“I like the idea of independent consulting, but I’m just too risk averse for that path.” I’ve begun responding: “So you are more comfortable investing all your working hours in a single company. Do you invest all of your financial assets in the stock of a single company?” Of course the answer is always: “Oh, no, I believe in diversification.”…

A simple set of prompts for a daily journaling practice: What did I do yesterday? What am I working on? What’s coming up? What am I grateful for? From Nicolas Cole. Do you have a regular journaling practice?…

Stuck for ideas on how to market your independent consultant practice to bring in new clients and projects? Here are 21 business development ideas, along with links to relevant episodes of our Unleashed podcast where applicable. Editorial note: This article was originally published in January 2021 and was updated in April 2022. 1) Start a podcast and invite potential clients as guests We recently released a detailed resource guide on how to start your own podcast, from the technical and…

Umbrex member Michael Pani led a successful effort to procure and deliver 31 pallets of supplies (shown above) to the Poland-Ukraine border, including: 20,000 portions of ready meals Baby milk powder for 14,000 bottles 4,000 diapers 1,000 portions of ready food for toddlers 900 gallons of UHT milk 200 sleeping bags 150 pacifiers 100 tourniquets 50 large first aid kits And tooth brushes and tooth paste, liquid soap, sanitary napkins and toilet paper 4 pallets were distributed to 30 foster families…

Should have done this a long time ago: There are some phrases that I find myself typing all the time on my phone. I finally set up a few text replacements. Now, if I type “;cal” that text gets replaced with “If you’d like to book a call with me, you can find a time that works for you on my Calendly: [link included here]” On an iPhone: Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement Instructions for Android. What’s your…

Creating your own podcast provides multiple benefits, including: – RELATIONSHIPS: An opportunity to build relationships with potential clients or collaborators – VISIBILITY: If you host an interview-based show, your guests may promote the episode to their followers on social media – CREDIBILITY: Even if a client doesn’t listen to a single minute of your show, if you’ve published 50 episodes on a topic, you’ll be viewed as more credible than someone with a similar background who has not published any…

              Umbrex is working pro bono to connect clients to Ukrainian professionals who have been displaced from their jobs and need work. So far we’ve found work for ten Ukrainians. We’ve created this web page where you can: – View a directory of freelancers and contact one of them directly – Submit a request and we’ll work on finding someone who is a fit We’ll be featuring one freelancer each day with a post…

  Based on input from members of the community and from experts such as Josh Spector, we just published a step-by-step guide on how to create a newsletter that includes this checklist. A newsletter is a great way to stay top of mind with potential clients. For inspiration, subscribe to newsletters that other members of the community send. The guide includes links to newsletters by these members of the community:       Maureen Dolan Bala Robbie Kellman Baxter Robyn Bolton David Burnie Terry…

Change filenames from your perspective  –> to that of the intended audience. Proposal to Client X.ppt  –>  Strategic sourcing project proposal from Consultant Y.ppt Resume_marketing_version_finalfinal.pdf  –>  Firstname_Lastname_Resume.pdf [If you have multiple versions of your resume, save them in separate folders.]…

  Looking for a data set to answer a question? You could hit up Google. Or you could try Nomad Data, which uses AI and machine learning to connect data seekers with data sellers. [I interviewed the founder, Brad Schneider, yesterday; Unleashed episode will drop later this week.] Nomad has 1,000 data sellers on their platform. As a data seeker, you type in a plain language query. Traditional market size/share example: “I need detailed information on what broadband services each carrier…

From where you are reading this right now, could you point towards north? Do you know how many days until the moon is full? From these 20 questions: “Where You At? A Bioregional Quiz.” Via The Art of Noticing. [I was off by 60 degrees and 14 days. Oof.] === 320 questions to ask a company, particularly a startup. Compiled by Mikhail Raevskiy. === Justice system fact of the week: Amount spent to incarcerate someone in a New York City jail: $556,539 per…

How to Write Headlines in Twenty Seconds With This Simple System Banana art Surprise link of the week…