How to make money with an online service-based business

[Vladimir Poontang]

That said, if you're quoting a client and you're not thinking "they're going to think I'm out of my mind for charging this much", you're not charging enough. If 50% of your prospects huff and puff about your rates, you've probably hit the sweet spot.

What a beautiful paragraph.

 

[Vladimir Poontang]

Here's something that might be helpful to anyone who's thinking of doing consulting. I'm currently reading through it myself :

https://kopywritingkourse.com/consulting-as-a-side-job/

 

[CleanSlate]

Wanted to share a lesson learned:

Even if you have clients and customers now, don't stop prospecting.

I slacked off on the prospecting for the past few months because I was slammed with work. Now work has dried up somewhat, and now I'm back in prospecting mode. I can ride this out for quite some time, but had I spent just 30 minutes to one hour a day on prospecting, I might already be working with a few more new clients now.

 

[Vladimir Poontang]

Wanted to share a lesson learned:

Even if you have clients and customers now, don't stop prospecting.

I slacked off on the prospecting for the past few months because I was slammed with work. Now work has dried up somewhat, and now I'm back in prospecting mode. I can ride this out for quite some time, but had I spent just 30 minutes to one hour a day on prospecting, I might already be working with a few more new clients now.

How do you find clients with a consulting business? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm good at that is marketable, but when I do, I'll still be left with the question of how to drum up business. Is it any different to other types of marketing, or are there specific things that apply to this model?

 

[Suits]

Wanted to share a lesson learned:

Even if you have clients and customers now, don't stop prospecting.

I slacked off on the prospecting for the past few months because I was slammed with work. Now work has dried up somewhat, and now I'm back in prospecting mode. I can ride this out for quite some time, but had I spent just 30 minutes to one hour a day on prospecting, I might already be working with a few more new clients now.

How do you find clients with a consulting business? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm good at that is marketable, but when I do, I'll still be left with the question of how to drum up business. Is it any different to other types of marketing, or are there specific things that apply to this model?

It depends. If you're running a consulting business and you don't know you your target client looks like, then you shouldn't be running a consulting business.

Assuming that you know what your target client looks like, make a plan based on what your experience tells you is most likely going to get yourself some paying customers.

Various options include:

(1) Create a website with the purpose of creating an identity as an expert.
(2) Create a website so that potential clients can find you if they search for certain keywords online.
(3) Create a website to direct potential clients to as it will do a better job demonstrating that value you offer than you can do in person or over the phone.
(4) Create a website to direct potential clients to help with the job of demonstrating the value you offer.
(5) Create Youtube videos explaining the services you offer.
(6) Cold call potential clients.
(7) Organize and lead some webinars that will be interesting to your ideal target client.
(8) Offer local events that will attract potential clients.
(9) Get yourself invited onto podcasts, radio or TV shows to discuss topics that will help stabilize your identity as an expert in your field and/or bring your existence to the attention of potential clients.
(10) Puts ads in print or web media.
(11) Pay or otherwise convince bloggers to feature your work (or the products that accompany your consulting services.
(12) Create a referral program where existing clients can get a discount for referring new clients.
(13) Go door to door in an office tower to advertise your services.
(14) Advertise on your Facebook page.
(15) Guest write blog posts on relevant blogs.
(16) Put your company name, a very brief description of your work and your phone number on your vehicle.
(17) Create business cards and hand them out to everyone.
(18) Engage in guerrilla marketing campaigns.

 

[Vladimir Poontang]

I've been racking my brains in the last few days trying to come up with a good idea for a consulting business. I've come up with the following, let me know what you think :

Customers : Location independent entrepreneurs who want to find a city to :
* Live in full time, or
* Be based in, or
* Be a frequent visitor to

...but who don't have the time to do the research or are too overwhelmed by the thought of doing it, or maybe they're just not good at research.

My job : Do all the research necessary to make a shortlist of cities that meet or mostly meet their requirements

How :
* First I would give them a well thought out questionnaire in order to know what they want and don't want
* Then I'd use various tools and research to make the list
* I would create a pdf presentation with all the relevant info on each city

They would then of course be able to look further into it themselves and then check out some of the places

Good idea? It's the only one so far that sounds good to me.

 

[nomadbrah]

^ It already partly exists in Nomadlist.io

 

[Vladimir Poontang]

^ It already partly exists in Nomadlist.io

That's true, but nomadlist and other sites aren't that thorough in my opinion, plus I can personalize it as much as the customer wants. Also it's based on popular cities, which may not necessarily include all suitable options.

Do you think this is a good idea in principle? I mean do you think there's a need? I feel that there is, but I can't say for sure. What I do know is that there are enough youtube videos and blog posts out there about this city or that for digital nomads / location independent people, so surely there must be some interest.

 

[nomadbrah]

^ It already partly exists in Nomadlist.io

That's true, but nomadlist and other sites aren't that thorough in my opinion, plus I can personalize it as much as the customer wants. Also it's based on popular cities, which may not necessarily include all suitable options.

Do you think this is a good idea in principle? I mean do you think there's a need? I feel that there is, but I can't say for sure. What I do know is that there are enough youtube videos and blog posts out there about this city or that for digital nomads / location independent people, so surely there must be some interest.

I think there's a growing subniche of a redpill Nomadlist yes, because Nomadlist is horribly SJW. And lifestyle arbitrage is a real thing today.

I'm not sure if your consultant model is the right way to go about it though.

 

[Vladimir Poontang]

^ It already partly exists in Nomadlist.io

That's true, but nomadlist and other sites aren't that thorough in my opinion, plus I can personalize it as much as the customer wants. Also it's based on popular cities, which may not necessarily include all suitable options.

