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Why "Million Dollar Consulting" Changed How I Think About Closing My Retirement Gap

Most consultants stay broke because they're selling the wrong thing.

They bill hourly. They position themselves as extra hands. They compete on price. And they wonder why their "side consulting" isn't making a dent in their retirement income gap.

Alan Weiss's Million Dollar Consulting (now in its 6th edition, which tells you something) turns all of that on its head.

This isn't a book about how to be a better contractor. It's about how to position your decades of corporate experience as high-value strategic expertise—and get paid enough to actually move the needle on your Freedom Number.

The Problem With How Most People Consult

Here's what typically happens when corporate professionals decide to consult:

They set up a LinkedIn profile. They start billing $150/hour. They take on projects that treat them like temporary employees. And six months later, they're exhausted, undervalued, and making less supplementary income than they'd need to close their retirement gap in this lifetime.

The problem isn't their expertise. The problem is they're still thinking like employees.

Weiss argues—convincingly—that consultants shouldn't sell time. They should sell outcomes.

See the difference?

Value-Based Pricing: The Game Changer for Your Retirement Gap

The core of Weiss's approach is value-based pricing, and it's the single most important concept if you're serious about closing your retirement income gap.

Here's the logic: If you help a client increase revenue by $2 million, why should your fee be based on how long it took you? The value to them is $2 million. Your decades of corporate experience allowed you to deliver that outcome efficiently. That efficiency is worth more, not less.

Most consultants have this backwards. They think, "I can't charge that much for only 20 hours of work." Weiss says, "You can deliver that outcome in 20 hours because of your expertise. That's exactly why it's worth $50K."

This is what allows solo consultants to build seven-figure practices without killing themselves—and what makes it possible to close a six-figure retirement gap in 5-10 years instead of 20+.

What Makes This Book Different

Weiss has been doing this for over 30 years. His firm has worked with Mercedes-Benz, Merck, Hewlett-Packard, and hundreds of other major organizations.

But here's what I appreciate: He's not teaching you how to land Fortune 500 contracts (though the book covers that). He's teaching you how to structure a consulting practice that gives you leverage, premium fees, and the freedom to be selective about clients.

The book covers:

• How to position yourself as a peer to executives, not a vendor
• How to set fees based on value, not hours or deliverables
• How to structure proposals that focus on outcomes, not tasks
• How to have fee conversations without flinching
• How to create intellectual property that scales beyond your time

This isn't theory. Every chapter includes specific examples, actual fee structures, and real conversations with clients.

The Parts That Hit Home for Retirement Planning

On pricing: Weiss makes the point that if you're uncomfortable stating your fee, you haven't properly established value. The discomfort isn't about the number—it's about whether you believe in the transformation you're delivering.

This matters for retirement income because if you can't confidently charge $50K-$75K per engagement, you're not going to close a $200K-$500K retirement gap in any reasonable timeframe.

On positioning: He's adamant that you should never compete on price. If a client is shopping for the lowest bid, they're not your client. Your job is to work with organizations that value expertise and are willing to pay for results.

On leverage: The goal isn't to work more hours. The goal is to increase the value of each engagement.

That's the shift Weiss is teaching—and it's the difference between side income that's a nice supplement vs. Encore Income that actually closes your retirement gap.

How This Connects to Your Freedom Number

If you've calculated your Freedom Number, you know exactly how much monthly income you're short in retirement.

Weiss's approach shows you how to build consulting income that can close that gap:

That's the difference between closing your gap by age 65 vs. age 75. Weiss's framework makes this possible.

The Bottom Line

Is this book going to hand you clients on day one? No.

Is it going to make consulting easy? Also no.

But will it fundamentally change how you think about pricing, positioning, and the value of your expertise—in a way that actually makes closing your retirement gap realistic?

Absolutely.

Weiss has built a $2 million+ solo practice using these exact principles. Thousands of consultants have used this book to escape the hourly rate trap and build legitimate consulting businesses that move the needle on retirement.

If you're serious about closing your Freedom Number gap through consulting—not contracting, not freelancing, but actual strategic consulting—this book is non-negotiable.

Fortune favors the bold. But fortune also favors those who understand the difference between selling time and selling transformation.

— Scott Fulbright

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