Mitch, two great takeaways I get from your post: 1. A reminder that people, not publishers, own the power of publishing. Anyone can self publish and sell an ebook pdf. It is up to the people to decide if the book is worth buying. 2. Taking your platform idea one step further, I think each platform represents a different stage in the thought process. The tweet is the brainstorm - a collection of cool articles a writer can distill into an idea. The blog post introduces the idea (made stronger by comments). The magazine article fleshes out the idea. Finally, a book takes a collection of good ideas and ties them together into--hopefully--one unity. Thanks for the comment!

Where does blogging fit into the writing heirarchy? Generalizing, if twitterers are blog dabblers, are bloggers book dabblers? Will a great writer be a great blogger be a great twitterer, or does each medium have its own specialization? Is there even a heirarchy? Joseph and Mitchell, you both have written books, and HighJive, you just pump out great content on your blog. I wish I could do more than ask questions, but you three are in a much better position to talk than me.

Lewis, thank you. Your example of important questions to ask a potential client at the initial meeting and avenues of research outside the meeting are very helpful. Much appreciated.

Lewis, I recall you saying from previous posts that part of choosing clients carefully is a clear understanding of your ideal client. When you find a potential client that fits your criteria, what due diligence do you do to confirm that the client is right for you?

It's surprising that a business would call for a consultant if they are not interested in getting better. How do consultants and clients veer off in such different directions? Is the client not understanding the services they are paying for? Or the consultant not anticipating the personalities of their client? Is it somewhere in between?