Largely depends. Most of my work comes through people/companies I've previously worked with and recommendations. As much as possible I try to set things up so

Largely depends. Most of my work comes through people/companies I've previously worked with and recommendations. As much as possible I try to set things up so they rely on their cloud provider for support, but most questions are either simple enough that I share my advice freely or can charge a day rate to do some work. I insist on working with at least one person to own the accounts & code/state (which can be like paid training for them). They may be paying for my knowledge/experience, but I prefer to leave them artifacts to reference after I'm done. I charge reasonable contractor rates per diem. I also have a full time job, so while I'd be open to taking a retainer to be available for immediate work, the fee that I would charge for such a contract is absurd. Basically more than my full-time employment.