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Do you write, create, or do some kind of knowledge work?
Then you might be interested in Google NotebookLM AI tool, which is newly available also in EU countries.
NotebookLM makes it easier to write and develop your own ideas using sources you upload to the tool, which are then processed by the Google Gemini 1.5 Pro AI model. NotebookLM assists with research, writing, and editing, while keeping your data private.
The development of this tool involves Steven Johnson, the author of several popular science bestsellers. Another respected expert on knowledge management and the author of the book Building a Second Brain, Tiago Forte, describes NotebookLM as “the best software ever created for leveraging AI in your creative work.”
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Our freelance meetup at Impact Hub Ljubljana in Slovenia on July 31 is only a few weeks away!
If you wish to join us, the free registration link and other details are included in the LinkedIn and Facebook events.
Our recent international freelance meetups in Dresden, Barcelona and Madrid were each absolutely unique. Hopefully, the summer meetup in Ljubljana—only 100 kilometers away from Slovenia’s coast—will be just as colorful!
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How are you doing as a freelancer?
This is not a rhetorical question. We are deeply interested in your point of view, so we have decided to organize a survey that maps your freelance business from A to Z.
The questionnaire is anonymous, and it takes just 15 minutes to complete.
Thanks so much for your support and time, it's for a good cause! 💙
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Here are some pictures from our freelance meetup at the Impact Hub Dresden on June 20–21, 2024.
The longer 2-day format proved to be perfectly suited for long conversations, informal networking, and engaged debates.
On the first day, we held a 3-hour deep-dive debate with Robert Vlach about advanced freelance pricing and client negotiations, upselling techniques, growth strategies, preventing costly mistakes, and much more. The second day included a closed-door workshop debate on individual pricing and various business models for scaling freelance work.
We also joined the Hub’s community breakfast, visited the local university campus for lunch, and enjoyed long dinners while talking late into the night.
All of this happened thanks to Impact Hub Dresden’s team and its founder and CEO, Lorenz Weil. We highly recommend their two beautiful coworking spaces in the heart of Dresden as an ideal work setup for freelancers. No wonder there are so many of them among the Hub’s members already. Some also joined the meetup, and it was fantastic!
Next month, we will hold a similar freelance meetup at Impact Hub Ljubljana in Slovenia.
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A couple of weeks ago, Freelancermap published their groundbreaking Freelancer Study 2024, which we both supported and reported on with selected highlights.
The final, extensive PDF report also included quotes from 11 leading freelancing experts, including Robert Vlach as the founder of Freelancing.eu and best-selling author of The Freelance Way. His recommendations quoted in the report were distilled from written answers to submitted questions.
Here are Robert’s answers, published in full as a follow-up. They offer deeper insights into various aspects of freelance entrepreneurship, such as pricing, sales, business negotiations, career strategies, and more. Enjoy!
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Are you struggling to stand out in the crowded freelance market? Austin Church shares a game-changing strategy in this extensive article, encouraging freelancers to consider productized services as a method to boost their business. This involves repackaging your skills into clear, fixed-price offers with defined scopes and deliverables.
As Church says, productized services streamline your workflow and make your offers more attractive by solving direct problems, which means less time marketing and more time earning. He outlines a step-by-step process to transform your freelance offerings, from identifying popular services to combining them into compelling, profitable packages. However, he also mentions the drawbacks, suggesting that they are not suitable for every client or situation.
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Let us introduce you to Impact Hub Dresden, which runs two unique coworking places, where our international freelance meetup takes place next week.
Here’s their intro from our invitation:
“Impact Hub Dresden is a proud member of the international Impact Hub Network. It operates two beautiful coworking spaces known as Hauptbahnhof and Galerie/Zentrum, both close to each other by walking distance. They boast a perfect central location and ideal working environment for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and transformative organizations. You may enjoy carefully designed office space with flexible membership plans, friendly community atmosphere and memorable events.”
In other words, a perfect workplace for freelancers 💜
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In this older but very relevant article, Nick Maggiulli presents how to think about time in relation to economic activities, such as investing or freelancing, and money through the lens of maintaining long-term health.
Maggiulli explains that even a moderate investment of time in exercise (e.g., four hours a week) can yield substantial benefits, adding years of healthy life, which, as we all know, is crucial for us independent professionals.
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Our international freelance meetup at Impact Hub Dresden on June 20–21 is almost here!
Register for free — and check out the program of the event on LinkedIn or Facebook.
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What (not) to do when a potential customer won’t disclose their budget? First of all, avoid drafting a proposal without sufficient information, says Matthew Fenton, who offers some valuable recommendations in the article.
"As a soloist, your time is your inventory. And a proposal is a significant investment of your time. Before writing one, identify the budget owner, the buying process and the fee expectation. Always."
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