Last night I got paid $70 to talk for an hour!

[rbnyc]

I did a little freelance consulting last night. When the group approached me, I offered to do it pro-bono because I know they are just forming and don't have much money and I believe in their mission. They insisted on paying me so I told them I would charge $20/hour. A professional consultant in my field would actually earn much more than that, but I don't have any consulting on my resume, and again I want to help. They agreed to pay me $20/hour. Last night I met with them and talked about where they are now, where they want to go, what I think they need to do to get there and how I can help. It took an hour. As one of the women was walking me out, she gave me $70. I told her it was more than we agreed to, and she said to consider it a tip.

Two things: First, my family really needs the money. I'm so grateful they overpaid me. Second, it felt really great to earn money just for talking and inspiring people and sharing knowledge and systems.

I think I'm going to make a 10-year career plan that results in full-time consulting. The consultant who was hired by my current organization to create the foundation of my job description, find and hire me got paid $10,000 and probably worked a total of 100 hours.