I had a terrific time speaking with Jeff and Chad on the Agile Wire: Successful Independent Consulting with Johanna Rothman. (That’s the video link.) We discussed many things: Fees and why some clients want us to float their money and what to do instead. Marketing is an ongoing and continual activity Jeff has a hack […]
I had the pleasure of recording a podcast with Tom Cagley: SPaMCAST 764 – Successful Independent Consulting, A Conversation with Johanna Rothman. I always have a blast talking with Tom, but this time, it was even better. (And not just because he said it was like attending a master class. 🙂 We discussed the book,
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”
Tim, a C-Level leader, loves his skip-level meetings. He feels the meetings offer him a chance to connect with people he doesn’t normally see. They get to talk about whatever the other person wants. Sharon, a different C-Level leader, never conducts skip-level meetings. She feels that those meetings might cause her managers to feel unsafe,
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
Stan, a prospective client, had trouble making time for our discovery call. (That’s the call where the client and I discuss the boundaries of a consulting engagement.) After he canceled three scheduled calls, I suspected we would not work together. But then he asked me for an evening conversation, after his day’s “craziness.” (His words,
I am thrilled to announce a book birthday: Successful Independent Consulting: Relationships That Focus on Mutual Benefit. People often ask me how long it takes me to write a book. Every book takes the time it takes. But this one took much longer than I expected. Here’s the story of the consulting book. In the
Barney, a senior manager, said, “I need everyone to return to the office. I’m okay with what they’re doing, although I miss the buzz of people doing the work. But I don’t know how to build the human connection with them when they’re not here.” I nodded. “You’re always telling me to have empathy with
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