Stacks: one you want and one you need

But which one comes first?

Juan Gonzalez

Oct 22, 2023

Hello friend.

This week there’s a followup to last week’s topic.

And can you believe this is the #15 newsletter issue I’ve sent?

That’s a milestone! 🎉

Anyway, let’s get on with the content.

Main quest 🛡

What we’re going to talk about this time is…

You first have to stack skills if you want to later stack bills.

That’s I think the best way I can put it. And you know what it’s even better?

That it rhymes.

What a killer start for a newsletter entry. If I may say so myself.

As a knowledge worker, whether that’s on the freelancing or the solopreneurship route, you have to wear many hats.

And you have to be good enough at those when starting so that there’s a chance for it to take off and not be “just another project”.

That’s where the concept of “skill stack” comes into place.

The idea of being very good at one particular skill and not doing anything else worked before. For many decades that was the goal.

To specialize on 1 thing and become the very best at that. That assumes you’d be working at a full time job for a prolonged amount of time.

But then… The world changed.

And working a full time job is going from being the rule to being the exception fast.

With so much competition out there between people going their own way and doing their own thing online, a particular skill stack can (and will) be your differentiator.

You can have a broader stack or a more niche one.

Like for example…

If you are into writing, you can do article writing + social media content (Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook (is that a thing still?) and such) + email writing.

If you’re more of a media person, you can do short-form video editing (TikToks/IG reels/YT shorts/etc) + podcast editing + content repurposing.

An example of a niche stack would be…

Technical writing + email copywriting (or ghostwriting) + adapting that content for technical audiences.

Or something like social media content creation + asset management for ecommerce platforms + fluency in other languages to expand into other markets.

Those last 2 examples might sound too “out of the blue” but they’re definitely useful and I haven’t seen many people doing something like it.

Keep in mind that having a skill stack is not tied to any particular role. I know many people think having a set of skills is good for when you’re trying to get freelance gigs.

But you can use your skill stack to get clients on the freelance side while you use them to bootstrap and independent business.

I know (and I know that you know) some people who have a consulting biz + have an online creator biz + a side hustle or are earning some extra $$ through affiliate marketing, or joint ventures, or investments, or any other medium.

The point is that a good skill stack gives you leverage.

A stack is not just a group of random skills put together because “it’s in demand”.

I mean, sure, having in demand skills work.

But a powerful stack is when the skills are interrelated and have a synergistic effect. The value they create is greater than the sum of its parts.

You know the deal. It’s no longer 1+1=2.

It’s more like 1+1+1+1=8.

Action step you can take now:

Take stock of your current skills and interests.

I’m pretty sure you have a lot even if at first you don’t think so.

Your interests can be further developed into useful skills if you put in the time and effort.

And your current skills can be turned into “superpowers” as well or not taken into account for the part.

It will be useful if you list them out because once you have them out there on paper (or a text based format) you can go and hunt for the intersections.

For instance, if you’re good at marketing and have an interest in small products, you can learn how to use no code to build an MVP and test the market response.

And even if you have listed out all your skills/interests and still don’t find any intersections or anything you can consider useful.

Remember I’m just a reply away ;)