Welcome back to The Lightbulb! And a special welcome to those who joined the party over the holidays.

If you can stomach one more New Year’s reflection, I'll take a minute on where this email started and why it's ok that I don't know where it's going.

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I started The Lightbulb as a vehicle to distill and share my POV on the solo consulting experience — you know, the simple/tricky/frustrating/thrilling experience of acknowledging, packaging, and independently deploying your hard-earned corporate expertise into profitable client work.

That’s still a macro-umbrella for everything I publish here, but if you’ve been here since the beginning, you might have noticed that the topics shift over time and the scope has narrowed over three 'eras':

Now, I don’t think I’ve said everything I’ll ever say on each of those themes. Just like anyone else, my understanding and perspective continues to evolve, particularly through my work with clients on these exact activities.

But, I’d rather not keep whacking a dead horse.

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Will 50 more examples of a niche strategy help you hit an epiphany about finding your own unique lane?

Are there many other ways I can say “visual IP assets are the most efficient way of telegraphing your unique value within the expertise economy”?

I mean, maybe, but I’d rather keep moving and keep it fresh.

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So, what will The Lightbulb 4.0 focus on?

The grand, definitive answer: I don’t know.

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What I do know is that the first three eras came about organically by:

1. Following my own interests, influences, and curiosities under the umbrella of expertise packaging and monetization
2. Double-clicking where things caught your interest
3. Doubling-down when something merited deep exploration
4. And yes, highlighting ways we could work together along the way.

So that’s what I’ll continue doing. And I trust the next era will reveal itself.

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So, for now, not much will change — e.g., I’ve actually got a great installment of ‘Very Niche!’ for you tomorrow, and Intellectual Headshots sprints remain my flagship service for soloists, so expect more client examples and process reflections.

But I thought the new year offered an opportunity for a mutual reframe:

I’m a solo consultant on a learning journey, just like you, and The Lightbulb is my travel journal.

My only ask of you: let me know when you see something you like, and when we should pull over and dig in deeper.

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Thanks for joining me. See you tomorrow.

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💡

-Wes

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P.S. If you'd like to catch up on the highlights of the prior Lightbulb eras, check out my end-of-year recaps:

• ​2024 - (1.0) 'First Mile Foundations' of building a solo consulting business
• ​2025 - (2.0) Finding your niche and (3.0) Turning your expertise visual