Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Why you should use a password manager Deep dive on how to set up and use LastPass

How to receive payment from a client in another country when your invoice is denominated in your own currency and when the invoice is in a foreign currency How to send payment to a subcontractor or vendor in another country when the recipient's account is denominated in your currency or in a foreign currency How to set up a recipient for payment – the account info you'll need A deep dive on how to use Transferwise

When you have time between projects, here are some ideas on which skills you might want to spend time investing in. Also, some tips on resources to use. Suggestions include: Writing Slides Data science and programming Data visualization Software for creative professionals Core business skills Excel, PowerPoint, Google Suite Social media Google Search Liberal arts, science, engineering Industry-specific topics Drawing Economics Foreign language Suggested resources include LinkedIn Learning Udacity edx.org Cognitive Class Coursera Iversity Youtube

In this episode, tips on how NOT to submit expenses to a client. And my suggestion on one right way to do it.

This episode is U.S. specific, as I discuss the Paycheck Protection Program, which is an element in the CARES Act passed by Congress yesterday. Topics covered: Who is eligible for the loan The maximum amount you can borrow How you can get the loan forgiven. Yes, I said forgiven. The interest rate for any portion of the loan not forgiven The application deadline And whether you can double dip if you already got a Small Business Administration Economic Injurty Disaster Loan (EIDL) related to COVID-19 Useful links: The full text of the CARES Act https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116hr6379ih/html/BILLS-116hr6379ih.htm Articles from bench.co that do a great job of summaring the Paycheck Protection Program as well as the full CARES Act https://bench.co/blog/tax-tips/coronavirus-relief-bill/ https://bench.co/blog/operations/paycheck-protection-program/ A press release on the PPP from the US Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/ac3081f6-14ae-4e6f-9197-172ede28badd/71AB6CB05A08E369E0D488A80B3874A5.faqs---paycheck-protection-program-faqs-for-small-businesses.pdf A blog post from the Economic Innovation Group that has a nice table summarizing the key features of the Paycheck Protection Program https://eig.org/news/understanding-the-paycheck-protection-program A link to CareerOneStop.org, which has links to the Unemployment program website for every state https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/UnemploymentBenefits/find-unemployment-benefits.aspx A summary from Golenbock Eiseman law firm https://www.golenbock.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GEABP-Alert-Federal-Assistance-For-Small-Business-Under-the-Cares-Act-March-27.pdf Forbes article https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2020/03/27/paycheck-protection-program-looks-like-a-very-sweet-deal/#29fe80b51c60

Marc Feigen is considered the leading CEO advisor in the United States; Fortune magazine called him the "CEO Whisperer." Marc currently advises a dozen Fortune 200 CEOs, and in today's episode he shares the questions those CEOs are facing and the steps they are taking to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. To learn more about Marc's firm, visit: http://feigenadvisors.com/

Umbrex member C.V. Ramachandran has three decades of consulting experience, having served as a senior leader at Booz Allen Hamilton, A.T. Kearney, AlixPartners, and Accenture. Today he runs his own consulting practice focused on digital transformation. In our discussion, C.V. shares a perspective on the impact the coronavirus will have on B2C and B2B businesses. To follow up with C.V., connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cv-ramachandran/

In a matter of days, Umbrex member Kaihan Krippendorf has organized a fantastic event to support the fight against COVID-19: the 2020 Outthinker Virtual Summit. 100% of the proceeds will go to charities working on COVID-19. Kaihan has lined up 20 amazing speakers who have each agreed to donate an hour of their time to providing a perspective on the crisis and answering questions. This online event is taking place April 6 and 7, and I definitely encourage you to check out the website and consider signing up. If you attend live, you'll be able to submit questions to the speakers. If you can't attend every session, they'll be available afterwards for registered attendees. Listeners of this show can use the discount code UNLEASHED30 to get a 30% discount (disclosure statement: I do not receive a referral fee.) Read more at: https://summit.outthinkerroundtables.com/ In this episode, Kaihan explains how he and his team pulled the summit together so quickly, and provides tips on how you can set up something similar yourself – perhaps a summit for your industry or a functional area where you focus. Kaihan discusses the technology tools used to pull it together, including: Zoom – Webinar version Ticket Tailor to sell the tickets Stripe and PayPal to collect payment Squarespace for the summit's web page Doodle to coordinate speaker schedules

Daniel Weiner is a prominent attorney with forty years of experience serving companies in distress, guiding them through restructuring efforts. He is widely published on the subject of bankruptcy, including co-author of the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide and contributing author to Bankruptcy and Its Impact on LLC Membership Interests, published by The Institute of Continuing Legal Education. In today's episode, Weiner provides a broad overview of how restructuring works, and then in the second half suggests some specific steps for owners of small businesses impacted by the global pandemic. To learn more about his work, visit http://www.schaferandweiner.com/

If you are looking to stay productive while between projects, one way to use the time productively is to invest time in creating or improving the marketing collateral of your firm. In this episode, I share 14 recommendations. I mention some previous episodes of this show in my discussion, including: Episode 211: LinkedIn Profile Best Practices Episode 235: Mark Williams on creating an amazing LinkedIn profile Episode 140: Creating a project list Episode 121: Creating a portfolio of sanitized work