How to Create Products for Your Service-Based Business

July 23rd, 2008

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This is part 1 of a three-part series on how to productize your service-based business.

Are You Ready to Productize Your Service-Based Business?

Having a service-based business is highly rewarding - you get to work with people and see results first-hand, you increase your expertise and know-how with every project, and it defines you as a “client superstar” to your clientèle.

However, service-based businesses also have their limitations: you’re restricted by the number of hours that you can work and the number of clients you can have. You want to help more people - and you want to make a profit - so maybe it’s time to take it to the next level - it’s time to productize your business.

How do you create products for a service-based business?

When Carol first began the process of productizing her business, she was confused. She’d seen many internet ‘gurus’ launching products left and right, but she couldn’t find her inspiration. How could she create products appealing to her potential clients, without alienating them from future purchases?

Brainstorming Your Products

For many people, this is the most difficult part of the productizing process - finding out what to create! It’s important to remember here that the best-selling products solve a problem. It’s good and well to write about the things you love, but it’s even more important to create products that help your clients to fix something in their lives.

Finding the balance between your passions and your clients problems will take careful consideration:

• What are you most passionate about in your business?
  When you began your business - you had a driving force - you wanted to do something. What was it you wanted to do? What problem did you set out to solve?(Supplemental question: do your clients focus on that? If not, skip this section)
• What Makes You Unique?
  If you work with women in mid-life, or solopreneurs who need a website, they all come to you looking for your unique take on the world. The problem, as you see it, speaks to your clients and potential clients. What makes you a unique problem-solver for your clients, and how do you do ‘it’?
• What service do you do that you can outsource to your client?
  It’s not outsourcing in the traditional sense, it’s helping your clients help themselves. So, whether your clients need help with getting their relationships on the right foot or getting their Facebook marketing strategy in place - what steps of your processes can you outsource to your clients?

When you’re productizing your business, you want to create several products so customers can move through your sales funnel. By moving through your funnel, you can ensure that the clients you work with are not just ready to work with you, but they’re right in line with your ‘ideal’ client.

After a productive brainstorming session, Carol realized that most of her clientèle came to her with issues surrounding career growth. In realizing this, she formed several product ideas ranging from an eBook for developing a career strategy to Skill Growth Group Coaching Sessions. Armed with a cache of product ideas, she was ready to begin creating her products.

Build Your Marketing Funnel

“Build the Funnel” is your new mantra. Say it now, “build the funnel.” Ahh, that’s nice, isn’t it?

When you’re selling your services and products, it’s much easier to sell to people who know and trust you - and this is accomplished by having a list of customers in your product or marketing funnel.

The crux of your funnel is to bring in customers through low-price or free products, and then increase trust and rapport by developing a relationship with them through a newsletter. Using the newsletter will allow you the opportunity to build a relationship, and to sell your products and services in small increments without being pushy.

Essentially, your product funnel should look something like this:

1. Freebie (free newsletter w/report, etc.)
2. Small price point product ($10-$50)
3. Mid-Price product ($51-$100)
4. High-Price Product ($100-$700)
5. Highest Tier (reserved for your ‘ideal’ client - $700+)

Now, your list can be much bigger, or a bit smaller; your list can have higher price points or lower; but, this is the general outline you want to use.

Place each of your product ideas in one of the above categories. Make sure your highest point products have a lot of value added to them - so if you can add an audio, ebook, workbooks, complimentary products, and more with these products, the more valuable they’ll become to your customers. “Fill ‘er up!” as they say.

Don’t worry about having too much or too few products in your funnel. If you only have a couple of ideas right now - it’s fine! You’ll hit inspiration while you’re working on and promoting these products.

Once you’ve figured out your general outline,  the next step in productizing you business is to use an autoresponder/broadcasting service to bring customers into your funnel. An autoresponder/broadcasting service will allow you to keep all your leads in one place and automate much of your sales process. I use AWeber . I use AWeber for my personal and client lists, and they’re hands-down the best email broadcast service provider available.

When prospects come into your funnel, start by offering them a free product in exchange for their email address. From there, up-sell a bit at a time while giving some great information and useful advice - make your free information valuable and move them delicately through your product funnel.

“Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for. A product is not quality because it is hard to make and costs a lot of money, as manufacturers typically believe. This is incompetence. Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value. Nothing else constitutes quality.”

~Peter F. Drucker

Learn More about the Marketing Funnel with Andrea J. Lee’s Pink Spoon Marketing and Robert Middleton’s Action Plan Marketing - two of my favorite and most-recommended ebooks.

This is part 1 of a three-part series on how to productize your service-based business.

Like this post? Check these out:

• The Solopreneur’s Guide to Delegation (15)
• Solo-press (0)
• Does Your Business Go through Feast-Or-Famine Cycles? Your price structure may be at fault… (1)
• AWeber and Feedburner Unite! (0)

Posted in Business, Productizing | No Comments »

Link Love - July 18th, 2008

July 18th, 2008

• Skelliewag gives us a Complete Guide to Finding and Using Flickr Images. Bookmark the Creative Commons search page, I have to say that I’m going to be implementing this ASAP - I’ve used images in this blog, but not nearly to the extent that I wish. Now that I understand more about the Creative Commons’ Licenses,  you’ll see better pictures more frequently on TheMarketingVa.com.

• If you read no other blog post about blogging this week, Darren Rowse has hit the nail on the head with 21 Ways to Make Your Website or Blog Sticky. My favorite:
  6. When you get a rush of traffic to one particular post….
  When the spikes in traffic come along you need to be ready to act (and act fast - because they can be momentary).

• Mark Silver continually amazes me - Check out his article on Biznik, “The Bermuda Triange That Eats Your Referrals“. (Connect with me on Biznik by clicking here) “After the 10,000th time (it seemed), a client told me they referred someone who never contacted me. I began to call it “The Bermuda Referral Triangle.”So… where were they? Why didn’t Frank, or Joan, or Amin, or Josephina ever call, despite glowing recommendations and urgings from their friends?”

• Firefox Shortcut Keys: My knowledge of Firefox shortcut keys was driving me batty. I NEEDED an alt+tab for Firefox! (I found it - ctrl+tab) Wanna know for yourself? Learn Firefox shortcut keys here

*photo by jurvetson

Posted in Blogging, Link Love | No Comments »

Help a Reporter

July 17th, 2008

As you know, reporters are constantly looking for sources. They’re always writing stories, reporting on something, and always need experts in the field of whatever they’re reporting.

Problem is, they don’t often know how to find them.

On the flip side, if you’re an expert at something (And come on, everyone’s an expert at SOMETHING,) how do you let the media know you’re available to talk and be quoted when they’re writing a story?

Well, I joined a free mailing list that solves both problems.

Basically, reporters send the list owner queries about what they’re working on. (”I’m writing a story on farming, and I need someone in NYC who’s grown a windowsill garden,” or “I’m doing a story on General Electric, and need a financial analyst who covers them.”)

Peter (a rather high-energy, but seemingly decent guy (www.shankman.com) puts these all queries together, and emails them out, three times a day. There are usually anywhere between 10 and 25 queries per email, organized so you can read all of them in about five seconds. If any work for you, simply scroll down, and email the reporter with your details and why you’re an expert. If they don’t, simply delete them.

It’s that incredibly simple. Like most brilliant things are.

Oh yeah - it’s all free. The list has over 12,000 members that have joined since it launched three months ago, why not be one of them! Members have been quoted in everything from the NY Times to CNN to the Washington Post to the NY Daily News to Fox News to TV to radio to bloggers around the world.

Sign up here: http://www.helpareporter.com

If you’re a journalist and want to submit a query: Submit it here: www.helpareporter.com/press

That’s it! Use it well, happy quoting!

