How I Multiplied My Profits By Packaging Services
By Christine OKelly | October 21, 2007
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There is a simple way to exponentially grow your business and generate multiple new revenue streams almost instantly just by changing the way you view your business, blog, service, or whatever it is you are doing to generate revenue.
These are techniques that I do use myself. And once you read how simple this is, you may be astounded that you haven’t thought of this before – I myself didn’t even realize this for quite some time after I went into business for myself. Once I understood this concept, everything changed.
You must first ask yourself these 2 questions:
- Where else are my clients spending money that is closely related to the services I offer?
- When my clients spend money with me, what are they REALLY trying to achieve?
Here are some examples of real people who are selling themselves short on generating additional revenue very easily:
- If you are a blogger selling ad space on your blog, those who buy ad space are probably spending money on other forms of online advertising.
- If you are a speaker or event planner (for example, you have organized a bloggers conference) just about everyone who attends will have to make travel arrangements to get to the conference.
- If you are a web designer, your clients will need content (from my experience, it is a royal pain to get 95% clients to produce the content themselves)
- If you do SEO for high-end clients, your clients may be using a traditional advertising or ad agency to handle offline marketing or would be interested in doing so.
If You are Referring Your Clients to Services Outside of Your Perceived Service Offering, You are Giving Away Money
When I first started in business for myself, I realized that I was telling every single client to go get web hosting. Not only was I telling them how to get it, I was telling them where to get it and then setting up for them and oftentimes purchasing it for them.
At one point I realized – this is stupid – if I’m referring all of this business, I need to make a profit from it! As a result, I became a hosting reseller and earned a profit off of every single person that I set up with hosting. That was 2 years ago and I still continue to make money every single month from the clients that I set up with hosting back then.
There are countless ways to re-brand products and services and sell them as your own, allowing you to keep a cut of the profit rather than just passing it off to someone else.
This doesn’t have to be done with an established affiliate program – you can re-brand other people’s services if you make relationships with the right people.
That was when the idea of re-branding services entered my mind, but then I expanded on it and built several entire businesses around that same concept
One client came to me and told me that their SEO told them to go find a copywriter to create content. Big loss on their part. They could have offered copywriting services and then hired someone like me to do the job at a lower rate than they were billing the client. That is exactly what sparked my entire business model for SEO Content Solutions.
Offer A Full Service Solution Rather than a Piece of a Solution
First let’s take a look at the people in the above examples and how they could add new service offerings to increase their profits without really doing any additional work:
- Blogger selling ad space: in addition to offering a space on your blog, advertise an entire suite on online advertising services including PPC, along with tracking and reporting and outsource the job. I know one very good PPC ad specialist who would be probably be happy to work with your customers on your behalf and as a seamless part of your company. The PPC specialist charges a standard rate that is confidential between the two of you and you charge the customer whatever you wish. Now you’ve just made additional residual income without doing anything. When you’ve got the lead, you’re the one that has control of the situation.
- Web developer and designer referring others to get hosting: Resell hosting.
- Speaker or event planner whose clients/attendees must travel: Private label a travel agency.
- Web designer or SEO whose customers need content: Rebrand copywriting services.
- SEO whose clients also need traditional marketing: Offer traditional marketing services and then outsource to a full-service partner.
If You’re Getting Business Through Referrals, Turn the Tables
If your business relies almost entirely on referrals because you offer the “support” product or service, flip the tables. Start offering the main products or services and then when you generate a lead, outsource those tasks to the company that is outsourcing you for their leads.
For example if you are an online copywriter, you may be constantly waiting around for someone to hire you to write website content at a rate less than what they are charging the client. In this case, your clients NEED a website before they need you.
Instead of waiting for people to outsource to you, offer complete web design and development packages and then outsource the pieces to various experts. I did this here with my all-inclusive corporate website development package.
Packaged Product and Service Solutions are More Valuable Than Just One Piece of the Puzzle
I could really go off here, but I’ll save that for another post. When you offer a suite of related products or services as a package – the total is more valuable than the sum of the parts. This allows you to charge for a solution – not by piece-work.
Here’s Exactly What You Can Do To Increase Your Profits:
1. Develop a suite of related products or services around your own product or service offer. This should provide a complete SOLUTION to your client that solves the problem they are coming to you for.
For example, if someone wants to advertise on your blog, what they are really seeking is online visibility – what pieces need to come together for them to achieve that? If someone is seeking web design, they don’t just want a design – that alone is pointless. They want to be noticed online – what pieces need to come together for them to achieve that?
2. Connect with talented people that can handle each piece of the solution that you can outsource projects to. Find out what their rates are for specific tasks so that you can build your package price. You might want to find a group of people who are really high end and offer expert comprehensive services and others that offer a budget solution so that you can build packages at several price points with different options.
3. Create a web page detailing your product or service solution and begin promoting it. Direct clients to it when they come to you for a single job and upgrade them to a full solution.
Topics: Business Development, Freelancer Tips |
33 Comments »
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Excellent post. I usually ask 2 questions:
“Why do people buy ___________?”
“People who buy __________ are also interested in buying _________”
They are almost similar to the 2 questions you’ve noted. Except their order is reversed (The reason why I start by asking why is: it gives more clarity.)
Hey!
