--- title: "How to choose a YouTube consultant in 2026" description: "Six checks for choosing a YouTube consultant in 2026: the shape of help you need, proof with dates, a price, the work itself, fit with your channel size and who does the work." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/guides/how-to-choose-a-youtube-consultant/ updated: 2026-10-26 --- # How to choose a YouTube consultant in 2026 > Choose a YouTube consultant by deciding first what shape of help you need, then checking four things: proof shown as a before and after with a date, a price you can see, the videos they actually made, and an offer that fits your channel's size. Ask who does the work before you pay. Last updated 26 October 2026. ## Who wrote this? **Disclosure: this is Tom Sharman's own site, and Tom sells YouTube consulting.** The checks below come from reading 12 sites in the creator economy on 24 and 25 October 2026, and from how Tom works. ## 1. Decide what shape of help you need Most offers fall into three levels. Video Creators names them Done By You, Done With You and Done For You, as listed on their site, October 2026. A course or playbook is done by you. A session, a sprint or coaching is done with you. A producer or a fractional Head of Content is closer to done for you. ## 2. Look for proof with a before, an after and a date A subscriber count on a logo shows who someone worked with. It does not show what changed. Look for a before and an after. Grow, for example, lists John Nellis going from 135K to 8.58M and a "+119%" median lift in average views across 12+ month partnerships, as listed on their site, October 2026. Tom's own: Sam Stoffel, 0 to 500,000 followers in 10 months, June 2025 to May 2026. Every number on this site is listed with its date on [Tom Sharman in numbers](https://tomsharman.com/numbers/). ## 3. Ask for the price Of the 12 sites we read, 9 show no price. A published price lets you compare. Grow lists £8,000 to £30,000 per channel per month, as listed on their site, October 2026. Tom's Power hour session is £600. ## 4. Watch the work itself Of the same 12 sites, 8 have no video on the page. Ask for the videos the consultant made, and what they did on each: the idea, the format, the shoot, the edit or the packaging. Every video Tom worked on is in the [video archive](https://tomsharman.com/videos/), with what he did on it. ## 5. Match the offer to your channel size Paddy Galloway splits his offer by subscribers: a newsletter up to 1k, an Accelerator from 1k to 1m and consulting from 1m, as listed on their site, October 2026. Whoever you pick, ask what they have done for channels your size. ## 6. Ask who does the work, and who they turn down - Who is on the call, and who does the work between calls? - What will you send me after the first session? - What do you need from me each week? - Who do you turn down? Tom turns down anyone unclear about their commitment. ## Where does Tom fit? Most people start with the Power hour session. You say what is going on, Tom asks why, and you leave with a diagnosis, what to do on Monday and a written record of the next three moves. - **[Power hour session](https://tomsharman.com/consulting/#book), £600.** 60 minute video call. The fundamentals, applied to you. What to make, for whom and in which format. - **[The three month sprint](https://tomsharman.com/consulting/#sprint), by application (2 spots left).** 6 fortnightly 60 minute calls. A seat in your team. The 3 month plan. Fortnightly accountability. - **[Fractional Head of Content](https://tomsharman.com/consulting/#fractional), £3,000 to £7,500 a month, 6 month minimum, then monthly (1 spot left).** Fractional head of content, or fractional COO, for creator and founder-led businesses. I run your content function end to end. Strategy, cadence, team, hiring, tooling and reporting. A senior seat in the business for the cost of a fraction of a full time hire. Worldwide and remote. - **[The Content Operators Playbook](https://tomsharman.com/playbooks/), free.** 7 playbooks, 49 principles, one page per principle. ## Questions ### What should I ask a YouTube consultant before hiring them? Ask what changed for a channel like yours, with a before, an after and the dates. Ask the price, who does the work, what you get after the first session, and what they need from you each week. ### How do I know a YouTube consultant's results are real? Look for numbers with a date and a link you can check, such as a video's public view count. A before and after is stronger than a client's subscriber count, which shows who they worked with and not what changed. ### Should I start with a single session? A single session is the cheapest way to test fit. Tom's Power hour session is £600 for 60 minutes, and many three month sprints start from one. ## Read next - [Best YouTube strategy consultants in the UK (2026)](https://tomsharman.com/guides/best-youtube-strategy-consultants-uk/) - [Tom Sharman in numbers](https://tomsharman.com/numbers/) - [Work with Tom](https://tomsharman.com/consulting/)