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Are you looking forward to raising a healthy and profitable drop servicing business? You’ve just landed on the right page!
These are the exact steps you need to stick to in order to succeed in drop servicing:
| 1. Picket the right niche |
| 2. Pick the right platform |
| 3. Set an upselling strategy |
| 4. Focus on recurring payments |
| 5. Offer related-types of services |
| 6. Prepare a strong portfolio |
| 7. Be a step ahead of your competitors |
| 8. Pick a set of freelancers |
| 9. Sell services you’re knowledgeable about |
| 10. Know your budget |
| 11. Provide social proofs |
| 12. Get traffic & choose your advertising platform |
| 13. Develop trust and follow up with clients |
What is drop servicing
Drop servicing is the trendiest business model for making money online, and it’s the act of selling digital services.
It has the same concept as the dropshipping business model, but is much more flexible because there’s no fulfillment or shipping involved in the process!
According to Statista, eCommerce worldwide sales are projected to hit $6.5 by 2023!
The world is changing and everything is just becoming transactional. Now while the traditional retail industry is dying, people are flocking toward online business!
Thousands of websites are being created on a daily basis. Therefore, there’s a huge demand on online services.
There’s definitely someone behind any logo, content, or a well-looking website you see on the internet. So, people will stay in need of digital services.
That’s exactly what makes the drop servicing a lucrative business opportunity and you can ride the trend in its very early stages!
Is drop servicing legal
Well, the short answer is YES! Drop servicing is a brand new business model, but there’s nothing that makes it unlawful or illegal.
In fact, you’ll be amazed how glad would a freelancer be if you resell their services…
Drop servicing is like any other business model, you just need to know your responsibilities and always meet the clients’ expectations.
Drop servicing vs dropshipping
Chances are, you’ve tried dropshipping before and failed, or are not sure what to dropship. If that’s the case, maybe you should consider an alternative.
Seeking a dropshipping alternative is a smart move, and here’s where the drop servicing business model comes into play!
Drop servicing is like a new baby-born business, and it’s going to be a big thing in the next few months!
The way that drop servicing works is much similar to dropshipping, but instead of selling physical products, you would be selling digital services.
I’ve recently talked about the advantages of the drop servicing over dropshipping. If you’d like to learn more check out this article.
Best drop servicing tips
Enough talking! Below are the exact steps and tips that you need to follow in order to hopefully someday become a full-time drop servicing expert!
1. Pick the right niche
Like blogging, dropshipping, or any other business, it’s also always advisable to pick the right niche that matches your skills, knowledge, interest, and passion!
It only takes small research for finding a great, promising, and profitable niche for your drop servicing business.
In fact, you’ll be reselling digital services, and to be profitable, there should be a demand for that service you sell.
Luckily, the whole world is under your fingerprints! With a lift of a finger, you can pul out some awesome data about what’s trending and what is not!
Certainly, you need to get involved in a niche that has demand and potential, because selling is about solving a particular problem for a group of people.
This is a live example from Google Trends of a trending niche which is “digital marketing”.
Google Trends is a great tool that can give some awesome information about different search terms.
And the cool thing is that this tool is offered by Google for free!
Assessing the market and competition is definitely a must if you’re truly looking forward to getting the maximum out of your business online!
That said, there are some paid tools like Ahrefs and other free tools like Ubersuggest that show you the competition and keyword difficulty for a particular keyword.
It’s great to take advantage of all that the internet is offering today so you can succeed in your online game!
2. Pick the right platform
Nowadays, there is an endless amount of platforms, tools, and resources that aim to help entrepreneurs to succeed in whatever they do online!
Well, to start a drop servicing business, you basically need a brand name (domain) and a website where you can showcase your services.
However, when it comes to drop servicing business, your website should be:
- Functional
- Affordable
- Must have cool features
- Inviting and good-looking
- Receives payments online
With that being said, creating a website has never been easier nowadays, and these are the available options for you:
Option #1: Have an eCommerce host solution – Shopify
Shopify is a leading eCommerce platform that’s home to over 1m business owners around the world!
Shopify is already designed and meant for selling online. For a monthly subscription fee, they will act as your eCommerce host solution, allowing you to start your own online store with ease.
