Hit Subscribe Freelancer Q&A

How Did You (Erik) Arrive at Your Niche?

Long ago, when I was blogging more regularly about identifying niches, a reader asked me how I found mine. While I don't do a ton of exposition content, I thought this topic might be interesting for viewers.
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Links of the week:
Spin.AI published a breakdown of the best SSPM solutions for Google Workspace, worth a look alongside their Google Workspace backup and recovery offering.
Unusual VC has a useful piece on accelerating your content flywheel.
Workato covered the top Marketo integrations worth knowing about.
Wrangle shared a collection of help desk ticket response templates for support teams.
Tricentis put out a practical guide on how to speed up Oracle deployments.

Should You Unbundle Strategy and Labor in Services Work?

If you're offering services as a freelancer, does it make sense to unbundle strategy from labor? This episode digs into that question.
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Links of the week:
Careflow published a guide to patient referral leakage and how to reduce it.
CSuite Content took a look at the leadership brand behind Partake Brewing's Ted Fleming.
Enov8 broke down the differences between data mesh vs data lake architectures.
InfluxData published a practical guide to using D3.js with React.

How to Avoid Being Treated Like an Employee?

If you have a single big client, engaging your services for an unspecified amount of time, it can be easy to fall into an employee-employer style relationship. How can you avoid that?
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Picks:--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CSuite Content published a guide to brand strategy consulting firms and how to choose the right partner.
Enov8 shared a post explaining Duck Creek data masking and why it matters for insurance platforms.
InfluxData added a glossary entry breaking down database indexing and how it improves query performance.
Unusual VC published a piece on AI in software development and what it means for startups.
Careflow recently covered the patient intake process and how healthcare teams can improve efficiency.
Tricentis, who makes testing tools, published a guide to quality management.
Workato published an ultimate guide to optimizing NPS and improving customer feedback workflows.
Autify shared a primer on AI test case generation and how AI can speed up software testing.
Spin.AI published a guide to Google Workspace backup and recovery.

Is Improving Code Performance a Good Niche?

For a while, I was getting a lot of questions about whether something would be a good niche for indies. In this video, I answer the question of whether improving code performance is a good niche.
Join us to learn more.
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Links of the week:
CSuite Content published an introduction to personal PR and managing your personal brand.
Enov8 has a new guide to GCP data masking.
InfluxData added a glossary entry explaining overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Unusual VC published a piece on AI in software development and what it means for startups.
Careflow recently covered patient intake management software on their blog.
Tricentis, who makes testing tools, put out an introduction to AI test automation.
Workato shared a guide to logistics automation.
Autify published a primer on AI quality assurance.
Spin.AI broke down the differences between CASB vs SSPM

What Is the Difference Between a Niche and Positioning?

You may hear the terms "niche" and "positioning" tossed around a lot, often interchangeably. What do these really mean, and what's the difference?
Join us to learn more.
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Links of the week:
CSuite Content just shared a guide to enterprise reputation management.
Enov8 has a new checklist for DLP.
InfluxData recently updated a node red dashboard tutorial for 2026.
Unusual VC has an interesting explainer of how startups can pivot.
Careflow started publishing to their blow recently, including a post about longitudinal health records (and why they don't work).
Tricentis, provider of software testing tools, updated their offering around data integrity testing.

How Do You Start Consulting?

Maybe you're currently employed or between jobs. But it occurs to you that you want to go off on your own and start consulting (as opposed to freelancing with labor services). How do you do that?
Join us to learn more.
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Links of the week:
CSuite Content has a practical guide to executive bios for business leaders.
Enov8 shared a clear explainer on Oracle ERP data masking.
InfluxData put together a getting-started guide to in-memory databases.
Unusual VC explored how AI is changing software development.
Careflow is a referral management platform for healthcare organizations.
Tricentis explains AI Quality Assurance for modern testing teams.

How Can You Go from Employed to Freelancing with Low Risk?

Plenty of employees entertain the idea of going freelance. But one of the biggest barriers to entry is the perceived risk of doing so. Is there a way to jump to freelancing with minimal risk?
Join us to learn more.
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Links of the week:
CSuite Content published a practical guide to Gen-Z slang for business leaders.
Enov8 shared a clear explainer on SAP data masking.
InfluxData put together a getting-started guide to MQTT.
Unusual Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on technical founders.
Careflow is a referral management platform for healthcare organizations.
Tricentis offers Oracle App Testing for teams running Oracle E-Business Suite.

Should I Gain Leadership Experience Before Freelancing Programming?

In this installment, a question submitter wonders whether it would be better to earn promotions into leadership before leaving the salaried world, or whether to leave as an individual contributor. Which is the right path?
Join us to learn more.
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Links of the week:
CSuite Content published a practical guide on how often executives should post on social media, including benchmarks and strategy tips for staying visible without becoming noise.
Enov8 shared a clear explainer on test data in auditing, breaking down what it is, why it matters, and how teams should think about it from a compliance and risk perspective.
InfluxData put together a solid glossary entry on data lakes, covering what they are, how they work, and when they make sense compared to other data architectures.

Can You Avoid Having Your Efficiency Questioned by Having Flat Rates?

Occasionally, you might find yourself with a whale client, or at least a profitable one, that treats you poorly and shows no trust in you. How should you handle this?
Join us to learn more.
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Links of the week:
Enov8 published a helpful guide to data masking tools (and they also define data masking, if you're interested).
Our friends over at CSuite Content published an interesting guide to becoming a thought leader.
And finally, Tricentis put out a round-up of AI testing tools.

How to Handle a Lucrative Client with No Trust in You

Occasionally, you might find yourself with a whale client, or at least a profitable one, that treats you poorly and shows no trust in you. How should you handle this?
Join us to learn more.
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
Links of the week:
Enov8 has a helpful guide to test data management.
The DataOpsZone community site has a handy explainer about the concept of referential integrity.
This guide to ephemeral environments from Test Environment Management.