This module discusses ways for creative entrepreneurs to monetize their knowledge and skills by selling services online. It examines the differences between selling products versus services, and provides case studies of creative entrepreneurs successfully selling their services online. Some key platforms mentioned for selling creative services include Upwork, Freelancer, Creativepool, and Zealous. The module also discusses challenges of selling services like having limited time and meeting unique client needs, and provides tips for how to effectively sell services by being specific about what is offered, demonstrating flexibility, and using testimonials. Other ways discussed to monetize knowledge include freelancing, turning a blog into a business, vlogging, and starting an online course.

1. This programme has been funded with
support from the European Commission
MODULE 4
MONETISE YOUR
KNOWLEDGE &
SELL YOUR SKILLS

2. This module will look at way that Creative Entrepreneurs
can sell their knowledge and skills as services online.
It will examine the differences between selling products (the
focus of the Module 2) and selling services., It will provide
inspiration by way of case studies of creative entrepreneurs who
are selling their services online and it will sign post interested
creative entrepreneurs with a service to sell to some of the most
suitable places online where they can advertise and win work.

3. Learning Focus
• Differenences between selling Products and selling Knowledge/Skills
• Challenges selling your knowledge poses and how to overcome these
• Things to consider when selling services
• Where to sell your Creative Services Online

4. • Products offer a uniform solution to
customers’ needs
• If you sell products, you probably sell
identical versions to numerous
customers
• You may offer advanced or improved
versions of products, but even those
remain very similar to each other
• Once you have developed the product
you can then focus on selling it
Differenences between
selling Products & selling Services
Product Advantages
• You can be flexible and you can adjust
the features of a service to meet the
needs of each client or customer
• You can emphasize aspects of your
service that will solve your prospect’s
problems
Service Advantages

5. • You must store inventory when you
sell products you must constantly
estimate how much you need on hand
to meet demand you spend money on
products before you make any income
from them
Differenences between
selling Products & selling Services
Product Disadvantages
• You can find it difficult to describe
your service to prospects
• Depending on your service, people
may not even be able to visualize
what you do
• Customers may express more
reluctance when buying a service,
because unlike a product, they can’t
evaluate it before they use it.
Service Disadvantages

6. Emerging Business Models
for Creative Entrepreneurship
(and tips to win at them!!)

7. FREELANCING
A freelancer: self-employed and hired to work for different companies
on particular assignments. Most people familiar with the idea of "a
freelance journalist“ or graphic designer
You are the Product.
Being successful as a freelancer or creative entrepreneur requires a lot
of things: Hard work, support of people who believe in you, access to
finance (your part time job bank roles your creative work until freelance
work starts to pick up). You are the worker, you are the boss - but you
are also the product.

8. 3
FREELANCERS
SUCCESSFUL
HAVE IN
COMMON

9. Projecting Professionalism
• Your brand, website, business cards should look the part.
• A video profile or a showreel is a great way of introducing us to you
and your work
• An email address which is your name/ or your business name ideally
at your web address.
• Working freelance means that you may work out of hours on a
project
• While a lot of your work may be secured virtually, if you need to
meet clients be prepared, look the part, come prepared with
questions/research, be on time & make the meeting worth their
time, follow up with a meeting summary and agreed actions
1

10. When awarded a contract or a new freelance project- perhaps
(graphic/web design, a writing or photography contract you need to
• act trustworthy to communicate with the client to meet deadlines,
• be responsive to calls & emails. The client needs to trust that you
have their best interest in mind.
Successful freelancers will leave clients feeling like they got a very good
deal by being professional and reliable. If you do miss a deadline, or fall
short, then communicate, discuss & try to problem solve the issue with
your client. Give additional support work to the work of that particular
project to get it completed within schedule. This relationship building
can lead to the development of a positive working relationship with the
client and in many cases they will recommend your work to others if
they are happy with the results.
You need to be reliable2

