Image by kurtsettles via Flickr I'm going to make this short. Many of us want or have wanted to reach out and become the social media superstar that we know is hiding inside. It's scary though to become a consultant without being sure that you have the mad-skills needed to succeed as a consultant. If you're unsure if you know enough to offer true value - why not offer your services for free, or pay what you want, in exchange for a testimonial. Say for example you know someone who owns a small business in your area, you meet with them, find out what their goals are for social media, and you put together a plan, teach them how to manage the network that you setup for them, get them started, then ask for a testimonial. If they like your work, they may give you a nice tip, if not -the testimonial will help you gain more clients in the future. Working for multiple companies in essence interning will help you gain hands on experience that you couldn't get just by using social media to promote your own blog, or online presence.