Hey friend,

Remember when promotions went to whoever logged the most “face time” instead of actual results?
Yeah, we retired that game and the uncomfortable dress shoes that came with it.

You’re building something better now.
A career defined by impact, not location. Value, not visibility. Freedom, not facetime.

This week, we’re talking about how to own that. How to think bigger, earn bolder, and negotiate like the location-independent powerhouse you already are.

Let’s get you what you’re worth.

—Ric & Shellie

P.S. The easiest way to support Thrive Remotely? Share it with a friend still stuck in the badge-swipe economy. 🙏

CAREER ADVANCEMENT

Negotiating Your Worth: The Value Conversation That Changes Everything

By Jason Alexander

Still negotiating salary like it's 2019? 

You're playing by corporate rules that don't apply to you anymore. Remote professionals who master the value conversation transcend traditional compensation structures entirely- geography becomes irrelevant, and org charts stop mattering. 

The shift from "fair pay" to "unique value" changes everything, but most remote workers never make it. Here's why the distinction matters more than you think.

👉 Learn how to escape the salary ceiling →

QUICK TAKES

You Are Valuable

✅ 5 salary negotiation tips for remote jobs. With employers behaving in inconsistent ways, consider this expert advice on how to prepare for new variables in salary negotiation

✅ How To Negotiate Equity in 9 Steps. The 3 most common mistakes people make when discussing salary and provides strategies for avoiding them.

✅ Salary Negotiation Tips for Remote Workers. How do you do it as a remote worker who won't be positioned in the same place as the company?

LAST WEEK’S POLL RESULTS

What's your biggest negotiation challenge right now?

MEME OF THE WEEK

THE VIBE

News to Use

🔆 Swing Easy: The Power of Doing Less to Achieve More. Loosening your grip can unlock surprising clarity, creativity, and success.

🔆 The Power of Single-Tasking. Multi-tasking is ineffective. For productive work, time-boxing is better.

🔆 Solopreneurship and Freelancing Is Here to Stay — Are You Ready? Freelancers thrived to the tune of an 8.27% year-over-year revenue growth for the second consecutive year.

STATE OF REMOTE

Flexible-First Companies Are Winning the Talent War

By Ric Pratte, Thrive Remotely Founder

While dinosaur companies force office returns, remote-first firms are absolutely crushing recruitment. The math is brutal: just 8% of jobs offer remote work, yet they snag 35% of all applications.

Dropbox and Atlassian? Seven times more applicants since going virtual-first. Deel's CEO nailed it: office mandates are "leaking talent."

Today, 28% of jobs worldwide are fully remote, up from 7% pre-pandemic. Another 44% are hybrid. And here's the kicker: 66% of remote roles target experienced professionals, not entry-level gigs. Companies want your expertise.

Remote companies aren't just hiring faster, they're keeping people longer, hitting productivity benchmarks quicker, and delivering connection through quarterly gatherings instead of soul-crushing commutes.

The verdict? Flexibility isn't a perk anymore. It's your competitive advantage.

Geography is dead. Flexibility wins.

POLL – NEXT WEEKS TOPIC

Next week: Building Influence and Authority, Attract recognition, build credibility, and inspire trust and motivation within distributed teams.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Get Off Your Couch

Your laptop works anywhere, so why stay home? This week, remote workers are hitting happy hours in Philly and El Paso, coworking at coffee shops from DC to Colorado Springs, and learning AI prompts over beers in Asheville.

Museum hopping in Greenville? Check. Classy cocktails? Obviously. Even Grayling, Michigan is getting in on the action.

Pick your vibe, show up, remember what humans look like.

Check out the Community Calendar🗓️ for the details!

RESOURCES

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🤓 MarketingAlec : Skip the AI hype, get real results. Join 12,000+ marketers learning the AI tools and prompts that drove 40% better performance

🖥️ Workspaces : Discover workspaces that inspire productivity