At Your Service: Starting a Service-Oriented Business

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If I had to do it all over again, there are a couple of things that I would do in order to keep marketing expenses low when starting a business (especially a freelance business). First and foremost, one thing that would have saved a great deal of time, costs nothing to implement, and can be done by anyone: talk to people. Specifically, talk to those who would potentially buy your services. (Ramit Sethi talks about this, and has a good explanation on how to get inside your customer’s head)

Change of plans

In a matter of a week I changed my entire marketing and sales strategy because of feedback that I received from potential clients. At every conference I attended, everyone who I gave my 30 second pitch to (which – at the time – included the words “IT” and “Consultant”) always responded with “That’s great! So you build websites? Ours is really horrible!” Indeed, I could build websites, but I had already drafted my business plan, marketing plan, and financial forecasts entirely around Information Technology. You know, building networks and so on for businesses.

Needless to say, after hearing that my idea of what people wanted wasn’t reality – I changed things. (Not that I don’t do IT anymore, just how I market).

Stop dreaming up what your customer wants

The point is, it is very easy to assume what a customer wants or needs. It’s an entirely different thing to ask them, or at least talk to them. You will get far more from the latter, than the former.

Next post, I will share how I use my virtual assistant to get leads.

Side note: It’s been a while since I’ve spoken about tech stuff, I know. However, I don’t want anyone to make the mistakes that I did in the beginning. Technology that helps your business function is great, but if you don’t have clients or customers you don’t have a business. The technology stuff will be return at the proper time, until then it’s all about getting clients.

How to Provide Great Customer Service (customer-relations.suite101.com)

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