News and updates

SHOWING NEWS 11–20 OUT OF 863

WEEKLY DIGEST #17 OF 2026

• The Founders’ Tribune is a refreshing shift away from the ad-cluttered marketing blogs of today. By delivering just one high-quality essay every Sunday from the world’s leading builders, it prioritizes intellectual depth over commercial noise.
• Why Your Passion Project Deserves a Seat at the Table — Sara Gibson reminds us that passion projects are the "soul work" that prevents freelancers from being consumed by client brands. Even in hustle mode, she suggests the 15-minute rule to keep the spark alive without the pressure of profit. By separating your "work brain" and embracing seasonality, you ensure your projects stay on the back burner rather than being turned off entirely—protecting who you truly are.
• As highlighted by Matthew Dowling, founder of the Freelancer Club, the 2026 UK IR35 shift returns tax status responsibility from thousands of firms back to the freelancer. While this reduces corporate friction, it forces you to personally shoulder the financial risk of HMRC audits. Unlike previous legal battles where freelancers fought for employee rights, this update demands you prove your own autonomy to avoid heavy retroactive tax liabilities. Official guidance.
• Tools for Setting & Achieving Goals, a podcast by Andrew Huberman — Psychologist Emily Balcetis warns that traditional "vision boards" can actually drain your drive by tricking the brain into premature satisfaction. To combat this, she suggests the Narrow Focus technique: mentally black out distractions and treat your immediate task like a target in a spotlight. This physiological shift can increase output speed by 27% while making deep work feel 17% easier—moving you from passive dreaming to high-performance readiness.

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NEW MEMBER: SEBASTIAN AGUAS

Meet our new member: Sebastian Aguas, a senior Chinese-English-Czech interpreter and technical consultant who bridges the linguistic and cultural gaps in global manufacturing and automotive engineering. Specializing in complex industrial environments, Sebastian helps industry leaders—including Toyota, Skoda Auto, and Continental—navigate the technical intricacies of machine installation and commissioning with absolute precision.

With over 15 years of experience and a sophisticated academic background—holding Master’s degrees in both Sinology and Management—his expertise extends far beyond literal translation. He is a specialist in facilitating the integration of Chinese machinery into European production lines and has conducted over 100 CCC audits across the continent. By prioritizing "communication that keeps the production line moving," Sebastian ensures that complex technical transfers result in operational success rather than costly delays.

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WEEKLY DIGEST #16 OF 2026

• AI for Freelance Business – Elina Jutelyte hosts the AI for Freelance Business online conference on April 29–30, shifting the focus from AI hype to hands-on implementation. The program features workshops on automation workflows and AI-driven productization, helping freelancers turn technology into a measurable competitive advantage. You can register for free.
• How I Accidentally Launched a New Freelance Service, a podcast by Lizzie Davey – Launching a new service doesn’t require a dramatic reinvention; it can be an organic pivot within an existing client relationship. Lizzie shares how she moved from SEO blogging to LinkedIn strategy by building a three-pillar framework: positioning, prospect sourcing, and content creation.
• Why Outreach Feels So Hard Even When You Know What To Do – Outreach fails not from a lack of motivation, but poor prioritization, argues Lilli Graf. Most freelancers bury sales under admin and client work. By flipping this 'priority pyramid' and replacing vague intentions with structured rituals, freelancers can escape the feast-and-famine cycle and avoid 'booty call energy'—the mistake of reaching out only when desperate.
• Are Discovery Calls Worth It? by Sara Gibson – Free discovery calls can quickly turn into unpaid strategy sessions if you're not careful. Sara argues that these calls should be about 'Discovery, not Delivery.' To protect your energy, she recommends screening prospects first—for instance, via a short questionnaire on your website. The call primarily serves to verify mutual chemistry and clarify the project. Avoid giving away your know-how for free; if someone needs an in-depth consultation, offer them a paid strategic session instead.

