Your Expertise Is Not the Offer: Find the Buyer Problem behind It

By Shahid Ali John · Founder, Earnide | Builder of PassiveSpark

An individual might have real skills at something and still not know how to make it pay. Like a coach who helps with tough choices or a developer who can build tools for specific issues. The hard part is figuring out which problem actually matters enough for someone to hand over money.

I spent a lot of time to thinking that before developing PassiveSpark. Since I am not from a technical background, so I just read stuff on my own and talked to people online who already do this kind of work. It felt useful at first, but then I realized that an idea that sounds good on paper doesn't always line up with what people will actually need or pay for. That part took longer than I expected and I came to the conclusion that It seems like the real starting point is not just listing what you know how to do. It is more about seeing where that lines up with a problem someone else already has and is willing to spend on. Like a business might say they need an AI consultant, but what they really want is less time spent on some manual task that keeps slowing things down. The buyer's perspective is typically considered first. You must be aware of what you can actually deliver, what the other person needs right now, and whether there are sufficient indications that it is worth trying in order to connect those pieces. Some people see it in one way, while others take different perspectives. I might be oversimplifying this a bit, but that is the part that stands out after trying to sort it out.

The following professional paths illustrate how that connection can look different from one field to another.

Career Coaches: Define the Decision, Not Just the Audience

It seems like career coaches want to reach lots of people interested in growing their careers. But the challenges are pretty different depending on the person. Someone trying to switch fields deals with other things than someone aiming for a bigger role. Deciding if it is time to quit is separate too.

The opportunity to investigate: The chance here is to look at the specific decision that is causing trouble. And figure out the kind of help that would make it easier. Rather than making an offer around general career stuff it might work better to pick one narrow case. Check the questions that keep coming up. See what choices people are looking at. Find where they could use more help. After that test if what you are offering actually helps with that particular problem. I think that is the part worth paying attention to.

Health and Wellness Coaches: Identify the Barrier Behind the Goal

People with similar goals of having better health or a healthier routine have a very general aspiration, which doesn't provide a clear picture of what services they need.

One individual could have difficulty maintaining a consistent pattern of behavior due to a demanding work schedule. Another could require assistance developing reasonable patterns of behavior that are compatible with his/her daily life. The opportunity to conduct an investigation of the type of appropriate behavior-change challenges being faced by the intended clients.

Learn how potential customers define their problems and how to separate their needs as defined by themselves from the needs you believe they ought to have. The services offered in your coaching business must be clearly defined so that potential clients can understand what to expect from your coaching services. Be sure to provide an accurate description of your coaching services, being careful not to make any unsupported medical claims regarding your coaching, nor to promise specific health outcomes. From a business perspective, the most important consideration is whether the kind of assistance you provide resolves a problem that the potential customer wants to work on.

Business and Executive Coaches: Connect Your Offer to a Business Decision

Several stakeholders are frequently involved in business and executive coaching. While the organization's leadership or HR department determines whether to pay the engagement, the person receiving coaching can be a team leader undergoing a challenging transition. It's possible that the person approving the investment and the one facing the difficulty have different objectives.
This distinction is important for coaches. Determine the choice or business issue that the coaching is meant to solve before promoting a comprehensive leadership-development package.

Does a recently promoted manager find it difficult to assign tasks?

Are there communication gaps within a leadership team?

Does an executive have to lead a team through change or make a tough organizational decision?
Every scenario indicates a distinct buyer worry, as well as a distinct method of conveying value.
Examine three questions prior to creating or repositioning an offer: Who is in need of assistance? Who chooses whether or not to pay for it?

What significant improvement would make the investment worthwhile?

The responses can assist you in defining a more pertinent coaching offer, properly communicating its goal, and determining how success could be measured.

The goal is not to promise a guaranteed business outcome. It is to link your coaching expertise to a specific leadership challenge that matters to both the individual and the organization.

 

Copywriters and Conversion Specialists: Find the Gap between the Message and the Buyer's Question

Businesses find the gap between the message and the buyer's question businesses can have a website, a polished brand and plenty of content yet still leave prospective customers unsure about what is being offered or why it matters. For a copywriter, this presents a more useful starting point than simply asking which writing service to sell. The problem might involve unclear positioning, a weak explanation of value, a mismatch between an advertisement and its landing page, or content that fails to answer an important buyer question. The opportunity to investigate: At which point does the intended customer stop understanding, trusting, or progressing through the buying process? Look for evidence in existing messaging, customer questions, and the structure of the buying journey. Then identify one specific communication problem to investigate before proposing a larger project. This is especially relevant as writing workflows continue to change. ProCopywriters2025 survey of commercial writers reported that 69% of its 474 respondents used generative AI in their work. The figure describes that survey's respondents, not every copywriter, but it illustrates why specialists benefit from defining the value of their work beyond producing words alone.

Social Media Managers: Look beyond the Next Post

A social media manager can produce content consistently and still struggle to explain what that activity contributes to the client's wider objectives.

Another posting package might not be the next opportunity. It could be a clearer content strategy, a stronger response process, a better connection between audience questions and content topics, or a way to evaluate which activity deserves more attention.

The chance to investigate: What is the client attempting to accomplish and where does the current social media activity fall short of supporting that goal? Examine the evidence that is available, such as audience questions, relevant engagement patterns, qualified inquiries, and the path from the content to the subsequent customer action, starting with the desired outcome. The 2025 Sprout Social Index surveyed more than 4,000 consumers, 900 social practitioners and 300 marketing leaders.Its research explores the importance of cultural context and audience relevance rather than simply reproducing trends.That reaffirms a useful inquiry for experts in social media: Does the content make sense for this audience and this brand, or is it just a calendar?

