Micro-Consulting: $10k per session, Productized Services, Paid Communities

“Micro-consulting – short bursts of knowledge, perspective, insight and opinion that help others make better decisions.” – Wyatt Nordstrom

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❓ What You’ll Learn

  • How to become a micro-consultant?
  • How will AI enhance micro-consulting?
  • How to build client communities?
  • How to scale your offer?
  • How to attract clients?
  • How to lower platform risk?
  • How to land high-end clients?


💎 Why It Matters

Micro-consulting turns years of experience into a short call.


🔍 Problem

You need expert advice to fix problems fast.


💡 Solution

Micro-consulting is a cost-effective way to get help.


🏁 Players

Micro-Consultants

Micro-Consulting Platforms

  • MentorCruise • On-demand design, tech, business and career mentorship
  • Clarity • Get startup advice from industry leaders
  • MentorPass • Get personalized advice from the world’s best direct-to-consumer operators
  • GrowthMentor • Get 1-on-1 conversations with startup mentors about growth, marketing, product and more
  • Growth Collective • Hire marketing and growth specialists

Micro-Consulting Tools

  • Podia • Manage clients, calls, scheduling, payments, digital resources and more
  • Calendly • Schedule, prepare and follow up on 1-on-1, group and co-hosted meetings
  • Calendesk • Manage bookings, payments, landing pages and customer support
  • Jitsi Meet • Run free and unlimited online meetings
  • Carrd • Create simple and responsive personal websites


🔮 Predictions


☁️ Opportunities


🏔️ Risks

  • Scalability • Micro-consulting is hard to scale. Your time is limited.
  • Reputation Risk • A lack of knowledge will lead to loss of trust and clients.
  • Platform Risk • You’re subject to platforms’ roadmaps, outages and fees. Prefershut down after many failed pivots. Set up multiple profiles to mitigate platform risk. Davide Pollicino has profiles on Codementor, Mentor Cruise and Clarity.


🔑 Key Lessons


🔥 Hot Takes

  • In spite of shorter sessions, some clients will expect you to deliver the same value as traditional consultants. 
  • Micro-consulting sessions don’t have to be cheap. Meredith Marder offers her Better Exit Strategy session for $10,000.
  • Speaking at events, conferences and workshops is micro-consulting. These are non-recurring, one-off engagements.


😠 Haters

“How can you solve my problem in 1 hour?”
Micro-consulting has its limits. One hour may not be enough to solve a complex problem. But an experienced micro-consultant can find the root cause and suggest a valid solution.

“People can abuse free advice.”
Pro-bono consulting is a choice. Decide how much you can give away for free. Limit the number of free sessions where necessary.

“Micro-consulting has scalability problems.”
This is true. We shared examples of more scalable products. Productized services, courses and SaaS are great for helping lots of people at once.

“I can turn my knowledge into scalable products right away. Why bother with micro-consulting?”
Talking to clients helps you find and validate valuable problems. Which you can solve at scale.


🔗 Links

  1. “Micro-Consultant” — Who comes to mind? • The tweet behind this report.
  2. How to Make $3,000/mo (or more) as a Micro Consultant Without Selling Your Soul • Guide on how to become a micro-consultant by Himanshu Bisht
  3. Micro Consulting: The Future of Consulting • Learn what part micro-consulting plays in the consulting history.


📁 Related Reports


🙏 Thanks

Thanks to Krish, Soma Mandal, Maciej Cupial, Davida Pitts, Gajus, Stewart Townsend and Gianni D’Alerta. We had a great time jamming on this report.


✏️ Emin researched and wrote this report. Dru researched and edited this report.


📈 What else?

Trends PRO #0096 — Micro-Consulting has more insights.

What you’ll get:

  • 77 Micro-Consulting Examples (353% More)
  • 11 Predictions (267% More)
  • 18 Opportunities (350% More)
  • 6 Risks (100% More)
  • 9 Key Lessons (200% More)
  • 8 Hot Takes (167% More)12 Links (300% More)

With Trends Pro you’ll learn:

  • (📈 Pro) How to build a micro-consulting agency?
  • (📈 Pro) What are micro-consulting networks?
  • (📈 Pro) How to signal knowledge?
  • (📈 Pro) How to get clients and credibility?
  • (📈 Pro) How to improve support with micro-consulting?
  • (📈 Pro) How to lower market risk?
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