I\u2019m a web developer specializing in Shopify, and I\u2019ve written a few blog posts and made some youtube videos that are gaining popularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I\u2019m getting at least 3 people a week emailing me with various questions – technical solutions, recommendations – for their specific situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I used to answer this stuff via email for free. Some answers are fairly straightforward and take 5 mins. Some required an hour of research and a 500 word email to answer (I didn\u2019t mind because I was curious myself).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s definitely providing value, so I feel like I can make money doing this. But how?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do I tell them to pay me a fixed fee for a consulting call? I really don\u2019t want to have multiple calls per week. I value the flexibility of my time, and I don\u2019t like being booked for anything. Besides that, I\u2019m not a talkative guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019d prefer to consult by email – is that possible or is it unprofessional?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secondly what if they pay me and I don\u2019t come up with a good solution for their problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirdly what about time spent on research? What if some questions require more time than my fixed consulting fee? How do you price consulting anyway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lastly how do you actually offer it? Someone emails you with a question and you basically say \u201cpay me if you want the answer\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sorry if these are dumb questions – I\u2019m not finding much info about this as the keyword \u201cconsulting\u201d is dominated by the finance \/ corporate world and large companies. Mine are small online stores – 3-person startups, individual entrepreneurs, family businesses, etc\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s definitely providing value, so I feel like I can make money doing this. But how?<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nCharge a fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do I tell them to pay me a fixed fee for a consulting call? I really don\u2019t want to have multiple calls per week. I value the flexibility of my time, and I don\u2019t like being booked for anything. Besides that, I\u2019m not a talkative guy.<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s very common to bill hourly and provide ad hoc help. Also common to charge set project fees. You can determine how to communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019d prefer to consult by email - is that possible or is it unprofessional?<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ll likely lose some potential leads because some people want to see an actual person if they are paying for the time. But it\u2019s not unprofessional if you\u2019ve set the expectation up front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secondly what if they pay me and I don\u2019t come up with a good solution for their problem?<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s up to you. Some people charge for their time whether a solution was developed or not. Some people will discount their wok if they can\u2019t figure out the issue. Some people write off the time if they feel it didn\u2019t provide value. That\u2019s really your call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirdly what about time spent on research? What if some questions require more time than my fixed consulting fee? How do you price consulting anyway?<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThis should be priced into your fee\/rate. It\u2019s why consultants often have high hourly and project rates. Most consultants price based on the value of the work, not the time it takes to answer. This covers scenarios where the project takes way less time than expected, and also scenarios execution took longer than anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
i.e. someone asks how to add oAuth to a Shopify app. You do it 24\/7, and this is a 10 minute response for you. But for the person asking, that\u2019s hours of research and a day of tweaking code before they come to the same answer. They\u2019d spend roughly 10 hours on it. A consultant might think \u201cif they make $100k\/yr, 10 hours is roughly $500 of pay. So I can charge anything up to $500 for the answer – even if it takes me 10 minutes for me to do – because that\u2019s more efficient \/ effective for the client vs. doing it themselves\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Value based pricing also comes into play when looking at company size\/scale. If this is the final piece of an app for a F500 that has a launch date of next week and HAS to get done this week; that value is a bit more than some random guy fiddling around on a side project in their spare time. Most consultants will have multipliers for the value of the answer and their expertise and price accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lastly how do you actually offer it? Someone emails you with a question and you basically say \u201cpay me if you want the answer\u201d?<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a great question and I\u2019d have to dig in a little to get an answer. Truthfully I\u2019m starting to get overwhelmed with some of the ad hoc questions and I\u2019m not able to properly respond, so I have to start charging a small fee for questions like this to cover my time researching and responding. I hope you understand. I have the info I need to get started, so I don\u2019t think we need a call to clarify – I\u2019ll just send an email when I have the solution. Based on your question, I think getting a suitable answer would cost $xxx. If I\u2019m not able to find a solution I\u2019ll only bill for the first hour of research time, which would be $yyy. If you\u2019d like me to go ahead and begin, I can start working on this [today\/tomorrow\/etc.] and likely get you an answer by [date]. Let me know how you\u2019d like to proceed!\u201d<\/p>\n