https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/ AI workflows and working notes for the one-person consultancy. en Fri, 13 Nov 2026 16:01:51 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/what-actually-belongs-in-a-weekly-client-status-update.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/what-actually-belongs-in-a-weekly-client-status-update.html An update is not a summary. Six lines answer the five questions your client is silently asking — and cut the 'just checking in' emails for good. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/turning-a-finished-project-into-a-case-study-with-real-numbers.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/turning-a-finished-project-into-a-case-study-with-real-numbers.html A case study is retrieval, not writing. Five numbers pulled at project close, one difficulty included, and three places to use the same ten minutes. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-three-numbers-behind-every-hourly-rate.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-three-numbers-behind-every-hourly-rate.html Most freelance rates are a guess with social proof. Billable hours, the cost of staying open and the value of the outcome set the real number. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-proposal-doesnt-need-writing.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-proposal-doesnt-need-writing.html A proposal is a decision transcribed, not a document written. What to settle before drafting, what to hand to a model, and the failure that costs money. Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-money-leak-view-finding-the-project-that-ate-your-month.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-money-leak-view-finding-the-project-that-ate-your-month.html A fixed-fee project can pay below your day rate without anyone noticing. Three numbers and one view expose it while it is still small enough to act on. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-monday-review.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-monday-review.html Four questions every Monday: did the pipeline move, is any project losing money, who owes you what, did anything ship. Twenty minutes, honest answers. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-four-seconds-after-you-say-your-price.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-four-seconds-after-you-say-your-price.html Say the number, then stop. Why the silence after your price decides the deal, and how to answer a client who pushes back without discounting. Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-follow-up-sequence-that-doesnt-sound-like-begging.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-follow-up-sequence-that-doesnt-sound-like-begging.html A quiet proposal is not a rejection. Four follow-ups over three weeks, each giving something instead of asking, with the exact wording and when to stop. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-decision-log-not-the-notes.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-decision-log-not-the-notes.html Notes record what was said. A decision log records what was settled, who decided, and what would reverse it. Four fields that stop repeat meetings. Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-client-brief-is-a-draft.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/the-client-brief-is-a-draft.html A brief describes a problem in the language of a solution. How to convert it into a scoped, falsifiable question before any analysis starts. Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/start-a-consulting-business-templates.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/start-a-consulting-business-templates.html A business plan lands no clients. These nine documents do: service page, rate card, call script, proposal, scope clause, invoice chase, and more. Tue, 10 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/set-up-seven-linked-notion-databases-without-a-tutorial.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/set-up-seven-linked-notion-databases-without-a-tutorial.html Seven linked databases, imported in the wrong order, break in predictable ways. Import, fix property types, add relations, then formulas - in that order. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/scope-doesnt-creep-it-gets-invited.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/scope-doesnt-creep-it-gets-invited.html Scope grows through requests that were each reasonable. A pre-decided threshold, three sentences that trade instead of absorb, and a trade ledger. Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/how-to-raise-your-rate-without-losing-the-client.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/how-to-raise-your-rate-without-losing-the-client.html A rate increase is a process, not an announcement. Two months notice, four sentences, scope offered instead of a discount, and the three answers to expect. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/how-to-estimate-hours-without-lying-to-yourself.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/how-to-estimate-hours-without-lying-to-yourself.html Estimates run low for structural reasons, not moral ones. Count the edges, estimate in half-days, keep the buffer, and record what actually happened. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/four-numbers-every-freelance-tracker-should-calculate.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/four-numbers-every-freelance-tracker-should-calculate.html Trackers record hours and call it bookkeeping. Four calculations turn the diary into a business: overage, actual rate, days-to-payment, vanished deadlines. Mon, 09 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/hourly-fixed-or-retainer-choosing-by-the-shape-of-the-work.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/hourly-fixed-or-retainer-choosing-by-the-shape-of-the-work.html Hourly sells time, fixed fee sells an outcome, retainer sells availability. Four questions about the work tell you which one to use - and when to mix them. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/delivering-bad-news-without-losing-the-relationship.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/delivering-bad-news-without-losing-the-relationship.html Bad news early is an update; the same news late is a breach. Four sentences, one choice, no apology paragraph - the wording that keeps a client. Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/define-done-before-you-start.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/define-done-before-you-start.html A deliverable list says what you produce. A definition of done says when you stop. Four questions, a revision boundary, and the handover message. Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/answering-thats-too-expensive-without-discounting-on-reflex.html https://consultant-stack.netlify.app/articles/answering-thats-too-expensive-without-discounting-on-reflex.html Too expensive is rarely a price complaint. Four shapes of the objection, and the response that fits each one—neither discount nor defense. Mon, 09 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT