As a consultant, I think that this is terrible advice. If you are poorly connected in the industry, you can charge your services well below market rates (ie $75

As a consultant, I think that this is terrible advice. If you are poorly connected in the industry, you can charge your services well below market rates (ie $75/hr). In this case, be clear that these are special introductory rates. But you should not work for free. Consultants usually invoice after the work is complete anyway, on 30 day terms or similar, so your client may already have 45-60 days to pay. If you want to add a whole bunch of free work in front of that, you’re setting yourself up with too much risk. (Remember, you’ll get clients that don’t pay because they either spend all their money, or didn’t get the funding they expected.)