1. The Difference Between a Consultant and a Contractor: Sell Outcomes

Jason Liu opens the piece by noting that he frequently reviews consulting proposals and often sees the same mistakes he made when he was starting out.

"Many people think of themselves as consultants, but they're really just contractors. Know the difference? Contractors sell work. Consultants sell outcomes."

The core distinction:

• Contractor: sells time or tasks
• Consultant: sells the outcome the client actually wants

Jason stresses that there's a ceiling to simply raising your hourly rate.

"If all you're selling is time, your income will eventually plateau no matter how high your rate goes — because time is finite."

The takeaway:

• Focus not on "what I can do"
• but on "what the client will get"

2. Sell Outcomes, Not Tasks: Speak the Customer's Language

Many consulting proposals, he says, sound like a résumé.

"Hi, I'm Jason. I build AI apps. I can do X, Y, and Z."

But clients aren't looking for a consultant — they want a problem solved. Jason reframes the pitch:

"If your app is losing customers because of hallucinations, or your engineering team is stuck arguing about what to build next, I can help."

The key point:

• Pinpoint the client's specific pain
• "Customers don't buy solutions blindly. They spend money to escape pain."

3. Build a Content Flywheel: Demonstrate Your Expertise

Once you understand the client's pain, you need to create content that showcases your expertise.

• Through blogs, videos, open-source tools, and more
• Examples:
  • Common mistakes when transitioning to AI engineering
  • How to evaluate RAG systems
  • Strategies for attracting AI talent
  • Understanding data literacy

Why it matters:

1. Positions you as an expert
2. Gives you material to use in sales conversations

4. Ask the Right Questions: Uncover the Real Value

In client meetings, don't just ask "What can I do for you?" — dig deeper.

"What's the most important thing in your business right now?" "What do you expect from this partnership?" "How can I make you look good?" "What does success on this project look like?"

These questions help you:

• Identify the real value at stake
• Set an appropriate price

5. Structure Your Proposals: Give Options and Own the Outcome

The secret to high-earning consulting:

• The more accountability you take for the final business outcome, the more you can charge

Jason recommends a three-tier option structure:

1. Basic: deliver exactly what the client asked for
2. Enhanced: address the client's deeper underlying needs as well
3. Full accountability: take responsibility for the results

Example:

1. Basic: build an evaluation system ($20,000)
2. Enhanced: evaluation system + weekly reports + team training ($30,000)
3. Full accountability: all of the above + $50,000 only if client retention improves by 10%

"Give your clients options. People love choice. And if they trust your expertise, let them choose the more expensive option — because you can deliver that much more value."

Tip:

• Make the most expensive option the work you actually want to do
• If the client doesn't choose it, you still have other options on the table — no pressure

6. Decouple Price from Time: Value-Based Pricing

To break through income ceilings, price on value, not on hours.

"If you help a company raise a Series A — worth roughly $10 million — a $200,000 consulting fee doesn't feel expensive at all. It's ultimately a matter of framing."

What matters:

• Charge a price that matches the value you create
• But you must actually be able to deliver that value

7. The Limits of a Service Business: Expand Into Products

Jason is candid: it's very hard to earn more than $5 million a year from pure services alone.

"That's why so many consultants eventually expand into products — courses, books, SaaS tools."

The reason:

• You can leverage your expertise without directly selling your time

8. Closing: The Path to Growing as a Consultant

Jason emphasizes that growing as a consultant isn't simply a matter of raising your rates — it's about fundamentally changing how you think about the value you provide.

"When you focus on outcomes instead of tasks, an entirely new world of pricing opens up."

Summary:

1. Understand the client's pain
2. Create content that demonstrates your expertise
3. Ask questions that uncover real value
4. Write proposals with multiple options
5. Price on value, not on time

"When you make these shifts, you won't just earn more — you'll deliver far greater value to your clients. There's always a price where both the client and you can say 'thank you.'"

💡 If this was helpful, subscribe to Jason's newsletter for more consulting insights!

Key Concepts

• Consultant vs. contractor
• Selling outcomes
• Client pain
• Content flywheel
• Value-based pricing
• Tiered proposals
• Limits of a service business
• Expanding into products

😊 I hope this piece gives you a clear, practical grasp of what AI consulting is really about!