Selling Your Service To Your Customers

Are you a pro? Do you have a lot of knowledge in one area? Or maybe a special skill? You can make a living off of it if you know how to market yourself. Lawyers do it. CPA's do it. Why shouldn't you?

Ok, so they have a bricks and mortar office. But you don't need that anymore, thanks to the internet.

Times have changed. Instead of people having to pick up the yellow pages to try and find a business that can offer the service they need, you can go out on the web and let people know what service you offer. You can also find out what people are looking for, and sell yourself as their provider.

One online company that does this is Guru. Guru has categories ranging from website design and marketing, to engineering, sculpting, photography, fashion design and accounting. While there is a fee to use their service, it is a great outlet for those with an expertise. Companies that need something, let's say an illustrator for a greeting card, post the job. The job offering may say they need an illustrator for a wedding invitation. They will define their expectations, a budget for the project, and the time they expect to have the project completed in.

If you have an account in this category, you can go in build a resume, a portfolio and then submit a bid on their job. If you are accepted they usually use escrow accounts. That means the purchaser must put the money for the job into an account with Guru. That money will be released to you upon the completion of the project. This is good for you, especially if you are selling a creative service. Otherwise, once you have handed over the product, you have no leverage to make sure you get paid.

The benefit of a site like Guru is that in addition to being able to find a lot of jobs in your specialty, if you have good working relationships with those who hire you, they will give you positive feedback. Feedback can be viewed by other potential buyers who will be more inclined to spend their money with someone who has a positive reputation.

Sites like 'craigslist' also have freelance job listings available, but they do not offer the secure payment site or visible feedback for a job well done.

Of course, you can set up your own website to offer your services, but in the beginning, if the business flow is low, a place like Guru or even 'craigslist' may be a good way to pick up a few new clients. You can also send them to your page, and use their feedback on the freelance jobs, as positive referrals on your own site.

About The Author-- David Pasch has several Internet Businesses.You can contact him at Support@home-i-business.com.One of them is home-i-business

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