Mitigate your law school debt by consulting


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Mitigate your law school debt by consulting

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Get Rich Slowly has an excellent post on becoming a consultant in order to pay off debt quickly. The idea sounds very intriguing to me and is one that I might take up in order to mitigate my crippling student debt.

What is a consultant?

Consulting is just a fancy way of saying trading your knowledge for pay. You could be a blog consultant, an organizing consultant, a wedding consultant, ect. Andrea, the author of the post on Get Rich Slowly, says it’s easy to get into consulting. First, take a personal inventory of your skills, interests, and talents. Second, find people who could use that information and are willing to pay for it. The second part sounds hard, but I think it might be easier then most people think. Just telling your friends or family members that you’re offering your services can bring in several clients.

How much money can you make consulting?

It varies, but Andrea suggests that consultants charge from anywhere from $35-$300 an hour. It depends on what kind of information you’re providing. Some people are willing to pay more for certain types of information.

How much time does it take?

One of the beauties of consulting is that you set your own hours. You can work as little or as much as you want. Because of its flexibility, consulting is the perfect side job for law students. I think most students could find 10 or 15 hours a month that they could dedicate to consulting. Weekends are the perfect time to do it.

If you were to work 10 hours a month and charged $35 an hour for your services, that’s $350 a month that can go to paying off student loans.

Your experiences

I want to know if any of you have tried your hand at consulting. I’m looking to get into it, so I would like to see what others’ experience has been with it. I’d appreciate any suggestions or tips that you all might have. I’ve put Free Agent Nation on hold at the library and am looking forward to reading it. If you have any other books that you might suggest, drop me a line.

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Mrs. FLS | 18 Jan 07 | Consulting, Job Search, Debt, Student Loans

4 Comments

Andrew Flusche on 18.01.2007 at 20:06 (Reply)

This is a really good article that you put up. It’s got some good thoughts on consulting. I’ve tried my hand at it a little.

I’m currently doing some blog consulting with a marketing agent. She works with small businesses, and is trying to get her clients into blogging. I help with the technical end of things, and I will soon be setting up blogs for her. It has worked out for me so far, and I’ve really enjoyed it.
The Frugal Law Student on 19.01.2007 at 10:43 (Reply)

Andrew-
That’s great that you have a consulting job on the side. How did you get connected with the marketing agent? Was it someone you knew through a friend or did you market your services?

With your expertise in using technology in the legal field, I think you should look into doing consulting work for firms. I bet you could make a hefty hunk of change doing that.
Andrew Flusche on 21.01.2007 at 19:34 (Reply)

I connected with the marketing agent via everyone’s favorite online classified ads: craigslist. She had posted an ad looking for a “blogging guru” in one of the “gigs” lists. I responded with my resume and some info on my blog. After a couple emails, we set up an initial phone consultation (which I offered for free). Now we’re chugging along.

I got lucky. I was in the right place at the right time. But also, I jumped at the opportunity. I didn’t second-guess myself. Instead, I thought, “what do I have to lose?”

As for law firms, that’s a pretty big step. It could be fruitful, but I don’t think I’m quite at that level yet. Then again, maybe that’s just second-guessing myself.
180 Money Saving Tips to Turn Your Financial Life Around 180 Degrees | The Frugal Law Student on 17.05.2007 at 13:23

[…] Become a consultant. Do you know a lot about a particular skill? Put that knowledge to work by helping others. […]

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The Frugal Law Student is for anyone trying to mitigate their crippling debt. Me? I'm trying to mitigate the tens of thousands of dollars I've taken on in student loans. Join me on my quest to avoid taking on more debt, paying off some of the debt I have, and trying to survive law school while doing it. Read more about The Frugal Law Student, check out some of the best articles, or become a subscriber via RSS feed or via email

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