Turn experience into consulting

<!-- page: Define your consulting service -->

**Before you start:** Do this lesson on a computer. It comes in two sittings: **first** (about 25 minutes), define your consulting service and write the questions you'll ask before someone books; **second** (about 30 minutes), ask a family member or friend for a 15-minute "mock session", use AI to write the summary, then turn on a way to book you.

**What this lesson uses:** Claude Pro; members use the consulting bookings on the academy website; if you're not a member, use the free Calendly plan plus your Stripe payment link from Lesson 6.

**A consulting service is one page that spells out six things.** Go back to your "My Website" project and start a new chat:

```
Using "My Direction Map" in this project, help me define a one-on-one consulting service that spells out six things:
1. Who it is for: only one kind of person, the more specific the better;
2. What they take away: after we talk, what concrete thing or decision they will have in hand;
3. How long: [30 / 60] minutes, online video call;
4. What is included: a few questions before booking, the session itself, a written summary within 24 hours;
5. What is not included: [for example: no medical, legal, financial or tax advice; I don't make decisions for people];
6. Rescheduling and refunds: [for example: one reschedule with 24 hours' notice; full refund any time before the session starts].
Use only the facts I gave you. Do not make anything up, and do not promise results.
```

**How to set the price: look at the buyer, not at your hours.** Don't work it out from "what my hour is worth". First answer three questions:
1. **Who pays?** The person themselves, or their grown children, or their company?
2. **If they don't come to you, who do they go to?** For example, a free community talk, a book, a paid teacher or consultant.
3. **What do those cost?** Find two or three real prices, each with its web address.

```
The people I want to help are [who]. If they don't come to me, they usually [go to whom / do what on their own].
Please search the web for 3 services similar to my kind of one-on-one consulting. List the name, price and length of each, with a source link for every one. If you can't find any, say so.
```

Use trick A from Quick Start Lesson 5 (check the source): open every link and check the price. Then set a price yourself and write one sentence explaining it: "[my price], because [the comparable prices and how mine is different]." To start, you can set a "trial price", serve three real people first, and adjust after you hear their feedback.

**Hold your boundaries.** For anything you don't hold a license for, don't give professional advice: medical, legal, financial, tax and mental health diagnosis are all the same. When it comes up, say "you'll need to ask [a doctor / a lawyer / an accountant / your child's teacher] about that." Put this sentence in your service description too.

**Done:** You have a one-page consulting service description: who it's for, what they take away, how long, what's included and not included, rescheduling and refunds, and a price with a one-sentence reason.

<!-- page: Before the session: intake questions and prep -->

**Ask first, then meet.** Have people answer a few questions when they book. That way you know where they are stuck before you meet, and 30 minutes is enough.

```
Based on my consulting service description, write 5 questions for people to answer when they book.
Rules: plain English, one question asks one thing, each can be answered in 2 minutes;
do not ask for private details like home address, ID numbers, bank accounts or medical records;
the last question is "After we talk, what do you most hope to take away?"
```

Read them through, delete any you don't need, and reword them the way you talk. Save them; you'll use them on the last page.

**Prep with AI.** Once you have someone's answers (in this lesson, use the answers from the friend doing your mock session), first delete anything that could identify them, like their name and phone number, then send them to AI:

```
I'm about to do a [30]-minute one-on-one consulting session; my service description is in this project. The person's answers from booking are:
[paste the answers, with name and contact details removed]
Please help me prepare:
1. Where they are most likely stuck (3 points at most);
2. A time plan: what to do in the first few minutes, the middle, and the last few minutes;
3. 3 questions I can ask them;
4. One ready-made resource I can give them (picked from my free resource).
Mark anything you are guessing, so I can ask them about it when we meet.
```

**You make the call.** AI lays the groundwork; you do the judging. Go through it point by point: which part is wrong? Which part is a guess? Fix it with your own experience. If you want a second pair of eyes, use the hero-summoning trick from Quick Start Lesson 7 and ask "a seasoned peer in your field" to look over the plan.

**Done:** You have 5 intake questions, and you used one real (or mock) set of answers to prepare a session.

<!-- page: After the session: summary and follow-up -->

**Ask a family member or friend for a 15-minute mock session.** Talk through it following the plan on the last page. Just jot down a few key words as you go; you don't need to write everything.

