Productized Services 101: The One Person Business Killing Freelancers (Employees Are Next)
Why is it that the average graphic designer makes $40k per year, but Brett from Designjoy makes $120k every month with zero employees?
Why is that most video editors struggle to balance more than 1-2 clients, but Hunter from Hey Friends is on track to reach 8-figures in 12 months?
The answer is simple, but very concerning for anyone that sells their skills for a living.
They are using a new and improved services business model that is hoovering up work from freelancers, traditional agencies, and even employees.
I’m talking about Productized Services.
Graphic design. Copywriting. Marketing. Web development. Translations. Video editing. Podcast editing.
All of these skills are starting to be sold extremely successfully as Productized Services.
There are three parts to this article.
In the first part, you’ll learn what the hell a Productized Service is.Then, you’ll learn why the Productized Services Model is vaporizing every freelancer (and soon employee) in its path.Finally, you’ll learn how you can use this model yourself to provide services infinitely quicker (and earn more money than you thought was possible in the services industry).
Part 1: What is the Productized Services Model?
A ‘Productized Service’ is selling your skill as an off-the-shelf product.
You charge a fixed price. It’s accessible immediately.
The customer knows exactly what they are going to get, and at what price.
Pick it up off the shelf, buy it.
Let’s add some flavor with examples.
Productized design services
At Designjoy, you pay $4,995 every month. In return, you receive a senior graphic designer who will design anything and deliver requests in 2 days.
Simple as that.
Productized copywriting services
At Punchline, you can pay $697 for an audit of your website copy. Or, you can pay $2,497 for a new landing page.
Simple as that.
Productized video editing services
With Hey Friends, you pay $10,000 every month. In return, you get 6 YouTube videos edited and optimized.
Simple as that.
This business model is so simple, it’s painful that we didn’t think of it earlier.
It’s so simple that companies are starting to turn to productized service providers rather than freelancers and employees.
Part 2: Why the Productized Services Model is Killing Freelancers (and Soon Employees)
The market favors fast and efficient business models.
You don’t go to a store to rent one video at a time anymore… you get a Netflix subscription (RIP Blockbusters).
This is the way it is going in the services industry.
The Productized Services model has 5 key features that freelancers, traditional agencies and employees simply can’t compete with.
1. Cancel and pause anytime
Problem? Specific types of work in a business ebbs and flows. If you’ve ever had a job, you’ll have seen this first hand… Sometimes you’ll have very little to do with next to no deadlines. Sometimes you’re getting slammed nonstop.
With employees, you can’t just fire them when there’s no work and then rehire them when you’re busy again.
The solution? With Designjoy (and many other productized subscription services), if you don’t have the work, you can pause your monthly subscription and resume when it’s busy again.
This is a huge benefit for small to medium sized companies that need flexibility.
The #1 reason a design subscription service is so attractive to clients:
You can pause your subscription.
It’s the most common thing I’m asked about.
Here’s why that’s such a big deal:
— Brett @ Designjoy (@BrettFromDJ) July 7, 2023
2. Cheaper than hiring an employee
Problem? Hiring employees can be expensive in the extreme.
Not only is it expensive to recruit a suitable employee, but you need to provide a salary, benefits, office space, equipment and a comprehensive onboarding process.
The solution? Productized Services are streamlined and optimized to provide a specific type of service at a reasonable price. It is, in almost all instances, cheaper than hiring an employee or traditional agency.
3. Predictable pricing
Problem? Most freelancers charge per hour, or on a project by project basis. This makes it impossible for a business to know what the costs will be for that function each month.
The solution? The Productized Subscription Services model is the same price every single month. There are never any rude surprises waiting for you in the invoice at the end of the month.
4. Immediate time to value
Let’s say you need to hire a graphic designer to design your logo.
To hire an employee, you’ll need to review applications, conduct interviews and onboard them. It can take weeks, if not months.
To hire a freelancer, you’ll need to find them, book a call to discuss the brief, negotiate price, and begin the project. This can also take weeks.
Problem? The time delay between needing a service and receiving the value from a service provider is too damn long.
The solution? With Productized Services, you know exactly what you are going to get, and how long it’s going to take to get it. The whole business model is optimized to provide a specific outcome quickly.
For example, with Designjoy, you’re immediately added to the request board. Then, after adding a request, you’ll get it delivered 48 hours later.
A client signed up for Designjoy yesterday.
Today, I delivered them a complete rebrand. They approved.
In case you’re wondering why design subscription services have become so popular.
