Starting an Online Consulting Business

Enough for who?
There are two parties involved.
You and the business owner.

The business owner doesn't care about you, they care about their problems and if you can solve them.

To be honest the biggest issue about qualifications rears its head during sales. If you don't believe in yourself and what you offer, your sales will suffer.

The questions you should ask are if you can figure out some problems business owners have that they would be willing to pay money to solve and are you capable of solving them.

B, you can grow a successful consulting business by helping people one to one. One person at a time. You make a client happy. Then they may refer you to other clients. Or the good vibes you spread simply go out into the Universe, and attract more clients to you.

But while these vibes are spreading, you are helping folks for free on Warrior, on Quora, through your self-hosted Wordpress blog and through social media. Also, you want to build a services page on your blog to help folks see how you can help, or benefit them.

Do a really really really good job with each client. Keep helping folks both for free and for money. Keep showing up all over by making an impact in each spot where you show up and in each spot you help folks.

The courses on any site can help build authority but clients tend to flow my way if they simply saw I could help them with their struggles. It is that simple. Because some more scared folks - being burdened by fear - check the testimonials and endorsements and really need that extra validation to go forward and hire you. Other folks see you know what you are talking about. Book a session. Hire you. After 5 seconds of deliberation. Because they care not about what folks say about you; they just want to know that what you know will benefit them.

Help as many people as possible in a thorough, generous way. Like....instead of posting a 2 or 3 sentence Warrior response, write 5 or 10 paragraphs. Be a coach. Be a consultant. Even if you are not getting paid in the moment for the consulting or coaching, your presence will expand, people will know what you do and that you know your stuff, and clients will flock to you in larger numbers as your generosity expands.

Sure you'll nab clients through digital storefronts too if you have courses and students and the like but it comes down to helping people generously for free - as you offer premium consulting services - and of course, in the right spots, where prying eyes are spying you, and your business will grow over time.

Ryan

10K Udemy "students" doesn't impress. Especially so if someone is familiar with Udemy's constant discounting.

Peter's questions tie in nicely to Ryan's answer.

I would add that one oft neglected opportunity is charity work. Just about every worthy cause, from local food banks and shelters to the giant monoliths like the Red Cross, wants more donations.

If you're looking to work with local businesses, choose a local charity. If you want to work purely online, with no location preference, pick a smaller online cause and run a promotion with proceeds going to the charity.

As a side benefit, you tend to get access to leaders that you may not otherwise get the attention of.

The way you prove you can provide solutions people will pay for, and are capable of solving those problems is by doing it, even if you aren't getting paid.

One of the things that gets my shorts in a twist is wannabe consultants whose knowledge comes from reading an ebook or taking one of those "how to get rich in consulting even if you know nothing and are lazier than Rip van Winkle" courses.

Get some successes under your belt, with documentation to back them, and marketing your services, and yourself, will get a whole lot easier. Like they say, it ain't bragging if you can back it up.