Part 5: From Free to Fee - Building Your AI Consulting Flywheel with Testimonials and Referrals

You've done it. First consultation complete. Now what? Time to turn this into a real business.

Most people start with this stuff. That’s the wrong way to do it. Get the consults done first (at least one!) then worry about scaling it up.

Let’s get started: Summary Building on Foundations

• Securing that crucial first testimonial
• The power of social proof
• Moving from free to paid work
• Building your client base
• Next steps in your consulting journey 

First Things First: The Testimonial

Right after your consultation, while everything's fresh, ask for that testimonial. Send a simple email:

"Thanks for your time today. If you found our session valuable, would you mind providing a brief testimonial about your experience? Happy to draft something for you to edit if that's easier."

That last line is crucial. Make it easy for them to say yes.

Or, if you are comfortable and did the consult in person, straight up ask if they’ll do a video testimonial. Get your phone out and record it. Worth its weight in gold if you can get it.

If you do want a more streamlined way to collect testimonials you can use a tool like Senja but honestly just an email or text is great. Some of my most powerful testimonials are literal text messages, screen-shotted. It’s raw and authentic.

I’ve written an entire

https://promptentrepreneur.beehiiv.com/p/social-proof-to-supercharge-sales-part-1 if need more background.

Along with the testimonial, you want to collect everything that shows your impact. Ask for permission to use their logo, grab photos if you met in person, document the specific problems you helped solve. Even small wins like time saved matter. This isn't just marketing material - it's proof you can do this.

Natural Progression

The charity or non-profit you helped likely has two types of connections you care about. First, they know other non-profits - perfect for more free consultations. You can continue to get more done to i) build your confidence and ii) get more social proof.

Second, and more interesting, they have business connections - potential paid work.

Think about it. The executive director of that charity probably knows business owners. Very often heads of charities came from corporate world. They tend to be heavy hitters. Or if you didn’t work with the leader directly then maybe your contact has links. For example the marketing manager likely has a network of professionals. These connections are your bridge to paid work.

Ask specifically: "Do you know anyone else who might benefit from this kind of AI guidance?"

When they mention a business connection, be clear: "Just so you know, pro bono work is for charities only. For businesses, I charge my standard rate."

You've just made the transition to paid work sound natural and professional. Does it matter if you’ve never actually charged for this? And maybe don’t even have a standard rate yet? Nope! As soon as you’ve done your first paid consult you will - we just need to get over this first hump.

The Three-Step Referral Process

Alongside directly asking for referrals from charity to paid work you should be widening out your own outreach. Previously we did outreach to charities and non-profits. Now that we’ve done a few (free) consults we’ll go ahead and talk to companies about paid consultations.

When you feel ready, start transitioning to paid work through your non-profit connections, focusing on small businesses first. This lets you test different price points and build confidence with paying clients.

Generally this works well, start with smaller businesses with lower rates and work your way up.

Initial clients will likely be small, and that's fine. Less pressure, more learning opportunity. The key is not to get stuck here though. Smaller clients and smaller budgets are actually the hardest work…

The key here is your confidence. If you are confident enough to go to a large company go for it! You probably have the exact same chance of landing a high end client as a low end client - just at 10x the cost. But if you need to work up and build your confidence, social proof and working knowledge by all means do. Just don’t get stuck here!!

Setting Your Prices

Oof pricing. How much to charge? How long is a piece of string?

Honestly this will depend on your industry, your location and your confidence.

Me giving any concrete number is probably a disservice here. With that said I’d start around $200/hour and go from there.

You can also start to layer in other services and ways to hire you.

A one-hour consultation might start at $500, with half-day workshops at $2000. For implementation work, charge by the project rather than the hour - this is where the real money lies. (Not wanting to do the implementation yourself? Partner with someone who can do that part and split the revenue).

Remember, you can always increase prices. It's much harder to decrease them. So start where you are comfortable and each time bump it up.

I found with workshops in particular I started at $500 and kept bumping it up until I met resistance. It’s currently at $4000/hour. Do the same with your consults.

Success with paid clients opens doors. You can increase prices, expand services, build products, create workshops, or write content. But that's for later.

Right now, focus on the basics: getting that testimonial, asking for referrals, and making the transition to paid work. Everything else builds from there.