Tired of being pushed around by clients?

There are 5 main methods you can help fulfil your client's needs besides selling your services to them.

I've been a design service provider for almost two decades now. And I wanted to solve this for myself, so I did the research.

Here are the 5 most common methods with examples:

Educate them

Teach them how to do it themselves.

• Writing - book, blog, newsletter, report, cheat sheets, email course

• Video - screencasts, workshops, subscriptions

• Audio - podcasts, audiobooks

• Live - workshops, bootcamps, webinars, conferences

• Consulting - individual, group, ongoing, one-off.

Equip them

Outfit them with tools, supplies, components

• Templates - code, visuals, snippets, resources, docs

• Software - feature, downloadable, apps, SaaS

• Components - plugins, workflows, macros, recipes.

Give them access

Connect them to people, places, tools they could not reach or afford.

• Membership - community, forum, list, space, equipment share

• Coaching - individual, group, ongoing, one-off.

Help them outsource

Automate, do it for them, connect to outsourcers.

• Service marketplace - jobs board, niche gig marketplace, a directory with vetted freelancers

• Productize service - fix scope, fix price deal

• Automate - automation workflow or recipe.

Eliminate their need

Change, bypass, or eliminate the need entirely.

• A business model change that bypasses their need

• A strategy change that makes their need irrelevant.

Moving away from the service mindset is not an easy thing. Especially if you've been rewarded most of your life doing the hands-on work. But now when you know there are other ways to help people, you will start spotting examples all over the place, and maybe do your own thing.