There are at least three core ways to monetize your expertise.
- You can do the work for your clients. Think, done-for-you services.
- You can lead the work for your clients. Think strategic advisory services.
- Or, you can teach your expertise instead. Think knowledge products or training.
In the beginning, you typically start out by doing the work for your clients.
It’s how you develop your skills and expertise. You can’t skip it.
But eventually, you’ll get busy. There are only so many hours in the day. So, you either turn away business or you begin to move into a leadership role.
You begin to sell strategy and oversee the execution instead of being the one to actually do it.
This may look like hiring sub-contractors or employees and leading their efforts. Or, like me, maybe you prefer to stay small and do advisory work.
These are leadership roles and they can pay a lot.
Eventually, you may want to package your hard-earned expertise into knowledge products or group coaching, training, or workshops.
You are separating your earning from your effort when you sell your expertise independently of your time.
This can be extremely lucrative if you do it well. It scales, but it’s not easy.
You can do one, many, or all of these at the same time.
The choice is yours to make—have fun with it!