has to be thought out in advance and documented.

And most importantly, can a client ask their Indian programmer to run a project for them, interacting with key employees and making sure the job gets done? No, generally they take the entire job, and don't integrate into an existing team well. They can only work on things independently.

So I feel secure. There will always be a need for me. And I've even worked with overseas programmers, supervising them. So I bring value, and my clients obvious see that too.

Once again, I had a good time meeting a bunch of other Toronto consultants at the Consultants Meetup.

If you are in Toronto and are interested in consulting, it's worth one evening per month to meet other people and talk about how to improve your business.

Rajesh Setty has a book called "Beyond Code" that deals with building out your personal brand as a way to move ahead - beyond being a coder.

His website is http://www.lifebeyondcode.com/. He has a free ebook available at http://www.lifebeyondcode.com/ebooks/PBTP.pdf. And while I am at it, check out the blog at http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com/.

A few years back (1997? 9 years ago?!?), Fast Company magazine had an issue devoted to The Brand Called You. In it, Tom Peters (yes, the THE Tom Peters) said:

"We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. ... Starting today, you are a brand. You're every bit as much of a brand as Nike, Coke, Pepsi and The Body Shop. ... What is it that my product or service does that makes it different? ... What do I want to be famous for?"

I recommend you read that article. Here, I'll link to it again just in case.

Basically, Peters is saying that everyone who is a consultant today (and this applies even to employees who want to get ahead in business) should look at themselves as the client/employer looks at them. What image do you want to project? What image are you currently projecting?

Yes, images are superficial. And yes, people who are more concerned with their image than their reality can sometimes be compared to a sailor rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. But don't fool yourself: image is important, so having a good image gives you a head start on the less organized competition. Having a good image gets you the job, and then the image goes away and you have to deliver the goods! But being able to deliver the goods is useless without getting the job!

So I need to sit down sometime soon and examine my own professional image. That includes this web site, other web sites I am associated with, my books, business cards, the emails I send out, and anything else public that can be said to represent me.

I attended my second IT Consultant meetup, and once again I came away happy and excited to be working in the field of IT consulting.

This week's topic was on marketing. And various tips for marketing yourself as a consultant and getting clients.

If you're in Toronto and are all interested in IT consulting, I recommend coming to the next meeting.