When someone asks to pick your brain
“Can I pick your brain?” Yes. Here is how.
The ask is a compliment and a cost. Your Studio lets you answer it the way you answer any client: a session with a clear scope, paid to your own Stripe before the work, and a Client Hub where the answer stays.
Paid to your own Stripe · 0% to SoloBase
The free coffee
What a “quick chat” costs you.
01
An hour, twice.
The chat, and the thinking before it. Your judgment is what you sell, and it just left for free.
02
No terms to point to.
Nothing you own says what a session is or what it costs, so saying “that is paid” sounds like a reproach.
03
The answer is gone.
What you said is in their notes, if anywhere. When they come back with a follow-up, you start from zero.
How your Studio answers it
A reply that is a link, not a speech.
Your terms, on your site
Your Studio Site says what a single session is, what it covers and what it costs. “Happy to, this is how I do it” is one link.
Paid before the session
They pay up front, straight into your own Stripe account. SoloBase takes 0%; Stripe’s standard processing fees apply.
A Client Hub where the answer stays
Their question, your notes and your answer in writing, in a private Client Hub. The follow-up lands under the note it is about.
The call itself
Call them inside the Client Hub, with your notes beside you.
An illustrative example
Sam turns a DM into a paid hour.
Sam Rivera was CFO at two startups and now works independently with founders from Atlanta. Every week someone asks to grab thirty minutes about their financial model. Now he replies with one line and his card.
His site lists a one-hour model review, with its price
The founder pays, straight to Sam’s own Stripe, and is let in
The model and the question are in the Client Hub before the call
Sam’s written notes are still there for the follow-up six weeks later
What stays yours
From an ask to a paid hour, under your name.
The people who ask are people who already know your name. Your Studio keeps them with you.
A front door under your name
Your card and the site behind it, with your name and your terms on them. The person you were referred to finds you there.
A Client Hub that outlives the hour
When they come back with a follow-up, it lands in the same Hub, next to what you said the first time.
Your money, at 0%
Paid into your own Stripe account. SoloBase never holds it and never appears on your client’s statement.
About charging for advice
Can I take real payments today?
Yes. Payments go to your own Stripe account through the key you connect, and SoloBase takes 0%. Your card and site are live too, so your terms can be.
What should a session cost?
That is yours to set. SoloBase takes 0% of it on every plan.
Can I still answer some people for free?
Yes. You decide who gets a free answer, and you can invite anyone into a Client Hub without a price.
Does it count toward the $1,000?
Yes. SoloBase is free until you have earned $1,000 through it. Past that on Free, your Studio stops growing but never stops working; paid plans open with billing.
The next person who asks gets a link, not an apology.
Make your card in a minute. Put your terms on it.