**If you want to record audio or video, ask the other person first.** If they say no, just take notes.

**Write the summary right after you finish.** First delete names, phone numbers and addresses from your notes, then send them to AI:

```
These are my notes from a one-on-one consulting session I just finished:
[paste your notes, with anything that could identify the person removed]
Please write a follow-up email to send them, in plain English, no more than 150 words:
1. What we talked about today (two or three sentences);
2. 3 small things they can do next, one sentence each;
3. The resource I promised to send them;
4. A last line: they can reply to this email with any questions.
Use only what is in my notes. Do not make anything up, and do not promise results.
Do not add a single piece of advice that is not in my notes.
```

Use trick C from Quick Start Lesson 5 to check it line by line: is there anything you never said? Any "guaranteed" or "will definitely"? Does anything cross your boundaries (for example, a medical or financial judgment made for the person)? Once it's fixed, send the email.

**Finally, ask them three questions** (you learned these in Quick Start Lesson 10): What was useful? What was unclear? What other help would you like? Write down their exact words.

**Done:** You ran a mock session, sent a follow-up summary you checked yourself, and wrote down the other person's exact words.

<!-- page: Turn on booking -->

**Members: turn on consulting bookings on the academy website**

Academy members can turn on consulting right on the website: open [My Consulting · Settings](/zh/consult/settings) (Chinese page), then:

1. Tick 「开通咨询」 (turn on consulting).
2. Enter your hourly price ($20 to $500); the page shows how much you actually receive.
3. Write an introduction: put in the service description you wrote earlier, up to 300 characters.
4. Enter your meeting link: a fixed Zoom or Google Meet link.
5. Pick up to 3 regular weekly time slots: day of the week and time.
6. Click 「保存」 (Save). Now people can find you in the [consultant list](/zh/consult) (Chinese page), pick a time and pay with Stripe; once the payment goes through, you both get an email.

Put your 5 intake questions in your introduction, and ask people to answer them in the 「想聊什么」 (what you want to talk about) box when they book. [to verify: check against the real page once it is live]

**Not a member: use the free Calendly plan + your payment link from Lesson 6.** The order is: the buyer **pays first, then picks a time**. That's because the free Calendly plan can't take money, and it can't send people to another web page after they book; taking payments needs the Standard plan ($10 a month, paid yearly). We'll use the free way: after someone pays on Stripe, Stripe sends them straight to your Calendly booking page.

**1. Build your Calendly booking page.**
1. Open **calendly.com**, sign up free with your email or Google account, and follow the steps to connect your calendar (the free plan connects only one calendar).
2. Click **+ Create** at the top of the left sidebar, choose **Event Type**, then **One-on-One** [to verify: button positions in the current layout].
3. Enter a name (for example "30-minute one-on-one consultation"), the length (30 or 60 minutes) and the location (choose Zoom, Google Meet or phone), and click **Save**. The free plan allows only one event type, which is just right.
4. Under the times you can be booked (Availability), keep only the two or three time slots in **Weekly hours** when you're really free.
5. Click **More options**, open **Invitee form**, click **+ Add new question**, and add your 5 questions from the last page one at a time; tick **Required** for the most important ones. Add one more question: "The email you used to pay". You can add up to 10 questions, even on the free plan. Click **Save changes**.
6. If you want people to book "at least one day ahead", set a minimum notice under **Limits and buffers** [to verify: whether the free plan allows this].
7. Click **Share** or the link icon and copy your booking link.

**2. Make a payment link for consulting.** Follow the steps from Lesson 6: in your live Stripe account, make a new product "30-minute one-on-one consultation" at the price you set. Under **After payment**, don't use the confirmation page; instead choose **send people to a web address after payment** [to verify: the exact wording of the option], and enter your Calendly booking link. Click **Create link**.

**3. Walk through it yourself.** First pay once with your own card and see whether it takes you straight to Calendly [to verify: that the whole path actually works]; book a time on Calendly and check that it shows up on your calendar; then go to Stripe and refund that payment, and cancel the booking in Calendly.

**A gap you should know about:** anyone who gets your Calendly link can book without paying. So share only the **payment link**; don't post your Calendly link online. Before every session, check under **Payments** in Stripe that "the email you used to pay" matches; if it doesn't, politely send them the payment link.

**4. Make sure buyers can find it.** Same as Lesson 6: send the payment link straight to people who ask, and paste it into your video description. Then add another button to your website:

```
Keep everything else the same. Add a button to the website that says "Book a one-on-one consultation ([price] / [30] minutes)", and when clicked it opens this link: [consulting payment link]
Above the button, put my consulting service description: [paste the service description, only these four lines: who it is for, what they take away, what is included, price]
```

**Done:** Your consulting has a way to be booked: the academy members' page (once it's live), or the "payment link → Calendly" path, and you walked through it yourself once.