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WEEKLY DIGEST #15 OF 2026

• Life Plan First, Business Plan Second, a podcast by Austin L. Church — Most freelancers start with a business plan, but positioning strategist Matthew Fenton advises the exact opposite: design your life plan first. By building a business that supports—rather than swallows—your lifestyle, you ensure long-term sustainability. However, this freedom requires a 'gig floor' of high standards and a reputation for extreme reliability; true success isn't just about having a vision, but about being the kind of professional clients can’t afford to lose.
• Future is Freelance Forum — Sarah Duran invites you to another Future is Freelance forum, on April 21st, this time focusing on “The Other Work”, what actually happens when you stop working in your business and start working on it. Together with guests, you will explore how to carve out space for strategic thinking and why it is vital for freelance survival. You can register for free.
• Jon Loomer’s Website for Advanced Meta Advertisers — Is your Meta ad strategy built on a stable technical foundation or fleeting marketing hacks? An accidental marketer (as he calls himself), Jon Loomer provides the definitive "anti-guru" blueprint for Meta ads via deep-dive articles and podcasts, prioritizing technical integrity and strategic simplicity over flashy marketing hacks.
• How to Nail Being a 'No' Person At Work — Mastering the art of 'no' is a strategic necessity for long-term freelance success. Jenny Holliday explores how to transform raw refusal into professional boundary-setting through the concept of 'No on my terms.' By aligning your responses with your core values and offering practical alternatives, you protect your capacity, prevent burnout, and (paradoxically) command greater respect from high-value clients.
• Why Consistency Is the Key to Success, by Sara Gibson — Freelancing demands an exhausting range of roles, but long-term success is built on consistency, not intensity. This guide introduces the 'Minimum Viable Day'; a set of three non-negotiables that keep your business afloat even when schedules are disrupted. By theming your workdays to reduce the high cost of context switching, you can build a resilient system that protects your sanity and maintains momentum during periods of freelance chaos.

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NEW MEMBER: MIROSLAV VOLOVEC

Meet our new member: Miroslav Volovec, a senior Shopify developer and React Native engineer who bridges the gap between high-scale e-commerce and specialized mobile utility. Specializing in complex digital ecosystems, Miroslav helps brands—from global labels like Universal Music to specialized B2B players—build the technical foundations necessary to scale across borders and platforms with absolute stability.

With over 15 years of IT experience and as the founder of 3NODE Software, his expertise spans the entire development lifecycle. He is the architect behind the official Balikobot Shopify app and has engineered intricate, multi-language storefronts serving over 60 countries. Whether he is scaling a 20-language global store for Somavedic or developing mission-critical mobile tools for waste tracking and construction management, Miroslav ensures every project is built for the long haul. He prioritizes "code that moves the business forward" over mere technical execution, delivering transparent, high-performance solutions and ongoing support that turn one-off launches into sustainable growth.

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WEEKLY DIGEST #14 OF 2026

• How to Know When to Quit — Quit when you don’t enjoy it, that is the advice from Austin L. Church. Knowing when to quit is just as important in business as perseverance. Clinging to non-functional projects costs us time and energy. These resources would be better utilized elsewhere. Free your hands for what you truly want. Before you leave, make sure you depart with a clean slate and a new experience.
• Avoiding Digital Productivity Traps — We often treat new apps or AI models as silver bullets for our professional chaos. However, Cal Newport warns that these tools frequently backfire, merely automating administrative bloat or 'efficiently' performing useless work. True value requires deep focus; the ultimate productivity hack isn't a new piece of software, but the radical discipline of carving out—and fiercely protecting—uninterrupted time blocks for meaningful work
• Freelancer Dry Spells: Practical Tips to Bridge Slow Periods — Market droughts and 'dry spells' are an inevitable part of the freelance lifecycle, not a sign of failure. Stefania Volpe argues that instead of succumbing to panic, successful freelancers treat these lulls as a window for strategic optimization: a time to re-engage former clients, update portfolios, or finally master those long-deferred skills. These quieter periods are an opportunity to prepare for the next wave of growth. Crucially, marketing and building financial reserves should be constant processes, maintained even during the busiest periods.
• How I Am Turning Things Around in Q2 — The season of New Year’s resolutions and high-octane starts is behind us; as Sara Gibson reminds us, Q2 has officially arrived. Now that the initial dust has settled, it is time for a reality check: are we actually executing the work we value, and are we still aligned with our strategic roadmap? If not, now is the moment to adjust course and enter Q2 with a refined perspective and intentional boundaries.

