How to Build a Consulting Marketplace Like Clarity.fm

In today’s highly competitive world, the demand for expert advice and guidance is on the rise. Whether it’s navigating career decisions, starting a business, or seeking personal development, individuals are constantly seeking the expertise of professionals to achieve their goals. Online consulting marketplaces have emerged as a convenient and efficient solution to connect these consultation seekers with experienced consultants across various industries.

One such platform that has gained significant popularity is Clarity.fm. Founded in 2012, this online consulting marketplace is efficiently connecting individuals seeking expert guidance with experienced consultants across the globe. With its user-friendly interfaces and qualified network of experts Clarity.fm has become the go-to destination for consultation seekers. 

Inspired by the success of Clarity.fm, if you also want to enter the online consulting industry and are interested in building your own online consulting marketplace, then you are at the right place. In this blog post, we will guide you through the steps to build an online consulting marketplace like Clarity.fm. We will cover everything you need to know before launching a successful online consulting marketplace. 

What is Clarity.fm and its Growth?

Founded by Dan Martell in 2012, Clarity.fm is an online consultation platform that connects entrepreneurs with experts in various fields for one-on-one advice and consultation sessions. With more than 30,000 verified experts, this is a renowned platform in the online consulting industry. The yearly revenue generated by Clarity.fm is approximately $6 million. Clarity.fm is a venture-backed company with investors such as Venture51, 500 Startups, Freestyle Capital, and others. 

How Does Consultation Marketplace Like Clarity.fm Work?

After gaining understanding about Clarity.fm, you must also understand how it works. The working of this online consultation platform is very simple and seamless. Below we discuss the detailed workflow of an online consultation marketplace like Clarity.fm. 

• Users sign up on the platform by creating an account. They can apply to be an expert or sign up as clients to get a consultation. 
• Clients browse and search for the experts that fit their needs. They select a date and time that works for them and schedule a call with the expert. 
• Once the expert accepts the requested date and time, a confirmation is sent to both the client and expert via email and SMS with a conference line phone number and access code they will use for the call. 
• Both the clients and experts will now connect over the phone at the confirmed date and time.
• After the call is finished, the clients will be billed as per the time spent on the call. Later they can leave a rating and review for the experts and the payment will be sent to the experts. 

This is how this online consulting marketplace Clairty.fm works. Further, let’s gain insights into the important features of Clarity.fm. 

What are the Important Features of Clarity.fm?

Advanced features are the basic element of any successful online consulting marketplace. Explore the core features of Clarity.fm and understand which key features are important for such an online consultation business. Let’s have a look at some of the important features:

Search filters:

It is very crucial for clients to find a suitable expert as per their needs easily. Therefore, clarity.fm has incorporated a well-designed search system with multiple filters on its platform. With this feature, clients easily narrow down their search and connect with the most relevant experts based on their requirements. 

Scheduling system:

For both experts’ and clients’ convenience, this platform offers a robust scheduling system. With an in-built calendar, session bookings are streamlined. Advanced scheduling and booking system also improves interaction and collaboration between the consultants and clients, eventually increasing revenue and business growth. 

Communication Tools:

A consulting marketplace like Clarity.fm offers seamless communication between experts and clients. They facilitate direct communication among consultants and consultation seekers via phone and video conferencing. 

Discussion Forum:

Discussion forum is a popular way to promote engagement and collaboration on the platform. Clarity.fm also enables users to have conversations and exchange ideas on the platform through a discussion forum. 

Secure Payment Options:

A secure payment system is very crucial for any online consulting marketplace. Clarity.fm offers multiple payment options to provide convenience to users and streamline financial transactions. 

Ratings and Reviews:

A robust rating and review system on Clarity.fm helps in maintaining quality and transparency. This feature allows the clients to rate and review their consultants, eventually helping other future clients in making an informed decision. 

So, these are some of the important features that you must consider for your online consulting marketplace. Further, let’s move on to another important factor that you must know about before starting your online consulting marketplace–the revenue model. 

What is the Revenue Model of Clarity.fm?

Deciding on a profitable monetization strategy is very essential for the sustainable growth of any business. Let’s analyze Clarity.fm’s monetization strategy and also know about other lucrative revenue streams that you can implement in your online consulting marketplace. 

Commission Model

Clarity.fm works on a commission-based revenue model. This marketplace acts as a mediator and regulates transactions between clients and consultants who are connecting via this platform. The platform charges a 15% commission fee from the total fee of the experts for every call completed via this platform.

Additionally, for sustainable business growth and earning maximum profits, entrepreneurs should also consider integrating the following revenue streams into their business.

Subscriptions: Monthly or annual subscription fees are paid by clients to avail of the services on the platform.

Client Featured Listing: The platform owner provides a featured spot to consultants on the platform by charging a fee. 

Advertisements: Under this revenue stream, the platform owner displays ads on the marketplace in return for a fee. 

These are some of the monetization strategies that can help you build a sustainable and scalable business. 

After knowing about the important features and revenue model of Clarity.fm, the next step is to gain knowledge about how you can build a platform like Clarity.fm. The process of creating a successful online consulting platform may seem cumbersome to begin with, however, with the right knowledge and planning this can be done easily. In the next section, we share a complete step-by-step guide on how to build a successful platform similar to Clarity.fm.

How to Start a Consulting Marketplace Like Clarity.fm?

