Consulting can cover a wide range of services. Some consultants provide simply advice on which their clients handle all the execution.

Other consultants take a more hands on approach providing the advice and the implementation for their clients. This approach is far more popular and it’s what most companies (especially small and medium-sized ones) are after.

In the case you mentioned, a business simply knowing what social networking is doesn’t mean they know how to use it to build and grow their business. They may understand the concept but not know how to connect the dots to have it support their brand. So yes, in this case a consultant could be of great support.

We have several articles on this site regarding setting your consulting rates Have a look around and let me know if you have specific questions.

I just stumbled upon (ah, that’s where they got that name!) your site this morning, and I must say that as someone just starting out in this field (my second career) it has so far been a huge help.

I have an honours degree in Comms. (Australia), 5 years’ esperience as a journalist and the desire and need (I’m very hungry – literally) to set up my own consultancy business.

I have read a great deal on the subject, follow journals, spoken with advertising execs, etc., but one of the things that would really help me (and maybe I missed this on your site) is a blow-by-blow account of what a consultant would do for a client.

Say, for example, a client wants to raise their social networking profile, does the fact that they already know about social networking mean that they don’t need a consultant? Or, would the consultant offer to set up a Twitter account, monitor it for them, etc.? I know that’s simplifying things, but if it’s the latter, then the consultancy role seems a bit thin on the ground. How much would I typically charge for that sort of thing?

Cheers,
Tim