Start with what people already ask you for.
List three things you know how to do, three problems you have solved, and three kinds of people you understand. Look for the overlap.
1. Find the useful skill
Think beyond your job title. Organizing, editing, researching, teaching, troubleshooting and simplifying can all be useful skills.
2. Describe the customer’s outcome
Write: “I help [specific person] achieve [specific outcome] by delivering [small, concrete deliverable].” Keep the outcome truthful and within your control.
3. Test the offer in conversation
Share the offer with a few relevant people. Ask what is unclear, what they do today and whether the problem is important enough to address.
A prompt to make it practical
Act as a thoughtful business coach. Help me explore one small service offer using skills I already have. My skills: [add yours] People I understand: [add an audience] Time I can commit: [add a realistic limit] Ask me up to five clarifying questions first. Then propose three focused offers, identify assumptions, and suggest one small demand test for each. Do not invent credentials, customer results or market evidence.
Your takeaway
A one-sentence offer and one person to ask about the problem.