11. Self-promotion is tough especially for anyone involved in creative
pursuits. You are not sales people and you may feel uncomfortable
touting your work. However, to make it as a freelancer, you may need to
move out of your comfort zone to inform people about who you are and
what your services are.
You need to be prepared to work hard at getting noticed to get work
and come up with new and creative ways to get noticed. Being
personable, kind, helpful, and informed help hugely in the self-
employment economy.
You need to be a hustler!3

12. MONETIZING!
KNOWLEDGE - SOME
CHALLENGES AND HOW
TO OVERCOME THEM!

13. When you sell a service, you are the product, you're selling your time
with the promise of a particular result as opposed to a tangible
product. How to overcome this: Great online branding and marketing
(see Module 1 and Module 4).
When you sell a service, you're typically selling a relationship with
yourself. And this requires spending more time and effort establishing
your credibility and developing a rapport with your visitors than is
typically required on a site selling a physical product.
For example, a site that sells a product like gift baskets might include
some brief "About Us” information that gives details about who the
website owners are, why they started their business and how long
they've been online.
Challenge #1: You are the product

14. However, the majority of the site would focus on establishing the value
of the actual product- -the gift baskets and providing detailed
information about guarantees, delivery procedures, etc. Including
reams of misplaced information about the website owners could
actually hurt sales more than help because, in this case, visitors' chief
focus should be directed to the
value of the product.
When you're selling a service, however, you are the product. So
establishing your credibility-essentially establishing your value - is
critical to closing the sale. You need to not only establish the benefits
of the
Challenge #1: You are the product

15. Unlike someone selling a physical product that can be stored and
shipped on demand, you can only provide as many services as your
time allows.
How to overcome this: Taking the example of a graphic designer selling
their time to create a promotional flyer - instead of doing this why not
sell a promotional flyer template pack to customers.
Challenge #2: Your time is limited

16. People will want to see proof that you've delivered great results for
other clients, but they'll also want to know that you're flexible enough
to meet their own unique needs.
So you must walk a fine line, proving that you've satisfied the needs of
other clients like them with great results and demonstrating your
ability to customize your service to meet their personal, unique needs.
How to overcome this: Great customer testimonials! (Learn more
about the value of customer testimonials in Module 4)
Challenge #3: Meet your clients' unique needs

17. Service-based businesses frequently rely on local clients but when you
are selling services online you are opening up your services to
customers across the world, while this is generally a good thing, it can
also be a challenge.
How to overcome this: Targeting audiences can be particularly
difficult when you have your own ecommerce shop – to get started
take advantage of the traffic online marketplaces receive and
showcase your best work
Challenge #4: Targeting audiences

18. The quickest way to monetize your skills is to offer a service. There are
several platforms available that help you find clients fast. These
platforms will generally charge a % of the in come you generate, but
they save you from having to invest in marketing.
Think the only thing you have to see are your products? Your
knowledge, experience and skills are also a valuable commodity.

19. WHERE TO
SELL CREATIVE
SERVICES ONLINE

20. Whether you’re a graphic designer from the U.S., web designer from
Serbia or writer from Brazil, you’ll find freelance opportunities on
Upwork.
UPWORK

21. RESOURCE Getting started with Upwork:
Check out this Freelancers Guide
• Free Membership
• Great for partial/full time work
• Work more, pay less - Upwork recently introduced a new payment
scheme, in which you pay less commission the more you work with a
client. This way, you earn more if you continue to work with your
regular clients.
• Large network - Upwork has one of, it not the largest network of
users in freelancer websites.
• Upwork Proficiency Tests - score well and these can help you get
noticed. Proficiency tests on offered on different skills (i.e. English
proficiency, Photoshop Proficiency and the like). The proficiency tests
you take will appear on your profile and will let employers know how
you fare in certain areas.

22. Freelancer is an online marketplace specifically designed for freelancers
looking for work, and for outsourcers and crowd sourcers looking to
have work completed.
FREELANCER

23. In business since 2004, the company claims to be the world’s largest
outsourcing marketplace, with 4.5 million projects posted, and nearly 8
million verified users. Freelancer.com focuses on a wide variety of fields,
including web and software development, design, writing and much
more.
If your project will be billed on an hourly basis, Freelancer.com now
offers a “Freelancer Time Track,” which ensures that every hour logged
is actually worked via time tracking software program that captures
frequent screenshots. Freelancer also gives customers the opportunity
to run a contest for their work - this is often very popular for logo
designs where payment if offered by way of a guaranteed prize fund.
See sample contest!

