Mike Orchard runs SkillsHiveX, and in a couple of his 15 years as a solopreneur his business passed £250K in turnover with no employees. His approach: independent professionals teaming up around each project. We also get into burnout, why freelance marketplaces race to the bottom, and why Mike thinks today's AI prices can't last.

00:00 Intro

00:45 Who Mike is, what SkillsHiveX is

01:42 The question at his leaving drinks

02:49 From blockchain to AI

03:57 Not a freelance marketplace

05:46 Peer-to-peer, no end clients

07:10 Inside the weekly community call

09:02 The money: cost and who pays

11:23 "I found my tribe"

13:32 AI removes admin, frees conversation

15:25 Joining without a project or budget

16:41 Burnout: Mike's own story

18:16 Traits that put you at risk

19:32 Measuring success differently

21:35 Meetings in the woods

22:44 Will AI replace us?

26:07 Can today's AI prices last?

28:04 SwarmX: the open Wednesday call

29:17 What to stop doing alone

ABOUT MIKE ORCHARD

Mike runs SkillsHiveX, a community of solopreneurs who build project teams together instead of hiring. It grew out of Skills Hive, the project management consultancy he ran on his own for 15 years.

SkillsHiveX on Discord

Mike on LinkedIn

SwarmX, the open community call: Wednesdays, 11:00 UK time. Joining is free.

BE OUR NEXT GUEST

Got a story worth telling? A business you built your own way, a fresh take on marketing or AI, an unexpected way of solving a problem, or a new start in another country? Write to me at maricleostudio@gmail.com, you might be the guest of a future episode of Le Marketing & Co.

Vous avez une histoire à raconter ? Écrivez-moi à maricleostudio@gmail.com, vous serez peut-être l'invité d'un prochain épisode.

ABOUT MARICLEO STUDIO

MariCleo Studio helps small businesses and independent professionals clarify their positioning, strengthen their digital visibility and build a marketing system that holds together.

Website MariCleo Studio

Watch the version on YouTube

Ce nouvel épisode décrypte les grandes tendances de l’intelligence artificielle analysées par le rapport BOND 2025…

Mais surtout : ce que cela change concrètement pour le marketing aujourd’hui.

📌 Au programme :

Pourquoi l’IA redéfinit la personnalisation client

Comment les marques agiles utilisent déjà GPT, Runway ou Midjourney

Et comment adapter votre stratégie sans perdre votre singularité

🛠️ Je partage aussi des outils concrets et des exemples testés en conditions réelles (PME, indépendants, e-commerçants).

💡 Une version article enrichie avec recommandations et visuels sera publiée dans les prochains jours sur mon compte LinkedIn.

🔗 Retrouvez-moi sur LinkedIn pour encore plus de ressources et d’outils à tester :

👉 LinkedIn