80% Of My Career Has Been In Productized Services Of the 11 Productized Services I've started up in the past 10 years, only 3 of them broke $100K. Collectively they've generated over $3,000,000 in revenue. This essay is everything I've learned so far, the entire process my venture studio uses to identify, design, and test productized offers. BEFORE WE DIVE IN, A FEW QUICK TIPS They should start as Single SKU offers *Simple to sell, fast to grow* They must be able to be turned into a Marketplace, Community, or SaaS *Anything else is not scalable* The Founder should have specific experience in the service, ideally as a buyer and a seller. *Understanding the mindset behind the choice to hire outside is key* ### **Types of Productized Services:** 1. **Staffing (Fractional/Full time, Solo/Departments):** Either part or whole. This is the most common subscription productized service. 2. **Outsourced Process (Input/Output):** Specific tasks or functions, often 100% hands off. Outbound email, content repurposing, and book keeping often fall into this category, 3. **Knowledge (Coaching/Consulting/Advising):** Productized offers in this space are becoming more popular. Generally they work on a specific system or methodology. ### **Pricing:** 1. **Usage-based:** Flexibility and on demand makes it a client favorite. 2. **Subscription:** The most popular choice for productized services, but not always the best one. 3. **Value-based:** Often the best margin, but the hardest to package, ### **Components 1. **Intellectual Property:** This is your specialized skill. Can be developing technology to do the service better/faster/cheaper. 2. **The Technology:** This is what you’ll use to help scale and deliver your service. ClickUp and Airtable are the most common here. 3. **The Service Element or “Mechanism”:** The people and packaging of the the actual service offer. ### Niching By Degrees You want to be as specific as possible - Laser targeted. If you’re a digital marketing agency, that’s a floodlight. That’s a very broad positioning. If you’re a digital marketing agency, let’s say you’re an entertainment focused digital marketing agency, now you’re getting a spotlight. You’re starting to focus in. If you’re an entertainment marketing agency who specializes in influencer partnerships and branded content. Then, you’ve got a laser. People know exactly what you do; they know exactly what to work with you for. Having the laser means you have a narrow market, too, and a narrow market means you can speak to them easier. The more narrow you start, the easier it is to build authority, and the faster you see results and the faster you'll grow. #### The 4th Degree 1. Marketing Agency (0 Degrees) 2. Digital Marketing Agency (1 Degrees) 3. Entertainment Digital Marketing Agency (2 Degrees) 4. Entertainment Digital Marketing Agency **_Specializing_** in Influencer and Branded Content (4 Degrees, as Influencer/Branded is a subset of paid/social) 3 Degrees is generally the minimum I look for. 4 Degrees is ideal for a new venture, with a map to 3 if it proves too shallow a pool. 1. Mastermind (0 Degree) 2. Operations Mastermind (1 Degree) 3. Remote Operations Mastermind (2 Degrees) 4. Remote Operations, Automation, and Outsourcing Mastermind (3 Degrees) 5. Remote Operations, Automation, and Outsourcing for ClickUp Users (4 Degrees) ### Product Planning Process 1. Start with a 3rd or 4th degree audience in mind to research their pains and needs 2. Match the audience to a specific distribution style 3. 3x3 grid of ideas based on types and pricing 4. Confirm you can identify all 3 pieces of the puzzle for each of the best ideas 5. Test with COLD outreach or a painted door test with ads 6. Sales = Success Do you have an idea for a productized service? Post it below... Productized Service Name: Niche: Pain Point Solved: Emotional Outcome Achieved: Pricing Model: 2 Sentence Service Description: