In contrast to a product, a service has little overhead because you do not have to deal with raw materials, manufacturing and shipping. So, what services are in demand these days? It can really be anything you enjoy or know how to do. Online service businesses range from wedding photography, tax planning and medical coding to running errands for busy executives, providing virtual assistant support to small businesses or even being a secret shopper.
If you have experience in visual arts, communications, design, sales, accounting or any number of other business related services, there are online marketplaces where customers post projects and you can bid on them. These marketplaces – elance.com and guru.com are just two examples – allow you to manage many aspects of your freelance business. These marketplaces have tools that help you bid, communicate with clients, share files and collect payment. In return, they collect a small percentage of your bid as a convenience fee. In these virtual talent sites, you’ll find all sorts of projects, both short term and long term.
One of the benefits of these sites is that for little money, they allow you to establish a reputation for yourself, build clientele and get valuable experience without having to cold call or spend your money on direct mail or email campaigns. The clients posting projects are already interested in the types of services you provide and are ready to buy. You don’t have to convince them they need the service, only that you’re the perfect person to provide it. Your entire focus is on getting hired for projects and getting revenue through the door.
If your service doesn’t fit into one of the many categories these sites have (and you may be surprised at the breadth of services included), you can always create a direct presence on the Internet with a website. We’ll discuss websites more in a bit.
Regardless of how you set up your service business online, the key to success is to be sure that your customer service is second to none. As with any business, there are times when you will encounter a client who doesn’t like what you did for them. Often this is a simple case of miscommunication from the beginning. When you provide a service, be sure to over communicate to the client. Make sure you are speaking “apples to apples” in terms of what they expect they will get from you. And be sure that you aren’t victimized by the dreaded “project creep,” where you’re so anxious to please your client you let the scope of the project change without changing the cost. You need to always be flexible yet firm in balancing your services with your pricing.