Selling Services Online —
How to Have the Right Mindset
and the Right Tools

Do you sell a service online? Could you?

Attorney in Florida? A tax consultant in California?

Jungian psychologist from London, England? Bagpiper from Quebec, Canada?

Book indexer from Cayman Islands? Database guru from Sydney, Australia?

Personal trainer from Vancouver, Canada? Dog walker in Manhattan, NY?

No matter what personal or professional service you may offer, or whether your service attracts clients from around the world, or around your block...

You've got it made when you can say...

"Sorry, I'm booked through the rest of the year."

This site shows you how to use the Net to build a stellar list of quality clients...

• whether you've been selling your services for years, or thinking about starting
• whatever your service may be, professional or personal, from the serious to the sublime
• regardless if your business is primarily online or off, and
• no matter if your clients are from your neighborhood or from another continent.

Service-Selling Facts of Life

Let's back up a bit and review some "service-selling fundamentals"...

Fact #1
The sale of a service is basically the sale of specialized time... someone with a specific knowledge or ability sells hours which deliver solutions required by a "client."

Fact #2
The Net is largely used by people to search for specialized information and solutions!

Fact #3
The "delivery" of a service is frictionless. In other words, you do not have to pick-pack-and-ship products (the way Amazon does, for example).

Conclusion
There's no better way to grow your service-delivery business than through a website that works. The basic concept is so obvious...

STEP 1) An over-busy surfer who needs your service, during a quest for information or a solution, finds you, a service seller who OVERdelivers that sought-after info through your Web site.

STEP 2) The surfer is PREsold (i.e., you gain trust and credibility).

STEP 3) The surfer wants more information, signs up for your specialized digital newsletter.

STEP 4) It's a matter of time before that surfer contacts you or sends that first "RFQ" ("Request for Quote").

It is all so obvious. And yet... the selling of services through the Net is, by far, the most overlooked opportunity today.

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It simply doesn't matter what you do. Nor does it matter whether your clients are local (e.g., a fitness trainer) or global (e.g., someone who indexes books) in nature... you can use the Net and SBI! to build a client base in a fast, cost-effective way.

And if you don't have any spare time during or between contracts to build a Web site, get SiteSell Services to do everything for you. Call or email us for more details.

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Can Your Service Be Found Online Right Now?

With SBI!, you don't need to be lucky to be found. Because you'll be good at rising to the top. You may think that's useful only if your services can be delivered to a global market (e.g., copywriting, programming, etc.). No...

It's even more valuable for local businesses because it's much easier to be found at the engines for local-oriented searches (less competition). Take a look....

Did you notice the mention of "C-T-P-M" above? That natural, powerful process, together with the complete set of tools to execute the process flawlessly, is what makes SBI! sites so successful.

As an example, consider our own company, SiteSell.com. We are always on the hunt for great global talent to add to our team. We use the Net...

• We have searched and found excellent programmers in Australia, Europe and the United States. Those who did a good first job have had regular work with us.
• When we needed someone to index our first e-commerce book, we searched the Net. He did a great job on the first one, so has indexed every SiteSell book since then.

We found these service sellers because they were all ahead of their time, clever and tech-savvy. They had all developed "theme-based content sites" that PREsold us (more on this concept in a bit).

Net result?

Why Building an Online Presence for Your Service Should Be Your Top Goal

Any service seller can and should do exactly the same by using SBI!. Do it before your competitors do, because the Net is becoming the way to find global service sellers.

The services mentioned above are excellent examples of service sellers who have a global clientele (they do not have to live or work near their clients)...

• The cartoon artist can e-mail digital attachments.
• Programmers work directly on development servers remotely.
• A book indexer works from home, then e-mails the final index as an attachment.

Other examples of a "global service?" Sure, the following are but a few of the millions of specialized knowledge or skill sets that can be "sold," and that do not require you to be physically present with your client...

• a fine craftsman, such as an expert in Japanese netsuke repair
• an export specialist who sources and exports German-made products
• an investment specialist in Brazilian bonds
• a graphic designer (outsource to ad agencies, etc.)
• an accountant with special knowledge of tax havens
• a copywriter for direct mail and Web sites
• an editor of medical articles for international journals
• a translator (any language to any other language)
• a vintage guitar evaluator/collector/reseller
• telephone-based or webcam-delivered advice of any kind
• a pharmaceutical expert in introducing new medications to Canada.

Global vs. Local Services

As long as you can perform your service properly without having to be physically near your client, your service is global in nature!