 

Specialized Virtual Assistants: Find the Process that Requires More Assistance

Virtual assistance covers a wide range of tasks.A specialist might help with executive operations, real estate administration, e-commerce processes, or another defined business function.

The commercial opportunity is easier to investigate when the task, the people responsible for it, and the consequences of the current workflow are clearly understood.

The opportunity to investigate: Which recurring task creates enough friction that a business would value reliable specialist support? Look for repeated hand-offs, administrative bottlenecks, avoidable errors or tasks that take experienced staff away from other responsibilities.The next step is to determine whether a specialized service, a modified procedure, a suitable existing tool, or a combination of these options is the most effective way to address the issue. The objective is not to provide every VA service possible. It is to determine whether the intended customer recognizes the value of that support and where your specific capabilities may be useful.

App Developers: Before Writing More Code Verify the Use Case

An application that is technically interesting does not automatically turn into a product that is useful. Before confirming that the intended users require the features or that the proposed solution fits their existing workflow, developers may have to put in a lot of work. The chance to look into the question of what people are trying to accomplish that their current processes or tools do not adequately support. Begin with a specific use case. Examine the way the job is done now, what makes it hard, and whether there is already a solution for it. It's possible that a brief demonstration or clickable prototype will be sufficient to determine whether or not your interpretation of the issue is correct. Mobile app development is one of the most sought-after coding and web-development skills on Upwork's marketplace, according to the 2025 in-demand skills report. That indicates that the capability is in high demand in the market, but it does not support any particular application concept. The next stage is to link the ability to a precise use case rather than supposing that development struggle alone produces marketable value.

AI and Machine Learning Consultants: Find the Business Case behind the Model

A customer may be interested in AI even if they do not have a problem that calls for machine learning to solve. Automation, simpler software, or enhancements to an existing procedure might be more effective for some use cases. The opportunity to investigate: Which defined business task could benefit from an AI-based approach, and what evidence would show that the approach is worthwhile?

Examine the current workflow, the data that is available, the effects of mistakes, the integration requirements, and how success could be measured. Be realistic about whether the client has the data and infrastructure needed to support the proposed solution.

HFS Research's Consulting Research has examined challenges including data quality, technology constraints and demonstrating return on investment. These issues illustrate why selecting an AI use case involves more than choosing a capable model.

The most technically advanced opportunity might not be the most promising one. It might be the one that solves a specific issue with a tangible, measurable improvement.

SEO and Digital Marketing Consultants: Trace the Gap between Visibility and Business Results

A business may receive search traffic, social visits or campaign clicks without understanding whether those visitors are becoming qualified prospects or customers.

This opens up a number of possibilities for an SEO or digital marketing consultant, such as determining search intent, clarifying landing page messaging, increasing lead quality, or determining where prospects end their customer journey. The opportunity to investigate: Which business objective is under performing, and what evidence helps explain the gap?

Begin by clarifying what the client wants to improve. Then examine the relevant data and distinguish what it shows from what it cannot establish. More impressions, for example, do not automatically mean more revenue; a change in traffic may also reflect seasonality, competition, website changes or altered search behavior.

According to the Upwork hiring report for September 2025, there will be an increase in digital marketing contract activity on its US marketplace, including an increase in SEO and SEM among small and medium-sized businesses. Such marketplace trends can provide context, but your client's own performance data is more useful for diagnosing an individual problem.

Without promising results that cannot be guaranteed, a strong proposal should explain the specific issue to be investigated and how the work could contribute to the client's stated objective.

Turn These Questions Into an Opportunity Brief

A practical pattern emerges across all of the aforementioned occupations. Make a note of the responses to the following six questions before accepting an offer:

The buyer: Who experiences the problem, and who makes the purchasing decision?

The circumstance: What are they attempting to accomplish, and where are they having trouble?

The current option: How do they deal with the issue now?

The evidence: What have you observed that lends credence to your comprehension, and what remains a presumption?

The proposed contribution: What could your particular expertise improve, and why might that matter to the buyer?

The smallest test: What could you do next to learn whether the proposed direction deserves further investment?

This brief is not a formula for guaranteed income. It is a way to organize your reasoning and identify the next useful question. If evidence is weak, investigate further.Refine your proposed solution if the issue is clear but too broad. Choose a manageable next test if the evidence supports moving forward.

A More Informed Way to Explore What Comes Next

Every profession comes with its own skills, customers, opportunities, and challenges. Yet valuable info about turning skilled expertise into marketable opportunities is often scattered across the internet. Generic business ideas can offer motivation, but they hardly answer the demands that matter most in a person's specific line of work.

Earnide grew from a broader goal: to turn research and experimentation into practical digital products that may create value and help people explore significant opportunities. Its first flagship product, PassiveSpark, was built around this idea, bringing profession-specific material together so professionals can explore monetization opportunites relevant to their chosen path.

The goal is not to advise a single direction, but to help you ask better questions, identify options worth investigating, and make more informed choices about where to focus your efforts.

Use them as a starting point for your own research, experimentation, and judgment. No platform can guarantee a commercial outcome, but better evidence can help you approach your next decision with greater clarity.

If you're exploring what your expertise could lead to next, discover PassiveSpark and see whether its available insights are relevant to your work.