Apologies for this week being a bit different. Thanks for joining for the first time @Laurent Sou @Miles Chu And welcome back @Ken Rodgers @James C Wilson We started talking about openclaw vs Claude cowork and code. Then jumped into some awesome updates from James on the app he has been developing (which will be out in the next 60 days!) He will be presenting it next week so make sure to be here at 5est. Talked slightly about OpenAi Codex use cases and compared it to Claude Code Ken also landed a new full time job!

Get to know other people in the group. This post is only open until April 1st

Wanted to give a shoutout to @Alexander Cebulla. Closed his first large automation customer (5 figs). Alexander you will not forget that feeling. It will fade a bit when you close more in the future, but you won't forget it. I still remember my first freelance client from 2021, my first enterprise customer, and my first 100k customer. Happy for you. Use the momentum to deliver the highest quality results. Remember it is always easier to keep current clients happy than it is to land more clients.

We just dropped a brand new course on Claude Cowork. All of the resources are in the classroom. 13 sections, 15 projects, 3 hours Section 1: What Is Cowork? Section 2: Installation & Setup Section 3: Security & Privacy Section 4: Global & Folder Instructions Section 5: File Management Section 6: Document & Report Creation Section 7: Data & Spreadsheet Work Section 8: Browser Use (Claude in Chrome) Section 9: Skills Section 10: MCP Connectors Section 11: Plugins Section 12: Troubleshooting Section 13: Real-World Workflows & Outro Have fun

Hey everyone, Just a win, I want to celebrate with this group. In mid-February, I received my first payment of around 3,100 EUR (~3,660 USD) for one week's work. I started freelancing last October, focusing on digitalization consulting, implementation support, and hands-on project work for small trades businesses. Here's what I've learned so far: Lesson 1: Get clients through in-person networking All three of my clients came through personal connections — two from industry meetups focused on digitalization in the trades, and one through my social circle. Nothing has beaten showing up in person. Lesson 2: Always come prepared What made the biggest difference in converting those connections into working relationships was the prep work I did before each first meeting. Client 1 — A small business owner in the food industry. I analyzed their website with SEMRush ahead of our first meeting and came in with a full report. We had a great conversation, and I advised them on several issues I'd found. I made an offer for ongoing SEO services (~1,000 USD per month for 6 months), which was outside their budget, but it built goodwill and established the relationship. Client 2 — A trades business owner who needed help selecting industry-specific software. I used Claude to build an exhaustive questionnaire beforehand, which made the conversation much more productive. I've been working pro bono so far (this is the guy from my social circle), but am currently figuring out how to transition to paid services. Client 3 — The one who paid me. They had an idea for a larger project involving automating a manual process. I showed up to the first meeting with an MVP, which impressed them enough to offer payment on the spot. We're now building it out further.