Posted in Public Relations | No Comments »

Quick Coaching Industry Facts

July 16th, 2008

From the ICF 2008 Coaching Survey:

Coaching Industry Revenue/Expenditures

• Coaching is a 1.5 Billion Dollar Industry
• Coaches spend $125 million on personal/professional development annually

Coaching Education

• 53% of coaches have post-grad degrees –Masters or PhD
• 88% of coaches have bachelors degrees

Gender-Specific Coaches

• Male coaches are more likely to participate in Business coaching
• Female coaches are more likely to participate in life coaching

Coaching Revenue

• Coaches that coach full-time have an average revenue of $82,671 annually
• Coaches who coach part-time have an average revenue of $26,150 annually
• Full-time coaches make more money hourly than part-time coaches
  • Full-time coaches command an average of $250 an hour; whereas,
  • Part-time coaches command an average of $174 an hour

Coaching Clients

• Most have between 1-5 clients
• Coaches who coach other coaches have a larger number of clients
• Only 15% of coaches have 15 or greater clients

Coaching Style

• 54% coach face-to-face
• 49% coach over the telephone

Coaching Practice

• 60% have a part-time coaching practice

Posted in Coaching | No Comments »

Blogging Terminology

June 18th, 2008

As a long-time blogger and blogging assistant, I know the frustration that comes with the ‘blogger jargon.’ It’s rough, especially for businesses just getting their feet wet on the Internet to grasp all the nuances of what goes into blogging. Fortunately, Daniel Scocco over at Daily Blog Tips has posted a comprehensive list of blogging terminology at http://www.dailyblogtips.com/the-bloggers-glossary/.

Here are a few to get you started, with some clarification thrown in:

Backlinks: Hyperlinks present in other blogs or websites that point either to the homepage or to internal pages of a website. They are important because Google and other search engines relate the number and quality of backlinks to the trust level of that website.

When you put a business website on the internet, your main purpose is for potential customers to find you. Your website can be found in several ways:

• Search Engines
• Forums
• Advertising
• Discussion Lists
• Social Networking Sites
• And so much more

Many internet users don’t use all of these methods, in fact, many users just use one mainstay to find what they need: a Search Engine. We use Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc to find everything from a local plumber to a life coach, from parts from your 1926 Ford Model T Coupe to an ecard to send to a colleague. It’s so easy to get lost in the mix - some business pay exorbitant fees to be found first in Google for specific keywords (i.e. Credit, Golf, etc)

If you want to be found in Google, and not fall by the wayside, one of your first plans of attack is through backlinks. As stated above, Google and other search engines judge your trustworthiness by the amount of backlinks your site has, and therefore puts you higher in the ranks the more you have.

A here are a few quick and simple ways to get backlinks:

• Create a Squidoo Page
• Create a Hub Page
• Join and Participate in Forums (like Ryze, Yahoo Groups, Etc.)
• Write and Submit Articles to Article Directories

And remember: the higer number of backlinks you have, the higher search engine placement you’ll get.

Pingback: A network tool used to notify a website when someone else has linked or referred to it. Most blogging platforms handle pingbacks automatically. That is, when someone links to an article that you wrote, his link will appear in your comments section.

Trackback: A network tool, similar to the pingback, used to notify a website when someone else has linked or referred to it. The difference between the two is that Trackbacks are more often subject of spam.

Ping/Trackbacks can be very important to you as a blogger. When you find something interesting on another blog, and choose to write about it it automatically notifies the other blog that you’ve posted their link.

So why are trackbacks and pingbacks important?

In the grand scheme of the blogosphere (which is a term that encompasses all bloggers writing on the internet) one of the goals is to get backlinks (see above) and to become part of the overall conversation in your niche. When a blogger receives a track/pingback, they may read your post, and in turn comment about or begin an offline conversation with you. This, in turn, increases your reach, which will, in turn, help get the word out about your blog.

And, even if a conversation doesn’t happen, oftentimes track/pingbacks are noted with an excerpt in the comments sections of posts, so even if you don’t begin a conversation with another blogger, a reader might find your comment useful and visit your site. It’s a win/win!

Like this post? Check these out:

• AWeber and Feedburner Unite! (0)

Posted in Blogging | 1 Comment »

AWeber and Feedburner Unite!

February 5th, 2008

Finally, there’s a good way to track your current subscriptions in Feedburner, while using the functionality of Aweber.

I’ve been using both of these services for some time now, although separately, because I like to see all my blog subscribers in one area. This morning, AWeber announced that they’re now working directly with Feedburner, allowing subscribers that signup through AWeber (using their blog broadcast service) to show up in your feedburner subscriber page. Hooray!

