Thanks oz, that makes me happy. There is a podcast episode coming up in the next few days about consulting, which anyone interested in this topic would be well-advised to listen (or read -- transcript available, as per usual).

Comments like the ones you link to are the reason I blow so much time on HN.

I have read everything patio11 has written about consulting , twice. As I've said on HN before his writing has changed my life in a few dramatic and interesting ways. Specifically this guy: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/07/08/business-psychology/

I somehow missed that link you posted by tptacek but it truly is a gem. I'm at about stage 2 of that now and it's exactly what I needed to hear.

Yes that post is to the point, probably the best gem of it is this one people who can speak both tech and biz --- are exceptionally rare. This cannot be understated, to me this is the mark of a consultant. If you are not as comfortable in front of pure business personnel, as you are technical people you need to get comfortable in that environment. If you could not see yourself doing well as a technical sales engineer, then you need to work on your ability to pitch concepts. While many of us would never take the role of a sales engineer, you must know that you could do well at the job if you did pursue it. The reason being, as a consultant you are a sales engineer. The more reputable you become, the higher up the corporate ladder you sell at. Large firms don't sell to middle management, they call their friend on the board up and strike a deal with the board, they work out implementation details with middle management. Thriving in the non-technical environments is paramount to greater success. Which brings me to the last point, and that is network, good consultants have a network, you have to network and not just you local users groups, you need to network at small business events and other industry groups. If you are not great at getting up in front of people, tostmasters is a great place to network, a good deal of those attending tostmasters are doing so because they are moving up the ladder and have to become comfortable speaking to larger and larger groups, some may be future decision makers.