What is the size of micro-consulting industry globally?

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.

Pricing for different tasks that require the same amount of time from you tells the Customer (and your subconscious) that you're working at a 5 on task x, but working at a 9 on task y simply because it costs/earns more. That seems to be a disconnect. Your time is your most precious asset, and I would charge for it whatever you're doing. If you build a site, and they are happy with your dev fee, but feel like you should charge less for SEO, simply let them find another SEO guy. That's their choice, but YOU are worth $xx.xx, no matter what you're doing. Also, in general, take whatever you're charging and add 10% to it. If you're still busy, add another 10%. Let the demand level determine how much work you do, and at what cost.

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.

What I've done is write a book... Eventually there were 4 books and other special reports. I sell them on Amazon but often give them away to prospective clients. There is no greater pleasure than to submit a proposal to a prospect which includes the words...' I am an expert in this area and the author of the 2014 Best-Selling book on the topic... The second step is to implement a social media strategy based on groups. Set up a call with me if you'd like to know what else I've done. Cheers Dave

Recently, I've hit a "tipping point" where I have enough content (blog posts, podcasts, interviews, etc...) that companies now regularly seek me out for advice. "To be known, you must teach" - Nathan Barry After I wrote "This is a web page" (http://justinjackson.ca/words.html) I was contacted by VPs at Coca-Cola and Google. They weren't offering me work: they just wanted to say they enjoyed my writing. Writing, and amplifying your content, is one way to get your foot in the door.