24. Creativepool is a one of a kind community, it services over 165,000
individuals and contributes an average of 500 live jobs each month. A
free platform, Creativepool’s mission is to showcase and define the
connections behind the world’s creative output. It is not only a
recruitment platform but a news outlet also.
CREATIVEPOOL

25. Zealous is a new and highly innovative online UK based platform where
creative talent and opportunities meet, where any creative discipline is
welcome, and where barriers separating the client and the right talent
for their events and projects are removed. UK BASED
ZEALOUS

26. HOW TO
SELL YOUR
SERVICES

27. #1 Be specific about exactly what you're offering.
You can never assume that providing information about what you've
done for other clients will enable visitors to your site to make that leap
and picture what you'll be able to do for their businesses. You need to
be very, very specific about what you're offering.
To help you do that, look at other similar service providers and ask
yourself these questions:
• Do you offer the same services? More? Less?
• What makes you different from your competitors?
• Do you specialize in anything?
• What kind of guarantee do you offer?
• How will your services be delivered?

28. #1 Be specific about exactly what you're offering.
Too often, business owners fail to provide their online prospects with
enough information. Sales copy with a detailed breakdown of the
services you provide, with the benefits you offer clearly explained, will
be one of the most critical aspects of your site

29. #2 Demonstrate your flexibility
As I mentioned earlier, people will not only want to see proof that
you've delivered great results for other clients, they'll want to know that
you're prepared to customize your service to meet their own unique
needs. Make sure you clearly explain how you're willing to customize
your services.
To do this – think about the following questions:
• Do your clients typically fall into a few different categories?
• Can you talk about each group and explain how you adapt and
change to meet their individual needs?

30. #2 Demonstrate your flexibility
For example, on his website, the owner of an arts school offered basic
summary descriptions of his classes. Instead of general descriptions,
he'd be better off breaking his sales copy down from his existing
summary descriptions into more detailed copy that explains the key
differences between his child, teen, and adult classes.
By focusing on these client groups separately, he could more closely
target their unique needs (and therefore attract more customers) by
emphasizing the benefits that apply directly to each.

31. OTHER WAYS TO
MAKE MONEY FROM
YOUR KNOWLEDGE

32. Turn Your Blog Into a Money-Making Business
Blogging has quickly become one of the most
popular ways of communicating and
spreading information and news. There are
literally millions of blogs online (don’t worry,
you can make yours stand out and get
noticed!). It’s a great way to express
yourself and also a fantastic way to share
information with others. You become a better
person and a better writer. The best reason?
You can make money doing it!

33. 1. Start out small and choose your blogging platform wisely.
Wordpress comes highly recommended, it is one of the worlds
largest blogging platforms in the world, with countless plugins and
add-ons and almost infinite ways to design and layout your blog.
2. What to blog about? Here are some ideas to help you get started:
• Provide helpful how-to’s: As a small- to medium-sized business
owner, there is no doubt that you have a lot of expertise you
can share. For example, if you run a D.J. service, you can share
helpful posts on how to choose a D.J. for your next special
event.
• Solve a problem: Let your audience know that you care by
identifying a common problem or concern that they share and
showing them how it can be solved.
Tips to get started and make money!5

34. 2. What to blog about? Here are some ideas to help you get started:
• Share industry-related news: Cement your status as a credible
authority in your industry by commenting on current creative
industry news, events and trends in your blog posts.
• Entertain!! Show your human side by blogging entertaining
facts or heartening stories that your audience can identify with.
Don’t be afraid to link to other business or personal blogs (as
long as they aren’t your direct competitors).
Tips to get started and make money!5