Do you think this is a good idea in principle? I mean do you think there's a need? I feel that there is, but I can't say for sure. What I do know is that there are enough youtube videos and blog posts out there about this city or that for digital nomads / location independent people, so surely there must be some interest.

I think there's a growing subniche of a redpill Nomadlist yes, because Nomadlist is horribly SJW. And lifestyle arbitrage is a real thing today.

I'm not sure if your consultant model is the right way to go about it though.

Actually I think a lot of consulting is unnecessary. A lot of things can be figured out by reading books, watching videos and thinking about it. I heard about some guy who's doing consulting for people who are addicted to porn. I'm sure he's doing well but hiring a consulting seems over the top. However people are spending money on it so they must be getting something out of it. Perhaps it's just having someone to talk to that gives them value. On the other hand I see no reason for anyone to pay a penny for a feng shui consultant. That's just ridiculously unnecessary.

But this idea, I do think there's quite a bit of value in it. Although people can figure it out themselves, it does take time, and some people either don't have the time or they're not good at researching and categorizing information (which I am very good at). What makes you think the consulting model won't work for this? I'm not saying that people couldn't do it without me but don't you think the service is worth something?

 

[Vladimir Poontang]

Quick question. Is there a way to set up a system where someone makes a paypal payment to you but someone else gets a commission?

 

[tonysoprano]

Nice post, lots of great info that I've heard from other service business owners as well.

I can attest to the power of doing things for free at first. I offered to do a free service for a family member, and they ended up paying me over $500 after the fact because I did such a great job on it. Plus, now I have a portfolio piece to use on my site.

 

[Gray Beard]

Did you get the merchant account (credit card) in U.S? I meant are you paying taxes to U.S govt? If there is a chance to set up account in some other countries to save $, would you do it?
(Im going to sell physical goods and thinking about opening credit card account in other country.

The other guys who responded to your question are correct. You still have to pay taxes no matter where you are in the world.

Personally I did not get a merchant account, nor do I plan to as I don't need one and then there's the fact that I still file my tax returns to the U.S. I pay self employment taxes, which goes to Social Security and Medicare, etc. As an U.S. citizen, there's no getting around that. Paying income taxes is another matter related to the foreign earned income exclusion and income levels, which is a whole another post.

I'm no expert and I do not know if it applies to LLCs, but I have done some reading regarding S-corporations and for a self-employed expat, apparently, they allow taking up to about 40% of the income as disbursement, and as little as 60% in salary. The difference between salary and disbursement is that you don't need to pay self-employment tax on disbursements. If you do that, your self-employment tax is 9% instead of 15%. When you reach retirement age, your Social Security benefits will be lower, but for most people that's still a good deal. (It's not such a good deal if you are a naturalized citizen with far less than 35 years of American employment income at retirement age, however, due to the way in which Social Security payments are calculated. But that's for another post and probably would not interest young RVF Forum members.) Your Medicare coverage remains the same.

 

[zoom]

I'm no expert and I do not know if it applies to LLCs, but I have done some reading regarding S-corporations and for a self-employed expat, apparently, they allow taking up to about 40% of the income as disbursement, and as little as 60% in salary. The difference between salary and disbursement is that you don't need to pay self-employment tax on disbursements. If you do that, your self-employment tax is 9% instead of 15%. When you reach retirement age, your Social Security benefits will be lower, but for most people that's still a good deal. (It's not such a good deal if you are a naturalized citizen with far less than 35 years of American employment income at retirement age, however, due to the way in which Social Security payments are calculated. But that's for another post and probably would not interest young RVF Forum members.) Your Medicare coverage remains the same.

This is true but you need to also think about the extra costs of creating and maintaining an LLC. You will need to file two tax returns instead of one, use a payroll service to pay yourself, and depending on your state you may need to pay an LLC minimum tax and an annual LLC filing fee.

It can also be a hassle to set everything up. I'd say it's only worth doing if you are making at least 75k a year.

 

[Gray Beard]

I'm no expert and I do not know if it applies to LLCs, but I have done some reading regarding S-corporations and for a self-employed expat, apparently, they allow taking up to about 40% of the income as disbursement, and as little as 60% in salary. The difference between salary and disbursement is that you don't need to pay self-employment tax on disbursements. If you do that, your self-employment tax is 9% instead of 15%. When you reach retirement age, your Social Security benefits will be lower, but for most people that's still a good deal. (It's not such a good deal if you are a naturalized citizen with far less than 35 years of American employment income at retirement age, however, due to the way in which Social Security payments are calculated. But that's for another post and probably would not interest young RVF Forum members.) Your Medicare coverage remains the same.

This is true but you need to also think about the extra costs of creating and maintaining an LLC. You will need to file two tax returns instead of one, use a payroll service to pay yourself, and depending on your state you may need to pay an LLC minimum tax and an annual LLC filing fee.

It can also be a hassle to set everything up. I'd say it's only worth doing if you are making at least 75k a year.

You are probably right, but two minor comments. First, as I said above, I didn't know if an LLC can make such disbursements. By your post, I see they can. Thanks for that clarification. Two, OP wrote that he established an LLC before leaving the States, and that is why I mentioned it in the first place.

As to is it worth doing, one reason you are actually right about not doing this with a small annual income is that Social Security is actually a very good investment for people with very low annual incomes and it becomes progressively wasteful for people with high annual incomes. Some people believe when they retire Social Security may not be there any more but they forget that old people, including people close to retirement, vote. And as long as that's the case, Social Security may be changed on the margin but it will remain in play. Your retirement age may creep up, but the number of expected years following retirement age will not drop; that is, you will be collecting Social Security for about a decade and a half, on average, COLA adjusted.