Thanks to the "Digital Age," these kinds of service sellers can provide a high quality service from anywhere in the world. It's simple to understand how the Web is the perfect medium for global service sellers. It is the easiest, fastest, cheapest way to access a world-wide market.

But what about services that require you to be physically present with a local client? For example...

• a landscaper in Hong Kong
• a fitness trainer in Beverly Hills, California
• a dentist in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• a caterer in Cheyenne, Wyoming
• a chimney cleaner in Juno, Alaska
• an auto mechanic in London, England

We call them "local" services. These service sellers must be out of luck, right?

Wrong. The "coming online" of local businesses is a major trend that is just beginning.

If yours is a local service, one that is provided to local clients, please click here to see how to develop a solid Web presence, generate targeted traffic, build loyalty through a newsletter for clients, get the edge on local competition, and add new income streams.

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You may do your services offline or online, but more and more people are using the Net to find the right service provider for their needs. Will they find you?

Be sure with an SBI! website! Build one yourself or have a SiteSell Professional do it for you. Ask our expert SBI! Advisor which traffic-generating solution is the best fit for your business.

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Five Tips to Make Your Service Easier To Sell

Selling particular services can be a tough process sometimes. Often times the client doesn’t realize he needs that specific service, has doubts about whether he can do it by himself, or just generally doesn’t trust you if you aren’t a World renowned brand.

Good service providers have some tricks to tackle those problems. It all depends on the service type and the specifics behind it, but here are 5 good rules of thumb to follow when building your service selling business...

Present Your Service as a Product

When searching for a service, people rarely are interested in the process. They look for the outcome. People don’t need someone that knows how to change tires, they need their tires changed. Shift the focus from what you do to what you deliver.

Provide Extra Value to Your Service

In most cases you won’t be the only option your clients have. Competition is everywhere and you have to stick out above the rest in order to get those orders. That’s why it is always important to give something extra. It may be a prolonged guarantee to your service, a shorter delivery time, or even a discount. Simply give a bit more than the others.

Be Authoritative

Always sound and act like you know what you are doing. If you reach the phase of quotation explain plainly, but in detail, what your service is all about. Be ready to answer every question the client may have.

Make Your Service Flexible

Consider dividing your service into different modules. Sometimes the client may need only a part of your service and not the whole deal. Make sure to offer cheaper alternatives to your service, but put the decision in the hands of the customer. If he doesn’t want to pay for the premium service, offer him a lower-cost one, but with the additional information that what he receives won’t be of the same quality.

Show Your Happy Clients to the World

This probably goes without saying, but the customer must be always delighted by your work. Then why not ask him to leave a review or just mention you to his friends? The Internet can surely reach an unimaginable number of potential clients, but the best conversions always come from word of mouth. Positive reviews are a very important conversion factor, but REAL reviews are what makes a visitor transform into a customer. Be sure to show them!

Successful Online-Business-Building Is All About
Following the Right Process, While Using Strong Tools

The process is just as important as the tools. Do things right the first time, step by step... and good results happen. The SBI! process shows you the way to build a strong online presence that will generate traffic, build credibility and trust, and grow your client base.

Convert knowledge and information related to your business niche into a theme-based content site. Yes, you can do this yourself, from the ground up, one step at a time.

SBI! takes what you know, and helps you turn that into your own unique content on your own unique Web site. You use the SBI! system of no-tech-skills-needed, all-in-one, set of tools to execute the flawless step-by-step process to build a theme-based content site.

Your growing site generates targeted visitors who quickly become warm, willing PREsold prospective clients. From that point on, your client base grows and grows. Yes...

You can pull high volumes of targeted traffic to your site, by building pages that focus upon frequently searched keywords applicable to topics related to your business.

How Good Is SBI!?

If you bring the knowledge of your business, and the motivation to truly use the Web, SBI! delivers results. That's our "Confidence of Success" Guarantee.

There is no faster, more cost-effective way to build your client base. We can prove it. No one else does, because they can't.

And How Do We Define "Success"?

The lifeblood of your business is new clients. The job of your Web site is to deliver that. So here's our definition of "success"...

Hundreds of targeted visitors per day, every day, generated by you, growing to thousands as you continue to create high-value, high-ranking content related to your site's theme. Achieve that, and your only remaining challenge is a most interesting and pleasant one...

Convert traffic into business income. And yes, as you'll see below, SBI! provides all you need to complete the business-building, profit-generating process.

The Biggest, Most Overlooked E-commerce Opportunity
And How to Earn a Superior Living at It

The largest single segment of the economy is the services industry. It has virtually missed the Net. And yet... service sellers and the Net are like apple pie and ice cream -- the perfect match! Why?