Why is this so important? Well, for one thing, you can’t customize Feedburner emails, templates, or subject lines — but with AWeber’s blog broadcast services, you can! Also, if you’re running promotions, you’ll be able to run deals especially to your blog subscribers.

If you know me, you know I’m an AWeber Junkie - and this integration is something I’ve been pining for a long time. So, if you’re using Aweber and Feedburner, check out the blog broadcasting services — it’s a valuable tool to connect to your readers, and integrating it with feedburner will allow you to maintain accurate subscriber rates.

 

*Image, Pleased with a Christmas Present, by Flickr user joelwillis

Like this post? Check these out:

• A Blog Subscription Rant (0)
• Blogging Terminology (1)

Posted in Business | No Comments »

A Blog Subscription Rant

February 2nd, 2008

If your customers are online, then you need a blog - plain and simple. It helps with your SEO, it helps people to know and trust your business, it’s an excellent promotional platform, and so much more.

Then, why is it so DIFFICULT to make subscription options prominent?

I’ve been actively searching for a couple days now to find a particular type of blog — I have a new product coming out at the end of March, and there’s a corresponding blog. Now, I’d like to have quality outgoing links - but I’m having a difficult time signing up to these blogs because of poorly-placed subscription options… if I can find them at all.

Don’t get me wrong - I understand why a blog might not want a big orange RSS subscription feed button… it may be completely off a website color-scheme. It’s also not easy to place, if you have no php/html knowledge.

I get that, I really do.

But, it’s a standard for a reason: so I can find it when I want to subscribe.

There’s an easy way to prominently place your feed on your blog, FeedBurner. It gives you many options so you can copy/paste the code right into your blog for different readers, and it also will give you the option/code to give your readers an email-based subscription as well. And, on top of that, it also gives you tools to track your subscribers. It’s also free, which makes it whiz-bang, in my book.

Blogs Must Offer Subscription Options for Everyone

I know I’m not like a lot of users; I use an aggregator in MS Outlook 2003 - it’s called RSS Popper, and I love, love, LOVE IT. However, that means that I need the direct RSS feed link - and not something for Google, Blogline, or Yahoo Readers.

I’ve seen so many bloggers use JUST the Google/Yahoo buttons and not the RSS… and in order to find the feed link url, I had to click on of the buttons, find the feed url in the address bar, then copy/paste into my aggregator. Way too many steps for me, and if it weren’t such a whiz-bang blog, I wouldn’t have bothered.

So, if you have a blog, make it easier for readers to subscribe. It’s very easy to forget a website address, even if you’re very interested in the content.

~Erin

PS. If you happen to know a particularly WHIZ-BANG Virtual Assistant Blog, please let me know in the comments! I’d be eternally grateful!

Like this post? Check these out:

• AWeber and Feedburner Unite! (0)

Posted in Blogging | No Comments »

Blog Renovations

February 1st, 2008

Do you Want More Marketing, Less BS?

It’s been awhile since we’ve updated this blog on a regular basis, but that’s all about to change. We’ve rebranded the TrinityJacobs ‘Behind the Scenes’ Blog into “The Marketing VA” — so, take a minute to update your RSS Feed link by clicking here, and if you subscribe by email, please visit this page to resubscribe.

Thank you for your loyal readership!

~Erin

Posted in Blogging, TrinityJacobs | No Comments »

Does Your Business Go through Feast-Or-Famine Cycles? Your price structure may be at fault…

December 11th, 2007

Many small business owners find their business goes through ‘feast or famine’ cycles yearly. This is increasingly difficult to cope with, especially if you’re trying to build a business in addition to a full-time job. While there can be many culprits of this feast-or-famine cycle (customer service that isn’t-quite-there, seasonal products, etc), there may be a cure.

As James D. Brausch discusses in his article, “The $200 Horse,” we oftentimes devalue our services.

How Do we Devalue our Services?

To be frank, it’s easier for us to price our services low because there’s no need for justification. Think about it: it’s much easier to sell coaching services at $75 per session than it is to sell it at $300 per session. $300 is a sizable investment for some people, and we feel that people won’t pay the price. This however, is dead wrong.

You can, and should, offer better results at a higher price.

