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Just to be clear: This is different than "freelancing" or "contract development". This is more traditional business consulting. You're going in and changing pr

by enjo 14y ago

Just to be clear: This is different than "freelancing" or "contract development". This is more traditional business consulting. You're going in and changing processes and structures more than anything else. It might be around a specific goal like "make our signups more effective", but you're not just writing some code. You are going in an helping them to change their mindset by incorporating feedback (A/B testing) and new methodologies to run their business better. You get paid so much because the results don't just result in better signups, but in a transformed company at the end. To do this type of consulting you need extreme credibility. Either a big business win, an ivy league education, or something equally as impressive.

tptacek 14y ago
This meme about there being "contractors/freelancers" and then "consultants" is toxic. In the markets that Patrick and Jason Cohen and Brennan Dunn are talking about, almost the entire difference between "freelancer" and "consultant" is "how you price engagements". It is true that consultants value-price engagements, so that they collect a percentage of the revenue or cost-savings derived from their code instead of a scaled hourly rate. And it's true that to do this, consultants have to think about the actual business context of their code, and be able to confidently propose the value of that code to a real business. But that's where the differences end! Patrick is writing code on his engagements. He's using the same problem-solving methods you're using. On a day-to-day basis actually delivering for clients, he's writing code to generic metrics and then optimize them. The only thing he does differently from you is that he chooses to work on metrics where he knows he can make a case for revenue directly attributable to the metric. It does not take a "big business win" or an Ivy education (WAT?) to "consult" for clients as opposed to "contracting" for them. You don't even have to be particularly attentive to your clients businesses, because so many people have built and written up methodologies for using code to make money for businesses; you can literally start by reading up on those, and offering them to clients who don't already do them. How many of your freelance gigs were for clients with sophisticated email marketing systems? How hard do you think it is to send triggered email updates to clients? Start there.
- roflc0ptic 14y ago
  >>many people have built and written up methodologies for using code to make money for businesses Would you mind pointing out some examples, or naming the field of literature? When I googled "optimizing business processes with software" I got a bunch of ads for software. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for.
  - napoleond 14y ago
    Umm... well... for fear of stating the obvious, Patrick's blog (see TFA) would probably be a really good place to start. You should also watch every video at http://businessofsoftware.org/category/video-2 http://businessofsoftware.org/category/video-2 -- they are presented in the context of helping software companies become better but a lot of the ideas presented could be flipped around (I'm especially thinking of applying various forms of business analytics to more traditional companies).
    - roflc0ptic 14y ago
      Obvious or not, it hadn't occurred to me. I'll check out those videos, too. Thanks.
- ahoyhere 14y ago
  As someone who has both been and hired a lot of freelancers/contractors, I would say that there is a genuine difference in game level between freelancers and consultants. It's a matter of professionalism and willingness (and ability) to steer the project/engagement. Consultants are experts who come in and figure out how to achieve a goal, who investigate the clients' needs, who tell the client "these are the steps we will need to take to figure this out, and then to make it happen." At an advanced level, they will even help figure out the right goal to begin with. Freelancers typically have to be told these steps by the client (and managed). If you can come in and steer a project, and let the person hiring you relax his/her no doubt overworked brain for just a few hours, you can charge practically whatever you want. That's how we were doing $500+/hr (each) before we quit consulting, because I led the processes for our clients. They didn't mind paying $2k simply for meeting with us both for 2 hours because they got to be the subject of conversation, instead of the leader, and they'd get a valuable report out of it at the end (for an additional price, of course). Never once had to worry about price shopping, because if that's the service you want, there is zero competition! Foolishly, I thought this was just Normal Professional Behavior until I started hiring people for my business. Sadly, it seems most people out there prefer the unprofessional and haphazard approach where they take on too much work/too many clients, wait for the client to tell them what to do, then jump between clients like a scalded cat to whichever project causes the most screaming at the moment.
patio11 14y ago
If I might humbly disagree: The only thing you need to do to sell consulting engagements is to sell consulting engagements. There is no licensing department, no exam, and no Client Cabal which requires that you be blessed by a gatekeeper prior to doing this. I spent years coming up with reasons why I could not sell consulting engagements. In retrospect, that was sort of silly. You know what I did when I was a Systems Engineer and had business cards saying it? I read stuff, talked to people, went to meetings, produced computer code which compiled, and wrote stuff. You know what I do for clients? I read stuff, talk to people, go to meetings, produce computer code which gets interpreted, and write stuff. I'm just really, really picky about what I'm working on. (See sibling comment by Thomas.)
bdunn 14y ago
I've received MANY reader success stories from people who have simply adjusted their messaging from "I will write code for you" to "I will help you be more profitable (...as a result of writing the right code)." As far as I know, none of these successes pitched prior success with big businesses or their diploma. This change in messaging lowers the risk factor between you and a potential client (throwing money at a coder doesn't always equate to business success), which in turn allows you to drive up your rates.

