As a newbie independent contractor, or even as an experienced independent still trying to figure things out, the top two questions on your mind are likely “How do I make more money?” and “How do I find good clients?”

Good clients are synonymous with high-value clients.  These are the clients who hire you as an expert in your field and trust your insights in areas related to their work. They see working with you as an investment into their business, and they don’t mind paying top dollar for your work.

In this article, I’ll uncover the difference between two types of independents—those who attract the good clients and those who fight in the mass market.  It’s only by working with high-value clients that you’ll land projects at five figures and up.  Let’s look at the difference in approach among independents.

Freelancers vs. Consultants

When I first started researching the future of work, I spoke to dozens of independent contractors on the whys and hows regarding their transition from being employees to working on their own as a company of one.  Some of them had been independent for up to 10 years, others had only started working independently within the past 3 years.  Nearly all of them had enough technical knowledge to call themselves experts, even those who were just beginning to gain a breadth of experience. 

Through our conversations, it became clear that terminology was often a differentiating factor between those who were making significant amounts of profit and those who were just getting by each month.

On one side, there were those who called themselves freelancers.  They spoke about the number of hours they spent on a job.  This group frequently discussed how they pack as many freelancing gigs in at one time.  My conversation with them would inevitably touch on their methods for winning projects on websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.com.  They focused on pushing up their hourly rate and beating out other gig workers to secure a job.

On the other side, there are those who call themselves consultants.  They spoke about the before-and-after value they’ve created for their clients.  This group frequently discussed how they meticulously ask the right questions to determine if a project is right for them.  My conversation with them would inevitably touch on their understanding of a particular niche or subset within their industry, and venture into the broader social or economic dynamics that affect their clients in positive and negative ways. They focused on their ability to help their clients think through an array of issues that were oftentimes outside of the scope of the core work they had been brought on to tackle.

How to Be A Consultant

This differentiating factor is seen in terminology, but primarily reflected by how each group interacts with current and potential client.  This starts with clearly knowing your purpose, which unfortunately, many people don’t.  Both independents and employees usually think of the work as something they have to get through.  The work is seen as more of a chore than a way to add value to the client or employer.

The basic rule of every type of employment is simple: your job is to add more value than you cost.

If an employer is paying you $60,000 a year to perform a job, the expectation is that you will bring in more than $60,000 of value over the course of each year.  If a client hires you at an agreed price, that client wants you to solve a problem that is worth more to them than what they will pay you.  Your skills, experience, knowledge, and network mean nothing to the client if you are not able to solve their problem.  

Identify the Problem and Show Your Work

You must separate yourself from the pool of mass market gig workers by showing that you know how to solve a problem.  Constantly asking the right questions and analyzing potential obstacles is critical to being a high value consultant instead of a replaceable gig worker.  

Gig workers are like cogs in a wheel: they are meant to do exactly what is expected of them by a system that is already pre-defined.  It is the difference between a painter who enters a house and paints the four walls of a room the color s/he is told, versus the paint consultant who asks what the room is for, what the purpose of painting it is, the emotion the paint is meant to achieve, etc. before ultimately helping the client choose the perfect shade of eggshell and masterfully painting the room like a Picasso.

Just as important as identifying the problem is showing your work at scale.  The most successful high-value consultants are constantly thinking through problems and creating innovative ways to solve them for their clients. They then showcase their work on blogs, podcasts, youtube, conferences, and wherever else they can publicly share it.  

For many people, including me, it can be agonizing to put your work out there.  Even if we overcome the anxiety and impostor syndrome that often comes with publicly displaying our work, it’s still tough not to worry about how it will be received or if anyone even cares.  

Not everyone will understand or care about what you do—and that’s fine.  Putting your material out there is how your tribe and your clients will find you.  I leverage this blog to share my knowledge and experiences, but also to drive traffic to my paid courses.  The objective is to have digital real estate in the form of knowledge assets that will make money for you while you sleep.   

Show You Are Available for Hire

The last piece of being a high-value consultant seems obvious, but is easily overlooked.  Once you’ve been able to create far more value for your clients than they pay you, you have to make it clear to others that you can and will do the same for them.

Earlier this month, I was with a group of acquintances who loosely knew each other.  One small business owner started talking about her trouble with getting the right legal documents and lamenting that not having iron-clad contracts had cost her.  Another person at the table, who had been quiet until then, started asking her detailed questions about her business and the type of legal situations she’s ended up in. 

Turns out, he’s a lawyer who specializes in small businesses.  Within a few minutes, he had talked her through how he would handle the situation and made suggestions that would fully protect her business in the future. Notably, he didn’t leave it at “Let me know if you need any help!”  He set up a date and time for the coming week when they would go into further detail and fix her problem.

He made it clear he was for hire.  Immediately.

High-value clients want to work with consultants who solve their problems.  You need to position yourself as someone who had solved problems in the past by showing your work.  You should make it clear you are someone who is able to solve problems now by asking the right questions.  You can close big number deals by showing you are available for hire to solve more problems in the future.