Shopify’s innovative drag-and-drop builder makes it easy for entrepreneurs to create and have the store they are happy to own and promote with just a few steps.
The cool thing about Shopify is that they are supportive of dropshipping and encourage drop shippers.
In case you’re not aware of Shopify’s legitimacy and trustworthiness, according to Yahoo Finance, a $1,000 investment in the 2015 Shopify IPO would be worth over $46,000 today!
These two businesses have the same approach, but instead of selling physical products, you would be selling services. Would you like to learn how to start a drop servicing business from scratch using Shopify? I highly recommend you check out my other article that discusses exactly that.
If you’re aware of the power of Shopify and would like to start your business on this powerful platform, they offer a 14-day free trial to familiarize yourself with the platform (Grab my free trial on Shopify)
Why Shopify: You don’t need to have any technical or coding skills to create your dream store. Most importantly, it’s an affordable platform that was originally designed for eCommerce and selling online!
Option # 2: Have a self-hosted website – Hostgator
Shopify is the best website builder of all time! However, chances are, you’re seeking a cheaper alternative that gives you more control over coding, designing, and whatsoever!
And here come’s the second option which is having a self-hosted website via Hostgator – WordPress.
Hosting is the spammiest affiliate link on the internet, cause so many internet marketers are making most of their money with affiliate links to hosting.
Hostgator is a great company that has been around for a while, and it’s the cheapest among the most reliable hosting providers on the internet!
Starting a self-hosted blog would require you to have a coding background, unless you, for sure, end up using a professional and functional theme.
Wondering where can you find the best theme for your business? We’ve got your back! Below are the best theme & online asset marketplaces:
> My Theme Shop (Open in a new tab)
> Creative Market (Open in a new tab)
> Theme Forest – Envato Market (Open in a new tab)
Most themes provide an easy and innovative drag-and-drop page builder, the thing that would make your life as an entrepreneur way easier!
Want to learn how you can start your WordPress self-hosted website with Hostgator in a matter of minutes? You definitely need to check out my other step-by-step tutorial (Open in a new tab)
Alternatively, you can visit my co-branded page, choose a hosting plan, and checkout, and your 60% special discount will automatically be applied!
Why Hostgator: HostGator is among the best hosting providers on the internet. It will allow you to start your online WordPress store from as low as $2.75/month.
Option #3: Use Clickfunnels – The all-in-one marketing toolkit
The third option is to leverage landing page software, which is Clickfunnels in our case!
There are a bunch of Clickfunnels alternatives, but no tool is similar or even close to Clickfunnels! Clickfunnels and its owner teach people the art of sales funnels!
In addition to that, Clickfunnels has pre-built landing pages and funnels for all products/services in almost any niche!
Now, what is a sales funnel? And what’s the difference between it and a website? I hear you!
A sales funnel is simply the customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service.
When it comes to e-commerce, a sales funnel is a steps series designed for guiding a website visitor to the checkout page.
Well, what are the advantages of leveraging a sales funnel?
– Guide your visitors step-by-step through the entire sales process (so they don’t get confused or lost, and leave).
– Point your customer straight to the ONE product or service they need most to help solve their problem.
– Follow up with your visitors, even after they leave your page!
– While a website acts as a wall that gives you no control over your visitors, there’s simply more vitality in a sales funnel!
Russell Brunson provides a ton of value and he’s willing to teach you and share his experience with you to help you succeed in your business!
Why should you listen to an expert like Russell?
In just 3 short years, he was able to grow his company “Clickfunnels” by over 4,232%, and hit number 76 on the INC 500 list! On top of that, according to Forbes, they were also:
#7 Fastest-Growing Software Company
#10 Highest Gross Revenues In The Top 100
#1 Fastest-Growing Software Company With Gross Revenue Over $50MM
Luckily, Russell shares his own strategies and tips and teaches the 28 virtually unknown secrets for growing any business using sales funnels! He puts together all his knowledge, tips, and tactics in one powerful 254-page book called “Dotcom Secrets“.
Want to learn more about the Dotcom Secrets PDF? Check out my other article!
And finally, if you believe that Clickfunnels is the best option for you, don’t forget to grab your 14-day free trial and start building highly converting landing pages and funnels!