by enjo 14y ago

tptacek 14y ago

This meme about there being "contractors/freelancers" and then "consultants" is toxic. In the markets that Patrick and Jason Cohen and Brennan Dunn are talking about, almost the entire difference between "freelancer" and "consultant" is "how you price engagements". It is true that consultants value-price engagements, so that they collect a percentage of the revenue or cost-savings derived from their code instead of a scaled hourly rate. And it's true that to do this, consultants have to think about the actual business context of their code, and be able to confidently propose the value of that code to a real business. But that's where the differences end! Patrick is writing code on his engagements. He's using the same problem-solving methods you're using. On a day-to-day basis actually delivering for clients, he's writing code to generic metrics and then optimize them. The only thing he does differently from you is that he chooses to work on metrics where he knows he can make a case for revenue directly attributable to the metric. It does not take a "big business win" or an Ivy education (WAT?) to "consult" for clients as opposed to "contracting" for them. You don't even have to be particularly attentive to your clients businesses, because so many people have built and written up methodologies for using code to make money for businesses; you can literally start by reading up on those, and offering them to clients who don't already do them. How many of your freelance gigs were for clients with sophisticated email marketing systems? How hard do you think it is to send triggered email updates to clients? Start there.

roflc0ptic 14y ago
>>many people have built and written up methodologies for using code to make money for businesses Would you mind pointing out some examples, or naming the field of literature? When I googled "optimizing business processes with software" I got a bunch of ads for software. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for.
- napoleond 14y ago
  Umm... well... for fear of stating the obvious, Patrick's blog (see TFA) would probably be a really good place to start. You should also watch every video at http://businessofsoftware.org/category/video-2 http://businessofsoftware.org/category/video-2 -- they are presented in the context of helping software companies become better but a lot of the ideas presented could be flipped around (I'm especially thinking of applying various forms of business analytics to more traditional companies).
  - roflc0ptic 14y ago
    Obvious or not, it hadn't occurred to me. I'll check out those videos, too. Thanks.
ahoyhere 14y ago
As someone who has both been and hired a lot of freelancers/contractors, I would say that there is a genuine difference in game level between freelancers and consultants. It's a matter of professionalism and willingness (and ability) to steer the project/engagement. Consultants are experts who come in and figure out how to achieve a goal, who investigate the clients' needs, who tell the client "these are the steps we will need to take to figure this out, and then to make it happen." At an advanced level, they will even help figure out the right goal to begin with. Freelancers typically have to be told these steps by the client (and managed). If you can come in and steer a project, and let the person hiring you relax his/her no doubt overworked brain for just a few hours, you can charge practically whatever you want. That's how we were doing $500+/hr (each) before we quit consulting, because I led the processes for our clients. They didn't mind paying $2k simply for meeting with us both for 2 hours because they got to be the subject of conversation, instead of the leader, and they'd get a valuable report out of it at the end (for an additional price, of course). Never once had to worry about price shopping, because if that's the service you want, there is zero competition! Foolishly, I thought this was just Normal Professional Behavior until I started hiring people for my business. Sadly, it seems most people out there prefer the unprofessional and haphazard approach where they take on too much work/too many clients, wait for the client to tell them what to do, then jump between clients like a scalded cat to whichever project causes the most screaming at the moment.

patio11 14y ago

If I might humbly disagree: The only thing you need to do to sell consulting engagements is to sell consulting engagements. There is no licensing department, no exam, and no Client Cabal which requires that you be blessed by a gatekeeper prior to doing this. I spent years coming up with reasons why I could not sell consulting engagements. In retrospect, that was sort of silly. You know what I did when I was a Systems Engineer and had business cards saying it? I read stuff, talked to people, went to meetings, produced computer code which compiled, and wrote stuff. You know what I do for clients? I read stuff, talk to people, go to meetings, produce computer code which gets interpreted, and write stuff. I'm just really, really picky about what I'm working on. (See sibling comment by Thomas.)

bdunn 14y ago

I've received MANY reader success stories from people who have simply adjusted their messaging from "I will write code for you" to "I will help you be more profitable (...as a result of writing the right code)." As far as I know, none of these successes pitched prior success with big businesses or their diploma. This change in messaging lowers the risk factor between you and a potential client (throwing money at a coder doesn't always equate to business success), which in turn allows you to drive up your rates.