SERVICE TRACK

Quick Overview of the Service Track

Detailed Overview of the Service Track

Offering a service can be as rewarding as it can be soul-sucking. Depending on what service you are offering and its pricepoint, you may spend many hours managing someone else life or business!

But keep in mind, this is one of the few tracks that lead to near garaunteed income!

If you already have a service idea, then your biggest challenge will be building a website to sell and showcase that idea. 

While you are working on that, be careful not to be lured into the trap of trying to "build a social media presence" or "create stellar content."  

Although those things can be beneficial for someone in the service business, they are really not the foundation of your business and shouldn't take you away from the things that actually pay the bills!

 In order to ensure that you have clients for your service, you will want to allocate a specific amount of time each month to creating some quality content that will lure clients in.  

As your business grows, you will spend less time on content creation and more time on client work.

You may also want to allow some time for making yourself know on social networks or freelancing websites.  However, make sure that these tatics don't take all of your time.

 Your top priority for a new service-based business is creating your business model and flow.

 

HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON THE BRAND/PRODUCT TRACK

The service track is a money making money that has been around for centuries.  Essentially, your are trading your time (and expertise) for money.

The trick to making a higher income on this track is offering a very specific service.  The more specialized your service is, the more you can charge.

For example, you would pay a lawyer a lot more than you would pay a babysitter.
We could even take this example a step farther and say:  A casino would pay top dollar for a lawyer who specialized in gambling and business laws as opposed to a lawyer whose specialty is simply "business".

GETTING STARTED

Before you even begin to market your service, you should have a website and payment processing system in place.

Your website does not need to be elaborate in order to offer you product.   It can be as simple a home page describing your service, a pricing/details page that gives more information, and a thank you page for your clients after they've purchased.  

Over time, you can add content, lead magnets and examples of your work.

If you are not at all tech savvy, you may want to consider hiring someone from a site such as upWork to get you systems up and running.

However, if that isn't an option, then I highly suggest using a product like Thrive architect paired with SendOwl for collecting payments.   These services are by far the easiest and most customizable solutions for the technically challenged! 

After you've got your website and payment processing system in place, you will want to start creating some content to draw in your clients.   (Technically, you could skip this step.  However, taking some time to get this content in place will enable you to have a steady stream of primed clients at your disposal).

Create content that features that solves a problem (but presents a new one!)  

When you are selling a service, your audience is typically out there looking for a solution to a problem that they are currently experiencing.

For example, Let's imagine you are selling a weightloss coaching program.  Your ideal client is someone who is absolutely fed up with being overweight.  They feel like they've "tried everything and nothing works."  They are willing to spend money to see a change (even if they don't know it yet).ex

You write a long, high quality piece of content detaling the top 3  reasons that diets fail and how to fix them.  Make sure to point out the challenging nature of the "fix" and put in a plug for your coaching services.  

So one point may look something like this:

• Your diet plan isnt customized for your metabolism.
  • Creating a diet plan that will work with your metabolic structure may mean spending hours pouring over articles about your specific weightloss issues and creating a detail account of what works and what doesn't.  Then you will have the information you need to create a balanced diet that won't work against you!  If that sounds like an insurmountable obstacle, you may want to consider a using weightloss coach to help you get started!
    
    

Build your email list. 
Creating content would be pointless if we didn't leverage it.  As a service based business, clients are your bread and butter.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a large list full of names that you know for certain need your services?  

You can absolutely create that kind of list.  For years, "real world" businesses created lists like this by offering free quotes, free samples and running sweepstakes.  In the digital workplace, we can easily use that same business model to collect the email addresses of likely clients.

Let's go back to the weightloss coach example from above. After reading your article, a reader may be interested in knowing their own "metabolic type".   Offering a free quiz or a "10 page report"  is a great way to entice potential clients to offer up their email addresses. 

Now you have a listed of primed clients waiting for you to offer them a "deal" or a "bonus" on your services!

Market, market, market.   Truly marketing a service requires more effort than simply throwing up a few blog posts.   If you have a budget for it, start using paid advertising to promote your freebies.  

Remember, your email list is your golden ticket. If your current freebies aren't regularly bringing in new clients then consider revamping your lead magnet to something a bit more enticing.

If possible, you'll also want to create advertisements featuring your product.   Although it's unlikely that these ads will result in immediate sales, getting your name in front of your targeted client is a long term strategy that will eventually help give your products "brand" status.

If you have no marketing budget, then it's time to get creative.  Consider offering your product for free in exchange for a review or setting up an affiliate program.

One great thing about the service industry is that "word of mouth" is still a GREAT way to market.  In addition to an affiliate program, you may want to consider spending some time sifting through facebook groups.  

Answering questions and offering your help in those groups will help spread the work about our services (especially if you can find a way to non-chalantly slip your service into the conversation)!

You may also consider "cold-calling" potential clients.  Don't throw this idea out too quickly!  In some industries, this is still the gold standard of marketing! However, if it's not done well, it can definitely leave a bad taste in your mouth.

 If you are really in a bind for clients and need to start making income right away.  You may consider calling or emailing potential clients personally.   The trick to this is trying not to sound salesy or spammy.  

Nurture your email list.
Once you HAVE an email list, the question most people ask is "What do I say to them?"  Aside from an awesome welcome series, you should be broadcasting to your list pretty regularly.  

You can share anything from more "problem-solving" content to "the story behind" your services.   If you are creating regular content for your website, you will likely include links to that in your emails as well! 

These email broadcasts are intended to build trust with your audience and keep them engaged and interested in reading.

If your client list isn't filling up fast enough, you can run a 3 day sales sequence to help give it a boost. Be careful not to do this too frequently (once per quarter is more than enough for a service based business.)

  If you've built up a proper foundation.  These sequences can bring in a huge chunk of income very quickly.

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