Getting paying clients can be a difficult process.
Using the methods outlined in the Offline Gold Army and Get Clients Now will make the process a whole lot easier but when it comes down to it it still takes work to build a new relationship with a prospect.
One foundational principle is to put more effort into selling and servicing the paying clients you already have and getting referrals from them.
Once someone has hired you they already have a relationship with you.
It’s very easy to get them to read your email, your letter or get them on the phone.
So you can sell additional services to them or you can make life a whole lot easier and less stressful for yourself by selling ongoing services.
If you have say 10 clients all paying you $400 a month you’re making $4,000 a month without having to get any new clients.
That takes a lot of pressure off you.
Here’s the biggest secret to
getting paid ongoing fees for a service…
When you’re in the process of getting hired get your prospect excited about the benefits to them of a service that you provide month after month.
That’s not too difficult.
Business owners love new customers and more profits on a more regular basis so any service you can provide that does that will work just fine.
Think email marketing, SEO, social media marketing, marketing with online video, Facebook marketing…the list goes on and on.
If the service helps bring in more customers month after month you can charge a monthly fee for it.
And here’s something to consider…
Different business owners think differently.
Most are trying to reduce their risk and increase their sales and profits.
Some are happy paying substantial sums upfront and some are happy paying less upfront but don’t mind paying you over and over if you’re getting results for them.
You may consider a pricing model where you focus on getting a business to pay you $250 to $2,500 a month for your service rather than charging such a large upfront project fee.
You need to exercise a LOT of caution with this.
Your best clients are nearly always those who have paid you a substantial sum of money before you do any work (by charging upfront you force a client to establish the real value to them of your skill and expertise.)
But this is an option you can consider and any variation of it (for example charging $1,500 upfront then $500 a month after that).
IF a client keeps paying you for a year $500 a month ends up being $6,000 over a year.
If you go down this route
remember to educate your clients…
Some clients will be a pain in the arse thinking they own you for that fee unless you invest a lot of effort in educating them on what they can expect from you, what you expect from them and what the limits of your service are.
Generally speaking the idea of “residual income” where you have money coming in is a bit of a fallacy.
Businesses require ongoing work.
But if you’re smart about how you deliver your services (you can outsource) and how you allow your clients to interact with you or your staff you can get very close to an income that will keep coming in without a whole pile of effort on your part.
10 or 20 clients at $500 a month amounts to an income of $5,000 to $10,000 a month which is not too shabby.