Why Clickfunnels: Clickfunnels is an ALL-IN-ONE marketing toolkit that helps you create converting landing pages for your business! It provides pre-built funnels in almost any niche!
Bottom line: You’d need to pick the right option depending on your budget, willingness to spend, and capabilities! These are the best resources and tools to start a drop servicing or any other business online. They all provide a free trial. Get advantage of this, sign up to all of them test the water and see which option fits you best!
3. Set an upselling strategy
Upselling is the process of encouraging customers to buy a higher-priced product/service or upgrade an add-on to their current consideration and purchase.
Expert marketers and business owners like Russell Brunson (the owner of Clickfunnels) tend to successfully leverage this marketing strategy and reap its rewards!
In fact, this technique can increase your AOV (average order value) which means your revenue from each order will be higher.
For all that the internet is offering today, the art of upselling is not a secret anymore! Russell, for example, has the skills and capabilities to teach you how to increase your average order value and leverage this tactic in your business!
He’s recently published a network marketing book called “Dotcom Secrets” that teaches 28 virtually unknown secrets for growing ANY type of business, and it’s for FREE!
In the Dotcom Secrets Book, Russell shares the exact proven strategies that he’s personally used to grow his company, Clickfunnels, to be the #1 fastest-growing software company!
In case you’re wondering what Clickfunnel is, Clickfunnels is an all-in-one marketing toolkit for building awesome and converting landing pages and funnels.
4. Focus on recurring payments
What makes the drop servicing business model flexible is that you can handle multiple clients at the same time because you’re not the one who’s making or delivering the service!
You truly can drop service anything you’d like to, but, you’ve got to be strategic in your approach of selling.
You want to get the maximum out of your business and clients, right? RECURRING payments are the way to go then!
What is a recurring payment?
If you’re into affiliate marketing, chances are you’ve heard about the recurring commission’s term.
A recurring payment is a transaction that is charged on a periodic basis. It’s usually made on the same date of each month. A great example of recurring payment is online software!
But, what does this actually mean, and why should you care for recurring payments?
Well, you basically pay for ads to acquire a new customer or client. So, when you get a repeat client for months or even years to go, you only pay once to acquire them.
All payments after then are pure profit…
And this is the reason behind companies’ willingness to pay generous commissions to their affiliates because the cost of acquisition is relatively low if compared to paid ads!
Even from an affiliate marketer perspective, promoting affiliate programs that have recurring commissions is always a smart move and will give better ROI (return on investment)
Related: Affiliate marketing has made businesses millions and ordinary people millionaires – Robert Bennet. Learn more about the affiliate marketing business model (Open in a new tab)
5. Offer related types of services
Depending on the niche that you are into, there would definitely be other related services that you can also offer to your customers.
While selling one service only on your site will limit your opportunities, revenue, and audience, you should aim for making your site a one-stop page for that particular niche!
Therefore, it’s recommended to offer bundled and related services. Here are some examples:
– A person who’s interested in a logo design would probably be interested in a slogan too.
– Anyone who’s interested in Facebook ads would probably be interested in other social media management campaigns and a helping hand with ad copies!
– Video production, voiceovers, and animations are related types of services too!
I guess you’ve got the point!
By doing so, your average order value will obviously increase. The thing that will lead to a more profitable business!
Just don’t give a single reason to your potential customer to go outside and seek an alternative for your website.
Try to fulfill their needs all in one place under one roof by offering everything they might need related to that base service.
6. Prepare a strong portfolio
If you’re planning to start a drop servicing business, you should be prepared to have a sweet portfolio where you can showcase your services and provide samples of your work!
If you’re selling book cover designs, for example, you can’t just just list your service and expect to get a ton of orders!
People would come across your website searching for a unique idea or design. That said, the bigger your portfolio is, the more opportunities for acquiring customers.
Also, a portfolio will make you seem like an expert in whatever you sell, and this is what you should be going after so you can get orders and be profitable!
7. Be a step ahead of your competitors
Chances are, there are thousands if not tens of thousands of people who sell the same service that you sell online!
Therefore, it’s smart to know exactly who your competitors are so you can stay a step ahead and win your dream customers!
Tools like Ahrefs can help you assess the competition with ease.
