Friday, November 10, 2006

Clearance Sales

It's not every day that you see a clearance sale for a hands-on, service-oriented business. Imagine the ads: All house-cleaning must go! or This month only, we'll train your horse for half price! At first glance, it doesn't make much sense for business owners to do such a thing. After all, time is money. Clearing out stock to make room for more is one thing. Clearing out a service is... odd.

Well -- welcome to Oddville.

I'm in the middle of redesigning and reworking the services I offer to writers and others. One of the things I do is proofread and edit things like book manuscripts, articles, and websites. I've been spending a lot of time lately on my own projects. Right now, I've got 6 e-books in various stages of completion. I'm also working on 3 educational products for writers and experts who need to get their words out. I'm pretty busy, so I'm thinking of discontinuing some of the services I've offered in the past.

I don't want to let down any of my regular clients, however, or have them stop referring me.

So I decided to do a Website Proofing Clearance Sale. It will only be for existing clients and for referrals who come through them. But from now through the end of the year -- and while time slots last -- I'm cutting regular charges for a complete website proofing (up to 25 individual pages). I'm also throwing in a free Home Page edit of text and tone, and a Home Page Intended Audience Analysis. All told, clients will save between $500 and $600. And referring clients will get a little something extra for sending their friends and associates my way.

This may provide the butt-boost some people need to get their website text in order. And it will give me ample time to rethink whether or not to continue to provide the service next year.

I'll let you know how the Website Proofing Clearance Sale goes...