Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Librarian Built a 6000 Monthly Side Hustle in Research Consulting
Transcript
- Lucas: A few months back, I was talking to a public librarian in Portland — Sarah, early thirties, works at a branch in the southeast part of the city. And she mentioned that she'd built a side hustle pulling in about six thousand dollars a month doing research consulting for startups, authors, and nonprofits. Luna: Wait — from librarianship? Like, reference desk skills? That's actually brilliant. Lucas: Exactly. She realized that the same skills she uses to help patrons find obscure historical records or evaluate sources could be turned into a paid service. And the kicker is — she never thought of it as a business until a friend who worked at a small tech company complained about spending hours digging up competitor pricing data. Luna: And she just said, 'I can do that in half the time'? Lucas: Basically. She did a small sample for free — two hours of work — and the friend's boss loved it. That turned into a recurring monthly retainer at seventy-five dollars an hour. Luna: That's a really good rate for someone who's not a traditional consultant. Most people undervalue research work. Lucas: Right. And that's actually something I think a lot of listeners might relate to — you have a skill that feels 'normal' to you because you do it every day, but it's actually rare in the broader market. If we've helped you think through a career move or a side hustle idea like this, and you've gotten some value from the show, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these episodes going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if that feels right to you. Luna: Yeah, it really makes a difference. We keep the show ad-free, and listener support is the reason. Lucas: So back to Sarah — her first paid gig was competitive intelligence for a seed-stage SaaS company. They wanted to know how their top competitor priced features, what customers were complaining about on review sites, and whether the competitor was hiring for any new roles that hinted at a product shift. Luna: That's actually really specific. How did she structure that? Lucas: She started with a one-page summary — a snapshot of pricing tiers, three customer complaints from G2 and Capterra, and a list of recent job postings from the competitor. Then she provided a deeper appendix with sources. The client paid her for ten hours a month, and she delivered the report within the first week. Luna: So she front-loaded the work and then had the rest of the month to do her librarian job. Smart. Lucas: Exactly. She was careful not to over-deliver — which she admits was her biggest early mistake. She'd spend fifteen hours on a ten-hour retainer because she wanted the report to be perfect. But that just trains clients to expect more for the same price. Luna: How did she handle that? Scope creep is the killer in any service business. Lucas: She set a hard boundary: any request outside the agreed scope triggers a separate quote at a hundred fifty dollars an hour. And she only lost one client because of it — which was actually a relief, because that client was the most demanding. Luna: I love that. So what tools does she use? I imagine a lot of this is just good old-fashioned searching, but there must be some specific resources. Lucas: She relies heavily on Google Scholar for academic papers and industry reports, Statista for market data — she pays for the personal plan out of pocket, which is about fifty bucks a month — and Airtable to organize findings by client. She also uses the Wayback Machine to see how competitor websites have changed over time. Luna: That's a clever trick. So the tech stack is pretty lightweight. Anyone could replicate that. Lucas: Right. And the barrier to entry is low — you don't need a certification or a degree in library science to do this well. What you need is a systematic approach and the ability to synthesize information quickly. Sarah actually offers a free thirty-minute discovery call where she clarifies the client's question and then sends a proposal with a fixed price. Luna: Fixed price, not hourly? That's interesting, given that she started at seventy-five dollars an hour. Lucas: She moved to project-based pricing after about six months. She found that clients preferred knowing the total cost upfront. So for a typical competitive landscape report, she charges twelve hundred dollars. That covers about ten to fifteen hours of work, but she's gotten efficient enough that it usually takes her eight. Luna: So her effective hourly rate goes up. That's the dream — charge for value, not time. Lucas: Exactly. And she's transparent about scope. Her proposal includes a list of deliverables, the number of sources she'll review, and a timeline. If the client wants to expand the scope, they agree on a new price before she starts. Luna: How did she find her first few clients? She had the one from the friend, but what about after that? Lucas: Cold emailing, but very targeted. She researched small tech companies — under fifty employees — that had recently raised a seed round. Then she crafted a short email referencing something specific about their industry, like 'I noticed your competitor just launched a new feature in X category. I've researched how similar features affected pricing in adjacent markets. Would you be open to a fifteen-minute chat?' Luna: That's a great hook. It's not asking for a job; it's offering insight. Lucas: Exactly. She sent about twenty emails and got three responses. One turned into a client. After that, referrals started coming in. Now she has four recurring clients and does one-off projects for authors writing business books. Luna: Authors are a natural fit — they need fact-checking, historical context, case studies. I can see that being a steady stream. Lucas: She charges authors a flat fee of eight hundred dollars for a research package — up to twenty hours of work. She provides a bibliography, verified sources, and a summary of key findings. One author hired her for a book on the gig economy and used her research for three chapters. Luna: So she's essentially a ghost researcher. That's a real niche. Lucas: It is. And the interesting thing is, she never advertises. All her clients come from word of mouth or the cold emails she sent in the beginning. She has a simple website — just a single page with her services, a sample report, and a contact form. Luna: What about non-disclosure agreements? I imagine some of this research is sensitive. Lucas: She signs NDAs for most of her corporate clients. She also has a standard agreement that says she won't work for direct competitors of a current client during the engagement. That builds trust. Luna: Smart. So what's her biggest piece of advice for someone listening who thinks, 'I'm a librarian, or a grad student, or just someone who's really good at research'? Lucas: She says start with a free sample for someone you know — a friend with a startup, a family member who writes a blog. Prove the concept. Then set a price and stick to it. And don't be afraid to charge more once you have testimonials. Luna: That's the same pattern we've seen in so many side hustles. Start small, gather evidence, then raise rates. Lucas: Exactly. Sarah now makes more from her side hustle than her librarian salary — and she loves her librarian job. She has no plans to quit. The side hustle gives her financial freedom and lets her do the kind of deep-dive research she enjoys without the constraints of a single employer. Luna: That's the sweet spot, right? A side hustle that complements your day job instead of burning you out. Lucas: Yeah. And the key takeaway is that research is a skill people pay for — whether it's competitive intelligence, market analysis, or fact-checking. If you're good at finding things out, there's a market for that. Luna: And you don't need to be a librarian. You just need to be systematic and reliable. Lucas: Right. Sarah's story is proof that a skill you use every day at work can become a six-thousand-dollar-a-month side hustle with the right positioning and a little discipline.