Should You Sell a Product or Service?
June 10th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comTons of marketing experts preach the Marketing Funnel or Product Pipeline. Their theory on online business is that you should offer an array of product choices, one for every market segment. Your high end consumer will go for the bells-and-whistles package, your budget-conscious consumer will choose the economy offering, and then your middle men will fill in the remaining rungs of the ladder. On top of that, they’ll encourage you to simultaneously market services along with the product you create.
I’m more of a marketing realist myself. As much as they might like to, most of my clients just don’t have the bandwidth to give their readers “everything and a bag of chips.” For those with limited resources, budgets, time and energy, it might be a more practical idea to focus on one, or the other - product, or service, for the time being.
So let me ask you: are you a product man, or a service gal?
Let’s say you’re an expert on alternative dentristy. You know all about drilling teeth using mini sandblasters and baking soda - a much more appealing option that The Drill, for many dental patients.
So, do you sell a product - such as a guide to no-drill dental techniques? Or do you sell a service, and market your sand-blast dental practice on the web? Maybe your “service” is a dental school where you instruct industry newcomers on your tried and true no-drill dentristy methods?
It’s my position that some people are great at selling products, where others are a better fit for offering service to their customers. So which is worth putting more of your time and energy into? Take an assessment of your personality to find out.
You are service-oriented if:
You enjoy getting to know other people, thinking and creating on their behalf.
Being in the limelight does not interest you (or, it interests you to a minimal degree).
You feel you shine best when shining THROUGH others.
Working on projects where other people have equal or greater creative license than you does not bother you in the least.
You have been well schooled in a skill or trade that you enjoy applying to enhance other people’s lives and help them achieve their goals.
It’s easy for you to think on behalf of others.
You are full of empathy.
At times, you enjoy talking about others more than you enjoy talking about yourself.
You’re always eager to learn something new.
You don’t always have to be front and center - sometimes being behind the scenes doing the “stage crew” work suits you just fine!
You are more interested in having a few personal and long-enduring customer relationships than you are having many customers who just brush the surface.
You are product-oriented if:
You would rather work on your own projects than someone else’s.
The thought of spending an extended period of time designing, developing, testing and revising a product - and then marketing, selling, modifying again, speaking about, rebranding, developing affiliate sales programs for, and again selling that same product - really appeals to you.
You’re extremely comfortable in the spotlight; being a product rep or “celeb” of sorts comes naturally to you.
You never tire of SELLING!
You are NOT likely to grow bored of or “immune to” your own product.
While they are interesting, other people’s projects don’t appeal to you nearly as much as your own.
Marketing your own projects comes easy; marketing for other people is a challenge.
You enjoy meeting and talking with other people; but you’d prefer not to be intimately involved with their work or projects.
Being high profile, in both your branding and your networking effort, is no sweat to you - you love being the center of attention!
You love to create solutions that others can use to solve their own issues or problems.
Wordfeeder.com is a service-oriented company. I use my copywriting skills and marketing know-how to help other people grow their businesses and reach their full profit potential.
While I have created copywriting instructional products in the past, my real joy is facilitating other people’s plans and projects through the use of my God-given talent.
Whether you’re interested in creating a business model based on service, products, or a combination of both… Wordfeeder can help you take your marketing to the next level!
Contact dina@wordfeeder.com to get started on your next marketing project today.
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