“Quick question for you… Freelance to me is doing the physical work because of your skills. Consulting to me is advising and using your knowledge to streamline the client’s approach. – Nathan”
If you’re not sure which to focus on here’s a different way to look at it:
There’s not much difference between the two.
- A freelancer is a solo business owner offering Done For You services based on knowledge.
- A creative consultant is a solopreneur offering Done With You knowledge services.
the distinction between consulting and freelancing to me would basically be what you’re selling.
If you want to make it successfully as either a consultant or a freelancer you have to expand your mindset to think as the CEO of a small business.
Accept that doing “the job” isn’t enough.
You also have to take on all the other roles in a business.
Sales, Lead Gen, Customer Comms, Finances etc.
Unless you work for a company,
you still need to
- find your own customers
- promote your work
- submit your tax returns
- etc
So same difference really!
If you want to focus on selling your knowledge,
you should still aim to package your insights and knowledge into a result you can sell,
as opposed to just selling “consulting”.
No-one wants a consultant, or a consultation.
they want the results, the fix, the benefit of the consultation.
Personally I do both design work and consulting but I don’t sell services.
Instead I sell a package which contains multiple services, and a bit of consulting too.
The package is basically my offer: to help entrepreneurs launch a successful business.
When packaged this way I can charge more than other freelancers who sell those things individually
You can change the packaging of your offer depending on who you speak to btw.
Some of your potential clients wills struggle with finding their target market. others with brand etc.
So tailor how you talk about your package, depending on the problem your lead is having.
yes, you can help them with other stuff.
But focus on the biggest problem their having and talk about the solution to that, and how their life will look after the solution is implemented
If you’re struggling to position yourself and figure out what to sell and how to sell it,
Here’s a step by step offer worksheet that you can go through step by step to tease these answers out.
