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Earn More Money With
Your Service Business
Easy steps to help boost your income.
by Alyice Edrich
All materials copyrighted
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Ad Disclaimer
Running a service-based business is probably one of the easiest businesses to start because there isn’t a lot of overhead, but it can
also be the most difficult businesses when it comes to increasing one’s profit margins. That’s because service-based businesses are
limited by the fact that one person can only do so much. So how does a service-based business earn more money without running himself
ragged by working twelve or eighteen hour days?
The following tips will help you discover ways to earn more money with your service-based business:
Lower Your Business Costs
The fastest way to earn more money is to lower your business expenses. Check your overhead costs and get real with your budget, then ask
yourself some serious questions, like:
- Is there anything you can cut out that is more of a luxury and less of a necessity?
- Are you renting office furniture because it looks exquisite when you can buy used furniture and cut out that monthly bill?
- Can you make better use of your networking meetings by bartering for services and/or products?
- Can you buy more products in bulk? Perhaps splitting the bulk shipment with another business can help both of you cut costs.
Charge More Money
Charging more for your services can increase your bottom line, but if your market can’t bear the higher fees, you may not be able to
take advantage of this option. Call around and find out what other professionals are charging for similar services in your area. Are you
charging too little? If so, raise your fees. If not, consider increasing the perceived value of your services through a publicity
campaign, rewarding clients for referrals, and/or offering something no one else in your area offers.
Don’t’ Offer Discounts
Service-based businesses always try to close the deal by lowering the price of their services. That’s a very bad idea. From experience,
if you lower your price once, your client will never want to pay retail again. You’ll have to constantly fight and negotiate a better
deal with an existing client, or you’ll lose that client to a cheaper, and possibly less qualified, competitor.
Instead of lowering your fee, or including extra perks, why not remind your client how valuable your services have been in the past? If
it’s a new client, show customer testimonies, give case studies, and if appropriate and cost-effective, give away a small sample of your
work.
Specialize
As a freelance writer, I have met many writers who earn substantially more than I because they specialize in a niche that other writers
find too boring or difficult to write for. If you can find a way to position your service above the competition, if you can find a niche
in your field that isn’t being met and meet that need, you too can increase your income by simply being the “expert” in that area.
Package Your Services
Another way to increase your income is to stop charging by the hour and start charging by the package. The problem with charging by the
hour is that as you get faster and more efficient with the services you provide, you cut down on billable hours which cut down your
profits. But, by packaging your services together, you can charge a higher fee for the bundled services which can increase your profit
margin by as much as fifty percent! If you can’t package your services, consider charging by the project, rather than the hour.
Upsell Your Services
Once you’ve developed packages for your service, don’t be afraid to introduce your client to a higher-priced package if it will meet his
(or her) needs. This is known as upselling and is used by service-based businesses worldwide.
- Photographers use it to get you to purchase larger portraits or fancier picture frames.
- Salons use it to get you to wash and/or style your hair instead of just getting it cut.
- Dental companies get you to whiten your teeth when you come in for a regular check-up or cleaning.
- Web hosts use it to get you to purchase package deals with more bandwidth, chat rooms, message boards, blogs, shopping carts, and
other fancy features you may or may not ever use.
- And insurance companies do it to get you to use them for all your insurance needs: homeowner’s, life, and auto coverage.
Create Residual Income
One of the easiest ways to earn more money from your service-based business is to create informational products. Information-based
products share your expertise and help others learn from your knowledge without you having to be there in person to help them.
Informational products consist of things like: print books, electronic downloadable books (e-books), audio series, video series, mp3
files of recent seminars or workshops, and so on. To learn more about writing an e-book, check out
Tid-Bits For Making Money With E-Books.
Another way to create residual income is to start a member-only website where you allow members to listen to conference calls, read
member-only articles, and chat with other members.
You can also create residual income by allowing others to sell your products for you. This can be done through affiliate marketing or
through a wholesale program.
Sell Products
Aside from selling information-based products, you can also sell products that relate to your services and fulfill a need in your
clients. Just make sure you get the appropriate business license, keep accurate records, and charge that sales tax! Samples of
businesses who sell products related to their services are: hair salons (hair care products), massage therapists (incense, relaxation
tapes, and lotions), mechanics (tires and spare parts), and coffee shops (coffee mugs, coffee grounds, tea bags, and kettles).
The key to earning more money from your service-based business is to think outside the box. How can you share your wisdom without having
to be there in person? Find an answer to this question and you’ll increase your income by as much as fifty percent by next year’s tax
return!
About The Author:
Alyice Edrich is the author of several highly praised e-books designed to help you work from home. To discover how you can
earn $50 in two hours or up to $10K in your spare time visit her store:
http://thedabblingmum.com/ebookstore
* This article is available for your publication, for a F-E-E.
This article may NOT be reprinted without monetary compensation and written permission from the author.
For reprint rights or comments/questions about this article, please contact the author.
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