The Top 10 Public Health Consulting Blog Posts of 2020!
Happy (almost) New Year! As 2020 wraps up and I prepare to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of my blog, I want to thank everyone who has read along, shared my posts, taken the time to comment, and participated in consulting spotlights and guest posts. I am thrilled that so many of you find value and support in my blog and look forward to lots of fantastic content in 2021!
The blog will continue to be biweekly and I’m already lining up lots of great topics. If you have any suggestions for topics, you are always welcome to contact me. I love to hear from readers!
THE TOP 10 PUBLIC HEALTH CONSULTING BLOG POSTS OF 2020
#1 Public Health Consultants: What’s Missing From Your LinkedIn Profile
This was by far my most popular post of the year. With the rapidly changing economy and landscape of consulting (especially with COVID pushing everything online), I think many of us are using LinkedIn more than ever. I really enjoy connecting with colleagues on LinkedIn and always use it as one way to vet consultants that request to join my networking group.
Since I look at A LOT of profiles for these join requests, in this blog post I share FIVE things that I often see missing from LinkedIn profiles.
#2 How Public Health Consultants Can Help During The COVID-19 Crisis
This post went up in late March. At the start of COVID (and continuing today), I see many organizations that are struggling to respond to this crisis for a variety of reasons- lack of time, personnel, expertise, etc.
So I’d like to help. I lead an incredible networking group of 120+ public health consultants. I polled the group to find out what skills, services, and expertise they can offer to organizations during this time. I compiled their answers into 15 categories to make it easy to scan.
If you or your organization needs any of the services listed, please fill out the form at the bottom of the blog post and I will link you up with consultant/s that are available for hire to provide that service. I am hopeful that this “one stop shop” will make it easier to find consultants versus trying to search for their websites.
#3 Monthly Public Health Consultant Spotlight: Brooke Mootry, MSW, CHES®
Each month, I introduce you to a public health consultant or entrepreneur and they will share their path to self-employment and outline key pieces of advice for aspiring business owners. In August I welcomed Brooke Mootry from Atlanta, Georgia (USA). She is the CEO of The Public Health Network. The Public Health Network is the solution for non-profits, foundations, government and any agency in need of qualified public health professionals or temporary staff.
Click to read Brooke’s fantastic interview, including her advice for aspiring consultants and entrepreneurs.
#4 Monthly Public Health Consultant Spotlight: LaTonya Bynum, MPH, CHES®
In January I welcomed LaTonya Bynum from Conway, Arkansas (USA) to the blog. She is the Founder, Owner and Principal Consultant of U.R.A. Resource Center, LLC, which is a public health consulting firm specializing in creative/technical writing, research analysis and public speaking.
She has created 9 distinct programs (Book Authorship, Public Speaker, CHES Exam Preparation, Grants, Consultant, Resources, Social Media Influencer, Resume and Internship/Mentorship) servicing over 400+ clients, 20+ organizations, 4 interns and 20+ mentees.
#5 Public Health Consultants Offer Complimentary Resources and Services During The COVID-19 Crisis
After writing about how public health consultants can help during COVID (top blog post #2), I wrote about the complimentary resources and services consultants were also offering at the time. Many were donating their time to help individuals and organizations with professional development, health education, and workplace response needs.
This guest post was written by Rebecca Zosel, MPH. She is the Director, Zosel Consulting and Co-founder, Australian Public Health Consultants Network.
Self-employed workers were hit hard by the pandemic. As organizations scaled back and focused on delivering in a work-from-home world, many ‘non-essential’ contracts were cancelled or indefinitely postponed. While freelancers are used to managing the ebb and flow of work, the drop in demand for consultants was unprecedented and impacted all of us in one way or another – economically, physically, mentally and socially. Rebecca offered some tips to support you and your consultancy to navigate through these uncertain times.
#7 Monthly Public Health Consultant Spotlight: Vanessa Da Costa, MPH
In May I welcomed Vanessa Da Costa to the blog, where she joined us from South Africa. She is the CEO & Consultant of Chilombo Global Career Services, LLC, a career services & consulting platform specializing in public health, healthcare, & global development.
Vanessa’s ideal client is anyone who is looking to upgrade their job prospects. Most of her clients are early career professionals, however she also works with mid and executive level professionals on everything from CV/resume revamps to mock interviews. Resume revamps are her most popular service because they’re the foundation of any job application.
#8 Monthly Public Health Consultant Spotlight: Jessica Steier, DrPH, PMP
In November I welcomed Dr. Jessica Steier from Jupiter, Florida (USA). She is the co-founder and CEO of Vital Statistics Consulting, LLC (VSC). VSC works with organizations to understand the data they have available and the questions they wish to answer. They design evaluations of health policies and programs, construct analytic plans, conduct advanced analytics (quantitative and qualitative), and interpret findings for different stakeholder audiences.
As a passion project, Dr. Steier formed a wholly owned subsidiary of VSC, The Unbiased Science Podcast, which she co-hosts with her longtime friend, Dr. Andrea Love (who has a PhD in immunology and microbiology).
#9 Please Stop Asking Public Health Consultants To Work For Free
One of the great challenges of posting free content (on YouTube, podcasts, blogs, etc.) is that some people then expect you to share everything you know for free. This happens often to consultants and freelancers.
In this blog post, I share why this is so frustrating and differentiate between the types of content/resources we offer for free vs. paid services. This is a must read for consultants, especially if you are just starting out.
#10 Monthly Public Health Consultant Spotlight: Alisa Howard, CHW
In March I welcomed Alisa Howard from Las Vegas, NV (USA). She is the Owner & Chief Health Consultant for Minority Health Consultants. Alisa’s ideal clients are stakeholders who already have it in their mission to help minority populations improve their health, because they see the value of the work and return on investment. She supports clients through policy and advocacy work, as well as training and health education.
In addition to her consulting work, Alisa is a talented teacher and mentor who loves to teach the community health worker course at the College of Southern Nevada.
Visit her interview for five great pieces of advice for aspiring consultants.
Are there other blog posts you loved that didn’t make the top 10? Comment below and share your favorites!