Let’s do something different this newsletter.
I work as a consultant. I help my clients start podcasts, make YouTube videos, write ebooks, build marketing campaigns, and all sorts of other stuff.
I love consulting. I think getting paid to share your expertise is an awesome damn thing.
In that spirit, here are 10 ways *you* can make money consulting. While all 10 probably won’t apply to you, I bet one or two will:
Video call coach: Help clients set up their rooms so that they have the best lighting, backgrounds, audio, and connection quality possible for video conferences. Walk clients through features in Zoom, Meet, Teams, etc. that they might not know about.
Real estate staging consultant: Reach out to local real estate professionals to assist with home staging. If you are a good photographer, staging photos and video are an easy ad on as well.
ChatGPT for small businesses consultant: Work with small businesses and service providers to integrate ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot into their workflows. Show CPAs how to use AI for querying large spreadsheets. Explain to an electrician how to use AI for learning marketing strategies. Show your dentist how to use AI for medical record summarization or making templates for common insurance queries.
Mobile photo and video coaching: Offer in-person or online coaching for people who want to take better photos and videos with their smartphone. Every picture you take might be amazing; why not make some money with your knowledge?
Online dating coach: Help your clients improve their Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge profiles. Take photos, edit profiles and provide your clients with templates for responses.
Home improvement teacher: There are plenty of new homeowners who are suddenly learning how to do home repairs and improvements for the first time. Why not walk them through their new home and point out how things work and how to do basic repairs?
Meal and grocery planner: Work with clients to plan weekly menus with recipes for busy families as well as provide them with ready-made grocery lists.
Business strategy: Help small businesses or service providers with strategies for growth, customer retainment, generating recurring revenue, and market positioning.
IT support consulting: Do you have a SaaS or software tool that you work frequently with in your industry? Offer technical advice and problem-solving for the platform in your downtime.
Productivity coaching: Help clients improve their time management, organizational, and delegating/outsourcing skills. This can be tailored towards specific demographics (ie people with ADHD, college students) or specific jobs/industries (workers at FAANG companies, sales professionals).
This is even before we get into the really obvious stuff like Shopify consulting, helping clients with their websites, SEO, virtual assistant services…
But here’s the thing: I’m one of those weirdos who loves running my own business. I like taking my crazy ideas and refining and refining them until I release them into the wild to see how they do. Some do great. Some don’t do some great. But the ones that do great do really great, and it’s kind of awesome.
I genuinely believe a lot of people don’t understand that they’re really good and really talented at things. And that other people could use their help with those things and are happy to pay for their time and expertise.
Don’t undervalue your expertise. Turn it into something that helps you and helps other people - that’s my take.
Neal
Do awesome stuff. Have a great week.