— Brett @ Designjoy (@BrettFromDJ) September 8, 2023
5. Speedy service delivery
I’ve saved the best till last.
Never underestimate the sheer power of delivering services as quickly as possible.
For many high-growth businesses, faster = better.
The Productized Services model is highly optimized to deliver a specific service rapidly.
In Part 3 of this article, I’ll show you exactly how to do it.
Part 3: How to Provide Services Infinitely Quicker With the Productized Services Model
The productized model enables you to work quicker and more efficiently.
By delivering services quickly, you’ll have the time and capacity to bring on more and more clients.
Not only is this advantageous for you clients (as we saw in Part 2). If you have a skill, it’s a huge opportunity for you to make more money than you thought was possible in the services industry.
Most of you will spend your entire adult life making ~$75k/yr working 40 hours a week for one employer.
The smart ones will productize themselves and make that same amount every single month working for multiple companies.
— Brett @ Designjoy (@BrettFromDJ) August 28, 2023
Here are 4 steps to get more clients than you can imagine:
1. Productize a specific service
Turn your services into one, specific service with clearly defined parameters. This could either be:
A clear deliverable: You pay $X, you receive Y. For designers, it could be $300 for a designed logo. For copywriters, it could be $1,000 for a landing page. For content writers, it could be $200 for a blog.
A monthly subscription: You pay $X per month, you receive my services throughout the month. Make it clear how long (on average) it takes for each type of deliverable to be delivered.
The key here is to play to your strengths. Make sure the service that you productize is quick to fulfill.
Brett from Designjoy can whip up a landing page in less than an hour… that’s why he can serve so many clients at once.
By choosing one specific service to productize, it will be easier to create templates, formulas, and processes to deliver that one service rapidly.
2. Eliminate meetings
This may be one of the biggest differentiators between hiring Designjoy and other graphic designers.
It’s also one of the biggest reasons Brett is able to make $100k+ per month servicing 10-20 clients.
No. More. Meetings.
The craziest thing I ever did with my design agency was institute a zero-tolerance meeting policy.
Never, under any circumstances, will I jump into a meeting with a client.
Turned out to be one of the single best decisions I ever made.
— Brett @ Designjoy (@BrettFromDJ) September 4, 2023
To freelancers and traditional agencies, hearing this will be painfully confusing.
Traditional agencies can spend around 30-40% of their time in meetings.
Instead, you’re going to use all your time getting to work. Everything will be dealt with in your client management tool.
3. Create a client management tool
When a client signs up to Designjoy, they are sent a link to a Trello board.
The Trello board is split into several columns that will represent the workflow:
Backlog: A list of all the requests that need to be completed.Current Request: The client drags the request they want to be completed next in the ‘Current Request’ column.Awaiting Review: When the task is completed, Brett drags the request into the ‘Awaiting Review’ column so the client can review. All questions, comments and queries are dealt with in the comment section of each request. Approved: If the client is happy, they drag it into the ‘Approved column.’
This, my friends, is Brett’s $4 million system.
Please note: Brett uses Loom videos to help explain things quickly. He sends these to his clients, who often send Loom videos back.
4. Provide “assumption based services”
I can already hear freelancers and employees screaming through the screen…
“NO MEETINGS?!?! What if there are gaps in the brief or I’m not sure exactly what the client wants?!?!”
Rather than wasting time, Brett makes assumptions and does his best with the information provided.
In his experience, it’s quicker to make a first draft and then iterate. People often don’t know what they want until it’s staring them in the face.
So, if it’s not clear what your client wants, make the assumption on their behalf.
After all, you are the expert.
I don’t have a skill to sell
Many solopreneurs (like Brett) are using this method to make tens of thousands of dollars.
To pull this off as a solopreneur, you need to be very good at what you do.
If you don’t have the skills, you have two options:
Learn a skill: Put in the hours to get insanely good at one in-demand skill. Create a Productized Service Agency: With the agency model, you’ll be able to outsource the work to people who do have the skills. This is infinitely more scalable, as you can always hire more people as you get more clients.
At WGMI, we use the Productized Agency model to scale our development agency, WGMI Labs.
If you want to start your own Productized Services Agency, we have prepared some free training for you. It will provide everything you need to get started and take advantage of this new opportunity.
To access the free training, please register your interest using this application form.
Want to learn more about how you can start and grow your online business?
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To learn more about Brett and Designjoy, make sure you watch the full WGMI podcast.
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A new and improved services business model is hoovering up work from freelancers, traditional agencies, and even employees.
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