You have no choice other than to respect them — online service providers, I mean.
Their varied roles comprise a significant part of the collective of online business types out there. Instead of developing, marketing, and then selling a physical product, these online service providers use the skills and abilities within their Zones of Genius to provide a specialized service to an audience that acknowledges and desires the value within that offering.
The service itself need not be an actual online-type service, it only needs to have the ability to be performed in an online environment. And as you are already aware of, this can go on to look like an innumerable amount of potential scenarios:
You can have your virtual assistant tick off tasks from your To-Do list, or an Online Business Manager (Hi there! It's me. I'm an Online Business Manager.) develop the Quarterly Action Plan for your business. An interior designer can stage the guest room in your home, and a wellness coach can ask you about your motivations for changing your lifestyle... You can even have an attuned healer conduct a full Reiki session with crystals and pendulum in hand (and include all of your body's major chakras, of course)... And all of these are services that can be purchased, set up, and carried out online!
There is no shortage of online service providers in circulation today. You're easily able to search for and discover a qualified provider for virtually (heh) any concern that you can come up with. And even when the market appears flooded with one type of online service provider, their unique delivery styles and niches that those individuals are able to operate with can set them worlds apart. Every experience delivered can then be a truly different encounter between several providers of the same service.
So, all of that was just some lovely background about this very awesome type of online business that exists among all the others within our society today...
But let's now have a closer glance under the surface of things. While it's true that anyone is capable of creating a successful business from one of their marketable abilities, keeping and managing an online service provider type of business is a lot more complex than simply getting others to pay you for a skill that you have and they do not.
There is a service offering of yours to qualify, yes. But there are also your motivations and goals to clarify, an audience to define, a niche to hopefully settle into, a marketing plan to strategize, and sales goals to navigate towards. And this capacity of execution is not something that can be fulfilled overnight, no matter how strong your drive and energy drink are.
I know what all it entails to run a soundly functioning online service provider business because I operate a couple of them on my own, PLUS I assist in managing a few others at any one given time. So please follow along with me as I wax on some very necessary, yet often under-considered, pillars that support the development of a healthy and whole online service provider business:
First, Your "Why"
You can't get very far sustainably without this. With no underlying "Why" or deeper reasoning motivating your next steps, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. Without a compelling source of encouragement to drive you forward, you'll find it overwhelming to keep up your pace when outside or internal factors create challenges and hurdles along your journey. You risk allowing the opportunity for trying and difficult times to overcome your fortitude, causing you to backslide or even quit altogether. Reduce the chance for this to happen to you by acknowledging the "Why" behind all of your efforts in the very beginning of developing your business.
Define and Qualify
You likely have a service that you'd be willing to offer online in mind already. Is your desired service marketable and in-demand? And who all thinks so? The answers to these two questions are more significant than they appear to be at a surface level. You'll need to get clear about who your target audience is, their demographics and their interests and tastes. You could then use this information to develop an ideal client avatar to always keep at the forefront of your mind whenever you make any marketing decisions. Also consider polling your audience by directly asking them questions relevant to your current and potential service offerings. Their opinions of your work are valuable and can guide you towards making better and better decisions that position yourself more favorably in their sight.
Shine Bright Like a Diamond
It's obvious that you won't be the sole provider of your particular service. In fact, the chances are that the market is already quite saturated by a large population of providers offering similar, if not the exact same, services as you are. How do you successfully set yourself apart from them then? You could accomplish this by defining a niche for yourself to occupy and target your services to a more specific sub-set of clients or customers. When your audience is on the search for your specific service offering, your specialized presence will stand out from the crowd of others as one that is distinguished and more skilled than a generalist provider. Your target audience may be smaller this way, however your appeal to them will be strengthened among fewer competitors out there.
Strategize the Sales
Simply offering your services to the public is not enough to guarantee lots of consistent sales and success... Build upon the insight you gained when coming up with your ideal client avatar and start considering how you might place yourself in view of that target audience of yours. Answer for yourself where your ideal client shows up online already. And how can you place yourself among more and more members of that audience? What will improve your chances of gaining successful conversions? This will take some work and strategy on your part, but remember that the only way to sustainably grow larger and gain visibility is to increasingly put yourself "out there" in front of your type of people. There aren't any quick tricks.
There is a certain amount of effort required, but the benefits of developing an online service provider business far outweigh the hassle of the work that must be put in first.
The end results have no end in sight when it comes to what visions can be made into a reality for this type of online business. And receiving appreciation (and pay!) for performing a service that you have the skills to do for someone else gives you such deep satisfaction every time that it happens; it doesn't get old!
I hope that you'll consider building this type of online business. Many, many people experience the pleasure of having highly successful and longtime careers from doing exactly this. Don't allow anything to prevent you from achieving this desire, if it is indeed one of yours. It was a desire of mine years ago, and I haven't paused to look back since. I'm always happy to be of service with any insights from my experiences and knowledge gained during my own journey. Don't hesitate to share a concern with me if you're considering making moves that look like this. Simply respond to this email or leave a comment at any time.
Talk again soon!
These are so helpful as there is always something that anyone can offer. Aside from readings and my writing I am thinking about offering a booking service for podcasters and guests, which I did years ago but other things became my focus. I’m thinking of starting again though, maybe in the fall.