Any tips on finding/learning a highly profitable subspecialty? I've changed niches and increased my rates before, but I don't even know how to begin getting to $400.
Ideally you would want to be in a niche that will directly influence revenue, makes it easier to sell your service for a high price.
patio11's post in this thread is a good example (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5769870), increasing conversion rates for X will directly effect the bottom line by Y. As long as the price you charge is lower than Y, you should be able to sell it.
Other than that, specialized knowledge is always handy of course. I know of consultants doing compliance/IT systems for banks, highly profitable since the banks only change IT systems every 10 years or so and therefore it makes no sense to keep the cutting edge expertise in house but there are enough banks so they always have work.
It does vary depending on where you live though, I don't know of many charging $400/hr (or equivalent) in Sweden. Same rings true for the limited experience I have in The Netherlands.
Edit: Edited for clarity.
Edit2: Looking at your HN profile: why not consulting in Big data or such? Big data is all the rage at the moment and it is a new niche that everyone wants in on.
Thanks for the advice. I do work in Big Data (and have consulted) but perhaps I need to specialize further?
This post brings up 2 ideas:
1. Look into marketing or other areas where applied Machine Learning would make a direct impact to the bottom line. I'm guessing it's a lot easier to charge more if your value proposition is "increase sales/revenue by $X" vs. "increase the lift of this random model by Y%".
2.It might be worth looking into banks/hedge funds. They presumably are much more willing to throw large amounts of money at the right problems.
I think both seem like very valid ideas, though I have little knowledge regarding Big Data so I cannot tell you for sure.
It is still up and coming so I think there are large opportunities for those with enough knowledge how to handle Big Data. If you can visualize the data in a clear and coherent manner you should be able to make some big money :)
