Everyone’s got an email list these days. And thankfully, most people use email vendors of some sort. That’s because an email list is the most valuable marketing tool a business can have. Why? Because the email subscribers chose to be on that list. That’s permission-based marketing. Yet, some email tool vendors think you should “clean” […]
Dave Prior interviewed me for his podcast, the Drunken PM. You can read and see the podcast on: Projectmanagement.com, in Dave’s Reluctant Agilist column. See Successful Independent Consulting with Johanna Rothman. Or watch it on YouTube. Or hear it on DrunkenPM Radio. While I use Overcast for my podcast subscriptions, you might like Soundcloud or
Here are several unsolicited offers I received in email and various messaging today: An unsolicited email explaining my site was slow and not high-ranking in SEO. Another unsolicited offer to totally redo my social media. And yet a third unsolicited offer to make my consulting business much more successful by allowing AI to write content
One of the themes that runs through the Successful Independent Consulting: Relationships That Focus on Mutual Benefit is: “Invite people to your newsletter.” Why? Because those people gave you permission to market to them. Your subscribers don’t have to like everything you write—as long as they like most of what you write. Or that you
How should agile coaches work? I’ve heard several questions and problems around what agile coaches should and should not do. Should agile coaches focus on: How well the teams use their pre-determined agile framework. (For example, how good is their Scrum?) Enroll (or somehow persuade) the managers in an agile mindset. (As an example, how
When you’re starting off as a consultant, you might take the first one or two engagements a client offers. However, at some point, you’ll see an engagement that is wrong. It’s wrong for the client. It’s wrong for you. No one will see the results either of you wants. What should you do? I see
I delivered a Modern Management Made Easy talk and ranted about 100% utilization. One of the questions in the chat was: “Don’t consultants want 100% utilization? If you’re not working, you’re not billing.” Here’s how consultants create utilization-based billing: By the hour. Even worse, in 15-minute increments. Time and materials. I don’t do that. Why
Back in January 2020, I led a Hudson Bay Start to create/build a consulting practice. I’m happy to say it was a success. Not because everyone became a consultant. However, the people who chose to consult found their ways to succeed. And, even more importantly, some people decided not to consult yet. Those folks continue
I’m pretty sure that online training isn’t going to go away even when some people return to the office. I have already evolved my workshops to several possibilities of “training”: Short-form webinar (20-60 minutes of me delivering content, minimum interaction) Longer-form offering where people (typically) learn at their own pace Self-study with some feedback from
I suggested that I see three kinds of people in online “workshops:” attendee, student, or participant. I want to design for the outcomes these people can expect. I first start with this question: Who does the teaching? Who Teaches Whom? We have a model of teacher-led teaching, in both in-person and online workshops. I prefer