Because every service has a theme... whether you are a direct sales copywriter or a Linux sysadmin, your service is about something. And that something can form the basis for an SBI!-built Theme-Based Content Site... a powerful vehicle for attracting and PREselling potential new clients.

And there is another VERY attractive aspect about selling your services on the Net. A single client can bring in hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars. So the return on your investment is higher than for any other kind of business.

What If You're Excited By the Service Selling Opportunity,
But Aren't Currently Providing a Service as a Business?

Think! Brainstorm!

What do you know, what can you do, what can you provide that others will pay you for? What are your passions and your hobbies? What is your current job? Everyone has a unique source of knowledge, a skill set, that can be leveraged into a service of some sort!

Your full-time job (past or present) may contain the answer. Perhaps it already involves providing a service for a "service corporation" that bills out your time at triple what they pay you. Guess what? You don't need the middle-man anymore.

SBI! Builds Targeted Traffic & Converts Warm,
PREsold Visitors Into a Rapidly Growing Client Base

The key is in the process, the guidance,and in the all-in-one set of tools that permit you to execute the process (no matter how un-savvy you may be). Let's review that process step by step...

Convert Knowledge Into Information
By Publishing It on the Web
Then Convert That Content Into
Targeted Traffic and Income

Most businesses just "put up a site."

Fatal. Because no one is looking for your site. No one is looking for your business.

People search for information, for solutions. After all, if they knew you existed, they would not be searching. They would already be clients.

So build a site that will be searched-and-found by prospective new clients... hundreds of them... then thousands, steadily building as your site gains in reputation and relevance at the engines.

Here is how to build a website that works... one that publishes the content your prospects seek (and that, of course, is also related to your business), using SBI!'s process, strategies and software tools (all working together)...

Bottom line? C T P M Is a Powerful Way to
Use the Web to Build a Service Business

Your site delivers great Content on a particular set of topics (all related to your site's theme, which is related to your service business). People find your content through your high rankings at the Search Engines (and other techniques). The targeted Traffic is PREsold by your quality information. Then, and only then, do you receive that first contract that converts C T P M of Monetization.

The more information you publish, the more visitors find your site and are PREsold. The process feeds upon itself as you attract more and more profitable clients.

Speaking of profitable clients... do you know the approximate Lifetime Value of a new client (i.e., the amount of profit that a new client will bring to your business over his/her lifetime of dealing with you)? It is usually in the thousands of dollars. Sometimes in the tens of thousands.

The value of a single new lifelong client, and the word-of-mouth "buzz" that s/he creates, means your business stands to lose by NOT maintaining a Web presence.

So what are hundreds of new clients worth? And what are entirely new income streams worth? Compared to these values, a Web site that WORKS is cheap, cheap, cheap (under a dollar per day, actually... more on this later).

There is no limit to the number of niches in the services sector of the economy... nor as to how you can capitalize on the Web. From a Caribbean real estate agent to an offshore estate attorney, whether you're selling webmaster or antique watch restoration services, you can do this.

And you can "go global" even if your clients have, to date, been primarily local. It may not seem immediately obvious, so extend your thinking.

For example, maybe you're a photographer in Perth, Australia -- is there any reason you can't provide your professional photographic services to local customers and sell digital photos of Perth to a global market in need of specific, original photos?

Click here for a real-life example of how to use the Web to convert a local business into a global one.) (Click your browser's Back button to return here.)

SBI! makes it all possible. If you can get and send e-mail and surf the Web, you can indeed do all of the above... all by yourself.

More service businesses than ever are using the Internet to grow their client base and diversify into new monetization models. It's time for you to get that jump. There is no stronger, more cost-effective way to use the Net to build your service business.

Net Result? You Provide the Service
SBI! Builds Your Business, Locally and Globally

No matter what your service business niche is, a Content site fits you like a glove and drives business like a whip.

You'll soon have a site that attracts warm, PREsold visitors...

Your visitors. And then... Your lifetime clients.

Build a business where you are in control, following a step-by-step plan and using tools with a proven track record of success within a positive, forward-thinking and supportive community.

SBI! sites succeed.

And we prove it.

Other companies would, too, if they could. But 99% of their small business sites fail. You cannot afford to lose a year of your life and thousands of dollars, which is what failure costs.

With SBI!, you'll soon have a site that attracts warm and willing-to-buy visitors...

Your visitors. And then... Your clients.

You have a future to gain, a past (i.e., knowledge) to convert into income, and absolutely nothing to lose...