What is the size of micro-consulting industry globally?

Hi there, I've built and scaled 3 management consulting businesses to $1M+ in the past 5 years. I'm a little unsure as to what your problem is. Are you wanting to help designers with their business or are you trying to hire talented designers to complete some work? For really good designers, their desire is to do quality work, with clients they like and be compensated well for it. If you have a proven methodology or process that helps them get those types of clients you'll be off the races. But, you have to communicate clearly the specific problem you address for them. So if they are a landscape designers you can say "With my program and coaching we will get you in front of architects and seen as the go-to expert who does awesome work." Does that make sense?

Here are some ways to get more customers: 1. Start by reaching out to your friends who own businesses and ask to doncome consulting work for them in exchange for case studies. You need to show credibility to give people a reason to trust you and work with you. 2. Create content. Either document your journey as a consultant or create a blog/vlog that will give you the ability to demonstrate your expertise. 3. Once you have content to work with, promote it via ads. 4. Lastly ask people to introduce you to people or businesses they may know could use your services. Hope this helps! I'm available for followups if needed!

I'm not an immigration attorney, but I have made trips to Canada to find clients, and this is my understanding of the laws. If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you do not need a visa to come to the United States as long as you will not actually be working and receiving payment from U.S. businesses or employers while in the U.S. For example, you can visit the U.S. to attend trade shows, meetings, conferences, etc. without a visa. Here's a publication from the U.S. State Department that may help: http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/BusinessVisa%20Purpose%20Listings%20March%202014%20flier.pdf

Seems to me that versatility is actually your greater selling point. Yes, you could concentrate on 1 niche problem that you solve over and over again for various clients. Advantage: That streamlined approach would be efficient in terms of presentation and actual work load. Disadvantage: By promoting a very specific offering, you may be introducing yourself as the wrong tool for the job ... for most potential clients. If I stumble across you and find a landing page that stresses your ability to solve Problem X while I am dealing with Problem Y, then I assume you're less relevant than you might be. That does a disservice to your diverse skill set. You can marry the best of both worlds. Here's what I'd suggest. Clients will discover you both passively and as a result of active outreach. So 1. For your active marketing efforts, identify prospects where the client really needs you for Problem X, in which you're specializing. Introduce yourself as a specialist in Problem X (which is true). 2. For your more passive, less keyword-targeted online footprint, showcase your versatility rather than your specialization. That's also true. This way, you'll seem like a better fit for a wider group of potential clients. Instead of writing you off as a specialist, they'll consider engaging you as an IT "renaissance man". Narrow the focus of your presentation when you have narrowed your demographic. Widen that focus when the demographic is wider.

Because of the nature of your consulting business (web development) you have the advantage of being able to effectively offer your services remotely. I think more important than deciding between a large or small city, is finding a city where you would enjoy living and building a network. Is there a city where you have a critical mass of friends, family, potential business partners? Is there a city you'd simply be happier in because it fits your lifestyle, whether it's access to outdoors or city living? Do you have a more specific market segment you'd like as your clients? Do you want to service just tech startups? Health tech startups? Larger companies? Unless you plan to really narrow down into a specific niche, like consulting just for the aerospace industry where the companies are usually found in a specific city or region, web development offers you a lot of geographic flexibility. More and more companies like Automatic or Zapier have completely remote teams and the trend towards that is only accelerating. Choose a city where you'll be happiest and most likely to be able to participate in the lifestyle the city provides. Not only will you be more productive if you're happy, you'll have more opportunities to grow your network organically by meeting friends through your hobbies or social activities that then turn into clients. I'd caution against being overly analytical or coldly rational when making this decision. Follow your gut. Choose a city you'd love to live in and grow a business in. I know wildly wealthy and successful entrepreneurs in cities both small and large.