Some entrepreneurs have difficulty grasping the value of an eBook, pricing their eBook at $5 or $10. Then, when they learn that some eBooks go for upwards of $110, they ask, “How does a book sell for so much?”

It Solves a Problem. Like that eBook, you too will solve a problem. And, your issue is not finding people who will pay your fee, but rather people who want the exact results you’re offering. Sure, you’ll have to do some marketing, but I’d much rather market more and get clients aligned with your results, then having 50 clients who don’t match my services.

It’s only when you understand the type of customer you want, will you understand the value of your pricing. In fact, often times you don’t want the type of client who is only willing to spend $50 for an hour of your time. You want the client who is willing to spend $300 for an hour of your time, because they know how much your service is worth or how much you help them.

As James said:

His grandpa had to sell a horse fast. It was a great horse, but his situation required that he sell it… and fast. So he priced it at $200 and told as many people as he could about it.

It didn’t sell fast. In fact, it didn’t sell at all.

He finally started to ask people why they weren’t interested. It was a great horse. It was a great price. Why didn’t it sell instantly?

He received the same answer over and over. The prospects just weren’t interested in a $200 horse. Who wants a $200 horse anyways?

He changed the price to $1,000 and sold it instantly.

If you sold your services for $300 an hour instead of $50 and hour, how many clients would you need to fulfill your monetary quota? How much more time would you have to do other things, like create your products and write your ebooks?

Maybe $300 really is too rich for your market. It’s up to you to find that ‘perfect pricing’.

In the end, you’ll have better clients who will be more loyal and understand the value of your services. Also, you’ll have more time to do other things, like create a product, write an ebook, or just spend time with family.

Posted in Business, Customer Service | 1 Comment »

The Solopreneur’s Guide to Delegation

September 21st, 2006

Working as a solopreneur is difficult, and getting help is often difficult. Finding out how an assistant (virtual assisstant or otherwise) can help you is instrumental in keeping your business successful. Delegation is the handing of a task over to another person; in order to do this, you should understand the few key points below:

1. Clarify the assignment with clear, unambiguous instructions

When you delegate, you need to be very specific about what you expect, and how you expect it to be done. The more specific you are about what you want, the better the chances are that your assignment will be done the way you desire.

2. Ensure the person has the necessary skills

You wouldn’t hire a woodworker to fix your toilet leak, would you? The same goes for your assistant, with one caveat. IF (and, that’s a big if) you’re willing to train a person in a specific skill (such as music notation), then have at it. But, if you don’t want to invest the time and energy into teaching someone every nuance of your trade - then you need to make sure you find someone with at least a little knowledge of your profession.

3. Specify how much responsibility the person has over the assignment

If you need portions of a larger assignment done, such as research for a book - then make sure that your assistant is aware of what you expect from them. If they’re responsible for an amount of research to be completed weekly, make sure they know that. If they have to have the research done in parts, or completed before turning it in… let them know.

The whole point of delegation is to remove time-consuming tasks off your plate. Begin by giving away smaller tasks, and then move on to more complex tasks as your relationship gels. In all effectiveness, delegation is more about partnership than
subordinate/superiority. When given the right fertilizer, your assistant will care just as much, if not more, about the end goal as you do.

4. Allow the other person to participate in the assignment

Listen to suggestions, and consider them. If you’re delegating a task and someone has a better/faster/more efficient way of doing it - use the technique if its’ appropriate. The way technology is changing, with calculated innovations and changes you’ll give your business the room to be very profitable.

5. Monitor the progress in regular intervals to allow time for remedial action if necessary

I’m not telling you here to monitor every breath and movement, but keep yourself abreast of the situation. Ask how things are going and where they’re at in the assignment. This way, if you see the task veering into the unknown, you can quickly steer it back on track without hurting any feelings… and without wasting precious time doing it all over again.

6. Feedback, feedback, feedback

Feedback is a crucial step - once the task is complete, if a good job has been done, let them know! And if something went wrong along the way, you need to be able to talk about that too. Take the time to speak or email your assistant with any concerns you had - and allow them the opportunity to do the same. This will not only help your VA understand the expectations in the future, it will also provide a good opportunity to realize what you could have done better as well!

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Posted in Business, Solopreneur-ship, Virtual Assistance | 15 Comments »