It will allow you to see what your competitors are doing, along with the competition of that particular keyword, so you can see whether competing on such keywords is something doable or not!
Cannot afford Ahrefs? No need to worry! Neil Patel has a great FREE tool that has the same purpose! It’s called Ubersuggest.
8. Pick a set of freelancers
Meeting customers’ expectations is key when it comes to any business, not just drop servicing.
This is a phase that you need to pay attention well to because these are the actual people who will be doing the services on your brand’s behalf!
However, besides picking the best of the best, relying on one freelancer only is a mistake that you cannot afford to take.
I would recommend you pick several freelancers to increase your order capacity and deliver services fast.
Each freelancer has his/her own skills, expertise, and capabilities. So, having a group of people will just increase your coverage, skills, and knowledge.
Pro Tip: You should be aiming to find the best freelancers with the best quality outcomes. That said, you should be prepared to run some test orders to get familiar with the process and the quality of their work!
9. Sell services you’re knowledgeable about
Drop servicing is a business model where you sell digital services, but, you are not the one who will do the service. You can outsource it and let a freelancer do it for your client!
However, you should have basic knowledge about what you’re selling so you can at least be able to answer any question related to that service and convince the client to purchase from you.
I’m not saying that you need to be an expert in that service, but you need to understand how it works. Basic info!
Also, being knowledgeable about the services that you sell gives you the confidence you need to look professional in your client’s eyes!
Remember, your customers don’t know that you’re outsourcing services at all! If they do, why would they buy from you? They can buy directly from the original service provider, right?
Therefore, you should seem like an expert in what you sell, and knowledge can easily give you this advantage!
10. Know your budget
Making money online is not a myth like some people still think! However, you should be strategic in your approaches.
A common mistake among fresh entrepreneurs is that they go after what’s so-called a “hit & run” instead of aiming to build a long-term business with sustainable growth!
It’s true that an online drop servicing business doesn’t require as much as the brick-and-mortar store, but you have to actually spend on:
- Creating the storefront
- Logo design & branding
- Some test orders
- Promotion & marketing
It’s basically a sweet little investment for building a business you’re proud to own and promote!
So, unless you have an appropriate budget and know exactly what you’re going to spend, just take your time and leisurely figure things out!
11. Provide social proofs
In the words of Wikipedia:
Social proof, a term coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book, Influence, is also known as informational social influence. It describes a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in an attempt to undertake behavior in a given situation
—Wikipedia
Providing social proof is not just crucial for building powerful marketing campaigns, but also for the brand’s trustworthiness!
Social proof will make your business look legit and trustworthy and will incentivize people’s brains to take action…
People are usually more comfortable trying or buying a particular service if they already see other individuals are satisfactorily using it.
It will give them enough security to take action and they will say to themselves: Well, those people are already using it and they are satisfied. There’s no reason that I wouldn’t too…
Social proof has different types and forms, but you will just do fine by including some testimonials, and reviews, and making your site just look legit and trustworthy!
12. Get traffic & choose your advertising platform
Now, you’ve successfully created your website, and know exactly who your ideal audience is. However, without people visiting your site you won’t be able to make a dime!
Traffic is where most people get stuck at! However, I believe that it’s not as hard as people think.
To get your website noticeable, you need to get traffic to it, and there are free and paid methods. Keep in mind is that not all channels fit all niches and categories.
Some examples of free advertising methods:
- Reply on Quora questions
- Forums & online communities
- Blogging
- Connections & friends
- Freelance marketplaces
- Facebook groups
It’s fair to say that free promotion is not as scalable as paid advertising. With paid ads, sky is the limit! You can literally scale to the moon!
Below are some examples of paid advertising:
- Social media paid ads
- Google Ads
- Display ads
- Push notification, pop-under/up
- Email marketing
- Video marketing
- Content marketing
- Media buying
And more!
Blogging is a lucrative opportunity for online marketing and it’s good for the long-term. It tends to be the least risky among other advertising tactics.
Though it won’t generate you instant cash like paid advertising, once the algorithm kicks off, you’ll receive a truckload of organic traffic from Google!
Anything that you put online is bound to stay there for not a single lifetime but generations to come.
So, if you’re looking for a set-and-leave solution for promoting your services and are happy with pushing some unique content to the web, I definitely recommend starting your own blog!
