Odds & Ends
Gathering, Resources, Reading, and More
Let's meet in person
Are you going to Netroots Nation? It is August 7-9 in New Orleans. I will be presenting twice!
First, I will be presenting on "How to Build a Rapid Response Content Machine" on Friday, August 8 at 2pm. The training is about how to establish and maintain an effective rapid response system. I’ll be showing how to set up efficient news and social media monitoring systems, create quick-turn content that maintains message discipline, build reusable content templates, establish clear approval workflows, and implement performance measurement strategies.
Second, Chorus AI's Analytics & Marketing Studio was selected for the New Tools Showcase, which is kind of a pitch-off with audience voting at the end! It's at 12:30pm on Saturday, August 9. The Studio is really cool, and if you're there I’d love to win your vote.
Or if you are interested in training, join me this week at Center for Digital Strategy’s webinar August 1 (get 50% off your ticket with the code ChorusAI50). My session is "Good To Great: How To Be A Better AI-Assisted Writer" where I will cover practical techniques to transform your writing process. It will include hands-on portions and covers principles like providing effective context, developing a personal style guide, and mastering format-specific instructions. I’ll also have some real-world case studies and go over how to leverage AI while maintaining your authentic voice.
I'll also be at all of these places, and I'd love to see you.
Cool AI Sh*T: August 22 in New York City (hosted by
, Chorus Community member — email him ben@stratovation.digital for the details!)
Stories + Money = Change: September 18-19 in Minneapolis (hosted by Mary Grace Wolf, Chorus Community member)
Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance Social Impact Conference: October 24 in New York City
GPA Grants Summit: October 29-November 1 in Baltimore
Cause Camp: November 4-5 in Pittsburgh
Help Our Community
One of the biggest holes I noticed when I started consulting was the lack of industry standards for most of the things I was trying to do, but especially for information about running my business. So we started surveying our community and compiling reports with crowdsourced knowledge.
Our latest survey is live now here. We’re creating a report all about business development. Where do your clients come from, and how do you get them? Take 5 minutes and fill out our survey. When you're done, please share it with your community, too, so we can create an even cooler resource!
Similar Resources (they're cool, that's why you should help us with our newest one!)
Rate Report: a survey about prices, fees, and payment terms
Tech Stack: recommendations for all of the key software independent consultants in the social impact space need
Time & Resources: a survey about how independent consultants spend their time and resources, and the challenges to getting things done
Budget Report: how do independent consultants spend money on their businesses, and what provides the best return on investment
New Consultant Support Center
Hannah Fine (Chorus Community member) and I are working on a piece together about the things we'd wish we'd known at the beginning of our respective consulting journeys (along with the lessons we've learned along the way). We'd love to include advice or pro-tips for new consultants from you!
If there's something you wish you'd known when you began consulting, or a piece of wisdom that's stuck with you over the months and years. please share it as a reply to me (sam@chorusai.co) or leave a comment on this post.
Good logo for our community? Heck yeah!
Want More Community?
The Chorus Consultant Community hosts a small and select group of independent consultants in the social impact space. We created it specifically for nonprofit and political consultants who understand both the rewards and challenges of independent work in this sector.
We started the community a few months ago, and it's been going great. If you're interested in joining, let me know (sam@chorusai.co) and I can add you to the waitlist. It's free to join. The community gathers on Slack and Zoom with some in-person stuff happening around the edges.
As a member, here are a few ways we'd hope you'd benefit from the community:
Connecting with experienced consultants who truly understand our unique challenges
Exchanging insights on everything from client management to pricing strategies
Staying informed about AI and technology developments relevant to our field
Discovering collaboration opportunities with trusted peers
Networking and finding new business
Thanks for reading The Chorus Consultant Community! This post is public so feel free to share it.
Other resources we've put together for independent consultants
Proposal Guide & Template - A practical approach to writing effective proposals here.
Leadership Mindset Guide - Creating your own definition of success and growth as an independent consultant here.
Biz Dev Basics for Independent Consultants - Straightforward approaches for growing your practice without feeling inauthentic or uncomfortable here.
Things People Shared I Enjoyed Reading
(Chorus Community member) sharedthison LinkedIn. Lots in here that had me nodding, but this lit me up:
Donors need to grow the hell up and stop expecting to be fed palatable narratives about injustice before they’re motivated to do something about it. Fundraisers need to help donors evolve their thinking instead of constantly conforming to their preferences and whims.
Ezra Klein's interview with Kyla Scanlon has me thinking a lot about attention as end point rather than a means to an end. Intentionally being histrionic: what's all this attention for?!?!?!?! More seriously, if the point is to get attention, and that's the whole and only point, then so much else I care about gets worse. I have been bemoaning that too many movies are running way too long and need an editor. I wonder if this is a symptom of the attention economy.
The latest poll on how people are using AI shows many Americans are using it for search, but a third have used it for work. I've heard it said a few times that the big AI winners will actually be Google and Apple, because they control the user interface through phones and tablets and thus can harvest the true scarce resource of user information that will provide true differentiation. The rise of AI-powered search is, to me, an early sign of things trending in this direction. AI usage will rise through the main user interface channels, and right now that’s search.
wroteabout something I've been thinking about lately. If you asked me to put money on it, I think the left has not even hit rock bottom yet. By that, I mean the left lacks a vision and unifying theory for what kind of future we want. Until we have that, the ascendant right will keep winning.