Do you want to know “why do people buy”…?
Check out my article, there is a video link at the bottom, that is all about why customers buy!
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Excellent explanation of how you’ve succeeded - thanks for laying everything out clearly.
For those of us who are relatively new to blogging, and don’t have a specific product/service to offer (i.e. copywriting, SEO, etc.), what area would you recommend focusing on? Meaning what specific skill would you develop if you were in my place?
Hi Christine! In the crazy coincidence of the internet, I actually just subscribed to your feed last night and then saw your comment on Freelance Folder today. I was going to click on your name to come by and check out your blog, but then I realized I already had!
You’ve outlined a really great strategy here. We’re looking at including Web Design Lite with our marketing packages. Most of our clients are starting very small businesses and don’t need huge amounts of bells and whistles and are intimidated by the prices of some of the great web designers. It’s still in the thinking stages right now, but your post brought it off the backburner and onto the frontburner. “Frontburner” probably isn’t a word.
Thanks for the great site!
Hi! Great post! Thanks for sharing! it is always good to learn how others succeeded. Thanks!
Christina,
You just killed it on this article! And I mean that in the best of ways. Your wisdom is amazing pertaining to the matter at hand and it shows why you are indeed in the position you are in. Very encouraging post, thank you for taking the time to sit down and share it with us.
nice posting, christine! such simple rules to share with others who have more to offer/recoup than they realize. you can apply this to almost any service or product as well. so cool.
This is some very good advice. I can echo the thought that as a web designer getting most clients to provide content is a struggle. It holds up many of my projects.
@ Ankesh - great questions! Asking them in that order definitely makes a lot of sense ~
@ Travis - That’s a great question… I would say look at your personal life and your passions and ask yourself what it is that you LOVE to talk to other people about. What is it that when you talk about it, you are very influential to other people - then develop a niche in that area. Is there anything that you can think of specifically for your particular situation? It would be fun to help you figure something out. - email me!!
@ Namoi - that is a crazy coincidence! I like when things like that happen. And I positively love your blog - I was literally laughing out loud reading your post today. Is ‘frontburner’ a word? If it’s not - it should be. I’m declaring it so.
@ Limitless - thanks! I like reading other people’s personal experiences with things more than just about anything else so try to do the same here.
@ Bunk - Thanks! Wow!
@ Erin - I’m sure this can be applied to anything and everything… I just had another crazy idea today of a way to do the same thing with a completely different service that I’m working on. Turns out, it would be more profitable than the original service I was trying to market!
@ Steven - I COMPLETELY understand this because I have had the same problem. I have actually had people pay me for web development/design and then never launch the actual site because they never would send the content. That’s how I got into writing website content and allowing SEO’s, web developers and web designers add it to their list of services!
Excellent article, Christine! I’ve been thinking about bundling some things, but still in the planning stage. This is really inspiring!
Stumbled!
Very cool! When I think of packaging products/services, I always think of McDonalds and how smart they were to come up with the value meals. It’s a great way to encourage people to get more at a value. It also gives you a way to introduce new and useful products/services to customers that may not have realized that they even needed them.
Great article
Giving clients complete packages is always an attractive marketing tool but I think its important to also give “custom” packages incase someone doesnt want everything included in the package.
Absolutely. The package should be a starting point, but the customer should always have the ability to customize - great point!
just found you thru mindpetals. good site and article. I haven’t really started working but I am sure this will definitely help me out in the time to come.
Congrats on starting or planning to start a new venture Styn. Even if you don’t have a whole suite of products and services to start with, you can always package products and services with others to bulk up your offer - best of luck to you!
Wonderful article, Christine. (I love finding treasures like this, through BlogRush!)
I wonder if it’s been Dugg? My entrepreneurial clients should read this.
Sincerely,
Meg Meyer
Writing, Business Coaching
Good question Meg - I didn’t even know! I see that it has been Dugg here
Thanks for thinking of your entrepreneurial clients when reading this!
Hey noce post, can you have your friend get in contact wih me for the advertising I sell on my site. This may be a great feature for me to add to the service I have started this week.
Thanks Collin - he mostly works with people who already have clients that need PPC (for example SEO and traditional marketing companies) - but I’ll pass your info his way!
Another excellent post, to be saved and savored. Thanks, Christine.
Thank you Sarah - I love your photo gallery. It’s so cool to learn more about the person “behind the blog”
Good stuff, Christie!
Glad I found your blog - some really useful stuff here.
My favorite from this post: “When my clients spend money with me, what are they REALLY trying to achieve?”
Thank you so much Paul - I had a request from a client the other day from a company they are working with that insisted on 4 press releases per month - one a week. Though this is great, it made me wonder what they REALLY wanted out of that - perhaps press releases aren’t going to produce the results they think they will. If I can get to the heart of what they are trying to achieve, everyone will be happier.
Interesting blog you’ve got Paul! I used to live in Colorado (Boulder) so it’s cool to see what’s happening in the old stomping grounds!
[…] How I Multiplied My Profits by Packaging My Services from Self Made Chick. […]
I’m curious. When it comes time to create websites for your new businesses, do you create them yourself or do you sub that out?
Great question AgentSully: I create all my websites myself using Joomla ~
I’m subscribing your blog! So much valuable information!
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