Selling a Service? Start an Internet Business to Get MORE Clients and Online Leads

We get plenty of emails from those who genuinely believe that you can't start an Internet business to sell a site - that it must require a completely different approach from selling something online. They think they should use a completely different group of tools and techniques - that their website design is likely to be dramatically different... and that to drive visitors for their sites, they'll need to make use of some strange, newfangled strategies.

This simply isn't the case!

You CAN market your service online in the same way easily as marketing a product. Really the only difference between starting an Internet business to sell a service versus something on the Internet is your focus:

Whenever you sell an actual product, every aspect of your site design and salescopy centers on how the item will probably solve visitors'needs and benefit them.

Once you sell a site on the Web, the focus is on what YOU will solve visitors'needs and benefit them.

Those challenges aside, anything else may be the same. Here are some simple strategies you can use to begin an Internet business and see it here overcome the unique challenges of marketing an on line service business... so you may get MORE online leads!

Challenge #1: You ARE the merchandise

Once you sell a service, you ARE the merchandise, whether you're a property agent... doctor... lawyer... bed and breakfast owner... auto mechanic... caterer... hair stylist... fitness trainer... accountant... investment advisor... childcare provider... housekeeper... dog walker... landscaper... whatever!

You're selling your time with the promise of a specific result, instead of selling a tangible product.

Solution: Concentrate on Credibility

Establishing your credibility - essentially establishing your value - is important to closing the sale when marketing your service to have online leads. Not just do you really need to establish the advantages of the service you're offering, you need to determine the value of YOU providing this service.

You will find various ways you can accomplish this...

Add a good, professional picture of yourself. And no, the picture of you in your Hawaiian-print shorts and "Kiss the Chef" hat from last year's summer barbecue won't do. Giving your visitors a specialist image to associate you with will go a long way to establishing your credibility.

Provide your credentials. Ensure you state precisely how each of your credentials is going to translate right into a BENEFIT for your clients. As an example, if you are a real estate agent with certification in housing inspection, then you definitely shouldn't just tell your visitors " I'm an avowed housing inspector." You should tell them: "Not only will I find a very good home in the very best place for you and your household, as a certified housing inspector, I can give you a precise assessment of the home's structural soundness and let you know about any potential problems to ensure you avoid getting stuck with costly repairs in the years into the future!"

Challenge #2: Prove your ability to supply measurable results, while emphasizing flexibility

People will want to see proof that you've delivered great results for other clients, but they'll also wish to know that you're flexible enough to generally meet their very own unique needs.

Solution: Show the method that you satisfied past clients with mixed needs

Be sure that you keep confidential client information confidential, while:

Proving that you've satisfied the needs of other clients like them with great results. There are always a few other ways to complete this. Including testimonials from satisfied clients is one. And including an on the web portfolio of your projects is another (e.g., landscapers might include pictures of well-manicured properties they designed and maintain). Just make fully sure your salescopy provides a detailed breakdown of the services you provide, with the benefits you offer clearly explained. Would you offer exactly the same services as similar service providers? More? Less? What makes you different from your competitors? Do you specialize in anything? What sort of guarantee can you offer? How will your services be delivered? These details are one of the very critical areas of your site.

Demonstrating your power to customize your service to meet up their personal, unique needs. As stated earlier, people won't only wish to see proof that you've delivered great results for other clients, they may wish to know you're ready to customize your service to meet their needs. So here, again, thorough salescopy that clearly explains how you're prepared to customize your services is likely to be very important. Do your clients typically fall into several different categories? Is it possible to talk about each group, and explain the manner in which you adapt and change to meet their individual needs?

Challenge #3: You're using a global medium to attract local business

Frequently, service-based businesses rely on local clients. Sure, the owner of a sleep and breakfast in Seattle might be thrilled to be attracting online leads from Australia's Gold Coast... but may be the landscaper in Seattle likely to be equally receptive to securing a regular hedge-trimming and lawn-mowing client from Australia? Probably not.

Solution: Actively pursue sources of local traffic

Virtually all the traffic techniques used to drive visitors to product-based Internet business sites may also be applied to service-based sites. But here certainly are a few techniques which are useful if you want local traffic...

Network with other local businesses. If you like local traffic, start making personal connections with other local business owners - preferably those with sites of the own. Look for methods to position your service and your website as a source for their customers, and then request a link on the site or get permission to leave your company cards (printed along with your URL, of course!) in their lobby or next with their cash register.

Get your website listed in local online directories. There are many of local online directories that list only two or three businesses in categories that needs to be quite popular. With consumers becoming convenient trying to find information online, it only is sensible that they're embracing these local directories (to hire local services!) with increasing frequency. Why don't you make the most of the truth that few businesses are pursuing this valuable supply of traffic? Research local online directories locally and request a listing!

Once you've wrapped your mind around these challenges, the rest must be easy. Every one of the other strategies to start and successfully market an Internet business are exactly the same: creating compelling salescopy... generating qualified traffic... designing a web site that sells... these could all be transferred directly to a service-based website.

Of course there IS one other challenge that's unique to selling a site online (or off): your own time is limited!

You will find only so several hours in one day you can devote to fulfilling the needs of your clients. When you've reached a maximum client load, you might want to take into account alternative methods of expanding your business... whether it's creating partnerships with other service providers, writing and selling an eBook on a topic highly relevant to your industry... as well as recommending other businesses'products being an affiliate.

Meanwhile, start an Internet business to dramatically increase the internet leads you attract, the deals you close, and your overall online service income!