One of my coaching clients recently asked me, ‘Should I switch from freelancing to selling products? I’ve seen you and a lot of other service-based entrepreneurs do this and I’m worried that services are dying out and that the real money is in infoproducts.’
I was so shocked by this that I asked if I could turn my answer into an email for my entire community to see. If you’ve ever asked yourself if you should start selling products instead of services, this email is for you.
First, I want to let you in on a little secret:
I haven’t stopped selling services.
Even though I sell ebooks and courses for brand & web designers, I’m still working one-on-one with clients and I still sell my design services- I’ve just temporarily removed them from my website because my soonest availability is February 2017. There’s no point advertising design services that aren’t available at the moment, so I removed them from my site for now.
So, why haven't I given up my design services completely and switched to selling info products? After all, I have courses and ebooks that sell well. Everyone else seems to be rolling in money from their video courses and online classes. Putting my full energy into selling products seems like the best move, right?
There's one big, looming reason why I haven't done that:
Making a living selling products only is unpredictable.
I like the safe security that comes with a service-based business model. I like working one-on-one with clients and making them feel special. I love the excited emails and phone calls I get from them when we finally launch their brand and website.
Services will always be needed, whereas the need for a product sometimes dies out. That's why I like to make a living from both services and products.
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My point is: services are more reliable than products.
Don’t ditch your services and become an infopreneur just because that’s what others are doing. By all means, if you think you'd prefer to sell products then give it a shot! But make sure you're switching your business model for the right reason. Don't do it just because you think that's where the real money is at.
The reality is that you don’t fully know what makes up other people’s business model. Even though someone may look like they make all their money from infoproducts, they may not.
Don't make decisions based on your assumptions of others, especially when it comes to how other people earn a living.
You can make just as much money selling services than you can selling products.
I know business owners who make more money than me even though they only sell one service.
Want to know how?
Because they’re reeeeally good at what they do. They understand exactly how to find and attract the right clients. They know what they're worth. They outsource and subcontract so that they can grow without having to actually put more time into their business.
They didn’t have to host webinars, create courses, launch books, find affiliates, write newsletters, create Facebook ads, create promoted pins, write guest posts, create sales pages or do any of the other million tasks infopreneurs have to do.
Selling info products isn’t the only way to make money online. Don’t become swept up with the trend and start creating products just because everyone else is. If you're going to switch from a service-based business model, do it because that's what you love doing, not because it's the popular thing to do.
Thinking of switching from freelancing to selling products? Here's a chart to help you make your decision!
I want to dive a little deeper into figuring out whether you should switch from freelancing to products. The chart above will really help you make your decision, but let's talk about some of the points on the chart before you make up your mind.
Do you like working one-on-one?
Do you enjoy giving your full attention to your clients?
Do you like hopping on Skype and walking your clients through their project?
Do you find comfort in the fact that you only have to find 10, 15, 20 clients for the year instead of selling 1000 ebooks or 500 courses?
Or are you tired of answering clients questions and emails?
Do you prefer teaching lots of people on something like a live webinar?
Do you prefer the excitement of setting up sales funnels, finding webinar partners, launching new courses and making passive income?
There's no right or wrong answer to these questions. Just make sure you answer honestly! Forget about what everyone else is doing and ask yourself if freelancing or launching products is what you're really passionate about.
Do you love teaching?
If you answered the previous questions and realized that selling products might be a better fit for you, then go on to ask yourself these:
Do you enjoy being on live video or does it make you really nervous?
Do you mind pitching potential collaborators, or does the thought of emailing strangers petrify you?
Are you a natural leader, or would you rather blend in, do your work and make your living?
You have to be honest with yourself when answering these questions. You may look at other infopreneurs and see the glamourous side of teaching, but it's hard work if you're not naturally confident on camera or in large groups.
If you aren't naturally confident, don't drop your freelance services yet. Try doing a live webinar and pitching a small product at the end. See how you feel about being on live video and whether you'd like to do it again!
Do you love creating content?
This is the last major question I want you to ask yourself. The reason I'm putting emphasis on this question is because continously creating high-quality content that's the right balance of educational and pitchy is haaaard.
I've been blogging and creating other forms of content online for about seven years, and I still find this difficult.
If you don't like writing, or you find it hard to motivate yourself to create any form of content, you may find it hard to create products and marketing content like videos, blog posts and newsletters.
If this is the case, don't jump from freelancing to infopreneurship yet. Try and get yourself into a regular routine of creating content before you take the leap.
Ask yourself the questions listed above and in the graphic before deciding if switching from freelancing to selling products is for you. Most of us suit a mixed model, so I encourage you to mix your services with products instead of leaping from one to the other. Diversifying your business model this way will help you bring in a steady income!