35. 2. Share Your Posts - Your blog is setup, and you’re pretty happy with
the way everything is going. The problem is that nobody is actually
reading it. One of the easiest ways to get your blog out there is for
you to start promoting your blog by sharing your posts on all of
your social media channels. If your friends start liking your links,
their friends will start to see that too. Little by little, you will start
to build your audience.
3. Sell Your Space - Once you have developed your blog to the point
where you are attracting a regular audience, the next step is for
you to start selling advertising space on your page. One of the
simplest methods of doing this is through Google’s AdSense. Sign-
up is easy and once done you will automatically begin to earn
money every time a reader clicks on one of the ads on your blog.
Tips to get started and make money!5

36. 4. Branch Out - Depending on what your blog specializes in, you may
be able to generate a whole new revenue stream through
merchandise. Photographers can sell their prints directly to their
readers. Writers and poets could offer custom made pieces of
unique work.
Tips to get started and make money!5

37. Start VLOGGING
What is Vlogging? Like any other form of Blogging, video blogging
(vlog) is done with the help of videos. You either self host your
video or use free services like YouTube, Vimeo to host your videos.
Like a normal blog, your video will be visible to public and they can
rate, comment and share your videos. Only big difference is we will
be using videos to share the information instead of text.

38. Why vlog?
• Videos are more watched, enjoyed and shared than the text
content
• Videos are more likely to go viral than a text content
• Video blogs are more interactive and descriptive. Video blogging
enhances your persuasion ability and chances of increasing
conversion rate increases. You can convince the viewers and
increase your sales
• Video blogs are best for tutorial blogs. Tutorials blogs usually
require a lot of text in them. If you want to teach someone you can
use video blogs rather publishing a huge compilation of text

39. Monetizing your videos with YouTube
YouTube videos can be big business, and the content creators who have
a huge following can easily reap six-figure sums. In some cases, the
video-sharing site is creating a new breed of millionaire with many
YouTube stars bringing out books, merchandise lines, doing
appearances and starring in ads.
When Howard Davies-Carr uploaded a video clip of his two children to
YouTube in 2007, little did he think it would become one of the most
watched videos in the world. The clip, known as “Charlie bit my finger”
has since garnered more than 810 million views and become a nice
earner for the Davies-Carr family in the process.You may have seen or
heard of “Charlie bit my finger”, but you probably won’t be familiar with
Felix Kjellberg.

40. What he does: Vlogs his gaming experiences
His Story: Felix Kjellberg, the 25-year-old Swedish gamer is the
world’s biggest YouTube star. Better known by his
online alias of PewDiePie, he has almost 35 million
subscribers, and his videos have been viewed more
than 7.9 billion times.
CASE STUDY PEWDIEPIE

41. His Story: He also has 5.7 million Facebook likes, 5.3 million
Twitter followers, 3.6 million Instagram followers and
counting. He is said to have a net worth of $12 million
(€10 million) and last year Forbes magazine reported
that the Swedish video blogger is pulling in $4 million
a year from his YouTube channel. Up until 2016,
Pewdiepie was part of the Maker Studio Youtube
Network who provided assistance in areas such as
"product, programming, funding, cross-promotion,
partner management, digital rights management,
monetization/sales, and/or audience development"
in exchange for a percentage of the ad revenue. He
has since created his own network.
CASE STUDY PEWDIEPIE

42. What sets PewDiePie's Web personality is remarkably human:
him apart? He jokes, swears, shrieks, and giggles, all the while
referring to his massive fanbase as his "bros" or "bro
army." He ends almost every video with an
affectionate fist-bump (dubbed the "brofist"),
encapsulating the entrepreneurial experience by
effectively saying: I'm one of you, viewers.
CASE STUDY PEWDIEPIE

43. YouTube Channel:
www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie
Sources:
www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/how-to-make-money-
fromyoutube-
www.inc.com/zoe-henry/the-entrepreneurial-spirit-ofpewdiepie.
Html
CASE STUDY PEWDIEPIE
EXERCISE Complete the YouTube Creator Academy
Course most relevant to your Creative Business

44. Congratulations
you have completed Module 4