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AI FOR FREELANCE BUSINESS

AI for Freelance Business is a new two-day event organized by our member Elina Jutelyte, founder of the Freelance Business Community. Taking place online on April 29–30, 2026, this conference is specifically designed to help freelancers and solo professionals harness AI to grow their reach and automate time-consuming operations. You can register for free and view the full schedule on the website.

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NEW MEMBER: TOMAS KOMAREK

Meet our new member: Tomas Komarek, a senior paid media strategist and B2B SaaS growth expert who transforms disconnected advertising tactics into focused, high-performing systems. Specializing in LinkedIn, Google, and Meta Ads, Tomas helps high-growth teams—from pre-seed to Series C—build the strategic frameworks necessary to scale with clarity and confidence.

With a decade of experience and over €7M in annual budget under management, his expertise covers the entire paid media lifecycle—from upfront forecasting and "reverse-engineered" tracking to full-funnel execution. Whether he is accelerating payback periods for scaling startups or fine-tuning technical attribution for global brands, Tomas ensures every project is built on strategy over trends, delivering transparent results that prioritize bottom-line revenue over aesthetic vanity metrics.

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WEEKLY DIGEST #12 OF 2026

• The 6 Skills AI Will Never Replace — Daniel Pink outlines a strategic survival plan for the AI era, shifting the focus from technical output to six irreplaceable human faculties: strategic questioning, discernment (taste), relentless iteration, creative composition, talent allocation, and ethical integrity. While AI excels at generating raw material, Pink argues that a professional’s new value proposition lies in "Centaur thinking"—the ability to orchestrate machine speed with human wisdom to navigate digital noise and deliver meaningful quality.
• Startups.RIP — The startup graveyard is full of ideas that failed due to high costs or bad timing. Sites like Startups.rip track these "post-mortems." Today, AI allows you to revive these validated concepts at a fraction of the cost, turning once-failed VC dreams into lean, solo operations.
• "Working For Free" - What To Ask Yourself Before You Agree To A Skills Swap — Jenny Holliday explores the "grey area" of working for free through the lens of the professional skills swap. Moving beyond the "never work for free" cliché, she offers a framework for evaluating non-monetary trades—urging professionals to ensure that every "free" hour is a deliberate investment in their own goals, values, and genuine needs rather than a drain on their most valuable asset: time.
• Client Won't Pay for Services? A Lawyer Approved Plan for Freelancers, by Michelle Wilson — Non-payment isn’t a personal slight; it’s a process failure that requires a systematic response. This lawyer-approved guide moves you from passive waiting to assertive recovery. By identifying the four types of non-payers, it provides a clear escalation ladder—from the "good faith" reminder to the "work pause" ultimatum. The core message is clear; let your contract do the hard work so you don’t have to.
• Before & Laughter sits between a candid biography and a practical guide to personal development. It reveals Jimmy Carr not only as a brilliant comic but as a disciplined strategist, offering a wealth of insights on personal branding, efficiency, and mental resilience.

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BEFORE & LAUGHTER

If you are looking for a book that sits somewhere between a candid biography and a practical guide to personal development, Before & Laughter offers a deep dive into the mind of a man most people know only as a comedian with a very distinct laugh. Here, Jimmy Carr reveals himself to be an incredibly disciplined, well-educated, and strategic thinker who built his career on a solid foundation of intellect and methodical work.

The book maps his journey from a safe corporate marketing career to global stardom. For us freelancers, it offers a wealth of valuable insights on personal branding, efficiency, and mental resilience. Jimmy’s approach to failure is refreshingly and brutally honest, best summarized by his own words: "My failure is the secret of my success."

The title is also available as an excellent audiobook, narrated by Jimmy himself and enriched with several improvised comments and side-notes.

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