I want to make sure I understand what separates a consultant from a salary employee, freelancer, or even just an entrepreneur. It's all about your personal bra

I want to make sure I understand what separates a consultant from a salary employee, freelancer, or even just an entrepreneur. It's all about your personal brand, to a large extent. If maintaining such a beast (with the help of requisite doses of self-promotion now and then) appeals to you, then consulting may be your thing. If it makes you go "ick" or "meh" on a certain level (and your aren't already saddled with acclaim / visibility based on your storied accomplishments thus far) -- or you'd really rather just code -- it may not be. And also: as an employee or freelancer, your "client" (really your employer) tells you what to do. As a consultant, you are valued primarily for your ability to tell them what to do. Actually it's always a mix in every tech job above entry-level, between advising and just doing. But consulting definitely involves a much heavier tilt to the advisory side. A small change in mindset that can have a huge impact in the kind of work you can get, and the image that people have of you. You can also bring that mindset into regular jobs too, of course. You just have to be kind of oblique about it.