TMBA 282: Starting With Productized Services: Learn a Skill, Package It For Sale, Then Scale

74 comments

By: Dan and Ian

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Podcast 39:54 | Download | Stitcher | iTunes | Comment

A few weeks ago we did a show called “An Episode For Those Who Need a Business Idea”. We got so much great feedback from that episode, and looking back at it, we realized it has become part of a series that we have developed about productized services. This episode is the natural progression of that series. The first person that I thought of when I wanted to continue that discussion was Tristan King from ShopifyNinjas.com. Tristan has a lot of thoughts on how you can build productized marketing services and scale them. He will also be sharing his view and advice for getting started from somebody in their third year of a productized services business, and a few of his business ideas that he believes could be winners for the TropicalMBA listeners looking to start a business.

Listen to this week’s show and learn:

The biggest struggle Tristan faced on his way to building a sustainable business.
How long it took for Tristan to build his business to the point that he became location independent.
What it means to have “Relative Expertise” and why you don’t need to be the best at what you do in the beginning.
Where people who start productized services businesses sometimes get hung up and how to push through that.
What actions Tristan is taking to ensure a healthy pipeline of customers.
The benefits and drawbacks of working exclusively in the Shopify ecosystem.

People on this episode:

Dan
Tristan

Mentioned in the episode:

A Series on Productized Marketing Services

A lot of people ask us “how can I get started with the location independent lifestyle?” If you don’t have highly marketable skills or lots of business experience (like me when I started), this is the series of podcasts I’d recommend to you:

Listening options:

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Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Thursday morning 8AM EST.

Cheers,

Dan & Ian

Published on 02.19.15

Brittany Keller

Along the lines of what was mentioned in this episode and the one a few weeks ago, I launched a new service at http://PostPolished.com Its a blog editing, proofreading, and formatting service. Would love to know what y’all think of it.
Dan Andrews

congrats on the launch Brittany let us know how it goes
Karen Amundson

How can I find a lifestyle entrepreneurship-minded advisor or mentor to join my team as I go through the process of productizing my marketing services consultancy?
Gen Y Finance Guy

Really enjoyed this episode.
Dan Andrews

thanks! :)
Dan Andrews

great question Karen and one that’s so very difficult to answer… my best ‘short’ answer is to start going to events where more advanced people are there and meet them in person
Greg Nowicki

What an awesome episode, particularly because I did exactly what you guys said, and it seems to be sticking. Decided to take on email marketing, found a client (that same week!) and now launching a productized service – http://www.mailsherpa.com (I know, I know – shameless plug). If anyone hates writing newsletters, drop me a line!
Dan Andrews

heck yeah well done Greg congrats!
Tristan King

Yesss! Great work, love the hustle :)
Tristan King

Glad you liked it :)
Tristan King

Or join the DC (shameless plug for Dan’s group) ;-)
Tristan King

Hi Cesar, I write about a lot of ways to increase Shopify sales on our blog. 3 things you could do would be:
– If you join our mailing list, there’s a totally free 6-step course to increasing sales – http://www.shopifyninjas.com
– SEO Guide for Shopify: http://www.shopifyninjas.com/shopify-seo-three-ways-to-attack-it-on-your-shopify-store-in-less-than-10-minutes/
– Lots more on our blog: http://www.shopifyninjas.com/shopify-insider/

Shopify’s blog itself also has a lot of great articles on increasing sales.

Hope that helps!
Tristan King

Thanks Brian, glad you liked it. Sometimes it ain’t pretty, but it can still work! :)
Tristan King

Nice one Deric!
Tristan King

Hey Chris,
Glad to hear you’re making some good progress, thanks for listening! I do know an awesome accountant (I hired him!), please ping me and I can put you in touch. tristan [at] shopify ninjas dot com.
Greg Nowicki

Thanks!
Greg Nowicki

Thanks Dan! Btw the link is mailsherpa.co :P
Karen Amundson

Shameless plug appreciated. My understanding is that the DC is only for people who already have made the transition from freelancing to being founders and who have achieved a certain level of monthly recurring revenue. I’m still in the transition point rebranding from having created a cool job for myself to having built a company.

Am i misinterpreting the requirements?
Dan Andrews

yep once you get at least some contractors involved and 5K/mo revenue that’s about the level I think it makes sense!
Michael Petersen

Hey Tristan – you’re right, that Aussie accent was a little harder than normal to place! Thanks for the episode lads. Dan – is there much on Productised (yep, Aussie ‘s’) in the sessions in Barcelona? All Breakouts seem generally relevant for sure but was interested if there was a specific one planned or maybe the mastermind..? See you in a few sleeps! MP
Dan Andrews

hey Michael Damian’s sales session would be immediately relevant since IMO the primary challenge of productized services is building authority and selling at a high profit margin.
Michael Petersen

Perfect. I’ll lock it in! Cheers. MP
Evan Thomas

Late to this party! Just discovered TMBA this year after several years of side projects, courses, podcasts and quite a few employed positions and some nasty unemployment. Background in broadcast TV and now a B2B marketing manager. Working with a clients on the side to make Sales Videos for B2B Prospecting / Pipelines. Doing most of the work myself but documenting all my processes to outsource and automate. Great podcast, guys! I’ve listened to (far too) many since my ‘awakening’ after a redundancy in 2012. Great production values really shining through. I have this series as a playlist on my daily commute. Cheers.
Dan Andrews

you aren’t late man we’re still cranking :) thanks for listening!

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