Your plans come together with the precision of a Swiss watch.

Step 1: Win over a business with your charm and wit, convincing them to lock in your services for a big fat contract.

Step 2: Outsource all of the work to someone who will do all of the work, on the cheap.

Step 3: Profit.

After all, it makes perfect sense to focus on high-margins. And what higher margin than work delivered on a silver platter by an inexpensive contractor.

And yet the business is never making any money. Clients are churning at remarkable rates, and any sales growth just feeds the status quo.

What the heck is happening?

You are selling the wrong product

It’s easy for service providers to think that their expertise is the product. PPC, SEO, Analytics, Content, Editing, Strategy. You think that this is what people are buying. You think that the work you deliver is the product.

That’s not true at all. Your product is not the expertise you deliver. That is simply table stakes.

Service is your product, not the expertise.

Happy clients aren’t looking over their shoulders for something better. They are confident that they have already made the right choice.

So when you sell the dream, then outsource the service? That confidence quickly erodes.

It’s not what you do for clients, but how they feel about working with you.

Never forget that.