Starting an online consulting marketplace can be challenging. To help and guide you through, we have shared five easy steps to build and launch your online consulting business effortlessly. 

Following are the steps to build an online consulting marketplace like Clarity.fm.

• Market Research and Competitor Analysis
• Choose A Niche
• Register Your Consulting Business
• Build Your Online Consulting Platform
• Market Your Online Consulting Platform

1. Market Research and Competitor Analysis

This is the first step before entering the industry. Conduct market research and gain insights about the online consulting industry and opportunities. Identify your potential target audience and understand their needs and pain points. Moreover, analyze your competitors in the industry, understand their strengths, and weaknesses, and identify the gap in their services that you can fulfill. 

2. Choose A Niche

By defining your niche within the online consulting industry, you can better target your audience, ensuring that the needs of the clients are effectively met. Moreover, you can tailor your platform according to the unique needs of that niche. Some of the popular consultation niches are: 

• Doctor consultation
• Fitness and wellness consultation
• Business consultation
• Dating consultation
• Career consultation
• Astrology consultation
• Legal consultation and many more

Selecting a particular niche is always a good idea. It helps you in narrowing down your targeted audience and defines the focus of your business. 

For instance, AirSide Chat is a unique online consultation platform that connects aviation professionals and experts with aviation enthusiasts from all over the world. The founder of AirSide Chat selected a niche that aligned with his skills, interests, and market demand to ensure the long-term success of his consulting business. With this unique consultation platform, the founder thought of catering to aviation industry needs. Similarly, you can also think of out-of-the-box ideas to establish a successful online consulting business. 

3. Register Your Consulting Business

Officially register your business and ensure that your business complies with legal requirements and local regulations. Choose an appropriate business structure such as LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. Moreover, secure the necessary licenses to start your business hassle-free. 

4. Build Your Online Consulting Marketplace 

You may find yourself a bit clueless when building your online consultation marketplace. By choosing the right development method you can successfully launch an online consultation marketplace. There are majorly two popular methods for the development of an online consultation platform. 

• Development from scratch
• Readymade Software 

Development From Scratch: In this development approach you need to collaborate with a team of web developers and designers who would develop your platform from scratch. The investment of time, effort, and money is huge in this process. 

Readymade Software: These software solutions come incorporated with all the essential functionalities required to successfully launch and run an online consulting marketplace. This development approach is way more cost-effective, less time-consuming, and requires less effort as compared to development from scratch. Moreover, you can customize these software solutions as per your business requirements. 

5. Market Your Online Consulting Marketplace

After successfully developing and launching your online consulting marketplace, the next important step is to ensure it reaches the right target audience. Market your consulting marketplace by implementing robust marketing strategies to boost your visibility and credibility. You can promote your online consulting marketplace utilizing various channels such as:

• Content marketing
• Email marketing 
• Paid advertising
• Social media marketing
• SEO

The process of building an online consulting marketplace may seem cumbersome at the beginning but by following the above-mentioned steps you can easily do it. 

How Yo!Coach Can Help?

Yo!Coach is an advanced ready-made software to launch your online consulting marketplace in the industry. Being an off-the-shelf software, this software comes equipped with all the essential functionality required to successfully run an online consulting marketplace. 

Following are the benefits offered by Yo!Coach: 

• White-label
• Lifetime ownership
• Fully customizable
• Highly scalable
• GDPR  compliant
• No recurring charges
• Personalized demo
• Global clientele

Advanced features offered by Yo!Coach includes: 

• Intuitive interface 
• Collaborative tool for seamless consultation
• File sharing and screen sharing 
• Robust appointment scheduling and booking
• Multiple payment options
• Multilingual
• Live chat 
• Ratings and reviews 
• Reports and analytics
• Powerful admin features 
• User management
• Course management
• Marketing features 
• Pre-integrated with 10+ APIs

Explore the demos to gain an in-depth understanding of the advanced capabilities of Yo!Coach.

• Front-End
• Admin Demo
• Consultant Demo
• Client Demo

Online Consulting Marketplaces Built With Yo!Coach

Yo!Coach has helped several entrepreneurs transform their business ideas into profitable business ventures. Our team has served a global clientele and successfully delivered more than 1000 projects worldwide. Let’s have a look at our impressive client base within the online consultation industry. 

Nexia Wellness–  Nexia Wellness is a virtual  health and wellness consultation platform that connects people with health experts. 

The Legal Room–  This platform is making legal consultation accessible to all by connecting lawyers and legal consultants with their prospective clients. 

Startwise–  Startwise is an online business consultation platform that connects entrepreneurs seeking advice and guidance with experienced business mentors.

The Story Ink– This is a unique platform offering online consultation services in the entertainment industry. This platform bridges the gap between aspiring artists and creative industry consultants. 

UK Health Network– This consultation platform enables healthcare seekers to reach out to medical specialists and health & wellbeing professionals.

Therapy Panda– Therapy Panda is a virtual consultation platform where people seeking help with mental health issues meet psychologists, therapists, counselors, and community listeners. 

Know more about our diverse global client base 

Conclusion

The online consulting market is growing tremendously and is a profitable niche. We have covered all the necessary information that you would need to successfully launch your online consulting marketplace similar to Clarity.fm. Consider the information shared in this blog, plan efficiently, and launch your online consulting marketplace with proper planning.