Gordon,
I am with you 100% !
After years of booking my own shows via my efforts in marketing, ads, etc., etc., etc. I found it tiring. However, all this marketing, etc., gave me something better than the shows... I got an education !
As a result, I found myself doing less and less entertaining and more and more consulting. This consulting was NOT for magicians (I found magicians notoriously cheap) but for business owners.
A LOT of times, it's simply asking "How are things going?" to start a conversation, and then it's off to the races.
Frankly, I give away a lot of free advice just chatting with people. Usually, if folks want more information, they just ask. I go from there.
Ha! The biggest challenge is getting clients to do what you ask them to do !
I do like the concept of group consulting or a monthly fee to discuss concepts on a weekly basis to a group via Zoom or other platform. There are a few folks that do this effectively, i.e. weekly Mastermind.
Doing this remotely or "hands off" is essentially a course... however, doing a weekly Mastermind pays much better.
But, getting back to less slop, a course, is more of set it up... say, place ads in places your target audience sees, or joint ventures, etc., and you are ready to go.
Still, a bit of work whatever you do.