running an info business – AIIP Connections Blog

AI Isn’t Coming for Information Professionals … But Only If We Engage as Partners

By Michael Ridley

Editors Note: This is part of our series from speakers and attendees of our AIIP 2026 Symposium. Michael will be presenting this topic Friday, April 9 at 7:00 pm ET. Register here.

Once again, it’s an honour to be speaking at the AIIP symposium whose members I consider my peers.

Of course, I’ll be talking about AI. Isn’t everyone? Are you bored of it all yet?

Last year, we talked about the importance of explainability: the imperative of AI to explain why and how it made decisions and recommendations. Still important IMHO. But things move on, and quickly, in AI.

DIY Marketing for Infopreneurs – Part 1: Expanding my Marketing Sphere

by Kelly Berry

As with many AIIPers (I suspect), much of my work comes from referrals, word of mouth, and repeat business. Some of my fellow AIIP members have recommended me to clients, leading to more work (Go AIIP!)

Becoming a Grant Writer – an Ongoing Journey!

Becoming a Grant Writer – an Ongoing Journey!

By Roger Magnus

As a nonprofit prospect researcher helping nonprofits find new foundation funders, I realized in the fall of 2024 that I needed to add grant writing as a service to my business. For a while, I had seen nonprofit postings requiring consultants with both grant research and writing experience, and felt I was missing opportunities without the writing piece. From speaking with other grant writing consultants, I learned that grant writers often are asked to write an updated grant application periodically to the same funder – an element of sustainability that my grant research projects lacked.

How Small Steps Made a Big Impact

By Janel Kinlaw

Running a business as a solopreneur means wearing many hats and constantly juggling tasks, deadlines, and client needs. After eight years as a solopreneur, I’ve learned that it’s not always the big, dramatic changes that make the biggest difference—it’s the small, thoughtful changes to everyday processes that add up over time.

Thriving as a Solo Expert: 4 Counter-Intuitive Strategies You Haven’t Tried

By Marj Atkinson, MLS

Being an independent consultant can feel isolating, especially as technology and AI rapidly reshape our profession. Without the resources of large organizations, solo experts must develop a new form of strategic leverage. For Internet Librarian Connect 2025, I’m sharing firsthand insights on how solopreneurs build research support networks through community collaboration.

Getting Started in Government Contracting: Begin with Research

By Christina Mortel

Editor’s Note: Getting Started in Government Contracting is part of a series on US government contracting (GovCon) opportunities at all government levels. Non-US entities can also register in SAM.gov as a foreign entity.

Have you considered selling your products and services to the local, state, and federal government? If not, you may be interested in an introduction to the opportunities. In this article, I offer tips to help you get oriented. Later articles in the series discuss the contracting process and outline how to get started.

AIIP BLOG LEGACY CONTENT from January 2021

Editor’s note: Occasionally we post legacy content that is still relevant today. Enjoy this piece By Kelly Schrank.

Before I get started, I want to offer this disclaimer: I know that lots of people like checklists! People have TO-DO lists for daily tasks, they have packing lists for travel, they use grocery lists. But Atul Gawande, a well-known staff writer for The New Yorker and author of four bestsellers, wrote a whole book, The Checklist Manifesto, on how checklists are used by people in a variety of industries to save lives, fly planes, and manage large-scale construction projects. His book covers checklists as people use them in the workplace, and much of the motivation behind how I approach checklists comes from his discussion of why and how professionals use checklists in their work lives.

We are AIIP: Gail Joiner

In your bio, you describe yourself as a Business Planning and Financial Management Analyst. In two sentences, what does such an analyst do?

This type of analyst provides guidance and research on the financial activities in which businesses and individuals engage. The analyst designs and monitors accounting, budget execution, financial management reports, studies and evaluations, and sets up systems and procedures to ensure financial integrity, timeliness, accuracy, and validity.