It’s safe to say that blogging is still relevant today! Starting a blog is 100% risk-free because most hosting providers nowadays provide a money-back guarantee.
HostGator, for example, the company that I’ve been with for years, offers a 45-day money-back guarantee.
This means that if you find that this is not for you in the first 45 days, you can request your money back, with no questions asked!
Related: Want to learn how to start a money-making blog that generates $3717/month? This illustrated guide could be a great help!
Finally, the world is changing and people are not shopping the way they used to!
They would rather prefer shopping in their pajamas from the comfort of their homes than going to a mall for hours because the fact is that retail’s dying!
According to Statista, the first quarter of 2020, Facebook’s number of monthly active users has hit 2.7B users!
And it has reached 3B active users in the COVID-19 Pandemic!
Facebook is a great advertising resource, but if you don’t know what you’re doing it will get so expensive for you and you will end up losing your shirt!
In a world full of competition, it’s great to take advantage and implement what others don’t do or even know so you can dominate your niche and market.
Being said, Facebook advertising is a skill that you can learn or outsource from freelance marketplaces like Fiverr.
13. Develop trust and follow up with clients
No matter what your marketing strategy is, if you don’t have a marketing campaign in place you’re just leaving a bunch of money on the table, trust me!
Studies show that the average expected ROI is $42 for every $1 you spend on email marketing. Could this just get any better?
This smartphone era that we live in has made our phones a permanent fixture in our hands or pockets.
By using the power of email, you’ll stay under your customer’s eyes and will always be the one and only reference that comes to their minds when you think of your niche!
Additionally, the email will give you the advantage of building a healthy relationship with the visitor and it’s an effective way to keep customers informed about you and your services!
It’s well known among successful and professional marketers that it takes between 7 to 9 actions or clicks to have a conversion.
So, they won’t respond to your first couple of emails, but when you see that you’re constant with your emails and that you are already spending money to send them emails, they will have more trust for you and your business!
Why? Simple, because no one is willing to lose money on what doesn’t work! If you’re not making money you wouldn’t send emails at all.
The fact is that most conversions and transactions occur through email.
I, for example, have created afree course to teach people how to start their own dropshipping store.
I’ve integrated an email flow sequence to that page. Anyone who opts in will receive emails for 11 days.
The autoresponder that I recommend and use is GetResponse. It’s very cheap compared to what it offers and provides.
Definitely, if you cannot afford Clickfunnels (The ultimate marketing toolkit), GetResponse would be a great Clickfunnels alternative.
Get your 30-day free trial when you sign up for GetReponse and start building awesome autoresponders, landing pages, forms, and more! (Open in a new tab)
Is there a drop servicing course
Drop servicing is a brand new business, and you can barely find enough information about it.
There are some cheap courses on Udemy, and I have written an article that features my top 5 pickings of drop servicing courses. You can read it here!
But if you’re serious enough about your online journey and success, you’d definitely need a professional and comprehensive blueprint.
Luckily, eComDimes is the only blueprint you’ll need to start a viable and profitable online business.
It consists of 8 different courses that break down the entire business model into sweet little chunks that are easy to understand and implement!
However, if you’re just starting out, cannot afford a paid blueprint or not ready to commit to a paid course for any reason yet, you would definitely need a drop servicing free course.
To help you get started, I’ve created for you a 12-page PDF that assembles the 10-point checklist of starting a drop servicing business from scratch.
Conclusion
If you’re not sure what to drop ship, you may need to consider starting a drop servicing business where you sell digital services instead of physical products!
Tons of sites are being created on a daily basis. Therefore, there’s a huge demand for online services.
People will stay in need of digital services. Any logo, content, or well-looking website you see on the web, there’s definitely someone behind it!
That’s exactly what makes the drop servicing a lucrative business opportunity and you can ride the trend in its very early stages!
This article has projected 11 drop servicing tips to help you succeed in this business journey and hopefully build a drop servicing side hustle someday!
Are you considering starting a drop servicing business? What’s the best tip that you’ve liked from the list above?
For the eComDimes readers, we’ve grabbed you a $300 OFF voucher for America’s most comfortable mattress. Sleep better and do more! 😊
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Cheers,
Odeh Ahwal
