"Fast forward to year 3..."
May I ask: are you e-commerce consulting?
Your comment suggests that you repositioned yourself purposefully, rather than the outcome simply eventuated. If so, was this based on a discovery you made in the market or client demand while you were freelancing?
Did this result in you "niching down" from a broader "catch all" offering as a freelancer? Are you clients higher ticket/larger SME's compared to freelancing (which is often outsourced agency work)?
I started as a freelance designer, then quickly niched down to UX designer and then again to CRO consultant. I only work with companies that will see direct ROI impact from my work. While I still design UIs, the whole process starts with discovery and an audit. It's a data based approach with no guessing involved. The process involves understanding customer pain points, their language and behavior. Clients vary in size from 10 person teams to larger e-commerce operations with maybe 30-40 employees. I do all of the work myself and expect full cooperation from the client or we don't go forward. I've definitely made every mistake in the book but I've learned a lot along the way. I'm sure there are consultants 2 tiers ahead of me though with productized services or just products. My ultimate goal is to have a product (who's isn't, right).
To answer your first question, I do consult in e-commerce, but not limited to it (though that may be a good idea). Most of my leads come through dribbble or LinkedIn. The client typically expects grunt work but after my initial email and call, they are quickly educated on my process and most see clearly that the way they thought of approaching their problems is backwards.
"The client typically expects grunt work but after my initial email and call, they are quickly educated "
That's the part that makes me hesitate jumping into consulting. How do you advertise yourself in a way that you can avoid the wrong clients, which seems you'll always gonna get.
