What I think really has to happen, for a self-employed contractor / consultant to become a guru (or to at least move away from the consulting model), is to set up your business such that you only need to decide where your business is going, instead of actually doing the work.

Picture yourself in the future playing golf with your best clients, doing lunches all day, that sort of thing. That is where you want to be – not working, but developing and maintaining client relationships. I think…

Oh, and Happy Birthday to you, Andrew. My 19th is next week…

Leverage your reputation, because as you get visible with more and more products and repeatable processes, more and more people see you as the go-to professional in your field.

Like writing for Sitepoint. ;)

To me it sounds like consulting is a decent place to start, for the real world experience, and having a plan in mind to leverage that experience into dollars you can earn while you’re sleeping. This makes excellent sense, and I’m thinking that fewer people walk a path like this, simply because they lack the foresight to see where they want to be in five to ten years time. With such a low barrier of entry, I understand a lot of people just pick up a copy of Photoshop and dive right in.

Thanks for the advice, this column and entries past. It really helps avoid the roundabout traps in the trenches. Happy Birthday as well.

Not to boast or self-promote too much, but the best resource I know of is Guru Millionaire by yours truly (see my site in bio).

The Guru Millionaire
By Andrew Neitlich

Not to boast or self-promote too much, but the best resource I know of is Guru Millionaire by yours truly (see my site in bio).

I can connect you to the guru guy (who is swamped with clients) after you are on same track.

Andrew

But I also have a question, what about aiming to be the best in your field so you can command a ridiculous salary/wage. I mean, isn’t that what Medical Practioners in the US do? They have a set number of hours that they work, but they’re getting paid almost $200-$300 an hour or even thousands per hour if they do surgeries.

I’d definately want to step out of consulting shoes and work my way up to “guruhood”. But I’m relatively new and have only started applying the techniques (that I picked up from you) to focus on a niche market and establish myself as an expert.

Andrew, in your opinion is there a threshold or critical mass of clients or success that a fledgling consultant needs to aquire before he starts focusing on the next stage?

(thanks for so many great articles over the years)

- Eric