Great news, your AI Consulting persona is…
The Pioneer
You’re striking out on a new and exciting journey, and we’ll help you rapidly skill up in both business and tech.
As a pioneer, you’re embarking on a totally new journey, making a major career change to become an AI consultant. You’ll be simultaneously building your AI tech skills while learning the ropes of finding clients, making sales and running an efficient consultancy.
One of your biggest challenges will be defeating imposter syndrome, followed by rapidly skilling up with the most common AI tools. We’ll get you moving quickly with a crash course on all things AI. Don’t worry—it’s surprisingly easy to get up to speed, even without a lot of pre-existing tech knowledge. Even though the machine-learning elements of AI are super complex, the day to day use cases aren’t—so as long as you put the time and energy into learning, you’ll find that diving into AI is easy and fun.
Then, we’ll help you leverage your personal network to score your first few gigs, which will be low-cost to the client, but will be extremely valuable to you because they’ll help you build your reputation and get used to the process of making sales to clients while the stakes are still relatively low. After that, we’ll dive into building your prospect list, to ensure you always have a healthy pipeline of leads regardless of how large your preexisting personal network is.
Join us on Slack:
Share your persona when you intro yourself to the Slack community!
Where to start:
Before you start down your path you’ll want to make sure you’ve knocked out the onboarding steps below. They’re quick (about 20 minutes total) and they’ll make sure you’re plugged into everything this course has to offer: the Slack community, the live sessions, all the resources you need. Once you’re done here, you’ll jump right into your personalized path.
First – defeat imposter syndrome and build your AI skills
When you’re just starting out, it’s normal to be worried that you can’t deliver quality projects to clients – so we’re going to start by showing you how many other folks just like you are already earning money as AI consultants. Then, we’ll show you the tech stack we’ve designed especially for Pioneers like you, ensuring you have powerful tools at your fingertips and aren’t overwhelmed by the tech side of the equation.
Here’s a secret – you can do everything you need to deliver valuable, high-quality projects to clients without coding. The way we see it, if you can get good at a tool like Photoshop or Excel, you can rock your client’s world as an AI consultant.
To lock in your tech skills, build your first workflow by following our Build It Together: Document Automation series.
Keep in mind that you only need to do the intro and Core Workflow. The remaining lessons are a bit more techie, so you should skip them for now.
Result: Your first workflow that could be sold to a client in the future!
Build your ethical framework
Knowing how to use AI will get you in the door, but understanding its impact on society will make you invaluable. This section explores the bigger questions you’ll face as a consultant: How is AI reshaping industries? What are the copyright implications? How do you spot and address bias? This chapter gives you the context and frameworks to navigate these complex human and ethical dimensions thoughtfully.
After that – sell your first AI training
Now it’s time to Launch Fast. In this section of the program, we’ll show you how to rapidly sell a simple, low-cost AI training, allowing you to build momentum, get testimonials from early clients, and make the most important leap early in your business, going from $0 to $1.
You’re off to the races. We recommend creating a first draft of your AI Consulting Service Menu, with the understanding that it will evolve as you gain more experience.
Next – meet 100 solid leads
Now, it’s time to start reaching out to people outside your “warm” network. Follow the Meet 100 Solid Leads project to learn how to build a super-simple website, update your online reputation, build a prospect list and reach out to them with gentle, powerful, human “cold outreach” that gets their attention and gets them excited to hop on Zoom with you to talk about how you can help them enhance their businesses with AI.
Explore the full curriculum
Once you’ve completed your customized Pioneer starter path, explore the 100+ in-depth lessons in our full curriculum — we guide you through every step in building a thriving consultancy.
Suggested: Learn some no-code basics
What to focus on:
- Level up your AI and tech skills while understanding that you don’t need to be anywhere close to a coder or expert to start helping others. You are already ahead of most people just by being an AI enthusiast
- Pick one or two services (most likely from our Training list) for your initial service menu, then get out there and start talking to real people
- Get “out of your head” fast – hearing real questions and comments from real prospective clients is 100x more valuable than waiting to learn more
Common challenges:
- It can be difficult to know when you are “ready” from a tech and AI skill standpoint. Err on the side of starting sooner – remember the story of the piano teacher who just had to say three lessons ahead of her students ? AI is incredibly new, so it’s OK to be learning as you go!
- Two ways to think about when you’re ready to train / consult / build for other people:
- Could you get a B+ on a test about this skill? If so, you’re ready!
- Could you teach this skill to a 10-year-old? If so, you’re ready!
How to win big: Aim to join the IWAI Directory
Start fast and recognize that everyone is learning as they go, and that you have a huge advantage by being an early-adopter and AI enthusiast. The business and tech skills are all learnable, but it requires you to take action and talk to real people and real clients soon as opposed to waiting until you have “skilled up” on everything.
As a Pioneer, you’re just getting started and may not be ready to apply to our Directory. That’s okay—take the coming weeks and months to progress through the lessons and real-world milestones like establishing your business, defining services, and demonstrating ethical practices. When you’re ready, you’ll can apply to be listed in our directory as a trusted, IWAI-approved consultant.
Check out the lesson below to learn more.
Not a Pioneer?
You might also be a Bootstrapper (more advanced tech skills) or a Producer (more advanced business skills). Or, you can retake the quiz.